John Charet’s Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All Time (2025 Edition)

-Introduction-

Last year around this time of year, I posted a blog entry regarding my Top 10 and 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time (read here and here). As for Halloween 2025, I have posted that big treat again, which comes in the form of my Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time. I have some new entries this time around 🙂 Now all of the films listed are not my only favorite horror films (I have an unlimited number), but this is a perfect start. I have decided to start with number 100 and work my way down to 01.

-The Opening Celebration-

First off, below are a few delightful links to check out 

Click here to watch the complete 1983 music video of late iconic singer Michael Jackson’s (a.k.a. The King of Pop) song Thriller

Click here to listen to a shortened version of the song

Have any of you dear readers out there heard of The Merkins? Check out their youtube channel here. They do horror parodies of songs and one of their running acts is The Slashstreet Boys (a spoof of The Backstreet Boys)  The band consists of LeatherfaceMichael MyersJason VoorheesFreddy Kruegger and Ghostface Below are three of my personal favorite parodies of theirs 

Click here to view their spoof of I Want It That Way entitled I’ll Kill You That Way

Click here to view their spoof of Larger than Life entitled Die By My Knife

Click here to view their spoof of Rock Your Body Right entitled Slashing Bodies

-A Few Words Before Reading-

Please be kind to the film at number 07 on this list because that one means a lot to me. Any comment expressing negativity towards number 07 will be deleted. So once again, please be polite 🙂

Now, without further ado, I present to you all:

-John Charet’t Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time-
(#100-01)

100.) The Spiral Staircase (1946) (Dir: Robert Siodmak)
99.) Blood and Black Lace (1964) (Dir: Mario Bava)
98.) Repulsion (1965) (Dir: Roman Polanski)
97.) The Exorcist (1973) (Dir: William Friedkin)
96.) The Changeling (1980) (Dir: Peter Medak)

95.) Jacob’s Ladder (1990) (Dir: Adrien Lyne)
94.) The Orphanage (2007) (Dir: J.A. Bayona)
93.) Halloween II (2009) (Dir: Rob Zombie)
92.) Under the Shadow (2016) (Dir: Babak Anvari)
91.) The Lighthouse (2019) (Dir: Robert Eggers)
90.) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (Dir: Rouben Mamoulian)
89.) The Body Snatcher (1945) (Dir: Robert Wise)
88.) Rosemary’s Baby (1968) (Dir: Roman Polanski)
87.) Kwaidan (1964)(Dir: Masaki Kobayashi)
86.) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (Dir: Tobe Hooper)
85.) Possession (1981) (Dir: Andrzej Zulawski)
84.) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) (Dir: John McNaughton)
83.) Dead Alive (1992) (Dir: Peter Jackson)
82.) The Descent (2005) (Dir: Neil Marshall)
81.) The Lords of Salem (2012) (Dir: Rob Zombie)
80.) Island of Lost Souls (1932) (Dir: Erle C. Kenton)
79.) Bluebeard (1944) (Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer)
78.) Horror of Dracula (1958) (Dir: Terence Fisher)
77.) Night of the Living Dead (1968) (Dir: George A. Romero)
76.) Kuroneko (1968) (Dir: Kaneto Shindo)
75.) God Told Me To (1976) (Dir: Larry Cohen)
74.) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) (Dir: Tobe Hooper)
73.) Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) (Dir: Francis Ford Coppola)
72.) Shaun of the Dead (2004) (Dir: Edgar Wright)
71.) Annihilation (2018) (Dir: Alex Garland)
70.) Nope (2022) (Dir: Jordan Peele)

69.) The Leopard Man (1943) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
68.) Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) (Dir: Terence Fisher)

67.) Onibaba (1964) (Dir: Kaneto Shindo)
66.) Halloween (1978) (Dir: John Carpenter)
65.) Inferno (1980) (Dir: Dario Argento)
64.) Evil Dead II (1987) (Dir: Sam Raimi)
63.) Cemetery Man (1994) (Dir: Michele Soavi)
62.) Let the Right One In (2008) (Dir: Tomas Alfredson)
61.) Twixt (2011) (Dir: Francis Ford Coppola)
60.) Sinners (2025) (Dir: Ryan Coogler)
59.) Haxan (1922) (Dir: Benjamin Christensen)
58.) The Old Dark House (1932) (Dir: James Whale)
57.) Cat People (1942) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
56.) Psycho (1960) (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
55.) Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Dir: George A. Romero)
54.) The Fly (1986) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
53.) Cronos (1992) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro)
52.) Martyrs (2008) (Dir: Pascal Laughier)
51.) The Babadook (2014) (Dir: Jennifer Kent)
50.) Pearl (2022) (Dir: Ti West)
49.) The Phantom Carriage (1921) (Dir: Victor Sjostrom)
48.) I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
47.) The Birds (1963) (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
46.) Kill, Baby… Kill! (1966) (Dir: Mario Bava)
45.) Suspiria (1977) (Dir: Dario Argento)
44.) Dead Ringers (1988) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
43.) Cure (1997) (Dir: Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
42.) Rec (2007) (Dir: Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza)
41.) Under the Skin (2013) (Dir: Jonathan Glazer)
40.) Nosferatu (2024) (Dir: Robert Eggers)

39.) The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) (Dir: Jean Epstein)
38.) Freaks (1932) (Dir: Tod Browning)
37.) Dead of Night (1945) (Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer)
(Anthology Film)
36.) Night of the Demon (1957) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
35.) The Innocents (1961) (Dir: Jack Clayton)
34.) The Tenant (1976) (Dir: Roman Polanski)
33.) Ringu (1998) (Dir: Hideo Nakata)
32.) Inside (2007) (Dir: Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)
31.) The Haunting of Hill House (2018) (Dir: Mike Flanagan)
(Miniseries)
(Streaming)
30.) The Shrouds (2024) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
29.) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) (Dir: Robert Wiene)
28.) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) (Dir: James Whale)
27.) The Uninvited (1944) (Dir: Lewis Allen)
26.) The Haunting (1963) (Dir: Robert Wise)
25.) Eraserhead (1977) (Dir: David Lynch)
24.) The Thing (1982) (Dir: John Carpenter)
23.) Audition (1999) (Dir: Takashi Miike)
22.) Pulse (2001) (Dir: Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
21.) Mother! (2017) (Dir: Darren Aronofsky)
20.) Angst (1983) (Dir: Gerald Kargl)
19.) Un Chien Andalou (1929) (Dir: Luis Bunuel)
(Short Cinema)
18.) The Black Cat (1934) (Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer)
17.) Isle of the Dead (1945) (Dir: Mark Robson)
16.) Peeping Tom (1960) (Dir: Michael Powell)
15.) Carrie (1976) (Dir: Brian De Palma)
14.) Videodrome (1983) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
13.) The Kingdom Trilogy (1994/1997/2022) (Dir: Lars Von Trier) 
(Danish Television)

12.) The Host (2006) (Dir: Bong Joon Ho)
11.) Climax (2018) (Dir: Gaspar Noe)
10.) Vampyr (1932) (Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer)
09.) The Shining (1980) (Dir: Stanley Kubrick)
08.) Nosferatu (1922) (Dir: F.W. Murnau)
07.) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) (Dir: David Lynch)
06.) The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro)
05.) Midsommar (2019) (Dir: Ari Aster)
04.) The Seventh Victim (1943) (Dir: Mark Robson)
03.) Diabolique (1955) (Dir: Henri-Georges Clouzot)
02.) Eyes Without a Face (1960) (Dir: Georges Franju)
01.) Don’t Look Now (1973) (Dir: Nicolas Roeg)

Honorable Mentions: Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), The Wicker Man (1973) and The Entity (1982)

Click here to see my exact same ranking on Letterboxd

P.S. I just added two links from this year’s blog entry regarding my Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time – a Kim Newman commentary link on number 3 and a documentary link on number 4. Click here 

Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed reading my Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time list and last, but not least 🙂

Have a Happy Halloween
. .
U

John Charet’s Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time

-Introduction-

Last year around this time of year, I posted a blog entry regarding my Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time. As all of my dear readers are probably aware, I posted this year’s entry one week before Halloween (click here). As for Halloween 2024, I have posted a big treat, which comes in the form of my Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time. Now all of the films listed are not my only favorite horror films (I have an unlimited number), but this is a perfect start. I have decided to start with number 100 and work my way down to 01.

-The Opening Celebration-

First off, below are a few delightful links to check out 🙂

Click here to watch the complete 1983 music video of late iconic singer Michael Jackson’s (a.k.a. The King of Pop) song Thriller

Click here to listen to a shortened version of the song

Have any of you dear readers out there heard of The Merkins? Check out their youtube channel here. They do horror parodies of songs and one of their running acts is The Slashstreet Boys (a spoof of The Backstreet Boys) 🙂 The band consists of Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruegger and Ghostface 🙂 Below are three of my personal favorite parodies of theirs 🙂

Click here to view their spoof of I Want It That Way entitled I’ll Kill You That Way

Click here to view their spoof of Larger than Life entitled Die By My Knife

Click here to view their spoof of Rock Your Body Right entitled Slashing Bodies

-A Few Words Before Reading-

Please be kind to the film at number 07 on this list because that one means a lot to me. Any comment expressing negativity towards number 07 will be deleted. So once again, please be polite 🙂

Now, without further ado, I present to you all:

-John Charet’t Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time-
(#100-01)

100.) The Lighthouse (2019) (Dir: Robert Eggers)
99.) Frankenstein (1931) (Dir: James Whale)
98.) The Spiral Staircase (1946) (Dir: Robert Siodmak)
97.) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) (Dir: Robert Aldrich)
96.) Kwaidan (1964) (Dir: Masaki Kobayashi)

95.) The Exorcist (1973) (Dir: William Friedkin)
94.) The Changeling (1980) (Dir: Peter Medak)
93.) Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) (Dir: Francis Ford Coppola)
92.) The Orphanage (2007) (Dir: J.A. Bayona)
91.) Under the Shadow (2016) (Dir: Babak Anvari)
90.) The Invisible Man (1933) (Dir: James Whale)
89.) The Body Snatcher (1945) (Dir: Robert Wise)
88.) Kuroneko (1968) (Dir: Kaneto Shindo)
87.) Rosemary’s Baby (1968) (Dir: Roman Polanski)
86.) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (Dir: Tobe Hooper)
85.) God Told Me To (1976) (Dir: Larry Cohen)
84.) The Entity (1982) (Dir: Sidney J. Furie)
83.) Jacob’s Ladder (1990) (Dir: Adrian Lyne)
82.) Halloween II (2009) (Dir: Rob Zombie)
81.) Annihilation (2018) (Dir: Alex Garland)
80.) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) (Dir: Tobe Hooper)
79.) Twixt (2011) (Dir: Francis Ford Coppola)
78.) Bluebeard (1944) (Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer)
77.) Horror of Dracula (1958) (Dir: Terence Fisher)
76.) Island of Lost Souls (1932) (Dir: Erle C. Kenton)
75.) Onibaba (1964) (Dir: Kaneto Shindo)
74.) Night of the Living Dead (1968) (Dir: George A. Romero)
73.) Halloween (1978) (Dir: John Carpenter)
72.) Dead Alive (1992) (Dir: Peter Jackson)
71.) The Descent (2005) (Dir: Neil Marshall)
70.) The Lords of Salem (2012) (Dir: Rob Zombie)

69.) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (Dir: Rouben Mamoulian)
68.) The Leopard Man (1943) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)

67.) Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) (Dir: Terence Fisher)
66.) Blood and Black Lace (1964) (Dir: Mario Bava)
65.) The Tenant (1976) (Dir: Roman Polanski)
64.) Inferno (1980) (Dir: Dario Argento)
63.) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) (Dir: John McNaughton)
62.) Cemetery Man (1994) (Dir: Michele Soavi)
61.) Shaun of the Dead (2004) (Dir: Edgar Wright)
60.) The Phantom Carriage (1921) (Dir: Victor Sjostrom)
59.) Cat People (1942) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
58.) Psycho (1960) (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
57.) Kill, Baby… Kill! (1966) (Dir: Mario Bava)
56.) Suspiria (1977) (Dir: Dario Argento)
55.) Possession (1981) (Dir: Andrzej Zuwalski)
54.) The Fly (1986) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
53.) Cronos (1992) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro)
52.) Let the Right One In (2008) (Dir: Tomas Alfredson)
51.) The Babadook (2014) (Dir: Jennifer Kent)
50.) Nope (2022) (Dir: Jordan Peele)
49.) Haxan (1922) (Dir: Benjamin Christensen)
48.) The Old Dark House (1932) (Dir: James Whale)
47.) I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
46.) The Birds (1963) (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
45.) Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Dir: George A. Romero)
44.) Evil Dead II (1987) (Dir: Sam Raimi)
43.) Cure (1997) (Dir: Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
42.) Martyrs (2008) (Dir: Pascal Laughier)
41.) The Haunting of Hill House (2018) (Dir: Mike Flanagan)
(Miniseries)
(Streaming/Television)
40.) Pearl (2022) (Dir: Ti West)

39.) The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) (Dir: Jean Epstein)
38.) Freaks (1932) (Dir: Tod Browning)
37.) Dead of Night (1945) (Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer)
(Anthology Film)
36.) The Innocents (1961) (Dir: Jack Clayton)
35.) The Wicker Man (1973) (Dir: Robin Hardy)
34.) Dead Ringers (1988) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
33.) Ringu (1998) (Dir: Hideo Nakata)
32.) Rec (2007) (Dir: Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza)
31.) Under the Skin (2013) (Dir: Jonathan Glazer)
30.) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) (Dir: Robert Wiene)
29.) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) (Dir: James Whale)
28.) The Uninvited (1944) (Dir: Lewis Allen)
27.) Night of the Demon (1957) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
26.) The Haunting (1963) (Dir: Robert Wise)
25.) Eraserhead (1977) (Dir: David Lynch)
24.) The Thing (1982) (Dir: John Carpenter)
23.) Audition (1999) (Dir: Takashi Miike)
22.) Inside (2007) (Dir: Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)
21.) Mother! (2017) (Dir: Darren Aronofsky)
20.) Un Chien Andalou (1929) (Dir: Luis Bunuel)
(Short Cinema)
19.) The Black Cat (1934) (Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer)
18.) Isle of the Dead (1945) (Dir: Mark Robson)
17.) Peeping Tom (1960) (Dir: Michael Powell)
16.) Hour of the Wolf (1968) (Dir: Ingmar Bergman)
15.) Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) (Dir: John Hancock)
14.) Videodrome (1983) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
13.) The Kingdom Trilogy (1994/1997/2022) (Dir: Lars Von Trier)
(Danish Television)

12.) Pulse (2001) (Dir: Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
11.) Climax (2018) (Dir: Gaspar Noe)
10.) Vampyr (1932) (Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer)
09.) The Shining (1980) (Dir: Stanley Kubrick)
08.) Nosferatu (1922) (Dir: F.W. Murnau)
07.) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) (Dir: David Lynch)
06.) The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro)
05.) Midsommar (2019) (Dir: Ari Aster)
04.) The Seventh Victim (1943) (Dir: Mark Robson)
03.) Diabolique (1955) (Dir: Henri-Georges Clouzot)
02.) Eyes Without a Face (1960) (Dir: Georges Franju)
01.) Don’t Look Now (1973) (Dir: Nicolas Roeg)

P.S. I just added two links from this year’s blog entry regarding my Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time – a Kim Newman commentary link on number 3 and a documentary link on number 4. Click here 🙂

Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed reading my Top 100 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time list and last, but not least:

Have a Happy Halloween
. .
U

Halloween Post: John Charet’s Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time

Not quite my upcoming Top 10 Favorite of All-Time list, but equally interesting. This post is dedicated to what I consider to be my Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time 🙂 Once again, everyone’s personal favorite list is subjective (mine included), the following choices are my preferences and nobody else’s unless you completely agree with them 🙂 Also, sorry for the decrease in posts recently, I have just been so busy 🙂 Anyway, Happy Halloween to my dear readers and have a Happy Halloween 🙂 Now, without further ado, here are my following Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time below 🙂


-John Charet’s Top 10 Favorite Horror Films of All-Time-

  1. Night of the Demon (1957) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur) (United Kingdom)
  2. The Seventh Victim (1943) (Dir: Mark Robson) (United States)
  3. Eyes Without a Face (1960) (Dir: Georges Franju) (France/Italy)
  4. Vampyr (1932) (Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer) (Germany/France)
  5. The Fury (1978) (Dir: Brian De Palma) (United States)
  6. The Black Cat (1934) (Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer) (United States)
  7. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) (Dir: David Lynch) (France/United States)
  8. The Shining (1980) (Dir: Stanley Kubrick) (United States/United Kingdom)
  9. Midsommar (2019) (Dir: Ari Aster) (United States/Sweden)
  10. The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro) (Spain/Mexico)

Click here to view Night of the Demon’s original theatrical trailer, which was released here in the US under the title Curse of the Demon

Click here to view The Seventh Victim’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to view TCM’s Noir Alley host Eddie Mueller’s intro and outro to the film

Click here to view what may or may not be the French trailer for Eyes Without a Face
Click here to view British film critic Mark Kermode’s BFI Player choice of the week commentary
Click here to view Kermode’s Kermode Uncut commentary on it
Click here to view Mark Kermode’s Cult Film Corner entry on it from the mid-1990’s

Click here to view Vampyr’s 90th anniversary trailer
Click here to view Kermode’s BFI Player choice commentary on it

Click here to view The Fury’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to view British director Edgar Wright’s Trailers from Hell commentary on it

Click here to view The Black Cat’s original theatrical trailer

Click here to view Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to view another trailer for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Click here to view The Shining’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to view the 2016 BFI re-release trailer

Click here to view Midsommar’s original theatrical trailer

Click here to view The Devil’s Backbone’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to view Kermode’s BFI Player choice of the week commentary on it

Horror Films That I Love to Watch Each Year in October

First off, Happy Halloween to my dear readers and second, I would love to share with you all a list of horror films that I love to watch during the month of October. Now these are not the only horror films that I love, these are just the ones I love to watch during the aforementioned month. Anyway, enjoy the list below 🙂

Horror Films that I love to watch during the month of October (in chronological order)

  1. Cat People (1942) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
  2. The Ghost Ship (1943) (Dir: Mark Robson)
  3. I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
  4. The Leopard Man (1943) (Dir: Jacques Tourneur)
  5. The Seventh Victim (1943) (Dir: Mark Robson)
  6. The Curse of the Cat People (1944) (Dir: Robert Wise)
  7. The Body Snatcher (1945) (Dir: Robert Wise)
  8. Dead of Night (1945) (Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer)
    (Anthology)
  9. Isle of the Dead (1945) (Dir: Mark Robson)
  10. Bedlam (1946) (Dir: Mark Robson)
  11. The Birds (1963) (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
  12. Night of the Living Dead (1968) (Dir: George A. Romero)
  13. Shivers (1975) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
    (a.k.a. They Came from Within)
  14. Eraserhead (1977) (Dir: David Lynch)
  15. Rabid (1977) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
  16. Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Dir: George A. Romero)
  17. Halloween (1978) (Dir: John Carpenter)
  18. The Brood (1979) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
  19. An American Werewolf in London (1981) (Dir: John Landis)
  20. The Evil Dead (1981) (Dir: Sam Raimi)
  21. The Thing (1982) (Dir: John Carpenter)
  22. Re-Animator (1985) (Dir: Stuart Gordon)
  23. The Fly (1986) (Dir: David Cronenberg)
  24. From Beyond (1986) (Dir: Stuart Gordon)
  25. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) (Dir: John McNaughton)
    (Not released theatrically until 1990)
  26. Evil Dead II (1987) (Dir: Sam Raimi)
  27. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) (Dir: David Lynch)
  28. Cronos (1993) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro)
  29. The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (Dir: Guillermo del Toro)
  30. Shaun of the Dead (2004) (Dir: Edgar Wright)
  31. Let the Right One In (2008) (Dir: Tomas Alfredson)
  32. The Babadook (2014) (Dir: Jennifer Kent)
  33. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) (Dir: Ana Lily Amirpour)
  34. Raw (2016) (Dir: Julia Ducournau)
  35. Midsommar (2019) (Dir: Ari Aster)