2020 GroupMe Horror Movie Rankings
Participants: 11
Total Movies Listed: 57
Movies Listed More Than Once: 25
Process: Each participant ranked their top-10 favorite horror movies from first (10 points for movie #1) to last (1 point for movie #10). To help better weight each ranking, each movie received an additional point for every list on which it appeared.
Example: Movie X is ranked 2nd (9 points), 1st (10 points), and 5th (5 points) for a total of 24 points plus 3 mentions (3 points), for a final score of 27.
Below, you’ll find the top-30 (of 57) movies by final score broken up into three groups of ten (there were some ties, as you’ll see; their distribution is arbitrary), followed by some general commentary about each group. Beyond that, I’ve shared the top-10 movies by rotten tomato score and the total number of movies per decade. At the very end of this post, you’ll find the full list of all 57 movies, including their scores, years, and RT score. I’ll share the individual top-10 rankings as images in the group.
Top-10 Horror Movies
1. Halloween (1978) – 62 points
2. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – 37 points
3. Scream (1996) – 35 points
4. Hereditary (2018) – 34 points
5. Get Out (2017) – 32 points
6. Alien (1979) – 29 points
7. The Conjuring (2013) – 28 points
8. Sinister (2012) – 25 points
9. A Quiet Place (2018) – 24 points
10. The Ring (2002) – 23 points
The top 10 features a mix of two slashers (Halloween and Scream), four supernatural horrors (Hereditary, The Conjuring, Sinister, The Ring) two thrillers (The Silence of the Lambs, Get Out), and two sci-fi horror flicks (Alien, A Quiet Place). These movies also range from 1978 to 2018, with two movies in the 70s, two in the 90s, one in the 2000s, and five in the 2010s.
Halloween’s presence at the top of the list shouldn’t go unnoticed. Not only does that lend credence to the participants’ taste in horror, as it is often considered the greatest horror movie of all-time, it also more than doubled the score of any other film in this process, making appearances on seven total lists in the process.
11-20 Horror Movies: Total Score
11. Saw (2004) – 22 points
12. Insidious (2010) – 18 points
13. Suspiria (2018) – 18 points
14. The Shining (1980) – 16 points
15. Friday the 13th (2009) – 16 points
16. Paranormal Activity (2007) – 15 points
17. Us (2019) – 13 points
18. It (2017) – 13 points
19. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) – 13 points
20. It Follows (2014) – 12 points
This group is largely defined by two eras: the early 2000s and the mid-to-late 2010s. Indeed, The Shining (1980) is the only movie listed before the turn of the century, but five movies made the cut from 2003-2010 (Saw, Insidious, Friday the 13th, Paranormal Activity, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre), with another four filling in from 2014-2018 (Suspiria, Us, It, It Follows).
This group also boasts not one, not two, but three remakes of relatively historic 70s/80s horror films in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and Suspiria. But it also exudes originality, with It Follows, Us, and Paranormal Activity. Its best quality, however, may be the ability to feature classic Stephen King novels (It and The Shining) alongside popcorn horror (Saw, Insidious) without making anyone bat an eye.
21-30 Horror Movies: Total Score
21. Hush (2016) – 12 points
22. Cabin in the Woods (2011)
23. 28 Days Later (2002) – 12 points
24. Jaws (1975) – 11 points
25. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – 11 points
26. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – 10 points
27. Midsommar (2019) – 10 points
28. Scream 2 (1997) – 10 points
29. Black Christmas (2006) – 9 points
30. Psycho (1960) – 9 points
This group is a bonafide trip through the decades, with movies appearing from the 1960s (Psycho), 1970s (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), 1980s (A Nightmare on Elm Street), 1990s (Scream 2), 2000s (28 Days Later, Black Christmas), to the 2010s (Hush, Cabin in the Woods, and Midsommar).
Speaking of which, with the presence of Midsommar at #27, we have now ranked two movies from writer/director Ari Aster (Midsommar, Hereditary) and two movies from writer/director Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out) – two of the hottest names in the horror industry at the moment (both of whom happen to own movies in the top-5).
But we can’t talk about the present without talking about the past, and this group has a few classics on it, including Jaws, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Psycho, all of which legitimately turned the film industry on their heads with a taste of gratuitous suspense and violence rarely seen in mainstream cinema.
Top-10 Movies by Rotten Tomato Score
1. Jaws: 98%
2. Alien: 98%
3. Get Out: 98%
4. Psycho: 96%
5. Halloween: 96%
6. The Silence of the Lambs: 96%
7. A Quiet Place: 96%
8. Evil Dead (1981): 95%
9. It Follows: 95%
10. A Nightmare on Elm Street: 94%
Other movies above 90%: Train to Busan (90%), Hush (93%), Us (93%), Cabin in the Woods (92%), The Lighthouse (90%).
No. Of Movies by Decade:
1960s: 1
1970s: 4
1980s: 5
1990s: 5
2000s: 19
2010s: 23
Movie Title | Points | Lists | Total Score | Year | RT Score |
Halloween | 55 | 7 | 62 | 1978 | 96% |
Silence of the Lambs | 32 | 5 | 37 | 1991 | 96% |
Scream | 30 | 5 | 35 | 1996 | 79% |
Hereditary | 29 | 5 | 34 | 2018 | 89% |
Get Out | 28 | 4 | 32 | 2017 | 98% |
Alien | 26 | 3 | 29 | 1979 | 98% |
The Conjuring | 23 | 5 | 28 | 2013 | 86% |
Sinister | 22 | 3 | 25 | 2012 | 63% |
A Quiet Place | 21 | 3 | 24 | 2018 | 96% |
The Ring | 20 | 3 | 23 | 2002 | 71% |
Saw | 18 | 4 | 22 | 2004 | 49% |
Insidious | 16 | 2 | 18 | 2010 | 66% |
Suspiria (2018) | 16 | 2 | 18 | 2018 | 66% |
The Shining | 13 | 3 | 16 | 1980 | 84% |
Friday the 13th (2009) | 14 | 2 | 16 | 2009 | 26% |
Paranormal Activity | 13 | 2 | 15 | 2007 | 83% |
Us | 11 | 2 | 13 | 2019 | 93% |
It | 11 | 2 | 13 | 2017 | 85% |
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) | 11 | 2 | 13 | 2003 | 37% |
It Follows | 10 | 2 | 12 | 2014 | 95% |
Hush | 10 | 2 | 12 | 2016 | 93% |
Cabin in the Woods | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2011 | 92% |
28 Days Later | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2002 | 87% |
Jaws | 10 | 1 | 11 | 1975 | 98% |
A Nightmare on Elm Street | 9 | 2 | 11 | 1984 | 94% |
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) | 9 | 1 | 10 | 1974 | 88% |
Midsommar | 8 | 2 | 10 | 2019 | 83% |
Scream 2 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 1997 | 82% |
Psycho | 8 | 1 | 9 | 1960 | 96% |
Black Christmas (2006) | 8 | 1 | 9 | 2006 | 14% |
Evil Dead (1981) | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1981 | 95% |
Haunt | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2019 | 70% |
Train to Busan | 6 | 1 | 7 | 2016 | 94% |
The Autopsy of Jane Doe | 6 | 1 | 7 | 2016 | 87% |
Sleepy Hollow | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2013 | 76% |
Final Destination | 6 | 1 | 7 | 2000 | 35% |
Amityville Horror | 6 | 1 | 7 | 2005 | 23% |
Better Watch Out | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2016 | 89% |
Evil Dead (2013) | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2013 | 62% |
The Last House on the Left (2009) | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2009 | 42% |
The Omen | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2006 | 26% |
The Thing | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1982 | 85% |
The Lighthouse | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2019 | 90% |
The Strangers | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2008 | 48% |
Exorcism of Emily Rose | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2005 | 44% |
The Grudge | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2004 | 40% |
Annihilation | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2018 | 88% |
The Others | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2001 | 83% |
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2006 | 76% |
Child’s Play | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1988 | 71% |
Funny Games | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2007 | 52% |
Creep | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2014 | 89% |
The Sixth Sense | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1999 | 86% |
In Fear | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2013 | 81% |
Jeepers Creepers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2001 | 46% |
I Know What You Did Last Summer | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1997 | 42% |
The Collector | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2009 | 29% |