What’s your favourite scary movie?

It’s not easy narrowing it down to just five, but this selection covers a terrifying mix of sub-genres, from slasher and zombie to torture, psychological and supernatural. All the good stuff. So sit back, grab the popcorn and enjoy… or don’t!

1. Halloween (1978)

It wouldn’t be Halloween without starting with the famous original slasher film. Everything began in 1973, when 6 year old Michael Myers murdered his sister on Halloween night and was sent to a mental institute. 15 years later, on Halloween eve, he escapes and returns to the small town of Haddonfield to kill again.

According to his doctor, Sam Loomis, Michael is the personification of evil. Which is why it is such a scary and suspenseful film. The film proves that horror doesn't need excessive gore or twisted storylines to be frightening. Sometimes all you need is a mysterious man in a scary mask and the feeling that you are being followed, with enough jump scares to keep you on the edge of your seat. Michael's slow, emotionless movements make him particularly unsettling.

Halloween (1978) became a defining cult classic that set the standard for modern slasher films; the masked killer, the runaway girl, the group of teenagers, the isolated suburban setting and the seemingly unstoppable murderer.

Since this original, there have been thirteen movies in the Halloween franchise where Michael has been shot, stabbed, blown up and run over but still continues to return and haunt the town of Haddonfield. All with an iconic theme tune to go with it.

2. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Blair Witch Project is a cutting-edge horror film about three film students who vanish after traveling into a forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.

The film's greatest strength is the use of the unknown. We rarely see exactly what is lurking in the woods which makes the film feel increasingly terrifying. Rather than showing us a monster or demon, The Blair Witch Project leaves almost everything to our imagination. Proving that imagination can be much scarier than anything you see on screen.

Blair Witch Project is a first-of-its-kind with its amateur, documentary-style approach. The whole film was shot almost entirely with handheld cameras. The lack of cinematic polish and use of shaky, poor quality footage makes the experience feel disturbingly real.

The Blair Witch project paved the way for found-footage horror films and has influenced further low-budget films like Rec and Paranormal Activity as a new way to experience horror.

Sometimes all you need is a camera, a dark forest and the suggestion that something is watching you.

3. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

From cult classics to a modern take. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple follows the sequel of 28 Years Later (a decade on from the virus outbreak in 28 Days Later) where Spike leaves his quarantine community and is initiated into a violent cult gang led by Jimmy. Dr. Kelson isolates himself in the bone temple, conjuring up research and antidotes with an unlikely friendship with an Alpha. Both stories collide to create a chaotic ending.

What makes The Bone Temple stand out is that it dares to do something different than the expected conventions of a zombie genre. While the infected remain an ever-present threat, they aren't necessarily the most frightening thing in the film. Instead, the focus shifts more dominantly towards humanity, compassion and human cruelty. The film suggests that the people left behind after the apocalypse can be just as dangerous, if not more so, than the infection itself.

It is equally disturbing as it is fun, hard to watch but hard to keep your eyes off. Plus as a heavy metal fan, the Iron Maiden scene is iconic. 🤘

4. Saw (2004)

Saw was originally created as a low budget indie hit that has since grown into one of the genre’s biggest franchises of “torture horror”.

Two strangers awaken in a dilapidated bathroom with no memory of how they ended up there. Both men find a tape recording in their pockets and soon realise they have been trapped in a "game" created by the infamous Jigsaw.

The original Saw was unlike anything else at the time. It combines claustrophobic tension, squirmish scenes and demented twists, all building towards one of the most memorable plot-twist endings of all time.

Since the original, the Saw franchise has expanded to ten films, with each film becoming increasingly elaborate, gruesome and troubling. While the original is not for the faint it is arguably the strongest place to start before the torture that follows.

5. Hereditary (2018)

Hereditary is a modern day horror classic that is surprisingly hard to explain and very ominous. When the mother of Annie Graham passes away, the family begins to unravel cryptic and terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

What makes Hereditary so effective is the way it builds its horror slowly. Rather than relying entirely on jump scares, the film creates a constant feeling that something is deeply wrong. The tension gradually becomes almost unbearable, helped by the unsettling sound design and cinematography that all contribute to a sense of dread.

At the centre of it all is Toni Collette, whose performance as Annie is extraordinary. She captures grief, anger, fear and desperation in a way that makes the family’s breakdown feel painfully real.