One great horror film from each year (2025-1918). Obviously there are more then one great horror film each year and some years were very difficult to decide just one!! There are also films not included such as personal all-time favorites (The Night of the Hunter or Coraline for example that might not be deemed as much a "horror" film as the choice made here). This is mostly just fun and want to bring attention to a great and long underappreciated genre of filmmaking.

Horror has seen a tremendous rise in the number of great films the last decade or so. To me the golden peak of quintessential horror is the era of 1965-1980.

2025… Sinners
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31193180/
Ryan Coogler, United States

2024… Chime
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30516366
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan

2023… The Outwaters
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13259610/
Robbie Banfitch, United States

2022… X
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13560574/
Ti West, United States

2021… Come True
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7026488/
Anthony Scott Burns, Canada

2020… Alone
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7711170/
John Hyams, United States

2019… Us
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6857112
Jordan Peele, United States

2018… Before I Wake
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3174376
Mike Flanagan, United States

2017… The Blackcoat's Daughter
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3286052/
Oz Perkins, Canada / United States

2016… The Witch
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4263482/
Robert Eggers, United States / United Kingdom

2015… Crimson Peak
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2554274/
Guillermo del Toro, United States / Canada

2014… The Babadook
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2321549/
Jennifer Kent, Australia

2013… The Lords of Salem
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1731697
Rob Zombie, United States

2012… The Innkeepers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1594562
Ti West, United States

2011… Absentia
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1610996
Mike Flanagan, United States

2010… The Crazies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455407
Breck Eisner, United States

2009… The House of the Devil
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172994
Ti West, United States

2008… Let the Right One In
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797
Tomas Alfredson, Sweden

2007… Bug
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470705
William Friedkin, United States / Germany

2006… The Descent
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625
Neil Marshall, United Kingdom

2005… The Devil's Rejects
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395584
Rob Zombie, United States

2004… Wolf Creek
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416315
Greg Mclean, Australia

2003… House of 1000 Corpses
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251736
Rob Zombie, United States

2002… Trouble Every Day
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204700
Claire Denis, France

2001… Pulse
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286751/
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan

2000… Audition
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235198/
Takashi Miike, Japan

1999… The Blair Witch Project
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937
Daniel Myrick / Eduardo Sánchez , United States

1998… Beloved
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120603
Jonathan Demme, United States

1997… The Cure
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123948/
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan

1996… Scream
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117571/
Wes Craven, United States

1995… Safe
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114323
Todd Haynes, United States

1994… In the Mouth of Madness
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113409
John Carpenter, United States

1993… The Dark Half
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106664
George Romero, United States

1992… Candyman
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103919
Bernard Rose, United States / United Kingdom

1991… The Silence of the Lambs
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926
Jonathan Demme, United States

1990… Gremlins 2: The New Batch
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099700
Joe Dante, United States

1989… The Church
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094860
Michele Soavi, Italy

1988… The Vanishing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096163
George Sluizer, Netherlands / France / West Germany

1987… Opera
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093677
Dario Argento, Italy

1986… The Fly
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/
David Cronenberg, United States / United Kingdom / Canada

1985… Day of the Dead
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088993
George Romero, United States

1984… Body Double
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086984
Brian De Palma, United States

1983… Videodrome
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541
David Cronenberg, Canada

1982… The Thing
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787
John Carpenter, United States

1981… The Evil Dead
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907
Sam Raimi, United States

1980… The Shining
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/
Stanley Kubrick, United States / United Kingdom

1979… The Brood
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078908
David Cronenberg, Canada

1978… Dawn of the Dead
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077402/
George Romero, United States

1977… Suspiria
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076786/
Dario Argento, Italy

1976… Carrie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074285
Brian De Palma, United States

1975… Deep Red
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073582
Dario Argento, Italy

1974… The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271
Tobe Hooper, United States

1973… Don't Look Now
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995
Nicolas Roeg, United Kingdom / Italy

1972… The Last House on the Left
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068833
Wes Craven, United States

1971… A Bay of Blood
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067656/
Mario Bava, Italy

1970… Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065738
Terence Fisher, United Kingdom

1969… The Oblong Box
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064747/
Gordon Hessler, United Kingdom

1968… Rosemary's Baby
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063522
Roman Polanski, United States

1967… Even the Wind is Afraid
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061752
Carlos Enrique Taboada, Mexico

1966… Kill, Baby, Kill
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060794
Mario Bava, Italy

1965… Repulsion
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059646
Roman Polanski, United Kingdom

1964… Onibaba
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058430
Kaneto Shindô, Japan

1963… The Whip and the Body
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057078
Mario Bava, Italy

1962… What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056687
Robert Aldrich, United States

1961… Eyes Without a Face
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053459
Georges Franju, France / Italy

1960… Psycho
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215
Alfred Hitchcock, United States

1959… The Tingler
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053363
William Castle, United States

1958… Fiend Without a Face
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050393/
Arthur Crabtree, United Kingdom

1957… The Incredible Shrinking Man
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050539
Jack Arnold, United States

1956… Invasion of the Body Snatchers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366
Don Siegel, United States

1955… Diabolique
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046911
Henri-Georges Clouzot, France

1954… Them!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573
Gordon Douglas, United States

1953… It Came From Outer Space
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045920
Jack Arnold, United States

1952… Sudden Fear
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045205
David Miller, United States

1951… The Thing From Another World
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121
Christian Nyby / Howard Hawks, United States

1950… Outrage
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042824
Ida Lupino, United States

1949… The Yotsuda Phantom
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042059
Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan

1948… Sorry, Wrong Number
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040823
Anatole Litvak, United States

1947… Fireworks
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039383
Kenneth Anger, United States

1946… The Beast With Five Fingers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038338
Robert Florey, United States

1945… Hangover Square
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037761
John Brahm, United States

1944… The Curse of the Cat People
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036733
Robert Wise / Gunther von Fritsch, United States

1943… The 7th Victim
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036341
Mark Robson, United States

1942… Cat People
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034587
Jacques Tourneur, United States

1941… The Devil and Daniel Webster
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033532
William Dieterle, United States

1940… The Son of Ingagi
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033075
Richard C. Kahn, United States

1939… The Hunchback of Notre Dame
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031455
William Dieterle, United States

1938… Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030734
George King, United Kingdom

1937… Song at Midnight
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206442
Ma-Xu Weibang, China

1936… The Walking Dead
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028478
Michael Curtiz, United States

1935… Bride of Frankenstein
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138
James Whale, United States

1934… The Black Cat
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024894
Edgar G. Ulmer, United States

1933… Vampyr
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023649
Carl Theodor Dreyer, Germany / France

1932… Freaks
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913
Tod Browning, United States

1931… M
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100
Fritz Lang, Germany

1930… The Cat Creeps
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020748
Rupert Julian / John Willard, United States

1929… Un Chien Andalou
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020530
Luis Buñuel, France

1928… The Fall of the House of Usher
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018873
James Sibley Watson / Melville Webber, United States

1927… The Unknown
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018528
Tod Browning, United States

1926… A Page of Madness
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017048
Teinosuke Kinugasa, Japan

1925… Phantom of the Opera
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016220
Rupert Julian / Lon Chaney, United States

1924… Waxworks
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014586
Leo Birinsky / Paul Leni, Germany

1923… N/A

1922… Nosferatu
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442
F.W. Murnau, Germany

1921… The Phantom Carriage
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012364
Victor Sjöström, Sweden

1920… The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323
Robert Wiene, Germany

1919… J'accuse
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010307
Abel Gance, France

1918… The Eyes of the Mummy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0008854
Ernst Lubitsch, Germany