During our first October Horror series, we asked our writers to compile lists of their five favorite horror films. This year, we doubled down. After years of writing about horror films that often trend toward the lesser-seen and out there, our staff — and some friends of the site — share their top-10 favorite horror films of all time.
Highlighted titles will take you to essays and podcasts on films and filmmakers. Use this Letterboxd list to find where to stream each title.
Bennett Glace (Split Tooth writer):
The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934)
Blood of the Beasts (Georges Franju, 1949)
Mother Joan of the Angels (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1961)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Tobe Hooper, 1986)
The Addiction (Abel Ferrara, 1995)
Cure (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 1997)
Ghostwatch (Lesley Manning, 1992)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)
Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)
Unfriended: Dark Web (Stephen Susco, 2018)
Breanna McCann (Split Tooth writer):
Blithe Spirit (David Lean, 1945)
The Haunted House (Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, 1921)
Haunted Spooks (Hal Roach, Alfred J. Goulding, 1920)
House On Haunted Hill (William Castle, 1959)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)
The Most Dangerous Game (Ernest B. Schoedsack, Irving Pichel, 1932)
The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939)
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (John S. Robertson, 1920)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
I Married A Witch (Rene Clair, 1942)
Brett Wright (Split Tooth film editor):
The Beyond (Lucio Fulci, 1981)
Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (Jack Arnold, 1954)
The Devil Rides Out (Terrence Fisher, 1968)
The Exorcist III (William Peter Blatty, 1990)
Ghostwatch (Lesley Manning, 1992)
Last House on Dead End Street (Roger Watkins, 1977)
Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood (Christopher Speeth, 1973)
Night of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Chris Slusarenko (Eyelids, Clinton Street Video):
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987)
Ravenous (Antonia Bird, 1999)
Society (Brian Yuzna, 1989)
Dead & Buried (Gary Sherman, 1981)
The Hidden (Jack Sholder, 1987)
Any Larry Cohen films (The Stuff; Q The Winged Serpent, God Told Me To)
Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982)
Phantasm (all of them)
Craig Wright (Split Tooth founder, editor, Split Picks host):
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
The Beyond (Lucio Fulci, 1981)
Prince Of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987)
The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1977)
Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (John D. Hancock, 1971)
Dawn Of The Dead (George A. Romero, 1978)
I Drink Your Blood (David E. Durston, 1970)
Human Lanterns (Chung Sun, 1982)
Frank V. Ross (Filmmaker):
Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994)
X (Ti West, 2022)
28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2003)
The VVitch (Robert Eggers, 2015)
Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018)
The Conjuring (James Wan, 2013)
Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
The Strangers (Bryan Bertino, 2008)
Frankie Vanaria (Split Tooth writer):
Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
Cronos (Guillermo del Toro, 1993)
Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)
The Love Witch (Anna Biller 2016)
Sleepaway Camp (Robert Hiltzik, 1983)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)
The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
The Housemaid (Kim Ki-young, 1960)
Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg, 2022)
Canoa: A Shameful Memory (Felipe Cazals, 1976)
Jack Perez (Filmmaker):
Curse of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)
The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976)
The Brides of Dracula (Terrence Fisher, 1960)
The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940)
Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)
The Invisible Man (James Whale, 1933)
The Changeling (Peter Medak, 1980)
Ed Wood (Tim Burton, 1994)
Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988)
Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
Jason Michelitch (host of the Cinesthesia Podcast):
Inferno (Dario Argento, 1980)
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)
The Wolf Man (George Waggner, 1941)
Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978)
Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)
Soft Matter (Jim Hickcox, 2018)
Dracula (Todd Browning, 1931)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1976)
Jim Hickcox (Filmmaker, host of the Cinesthesia Podcast):
White of the Eye (Donald Cammell, 1987)
Brain Damage (Frank Henenlotter, 1988)
The Devil Times Five (a.k.a Peopletoys) (Sean MacGregor, 1974)
Cemetery Man (Michele Soavi, 1994)
Baskin (Can Evrenol, 2015)
The Witch Who Came from the Sea (Matt Cimber, 1976)
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
Tumbbad (Rahi Anil Barve, 2018)
Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
Psychomania (a.k.a The Death Wheelers) (Don Sharp, 1973)
Joel Potrykus (Filmmaker):
An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 1981)
Return of the Living Dead (Dan O’Bannon, 1985)
Barbarian (Zach Cregger, 2022)
The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981)
Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987)
Friday the 13th Pt III (Steve Miner, 1982)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (Jack Sholder, 1985)
Joshua Burge (Actor):
Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Chuck Russell, 1987)
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (Stephen Chiodo, 1988)
Jacob’s Ladder (Adrian Lyne, 1990)
Barbarian (Zach Cregger, 2022)
Logan Ann Taylor (Split Tooth contributor):
The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
Titane (Julia Ducournau, 2021)
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009)
The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005)
Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982)
Michael Glover Smith (Filmmaker and critic):
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Vampyr (Carl Dreyer, 1932)
The Housemaid (Kim Ki-young, 1960)
The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson, 1943)
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922)
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927)
Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999)
Night of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)
Nick Miller (Split Tooth contributor):
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987)
There’s Nothing Out There (Rolfe Kanefsky, 1990)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
Insidious (James Wan, 2010)
I Saw The Devil (Kim Jee-woon, 2010)
Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019)
Godzilla (Ishirō Honda 1954)
Oliver O’Sullivan (Split Tooth writer):
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
Angst (Gerard Kargl, 1983)
Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)
Begotten (E. Elias Merhige, 1989)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)
Wolf Creek (Greg McLean, 2005)
Inside (Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo, 2007)
House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009)
Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows/The Baseball Project/The No Ones/Filthy Friends/Scott The Hoople/R.E.M.):
The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999)
Night Of The Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
The Haunting (Robert Wise, 1963)
House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)
Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962)
Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)
Us (Jordan Peele, 2019)
The Ghost And Mr. Chicken (Alan Rafkin, 1966)
The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)
Snow Lietta (Split Tooth writer):
Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)
The VVitch (Robert Eggers, 2015)
Lemora: A Child’s Tale Of The Supernatural (Richard Blackburn, 1973)
Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
A Bay of Blood (Mario Bava, 1971)
The Love Witch (Anna Biller, 2016)
Return to Oz (Walter Murch, 1985)
Candyman (Bernard Rose, 1992)
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
Martin (George A. Romero, 1977)
Steve Collins (Filmmaker, Split Tooth writer):
Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987)
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982)
Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987)
The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986)
Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
The Beyond (Lucio Fulci, 1981)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dryer, 1932)
I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)
Victoria Quamme Rhoden (Split Tooth Contributor):
28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2003)
Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
The Cell (Tarsem Singh, 2000)
Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978)
Dead Alive (Peter Jackson, 1992)
Event Horizon (Paul W.S. Anderson, 1997)
The Faculty (Robert Rodriguez, 1998)
Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932)
Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
Follow Split Tooth Media to stay up to date with all things October Horror
Find the complete October Horror 2022 series here:
