Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity popularized the found-footage horror genre for a new generation with its simple yet incredibly effective premise. The film centers on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who set up cameras in their house to document the strange activity they believe is a ghost, only to discover something far more sinister.

Shot on a minimal budget primarily in Peli's own house, the film relies on suggestion, sound design, and the audience's own imagination to create terror. The slow build-up of subtle disturbances captured by the static cameras is genuinely unnerving, culminating in a series of increasingly intense and frightening events.

It proved that you don't need big special effects to scare people, just patience and the unsettling power of things that go bump in the night.

James Wan's The Conjuring kicked off a highly successful cinematic universe and revitalized mainstream supernatural horror. Based on the case files of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film follows the Warrens as they help the Perron family, who are experiencing increasingly disturbing events in their farmhouse.

Wan is a master of crafting effective jump scares and building suspense through classic techniques. The film excels at creating a terrifying atmosphere within the seemingly normal setting of a family home. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are fantastic as the Warrens, providing a grounded emotional core to the supernatural chaos.

It delivered solid, old-school haunted house scares and proved there was still a huge appetite for well-crafted ghost stories.

David Robert Mitchell's It Follows brings a unique and terrifying concept to the horror genre: a sexually transmitted curse that manifests as a slow, relentless entity. The film follows Jay, a teenager who, after a seemingly innocent encounter, finds herself pursued by this shape-shifting presence that only she and others who have 'it' can see.

The film creates a pervasive sense of dread with its wide shots, deliberate pacing, and unsettling score, which is heavily influenced by classic horror synthesizers. The 'It' is terrifying precisely because of its slow, unstoppable nature – you can run, but you can't hide forever.

It's a clever and stylish horror film that uses its unique premise to explore themes of adolescence, sex, and the anxieties of growing up.

Robert Eggers' directorial debut The Witch (stylized as The VVitch) is a period horror film set in 1630s New England, focusing on a Puritan family who are cast out of their plantation and forced to build a new home near a foreboding forest. Their isolation and strict religious beliefs collide with unsettling events they attribute to witchcraft.

The film is meticulously researched, using authentic period dialogue and costumes to create a deeply immersive and historically grounded atmosphere. The horror stems from the family's growing paranoia, religious fanaticism, and the palpable sense of dread emanating from the woods. Anya Taylor-Joy's breakout performance as Thomasin is captivating.

It's a film that relies on atmosphere and psychological tension rather than jump scares, offering a chilling look at fear, faith, and the dark side of folklore.

Jennifer Kent's The Babadook is a chilling Australian horror film that masterfully uses a children's book monster as a metaphor for grief and depression. The story centers on a widowed mother, Amelia, struggling to raise her difficult son, Samuel, who is terrified of a monster called the Babadook from a mysterious pop-up book.

Essie Davis delivers a raw and heartbreaking performance as Amelia, capturing the exhaustion and frustration of a parent pushed to the brink. The film's horror is deeply psychological, rooted in the emotional struggles of its characters, making it incredibly relatable and unsettling. The design of the Babadook itself is simple but effectively creepy.

It's a film that resonates on a deeply human level, exploring the monsters that can live within us as much as those that might lurk in the shadows.

Ari Aster's Hereditary is a devastating and deeply disturbing exploration of grief, family trauma, and the inescapable nature of fate. Following the death of the family matriarch, strange and terrifying events begin to unfold, revealing a dark legacy.

Toni Collette gives a powerhouse performance as Annie Graham, a woman grappling with immense loss and terrifying discoveries about her family's past. The film creates an atmosphere of suffocating dread and uses unsettling imagery and sound design to get under your skin. It's a film that doesn't shy away from depicting psychological and physical horror in a visceral way.

It's a modern benchmark for elevated horror, praised for its complex themes, intense performances, and relentless descent into terror.

Jordan Peele's directorial debut Get Out is a brilliant and unsettling blend of horror, thriller, and cutting social commentary. The film follows Chris, a young black man who visits his white girlfriend's family estate, only to discover a sinister secret lurking beneath their seemingly liberal facade.

Peele masterfully uses horror tropes to explore themes of racism, cultural appropriation, and the anxieties of being a minority in America. The film is filled with subtle details and chilling reveals that reward repeat viewings. Daniel Kaluuya delivers a compelling performance as Chris.

It was a critical and commercial phenomenon, earning Peele an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and proving that horror can be deeply thought-provoking and socially relevant.

Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street brought a terrifying new concept to the horror genre: fear that follows you into your dreams. The film introduces the iconic Freddy Krueger, a burned, knife-gloved killer who preys on teenagers in their sleep, where they are most vulnerable. Robert Englund's performance gives Freddy a distinct, darkly humorous personality that set him apart from other silent slashers.

The premise allows for incredibly creative and surreal death sequences, blurring the lines between the dream world and reality in genuinely unsettling ways. Heather Langenkamp is excellent as Nancy Thompson, the determined final girl who must find a way to fight a killer who exists only in her subconscious.

It was a huge success that revitalized the slasher genre in the mid-80s and created one of horror's most enduring villains.

Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby is a slow-burn psychological horror masterpiece that taps into primal fears about motherhood, paranoia, and the insidious nature of evil hiding in plain sight. Mia Farrow delivers a fragile yet resilient performance as Rosemary Woodhouse, a young woman who suspects her pregnancy might involve a sinister conspiracy among her seemingly friendly neighbors.

The film excels at building a growing sense of unease and dread, blurring the lines between reality and hallucination. It cleverly uses the claustrophobia of their New York apartment and the unsettling kindness of the Castevets to create a palpable sense of isolation and terror.

It's a foundational film for the 'occult horror' subgenre, proving that terror doesn't need jump scares; it can be found in creeping suspicion and the loss of bodily autonomy.

Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a raw, gritty, and deeply unsettling experience that feels less like a traditional movie and more like a descent into madness. Marketed controversially as being based on a true story (loosely inspired by serial killer Ed Gein, like Psycho), the film follows a group of friends who stumble upon a family of cannibals.

Despite its title, the film is surprisingly light on explicit gore, instead relying on its documentary-style look, oppressive atmosphere, and the sheer terror of its antagonist, Leatherface. The sound design alone is enough to fray your nerves.

It's a landmark film in the exploitation and slasher genres, pushing boundaries and delivering a visceral, nightmare-inducing punch that continues to shock audiences.

John Carpenter's Halloween is the quintessential slasher film that spawned countless imitators but few equals. Made on a shoestring budget, it proved that atmosphere and suspense could be far more effective than elaborate special effects.

The film follows the relentless pursuit of babysitter Laurie Strode by the seemingly unstoppable masked figure Michael Myers on Halloween night. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her film debut, is fantastic as the resourceful final girl. Carpenter's direction is masterful, building tension through simple yet effective techniques like point-of-view shots and the iconic, minimalist score he composed himself.

It established many of the tropes still used in horror today, from the masked killer to the holiday setting, making it a landmark film in the genre's history.

William Friedkin's The Exorcist was so terrifying upon its release that it reportedly caused viewers to faint and vomit in theaters. Based on William Peter Blatty's novel (who also wrote the screenplay), the film delves into themes of faith, doubt, and the ultimate battle between good and evil through the harrowing story of a young girl possessed by a demonic entity.

Linda Blair's performance as Regan MacNeil is astonishing and deeply unsettling, requiring incredible physical and vocal transformation thanks to groundbreaking practical effects and voice work by Mercedes McCambridge. The film's relentless atmosphere of dread, its shocking imagery, and its intense exploration of religious horror make it a profoundly disturbing experience.

It's a film that doesn't shy away from confronting the darkest aspects of spiritual and psychological torment, earning its reputation as one of the most frightening films ever put to screen.

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho didn't just scare audiences; it fundamentally changed cinema forever. Before Psycho, horror films often relied on monsters or the supernatural. Hitchcock brought the terror home, rooting it in the seemingly ordinary and the deeply disturbed human psyche.

The film's structure itself was revolutionary – killing off the presumed protagonist Janet Leigh's Marion Crane relatively early was unheard of at the time and shocked viewers to their core. Anthony Perkins' portrayal of Norman Bates is unnervingly complex, shifting from shy awkwardness to something far more sinister.

And of course, the shower scene is iconic, a masterpiece of editing and sound design that remains terrifying decades later, despite showing very little explicitly. Psycho taught filmmakers that suggestion and psychological tension could be far more potent than gore, leaving an indelible mark on the thriller and horror genres.

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is an absolute masterclass in psychological horror.

The Overlook Hotel itself feels like a character, its vast, empty halls and unsettling patterns amplifying Jack Torrance's descent into madness. Jack Nicholson's performance is legendary, a terrifying portrayal of a man unraveling, and Shelley Duvall delivers a raw, vulnerable performance that is equally crucial.

Kubrick's meticulous direction, from the iconic tracking shots with the Steadicam (making its feature film debut here!) through the hotel's corridors to the chilling score, creates an atmosphere of dread that seeps into your bones. It's a film that invites endless interpretation and discussion, solidifying its place as one of the greatest and most analyzed horror films ever made.