Horror Movie Tier List, Decided Head-to-Head
All 32 films here, ranked by 257 players. Halloween leads: it wins 64.2% of its matchups (n = 503) and was champion in 18 of 257 brackets. Disagree? Your first pick is right here. No sign-up.
Size
The Cabin in the Woods2012
Psycho1960
Tap a poster to make your pick. Crowd numbers appear after you choose.
Horror Movies: the community’s best
Win rate across 6,415 head-to-head picks from 257 finished brackets. n is the number of matchups behind each win rate; only entrants with 30 or more are listed.
| # | Horror movie | W–L | Win rate | vs .500 | Titles | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halloween1978 | 323–180 | 64.2% | 18 | 503 | |
| 2 | Scream1996 | 338–191 | 63.9% | 21 | 529 | |
| 3 | The Thing1982 | 326–196 | 62.5% | 31 | 522 | |
| 4 | The Shining1980 | 317–192 | 62.3% | 11 | 509 | |
| 5 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre1974 | 292–205 | 58.8% | 16 | 497 | |
| 6 | It2017 | 279–199 | 58.4% | 17 | 478 | |
| 7 | The Conjuring2013 | 261–187 | 58.3% | 14 | 448 | |
| 8 | The Silence of the Lambs1991 | 267–208 | 56.2% | 11 | 475 |
Horror Movies: the community tier list
From 6,415 head-to-head picks in 257 finished brackets. Placed by win rate, steadied toward 50% for entrants with few matchups: S is 75% or more, A 60%, B 50%, C 40%, D 25%.
Stier, win rate 75% or more
- Nobody yet
Atier, win rate 60% or more
- Halloween
- Scream
- The Thing
- The Shining
Btier, win rate 50% or more
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- It
- The Conjuring
- The Silence of the Lambs
- The Exorcist
- Alien
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Hereditary
- + 3 more
Ctier, win rate 40% or more
- Friday the 13th
- Us
- The Ring
- A Quiet Place
- Psycho
- 28 Days Later
- The Cabin in the Woods
- The Babadook
- + 1 more
Dtier, win rate 25% or more
- The Witch
- Paranormal Activity
- Poltergeist
- Rosemary's Baby
- Candyman
- The Omen
- Suspiria
- Nope
Ftier, win rate 0% or more
- Nobody yet
How the Horror Movies bracket works
This horror movie tier list is played, not dragged into rows. You get one matchup at a time — The Shining or Get Out? Scream or The Exorcist? — and after 15 picks the bracket has a champion, with everything else placed by how far it got. Comparing two films is far easier than sorting 32 of them at once, which is why the finished list tends to survive a second look.
This bracket runs 4 rounds at the default 16-slot size (Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final), drawn from a pool of 32 films. The draw is seeded: the same for everyone today, different tomorrow, and different again whenever you press New draw. You can also play it at 8 or 32 slots for a shorter or longer run.
15 picks, 4 rounds
- Round of 168 matchups
- Quarterfinals4 matchups
- Semifinals2 matchups
- Final1 matchup
Roughly 1-2 minutes start to finish at the default size.
All 32 entrants
All 32 entrants are listed below, including The Shining, Get Out, Scream and The Exorcist. Updated
- The Shining1980
- Get Out2017
- Scream1996
- The Exorcist1973
- Halloween1978
- A Nightmare on Elm Street1984
- Hereditary2018
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre1974
- Psycho1960
- It2017
- The Conjuring2013
- Alien1979
- Midsommar2019
- The Ring2002
- Us2019
- The Silence of the Lambs1991
- Jaws1975
- The Thing1982
- Rosemary's Baby1968
- The Babadook2014
- The Witch2015
- A Quiet Place2018
- Friday the 13th1980
- The Omen1976
- Nope2022
- Poltergeist1982
- Candyman1992
- 28 Days Later2002
- Saw2004
- The Cabin in the Woods2012
- Paranormal Activity2007
- Suspiria1977
Tier list instead?
Load all 32 into the tier list maker and sort them into S through F yourself: same entrants, no matchups.
Open the tier list makerMissing something?
Build your own horror movie bracket with exactly the entrants you want, then share the link.
Open the bracket makerGetting a ranking you actually agree with
- Pick the film you would actually rewatch tonight, not the one with the better reputation.
- Start at 16 slots. If the result feels too obvious, replay at 32 so more of the 32 films make the field.
- Use undo the moment you regret a pick. One reflex answer in an early round can knock out a favourite before it gets going.
Questions people ask
What is the best horror movie?
According to 257 BracketRanker players, Halloween (1978). It wins 64.2% of its head-to-head matchups (n = 503) and was champion in 18 of 257 brackets (7%).
How many films are in the Horror Movies bracket?
The pool holds 32 films. A default run uses 16 of them and takes 15 picks across 4 rounds: Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final. Other field sizes are available too — 8, 16, 32 slots.
Which films are included?
The Shining, Get Out, Scream, The Exorcist, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hereditary, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Psycho, It, The Conjuring and Alien, plus 20 more. Every entrant is listed further down this page with its artwork.
How long does the Horror Movies bracket take?
About 1-2 minutes — 15 choices at the default size, or 7 if you drop to an 8-slot bracket. It works the same on a phone as on a desktop, no login is involved, and progress saves as you go.
How does this compare to a drag-and-drop tier list maker?
Both are here, and the bracket is closer to a tier list than it looks. It ends with a champion, a runner-up and then every other film grouped by the round it went out in — which is exactly a set of tiers, decided by 15 direct comparisons rather than by your first guess at a layout. What it deliberately does not do is claim a precise gap between two films that never met. If you would rather place the films into S through F rows yourself, the tier list maker loads all 32 of them at bracketranker.com/tier-list-maker.
How did everyone else rank these films?
Every completed bracket feeds the Horror Movies community results page, which aggregates win rates across all plays and tracks how often each of the 32 entrants takes the title. It updates continuously, so it moves as more people play.
Can I build my own horror movies bracket?
Use the bracket maker: add your own films, name it, and share the link so other people play the same field. That is the route to take when this pool of 32 is missing something you would have picked, or when you want a version scoped to one era, label or franchise.