Historically low gas prices. A boy band for every block. Philips CD-i. POGS. Maybe we just had it too good during the ’90s because audiences weren’t flocking much to horror movies this decade. As a result, there are less entries here than on our ’70s and ’80s lists. Nevertheless, if you feel like getting grungy and/or jiggy with it (in whichever order, we’re fair) then check out Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the 40 Best ’90s Horror Movies!
The first half of this decade was notoriously rough for horror, as diminishing production value, lost craft, and sequel bloat buried the genre. Jason, Michael, and Freddy all got canceled, with only Wes Craven’s New Nightmare getting good enough reviews to show up on this list. Even more, New Nightmare‘s post-modern meta-story would pave the way for Craven’s own Scream, which would revive horror leading into the 21st century. Other highlights from this era in horror movies include the only one to ever win Best Picture (The Silence of the Lambs), the rise of Peter Jackson (Dead Alive, The Frighteners) and Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, Mimic), sophisticated adult fare (Jacob’s Ladder, Candyman), and winking B-movie mashups (From Dusk Till Dawn, Tremors).
Like a kiss from a rose or a rotting vegetable, here comes the best scary 1990s movies…TO THE EXTREME! —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 99986%
Critics Consensus: Ringu combines supernatural elements with anxieties about modern technology in a truly frightening and unnerving way.
#2
Adjusted Score: 109098%
Critics Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme’s smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.
#3
Adjusted Score: 96295%
Critics Consensus: Arachnophobia may not deliver genuine chills, but it’s an affectionate, solidly built tribute to Hollywood’s classic creature features.
#4
Adjusted Score: 97061%
Critics Consensus: Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date.
#5
Adjusted Score: 95214%
Critics Consensus: Guillermo del Toro’s unique feature debut is not only gory and stylish, but also charming and intelligent.
#6
Adjusted Score: 92694%
Critics Consensus: The delightfully gonzo tale of a lovestruck teen and his zombified mother, Dead Alive is extremely gory and exceedingly good fun, thanks to Peter Jackson’s affection for the tastelessly sublime.
#7
Adjusted Score: 91867%
Critics Consensus: An affectionate throwback to 1950s creature features, Tremors reinvigorates its genre tropes with a finely balanced combination of horror and humor.
#8
Adjusted Score: 94605%
Critics Consensus: Full of creepy campfire scares, mock-doc The Blair Witch Project keeps audiences in the dark about its titular villain, proving once more that imagination can be as scary as anything onscreen.
#9
Adjusted Score: 94153%
Critics Consensus: M Night Shayamalan’s The Sixth Sense is a twisty ghost story with all the style of a classical Hollywood picture, but all the chills of a modern horror flick.
#10
Adjusted Score: 86690%
Critics Consensus: An audacious, unsettling Japanese horror film from director Takashi Miike, Audition entertains as both a grisly shocker and a psychological drama.
#11
Adjusted Score: 87529%
Critics Consensus: As with the first film, Scream 2 is a gleeful takedown of scary movie conventions that manages to poke fun at terrible horror sequels without falling victim to the same fate.
#12
Adjusted Score: 87030%
Critics Consensus: Horror icon Wes Craven’s subversive deconstruction of the genre is sly, witty, and surprisingly effective as a slasher film itself, even if it’s a little too cheeky for some.
#13
Adjusted Score: 86368%
Critics Consensus: Though it ultimately sacrifices some mystery in the name of gory thrills, Candyman is a nuanced, effectively chilling tale that benefits from an interesting premise and some fine performances.
#14
Adjusted Score: 81632%
Critics Consensus: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare adds an unexpectedly satisfying – not to mention intelligent – meta layer to a horror franchise that had long since lost its way.
#15
Adjusted Score: 83837%
Critics Consensus: Overblown in the best sense of the word, Francis Ford Coppola’s vision of Bram Stoker’s Dracula rescues the character from decades of campy interpretations — and features some terrific performances to boot.
#16
Adjusted Score: 84043%
Critics Consensus: Mute Witness is a slickly crafted horror/thriller with some surprising comic twists.
#17
Adjusted Score: 81469%
Critics Consensus: Claustrophobic and quirky horror, this is a decently dirty debut for director Todd Haynes.
#18
Adjusted Score: 75580%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#19
Adjusted Score: 71091%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#20
Adjusted Score: 79821%
Critics Consensus: A powerful, emotional and successful film adaptation of the original novel.
#21
Adjusted Score: 77583%
Critics Consensus: Even with its disorienting leaps of logic and structure, Jacob’s Ladder is an engrossing, nerve-shattering experience.
#22
Adjusted Score: 76298%
Critics Consensus: Gremlins 2 trades the spiky thrills of its predecessor for looney satire, yielding a succession of sporadically clever gags that add some flavor to a recycled plot.
#23
Adjusted Score: 72918%
Critics Consensus: Violent images and blunt audience provocation make up this nihilistic experiment from one of cinema’s more difficult filmmakers.
#24
Adjusted Score: 47432%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#25
Adjusted Score: 76119%
Critics Consensus: It isn’t Tim Burton’s best work, but Sleepy Hollow entertains with its stunning visuals and creepy atmosphere.
#26
Adjusted Score: 72256%
Critics Consensus: Held aloft by gonzo black comedy and socially conscious subtext, The People Under The Stairs marks a unique — though wildly uneven — change of pace for director Wes Craven.
#27
Adjusted Score: 72214%
Critics Consensus: Body Snatchers may not topple previous adaptions, but it boasts an effective sense of dread and strong characterizations.
#28
Adjusted Score: 73102%
Critics Consensus: Kevin Bacon’s acting is so genuine that it’s creepy and director David Keopp knows how to create true suspense.
#29
Adjusted Score: 75878%
Critics Consensus: Some of the evil magic is gone as this trilogy capper dispenses with most of the scares, but Bruce Campbell’s hammy charm and Sam Raimi’s homage to classic visual effects make for a fun enough adventure.
#30
Adjusted Score: 71377%
Critics Consensus: Marking a further escalation in David Lynch’s surrealist style, Lost Highway is a foreboding mystery that arguably leads to a dead end, although it is signposted throughout with some of the director’s most haunting images yet.
#31
Adjusted Score: 70244%
Critics Consensus: Night of the Living Dead doesn’t quite reinvent the original’s narrative, but its sleek action and amplified gore turn it into a worthy horror showcase.
#32
Adjusted Score: 69385%
Critics Consensus: Though hampered by an uneven second half, It supplies a wealth of funhouse thrills and an idelible turn from Tim Curry as Pennywise.
#33
Adjusted Score: 69397%
Critics Consensus: Boasting top-notch special effects and exuberant direction from Peter Jackson, The Frighteners is visually striking but tonally uneven.
#34
Adjusted Score: 67286%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#35
Adjusted Score: 67183%
Critics Consensus: Tim Matheson’s gripping performance and a strong mood make Sometimes They Come Back an effective, if not wholly revelatory, Stephen King adaptation.
#36
Adjusted Score: 66610%
Critics Consensus: Mimic finds director Guillermo del Toro struggling to inject his unique sensibilities into a studio picture – and delivering just enough genre thrills to recommend.
#37
Adjusted Score: 65162%
Critics Consensus: Nadja approaches the Dracula legend from an idiosyncratic angle – and with just enough visual style to overcome uneven storytelling.
#38
Adjusted Score: 67188%
Critics Consensus: Despite lacking some of the book’s subtler shadings, and suffering from some clumsy casting, Interview with a Vampire benefits from Neil Jordan’s atmospheric direction and a surfeit of gothic thrills.
#39
Adjusted Score: 66608%
Critics Consensus: Though it is ultimately somewhat undone by its own lofty ambitions, The Devil’s Advocate is a mostly effective blend of supernatural thrills and character exploration.
#40
Adjusted Score: 67058%
Critics Consensus: Wolf misses the jugular after showing flashes of killer instinct early on, but engaging stars and deft direction make this a unique horror-romance worth watching.
#41
Adjusted Score: 66028%
Critics Consensus: A pulpy crime drama/vampire film hybrid, From Dusk Till Dawn is an uneven but often deliriously enjoyable B-movie.
#42
Adjusted Score: 65072%
Critics Consensus: Cube sometimes struggles with where to take its intriguing premise, but gripping pace and an impressive intelligence make it hard to turn away.
#43
Adjusted Score: 64036%
Critics Consensus: If you’re only going to watch one black comedy about a real-life explorer whose fellow travelers ended up eaten, make it Cannibal! The Musical.
#44
Adjusted Score: 64980%
Critics Consensus: Raising Cain doesn’t rank with Brian De Palma’s best work, but John Lithgow’s spellbinding split-personality performance makes this thriller hard to dismiss.
#45
Adjusted Score: 62283%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#46
Adjusted Score: 62635%
Critics Consensus: Cemetery Man will frustrate viewers seeking narrative cohesion or coherence, but this surreal blend of humor and horror should satisfy B-movie fans in the mood for quirk.
#47
Adjusted Score: 16951%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#48
Adjusted Score: 61643%
Critics Consensus: The Dark Half is a highly serious psychological study that can be faulted for being more curious than actually scary.
#49
Adjusted Score: 59213%
Critics Consensus: Lord of Illusions may come as something of a disappointment in the context of writer-director Clive Barker’s best work, but genre fans should be reasonably diverted.
#50
Adjusted Score: 59041%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#51
Adjusted Score: 60739%
Critics Consensus: The Craft‘s campy magic often overrides the feminist message at its story’s core, but its appealing cast and postmodern perspective still cast a sporadic spell.
#52
Adjusted Score: 60000%
Critics Consensus: If it fails to make the most of its intriguing premise, In the Mouth of Madness remains a decent enough diversion for horror fans and John Carpenter completists.
#53
Adjusted Score: 62390%
Critics Consensus: The Exorcist III is a talky, literary sequel with some scary moments that rival anything from the original.
#54
Adjusted Score: 60432%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#55
Adjusted Score: 59236%
Critics Consensus: Rip-off of other sci-fi thrillers.
#56
Adjusted Score: 59720%
Critics Consensus: Hawn and Streep are as fabulous as Death Becomes Her‘s innovative special effects; Zemeckis’ satire, on the other hand, is as hollow as the world it mocks.
#57
Adjusted Score: 55178%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#58
Adjusted Score: 46469%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#59
Adjusted Score: 57653%
Critics Consensus: Halloween: H2O is the best of the many sequels, yet still pales in comparison to the original Halloween.
#60
Adjusted Score: 55824%
Critics Consensus: A somewhat disturbing movie that works as a suspenseful thriller, yet isn’t completely satisfying.
#61
Adjusted Score: 53623%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#62
Adjusted Score: 53673%
Critics Consensus: Ravenous tries bringing cannibal horror into an Old West setting, ending up with an uneven blend that will fail to satisfy most fans of either genre.
#63
Adjusted Score: 53489%
Critics Consensus: A meandering, mindless family movie that frequently resorts to special effects and transparent sappiness.
#64
Adjusted Score: 53340%
Critics Consensus: Nightbreed‘s imaginative world-building and startling creature designs are no match for its clumsy, uneven plotting.
#65
Adjusted Score: 15485%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#66
Adjusted Score: 47291%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#67
Adjusted Score: 49917%
Critics Consensus: Bride of Chucky is devoid of any fright and the franchise has become tiresomely self-parodic, although horror fans may find some pleasure in this fourth entry’s camp factor.
#68
Adjusted Score: 49914%
Critics Consensus: A by-the-numbers slasher that arrived a decade too late, the mostly tedious I Know What You Did Last Summer will likely only hook diehard fans of the genre.
#69
Adjusted Score: 47213%
Critics Consensus: Species shows flashes of the potential to blend exploitation and sci-fi horror in ingenious ways, but is ultimately mainly interested in flashing star Natasha Henstridge’s skin.
#70
Adjusted Score: 42873%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#71
Adjusted Score: 41041%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#72
Adjusted Score: 40431%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#73
Adjusted Score: 39072%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#74
Adjusted Score: 41064%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#75
Adjusted Score: 40414%
Critics Consensus: Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s supernatural coming of age tale is let down by poor directing and even poorer plotting — though Kristy Swanson and Paul Reubens’ game performances still manage to slay.
#76
Adjusted Score: 34712%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#77
Adjusted Score: 19538%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#78
Adjusted Score: 34013%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#79
Adjusted Score: 33503%
Critics Consensus: Unsophisticated and unoriginal film fails to produce scares.
#80
Adjusted Score: 30018%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#81
Adjusted Score: 29735%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#82
Adjusted Score: 27607%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#83
Adjusted Score: 30445%
Critics Consensus: Elements of Scream reappear in a vastly inferior vehicle.
#84
Adjusted Score: 26458%
Critics Consensus: Wishmaster searches for horror in the exploits of a supernatural being — one whose powers, alas, evidently do not include the ability to summon a compelling script.
#85
Adjusted Score: 27000%
Critics Consensus: The Good Son is never good enough to live up to its unsettling potential, failing to drum up much suspense and unable to make Macaulay Culkin a credible psychopath.
#86
Adjusted Score: 25145%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#87
Adjusted Score: 24343%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#88
Adjusted Score: 24204%
Critics Consensus: As disposable as its predecessor is indispensable, The Rage: Carrie 2 mimics the arc of Stephen King’s classic story without adding anything of value.
#89
Adjusted Score: 25164%
Critics Consensus: Larry Drake’s deranged performance as the titular doctor is just about all that distinguishes Dr. Giggles from its slasher brethren.
#90
Adjusted Score: 26255%
Critics Consensus: The story is unconvincing and the acting is weak.
#91
Adjusted Score: 24555%
Critics Consensus: Reducing the once-terrifying Dream Reaper into a goofy caricature, this joyless climax will leave audiences hoping Freddy stays dead.
#92
Adjusted Score: 23724%
Critics Consensus: Doubling down on gore while largely abandoning the subtext and wit that made the original worthwhile, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh disappoints.
#93
Adjusted Score: 21383%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#94
Adjusted Score: 10205%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#95
Adjusted Score: 21763%
Critics Consensus: Sophisticated visual effects fail to offset awkward performances and an uneven script.
#96
Adjusted Score: 16975%
Critics Consensus: A bland, weightless horror film that seems to want to mock itself as the proceedings drag on.
#97
Adjusted Score: 18149%
Critics Consensus: The Next Generation has the fortune of starring early-career Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger, but it services neither headliner well in a convoluted and cheap-looking slasher that doesn’t live up to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre legacy.
#98
Adjusted Score: 16459%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#99
Adjusted Score: 16143%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#100
Adjusted Score: 17108%
Critics Consensus: An uneasy mix of slapstick and gore, Idle Hands lacks the manic energy and comedic inspiration required to pull off its goofy premise.