Top Tier Slasher/Survival Horror Movies
by Encyclopedia_of_Horror | created - 28 Jan 2017 | updated - 8 months ago | PublicA list of the very best slasher and survival horror movies, all rated 8+ by Eric Myford, author of The Encyclopedia of Horror & Suspense Movies book series...
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1. Candyman (1992)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
Director: Bernard Rose | Stars: Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Kasi Lemmons
Votes: 100,094 | Gross: $25.79M
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon
Votes: 262,255 | Gross: $25.50M
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
R | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror
A psychiatrist familiar with knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 90,211 | Gross: $44.79M
4. The Burning (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
A former summer camp caretaker, horribly burned from a prank gone wrong, lurks around an upstate New York summer camp bent on killing the teenagers responsible for his disfigurement.
Director: Tony Maylam | Stars: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua
Votes: 22,259
5. Hatchet (2006)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
When a group of tourists in a New Orleans haunted swamp tour find themselves stranded in the wilderness, their evening of fun and spooks turns into a horrific nightmare.
Director: Adam Green | Stars: Kane Hodder, Joel David Moore, Deon Richmond, Amara Zaragoza
Votes: 33,537 | Gross: $0.16M
6. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
The next great killer and psychopath has given a documentary film crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the quiet town of Glen Echo.
Director: Scott Glosserman | Stars: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Robert Englund
Votes: 25,426 | Gross: $0.07M
7. Wolf Creek (2005)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Votes: 78,308 | Gross: $16.19M
8. Wolf Creek 2 (2013)
Not Rated | 106 min | Horror, Thriller
The outback once more becomes a place of horror as another unwitting tourist becomes the prey for crazed, serial-killing pig-hunter Mick Taylor.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: John Jarratt, Ryan Corr, Shannon Ashlyn, Philippe Klaus
Votes: 22,679
9. Friday the 13th (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan
Votes: 157,327 | Gross: $39.75M
10. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
After being announced dead and taken to a morgue, Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives, escapes from the hospital, and stalks a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, Peter Barton, Kimberly Beck
Votes: 59,109 | Gross: $32.98M
11. Murder Party (2007)
Not Rated | 79 min | Comedy, Horror
A random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Chris Sharp, Kate Porterfield, Tess Porterfield Lovell, Puff Snooty
Votes: 12,294
12. Child's Play (1988)
R | 87 min | Horror, Thriller
A struggling single mother unknowingly gifts her son a doll imbued with a serial killer's consciousness.
Director: Tom Holland | Stars: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif
Votes: 116,618 | Gross: $33.24M
13. Curse of Chucky (2013)
R | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
After her mother's mysterious death, Nica begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to recent bloodshed and chaos.
Director: Don Mancini | Stars: Chantal Quesnelle, Fiona Dourif, Jordan Gavaris, Danielle Bisutti
Votes: 43,555 | Gross: $3.80M
14. Black Christmas (1974)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon
Votes: 48,315 | Gross: $4.05M
15. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,402 | Gross: $30.86M
16. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Unrated | 101 min | Comedy, Horror
A radio host is victimized by the cannibal family as a former Texas marshal hunts them.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Jim Siedow, Bill Moseley
Votes: 37,935 | Gross: $8.03M
17. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
R | 98 min | Horror
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a deformed chainsaw-wielding loon and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
Director: Marcus Nispel | Stars: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Andrew Bryniarski, Erica Leerhsen
Votes: 152,324 | Gross: $80.57M
18. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
R | 107 min | Horror, Thriller
A traveling family falls victim to a group of mutated cannibals in a desert far away from civilization.
Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Dan Byrd, Emilie de Ravin
Votes: 183,164 | Gross: $41.78M
19. Calvaire (2004)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Marc, a traveling entertainer, is on his way home for Christmas when his van breaks down in the middle of a jerkwater town with some strange inhabitants.
Director: Fabrice du Welz | Stars: Laurent Lucas, Brigitte Lahaie, Gigi Coursigny, Jean-Luc Couchard
Votes: 13,780 | Gross: $0.00M
20. Death Proof (2007)
R | 127 min | Action, Thriller
Two separate sets of voluptuous women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his "death proof" cars to execute his murderous plans.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito
Votes: 313,630
21. Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.
Director: Narciso Ibáñez Serrador | Stars: Lewis Fiander, Prunella Ransome, Antonio Iranzo, Miguel Narros
Votes: 8,024
22. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
Bunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
Director: Robert Hiltzik | Stars: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields, Christopher Collet
Votes: 38,010 | Gross: $11.00M
23. Shuttle (2008)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A late night airport shuttle ride home descends into darkness.
Director: Edward Anderson | Stars: Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cameron Goodman, Cullen Douglas
Votes: 6,076 | Gross: $0.01M
24. Manhunt (2008)
78 min | Horror
The summer of 1974, four young people are all ambushed and left unconscious. They wake up deep in the woods with no one around but the sound of a hunting horn.
Director: Patrik Syversen | Stars: Henriette Bruusgaard, Jørn Bjørn Fuller Gee, Lasse Valdal, Nini Bull Robsahm
Votes: 4,433
25. Final Destination (2000)
R | 98 min | Horror, Thriller
After getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them.
Director: James Wong | Stars: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke
Votes: 279,245 | Gross: $53.33M
26. Final Destination 2 (2003)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
Death is stalking Kimberly Corman and multiple survivors of a deadly highway accident.
Director: David R. Ellis | Stars: A.J. Cook, Ali Larter, Tony Todd, Michael Landes
Votes: 181,838 | Gross: $46.96M
27. Inside (2007)
R | 82 min | Horror
Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.
Directors: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury | Stars: Alysson Paradis, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin, Claude Lulé, Dominique Frot
Votes: 44,664
28. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 306,601 | Gross: $47.00M
29. Halloween II (1981)
R | 92 min | Horror
While Dr. Loomis hunts for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and The Shape is not far behind her.
Director: Rick Rosenthal | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer
Votes: 101,650 | Gross: $25.53M
30. Scream (1996)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich
Votes: 388,132 | Gross: $103.05M
31. High Tension (2003)
R | 91 min | Horror
Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.
Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Cécile de France, Maïwenn, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun
Votes: 77,801 | Gross: $3.68M
32. House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
R | 89 min | Horror
Two young couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of murder end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Sid Haig, Karen Black, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie
Votes: 93,316 | Gross: $12.63M
33. The Devil's Rejects (2005)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, William Forsythe
Votes: 105,725 | Gross: $17.04M
34. Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Horror
A supernatural, maniac killer cop teams up with a Times Square serial killer.
Director: William Lustig | Stars: Robert Davi, Claudia Christian, Michael Lerner, Bruce Campbell
Votes: 8,626
35. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 717,777 | Gross: $32.00M
36. Severance (2006)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Horror
During a team-building retreat in the mountains a group of sales representatives are hunted down one by one.
Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens
Votes: 40,675 | Gross: $0.14M
37. Waxwork (1988)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Horror
A wax museum owner uses his horror exhibits to unleash evil on the world.
Director: Anthony Hickox | Stars: Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Jennifer Bassey, Joe Baker
Votes: 14,031 | Gross: $0.81M
38. Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror
Affable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.
Director: Eli Craig | Stars: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Votes: 193,414 | Gross: $0.22M
39. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of high-schoolers invite Mandy Lane, an innocent, desirable girl, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop mysteriously.
Director: Jonathan Levine | Stars: Amber Heard, Anson Mount, Whitney Able, Michael Welch
Votes: 34,752
40. The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
R | 100 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.
Director: Ryûhei Kitamura | Stars: Vinnie Jones, Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields
Votes: 71,095 | Gross: $0.08M
41. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,335
42. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
R | 79 min | Horror, Thriller
Little Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18 and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa himself.
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr. | Stars: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson
Votes: 18,799 | Gross: $2.49M
43. The Collection (II) (2012)
R | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
A man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as "The Collector" is then forced to help rescue an innocent girl from the killer's booby-trapped lair.
Director: Marcus Dunstan | Stars: Josh Stewart, Emma Fitzpatrick, Christopher McDonald, Randall Archer
Votes: 54,040 | Gross: $12.84M
44. A Bay of Blood (1971)
R | 84 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller