Um, have you seen the new IT movie yet? We don’t want to give away any spoilers, but it’s freaking scary. Like, crazy scary. Like we’re never going to be able to sleep without the light on again scary. Why do we insist on watching movies that give us nightmares for years?
Because it’s super fun, that’s why.
IT may the latest movie to strike fear into the hearts of every theater-goer who dares to buy a ticket, but it’s not even the scariest movie of all time. Hollywood has gotten its jollies freaking people out for decades, and it defintely seems like they have no intention of stopping anytime soon. And we’re totally cool with that.
Just in time for Halloween, we’ve rounded up every top-rated movie of the year since 1965, according to IMDb. Get ready to binge, y’all. Just a word of warning: You might not want to be eating lunch while you click through our list — you might lose it.
Originally posted October 2016. Updated September 2017.
1965: ‘Repulsion’
A sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister’s boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.
1966: ‘Seconds’
An unhappy banker has a procedure to fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity — one that comes with its own price.
1967: ‘Wait Until Dark’
A recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.
1968: ‘Rosemary’s Baby’
When a young wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins to control her life.
1969: ‘The Cremator’
In World War II, a demented cremator believes that cremation relieves earthly suffering and sets out to save the world.
1970: ‘The Bird with the Crystal Plumage’
A writer who witnessed an attack is then stalked by a serial killer.
1971: ‘The Devils’
In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu.
1972: ‘The Night Stalker’
An abrasive Las Vegas newspaper reporter investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.
1973: ‘The Exorcist’
When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.
1974: ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’
Two siblings visit their grandfather’s grave in Texas, along with three of their friends, and are attacked by a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
1975: ‘Jaws’
When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and a grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.
1976: ‘The Tenant’
A bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment, where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
1977: ‘Eraserhead’
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend and the unbearable screams of his mutant newborn child.
1978: ‘Dawn of the Dead’
Escaping an ever-growing zombie epidemic, a group of people seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
1979: ‘Alien’
A crew on the moon gets attacked by a mysterious life form. They head back to Earth with the deceased critter but realize its life cycle has just begun.
1980: ‘The Shining’
An evil spiritual presence influences the father to commit violence while his psychic son sees horrific visions of the past and the future.
1981: ‘The Evil Undead’
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
1982: ‘The Thing’
An American research base is greeted by an alien force that can assimilate anything it touches. The researchers have to stay alive and be sure that the others are human.
1983: ‘Videodrome’
A sleazy cable TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a very unusual fashion.
1984: ‘The Terminator’
An indestructible cyborg is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines.
1985: ‘Re-Animator’
A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the reanimation of dead tissue.
1986: ‘Aliens’
The moon from Alien has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower — but will it be enough?
1987: ‘Evil Dead II’
The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
1988: ‘The Vanishing’
While on vacation, Rex and Saskia stop at a busy service station, and Saskia is abducted. After three years, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
1989: ‘Santa Sangre’
A young man is confined in a mental hospital. Through a flashback, we see that he was traumatized as a child when he and his family were circus performers.
1990: ‘Misery’
After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare.
1991: ‘The Silence of the Lambs’
A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated, manipulative killer. She needs his help to catch another serial killer who skins his victims.
1992: ‘Dead Alive’
A young man’s mother dies after being bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey but comes back to life to kill and eat dogs, nurses, friends and neighbors.
1993: ‘Cronos’
A mysterious device designed to give its owner eternal life resurfaces after 400 years, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
1994: ‘Interview with the Vampire’
A vampire tells his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness and hunger.
1995: ‘Se7en’
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.
1996: ‘Scream’
Sidney and her horror movie-obsessed friends are stalked by an unknown killer who seems to have a hard time letting the past go.
1997: ‘Funny Games’
Two violent young men take a mother, father and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic “games” with one another.
1998: ‘Ringu’
The ghost of a seer’s daughter kills all the viewers of a video tape seven days after they watch it — unless a viewer finds the escape clause.
1999: ‘The Sixth Sense’
A boy who communicates with spirits who don’t know they’re dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.
2000: ‘American Psycho’
A wealthy investment banking exec hides his psychopathic alter ego from his friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
2001: ‘The Others’
A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted.
2002: ’28 Days Later…’
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
2003: ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’
A family is haunted by the tragedies of deaths within the family.
2004: ‘Shaun of the Dead’
A man tries to turn his life around by dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.
2005: ‘The Descent’
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong as the explorers become trapped and are ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
2006: ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’
In Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
2007: ‘[Rec]’
A TV reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
2008: ‘Let the Right One In’
Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
2009: ‘Zombieland’
A shy student, a gun-toting tough guy and two sisters join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.
2010: ‘Shutter Island’
In 1954, a U.S. marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.
2011: ‘The Skin I Live In’
A plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any damage. His guinea pig: a volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
2012: ‘The Cabin in the Woods’
Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for.
2013: ‘The Conjuring’
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.
2014: ‘It Follows’
A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.
2015: ‘The Witch’
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
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