Horror movies live and die by the scares and unease of the stories, but the films with absolutely genius quotes help them rise above the rest. While shocking scenes, jump scares, and terrifying horror moments are what people like to see when watching a film, the best lines are the ones that fans will repeat for years after seeing a film.

There are those quotes from horror movies that everyone knows, and usually it’s a one-liner, like “We need a bigger boat” or “Here’s Johnny.” However, when searching past these famous one-liners, there are some horror movie quotes that are genius in their wording and present a line that encompᴀsses what the movie is all about.

“There’s One Thing About Living In Santa Carla I Never Could Stomach – All The Damn Vampires” – The Lost Boys (1987)

The Lost Boys was a colorful and fun vampire horror movie that starred Jason Patrick as a young man who ended up infected with the vampire curse, and Corey Haim as his younger brother, who was looking for a way to save him. The movie featured a great cast and a ton of great lines for all the characters.

While characters like the Frog Brothers (played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) had some of the best lines in the movie, the most genius line came at the end from a character who only had a few minutes of screen time. This was Grandpa, played by Barnard Hughes.

After the boys had beaten many of the vampires, only the main vampire remained, and that is when Grandpa drove his truck through the front of his house, killing the vampire leader. While this was shocking, when he dropped this line and the boys realized he knew about the vampires all along, it was the perfect pin drop.

“I’m Scared To Close My Eyes, I’m Scared To Open Them! We’re Gonna Die Out Here!” – Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Blair Witch Project was a groundbreaking movie when it was released in 1999. While found footage films were nothing new, and this wasn’t the first, it was the movie that really launched the horror subgenre to new heights. It was also notable for its insistence that it was actual real-life footage brought to the big screen.

The directors helped hammer this home by using non-professional actors and then not giving them a script. They hid cameras, gave the cast handhelds of their own, and then sH๏τ the movie by purposely scaring them and filming their reactions. That made the line delivered by Heather Donahue all the more disturbing.

When Heather delivered this line close to The Blair Witch Project ending, she was clearly panicked, and the quote was perfect, explaining why her character was so scared and how nothing she did could help her escape this fear.

“Well, Clarice, Have The Lambs Stopped Screaming?” – The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Most people look at one quote from The Silence of the Lambs as the masterpiece, and that is when Hannibal Lecter is talking about how he ate a census taker’s liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. However, the most genius quote in the movie was more geared towards his relationship with Clarice.

Before Hannibal would help Clarice figure out the idenтιтy of the serial killer she was tracking, he made her tell him things about herself. She reveals the nightmares she has of the screaming lambs, and Hannibal had told her that she would finally end that repeated dream when she found herself.

After Clarice stopped Buffalo Bill and faced her fears, Hannibal Lecter gave her one last call. He is checking in on her to make sure she is okay, and when he hears her voice, he realizes that she has finally conquered her fears, and this line encompᴀsses that fact perfectly.

“I Said I’m Not Gonna Hurt Ya. I’m Just Gonna Bash Your Brains In” – The Shining (1980)

Everyone quotes two lines from The Shining. These are “Here’s Johnny” and “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” However, the Stanley Kubrick adaptation of the Stephen King novel is full of great quotes, and this one is a line that really shows that Jack Torrance has snapped and lost it.

It also shows the dark humor of Kubrick’s script and the masterful performance by actor Jack Nicholson. Throughout the movie, Jack has been getting more and more unhinged as the ghosts of the Overlook H๏τel speak to him. However, this is the moment where he finally goes over the edge.

When Jack looks at Wendy and ᴀssures her that he isn’t going to hurt her, it gives just the right amount of pause for relief. When Jack drops the second half of the quote, the movie launches into its frantic third act and never stops until Jack is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in the snow.

“We Have Such Sights To Show You” – Hellraiser (1987)

Hellraiser is another horror movie with great quotes, and this is thanks to the book’s author, Clive Barker, who is a master at macabre dialogue. The film features a puzzle box, where, when a person solves it, the demonic Cenobites arrive and offer the victim the pleasure of intense pain.

There are many lines delivered by Pinhead (Doug Bradley), the lead Cenobite, that hit hard when the themes of the movie. When he first sees Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), when she is forced to solve the puzzle, he tells her to save her tears because they are a waste of “good suffering.“

However, the most genius quote in the entire movie is when Pinhead delivers this line. As the movie is about the pleasure of pain and sadomasochism in general, Pinhead believes he is providing an exquisite gift to his victims and that they should be excited to see where he takes them next.

“Wouldst Thou Like To Live Deliciously?” – The Witch (2015)

Robert Eggers showed he was a force to be reckoned with when he released The Witch. The film follows a Puritan family who were banished from their village after a religious dispute. However, the mother is still strictly religious, and when something happens to their youngest child, she takes it out on her elder daughter.

This leads her daughter, Thomasin, to meet a dangerous creature in the form of a goat, and she then makes a decision that will determine her fate. The goat, named Black Phillip, makes plenty of offers to Thomasin, but it is this line that really sticks with the viewers, thanks to its foreboding nature.

At the end of The Witch, Black Phillip delivers this line as his last offer to Thomasin, and she accepts the offer and leaves with him to join a witch’s coven. Thomasin sold her soul for his offers of luxury.

“Sometimes ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Is Better” – Pet Sematary (1989)

Pet Sematary was a solid Stephen King movie adaptation, based on one of his darkest novels. In this story, a family moves to a new home and, almost immediately, their toddler son, Gage, walks into the road and is killed by a semi-truck. Father, Louis, does the unimaginable when he buries his son in the Pet Sematary.

This is where the horror comes, as this cemetery brings the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ back to life, but they are not all there in the head. Gage begins to kill, and Louis can’t stop making the same mistakes. There is a line delivered in the movie by their neighbor, Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne), that Louis should have listened to.

Jud knows that nothing good comes from the Pet Sematary, and if Louis had listened, he could have eventually moved on from this tragedy, but instead, he ignored the most important quote in the movie and doomed everyone.

“Where We’re Going, We Won’t Need Eyes To See” – Event Horizon (1997)

Before he started making almost nothing but video game adaptations, Paul W.S. Anderson got off to an exciting start with his sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon. This movie had a similar setup to Alien, but with an even more horrific discovery for the crew of the spacecraft exploring a mysterious ship.

The ship they were sent to find had been lost in a black hole and came back with a demonic presence on board from beyond. Young Justin saw the horrors of pure evil and chaos in the alternate dimension beyond the ship, and he knew nothing good was on the other side.

This leads to the shocking moment when Dr. Weir (Sam Neill) gouges out his own eyes and then sets a timer to activate the gravity drive. When asked what he has done, he delivers this shocking line, indicating that what he has seen is more extreme than they could ever imagine.

“We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes” – Psycho (1960)

Psycho is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s scariest horror films, and it made Norman Bates an icon of horror cinema. This movie had plenty of shocks, with twists and turns up until the final shocking scenes. When it showed that Norman was the killer and his mother had been ᴅᴇᴀᴅ the entire time, it turned the entire story on its head.

The film ends with Norman in the mental hospital, and he was only sitting there smiling, staring ahead menacingly. He was broken, but he had always been broken, and that is why he took the form of her alter, which was his mother, when killing his victims.

This quote was delivered earlier in the film by Norman Bates himself when he was talking to Marion. When Norman said this, it seemed he was talking about his mother. By the end of Psycho, the line took on an entirely different meaning and is the best in the entire film.

“When There’s No More Room In Hell, The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Will Walk The Earth” – Dawn of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (1978)

George A. Romero made his reputation on the back of his zombie movies. His first release, Night of the Living ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, told a simple story that carried deep meanings regarding societal issues. However, he amped up his socially conscious storytelling with the sequel Dawn of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.

In the sequel, Romero took pointed aim at consumerism and capitalism in general. He showed that all the luxury goods in the world wouldn’t save anyone when the zombie apocalypse arises. That makes this brilliant horror movie quote so great because it delivers a line that spells out what Romero is trying to say.

The line was masterful because it shows that when humanity has reached its lowest point and stops caring about one another, there is nowhere for evil to go but to return to Earth to consume everything remaining. Dawn of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ is a condemnation of how people live their lives, and it remains poignant in today’s society as well.