One of the most storied and beloved brands of film ever made, the horror genre has played host to some of the greatest movies of all time. Producing an array of lauded offerings that have the potential to haunt their viewers long after they’re over, this particular form of cinema has witnessed some of the most celebrated and influential movies in the history of popular culture, inspiring countless imitations and parodies through their unsettling themes, motifs, and characters.
Dotted among these electrifying offerings are a selection of fast-paced horror movies that keep their viewers entertained from start to finish. Leveraging incomparably high stakes, petrifying villains, and nightmarish subject matter to the fullest extent imaginable, many of these films are so relentlessly engaging that viewers would have to be made of stone to not find themselves enthralled by the high-paced outing unfolding onscreen. From horror stories that could feasibly take place in the real world to terrifying accounts of supernatural tormentors, the genre has a delightful habit of serving up some thoroughly gripping entries.
10
Green Room (2016)
Directed By Jeremy Saulnier
Earning glowing reviews, Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room is one of the most impressive indie horror movies ever made. The 2016 film follows the Ain’t Rights, a punk band besieged by a gang of neo-Nazis after witnessing a murder at a gig. Led by the late Anton Yelchin, the movie is also notable for featuring Sir Patrick Stewart playing against type in exemplary fashion, taking on the role of the skinheads’ ruthless leader.
To say that Green Room is quite a fast-paced horror movie is akin to stating that Mike Tyson used to hit people quite hard. Racing from one nightmarish scenario to another, Saulnier’s picture is an adrenaline-soaked thrill ride from start to finish. The film’s blend of relentlessly high stakes and brutal violence lends to an invariably white-knuckle viewing experience, a state of affairs aided by the cast’s stellar performances.
9
Smile (2022)
Directed By Parker Finn
Following Sosie Bacon’s Rose Cotter as she is tormented by a grinning supernatural enтιтy, 2022’s Smile proved to be one of the genre’s most exciting new arrivals. A major critical and commercial success, Parker Finn’s offering has already spawned a sequel, while Smile 3 is also in the works. Much of this success is due to the film’s electric pacing and unsettling visuals, a simmering cocktail of polished horror elements that never ceases to entertain and unnerve in equal measure.
Receiving effusive praise from critics, Bacon’s engrossing lead performance means that viewers quite literally live out Cotter’s waking nightmare. Consistently leaving audiences teetering on the edge of their seats, Smile’s meticulously implemented jump scares never fail to leave hearts pounding, without ever coming across as lazy or contrived. As such, there isn’t a dull moment to be found throughout Finn’s lauded picture.
8
28 Days Later (2002)
Directed By Danny Boyle
The looming release of the long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later has likely come as a delightful piece of news for anybody acquainted with the franchise’s original outing, 28 Days Later. Led by Cillian Murphy, Danny Boyle’s 2002 offering depicts an apocalyptic world left in ruins by the outbreak of the Rage Virus, a highly contagious disease that leaves the infected in a permanent state of feral aggression.
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28 Days Later Franchise Entries by Year |
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score |
|---|---|
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28 Days Later (2002) |
87% |
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28 Weeks Later (2007) |
72% |
|
28 Years Later (2025) |
TBD |
Widely regarded as one of the best and most influential British horror movies ever made, 28 Days Later combines sharp social commentary with one of the most terrifying zombie pictures ever made for a legitimately visceral viewing experience. The film’s furious pace and constant air of tension is carefully maintained across 113 nailbiting minutes, culminating in one of the finest subgenre offerings ever conceived.
7
No One Will Save You (2023)
Directed By Bryan Duffield
Notable for only featuring a few lines of dialogue, what 2023’s No One Will Save You lacks in instantly quotable soundbites, it more than compensates for in the thrill-seeking department. Brian Duffield’s sci-fi horror picture follows Kaitlyn Dever’s Brynn, a social outcast who is forced to fight off a terrifying home invasion by a mysterious group of aliens.
Brynn only has one line of dialogue throughout No One Will Save You.
An unabated joyride of emotional carnage and fully-fledged horror, No One Will Save You stamps its foot on the gas in the early goings and doesn’t remove it until the credits roll. Dever effortlessly captivates in the leading role, deftly balancing tender vulnerability with ferocious resilience to highlight the reasons behind her recent casting as The Last of Us’ iconic antagonist Abby. An ambitious and fresh take on the genre, this superb offering highlights that dialogue is not an iron-clad prerequisite for a thoroughly entertaining movie.
6
Train To Busan (2016)
Directed By Yeon Sang-Ho
A front-runner for the greatest Korean horror movie of all time, 2016’s Train to Busan chronicles the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse from the perspective of pᴀssengers aboard the тιтular locomotive. Starring Squid Game alum Gong Yoo in the leading role as a father trying to get his estranged daughter to safety, Yeon Sang-Ho’s offering blends terrifying horror with a cutting social critique to produce a gripping horror movie that hurtles along like a bullet train with the brakes removed.
Train to Busan boasts an approval rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
A host of rich and compelling characters seamlessly carry this exemplary zombie picture from one nightmarish scenario to another, a status quo aided by the uniquely claustrophobic atmosphere and terrifying visuals that the movie’s premise presents. The action is thrilling and the emotional heft is devastating, a chaotic medley of the highest stakes imaginable that invariably leaves viewers with bated breath.
5
The Descent (2005)
Directed By Neil Marshall
Boasting a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 87%, Neil Marshall’s The Descent is widely viewed as one of the best horror movies of the 2000s. The 2005 film follows a group of friends who become trapped in a cave system, where they are beset upon by nightmarish humanoid creatures. A riveting offering of the highest order, The Descent’s claustrophobic setting in the bowels of the earth makes for heart-pounding viewing in and of itself, long before its protagonists encounter their terrifying foes.
The superb performances from the talented all-female cast lend a notable air of terrifying authenticity to this subterranean cinematic hell…
However, the creatures’ arrival and their subsequent attempts to rip the human interlopers limb from limb kicks the movie’s pacing into overdrive, heralding one of the most visceral and gripping viewing experiences of the century. The superb performances from the talented all-female cast lend a notable air of terrifying authenticity to this subterranean cinematic hell, while Marshall’s nerve-jangling action sequences are enough to prompt viewers to bite their fingernails down to the bone.
4
Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (2013)
Directed By Fede Álvarez
One of the most beloved horror movie franchises of all time, Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ returned from an absence of more than twenty years with an almighty bang. This took the form of Fede Álvarez’s debut directorial debut, 2013’s Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, a well received reboot that breathed new life into the seemingly stagnant franchise. Starring Jane Levy, the supernatural horror depicts the trials and tribulations of five friends at a secluded cabin, as they find themselves tormented by demonic forces.
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Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Franchise Entries by Year |
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score |
|---|---|
|
The Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (1981) |
86% |
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Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ II (1987) |
88% |
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Army of Darkness (1992) |
68% |
|
Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (2013) |
63% |
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Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Rise (2023) |
84% |
Billed as “The Most Terrifying Film That You Will Ever Experience,” Alvarez made good on his word with an unholy triumph of a horror movie. Grabbing its audience’s attention by the throat in the very first scene, Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ’s exhilarating concoction of gruesome violence and legitimately terrifying visuals holds on тιԍнт and doesn’t let go until the credits roll on this blood-soaked bonanza.
3
You’re Next (2013)
Directed By Adam Wingard
A notoriously underrated hidden gem for the slasher subgenre, Adam Wingard’s You’re Next rarely gets the appreciation that it deserves despite a slew of excellent reviews upon release. Chronicling a hellish attack on a family reunion by a group of masked killers, the 2011 film follows Sharni Vinson’s Erin, the girlfriend of the family’s middle child, as she attempts to fight back against her terrifying tormentors.
…You’re Next’s rapid-fire cocktail of sick laughs, wicked suspense, and supremely graphic violence makes for a glorious romp of a horror film.
Featuring some of the more brutal onscreen kills in recent memory while gleefully leveraging a sense of macabre humor, You’re Next’s rapid-fire cocktail of sick laughs, eerie suspense, and supremely graphic violence makes for a glorious romp of a horror film. Boasting one of the more notable ᴀss-kicking final girls that the genre has ever witnessed in Vinson’s survivalist expert Erin, Wingard’s picture has lost none of the entertainment factor that gained it cult classic status in the first instance.
2
Don’t Breathe (2016)
Directed By Fede Álvarez
Establishing himself as an electrifying modern horror director of the highest order with 2013’s Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Fede Álvarez followed up his feature film debut with a sophomore outing that gave his foray into the storied horror franchise a run for its money. A home invasion flick with a devilish twist, 2016’s Don’t Breathe follows a failed burglary perpetrated by three young delinquents, who instead find themselves hunted through the property by its owner, a blind Gulf War veteran brought to life by Stephen Lang.
Providing an inspired take on the tried and tested home invasion flick formula, Alvarez’s taut and claustrophobic offering is just as enthralling as its 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes would suggest. A preeminent genre case study in how to do a lot with a little, Don’t Breathe’s relentless air of danger and hair-raising twists and turns means that viewers consistently find themselves holding their breath alongside Jane Levy’s Rocky.
1
Ready Or Not (2019)
Directed By Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet
One of the most underrated movies currently streaming on Disney+, 2019’s Ready or Not never fails to amuse and enthrall in equal measure. The film follows Samara Weaving’s Grace, a young bride who finds herself hunted through her new husband’s ancestral home by his family. This twisted ritual unfolds courtesy of a Faustian bargain entered into by her in-laws with Satan, the guiding force behind the family’s considerable wealth and affluence.
While it often comes across as more of a comedy than a legitimate horror movie, there are more than enough thrills in Ready or Not to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Exquisitely paced with trappings of wickedly dark humor, the Weaving-led offering is a chaotic crowd pleaser of the highest order. Subverting genre tropes with a healthy dose of cutting social commentary, the movie represents the quintessential horror comedy that will keep viewers entertained from start to finish.
