The 30 best classic horror movies of all time

The popularity of scary movies is nothing new, however.

Sure, some of them are creaky, old-fashioned chillers and whats wrong with that?

Here are EWs picks for the 30 best classic horror movies, listed in chronological order.

The Best Classic Horror Movies

Credit:Everett Collection (2); Toho/Getty

But in some ways, it still stands alone more than 100 years after its release.

Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt lead the cast as the villainous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulant creation Cesare.

In a word, its haunting.

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, (aka THE CABINET OF DOCTOR CALIGARI, aka DAS CABINET DES DR.

Everett Collection

Where most adaptations ofDraculadepict the Count as a sexy aristocrat, Schreck and directorF.W.

Murnaumade him into a scurrying animal.

In fact, it was based on a stage play, which was itself an adaptation of the novel.

THE GOLEM, (aka DER GOLEM, WIE ER IN DIE WELT KAM), Paul Wegener, Lyda Salmonova, 1920

Courtesy Everett

Beckers crimes take place off-camera, but Langs direction ensures that theyre still horrific.

The reason for their disgust?

The dialogue is witty and the characters are memorable, particularly Boris Karloff as hulking manservant Morgan.

THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE, (aka KORKARLEN, aka THE PHANTOM CHARIOT, aka THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT, aka THY SOUL SHALL BEAR WITNESS), Olof As, 192

Courtesy Everett

Its subject matter is provocative as well, using a Satanic cult as code for (gasp!)

homosexuals in the neighborhood.

Despite this potentially campy subtext, however, the films existential hopelessness leaves a bleak impression.

‘Haxan’

Everett Collection

Weve got ominous visions, ghostly children, haunted mirrors, and even lighthearted horror-comedy.

But Clouzots movies are even more morbid and misanthropic than Hitchcocks, especiallyDiabolique,his most famous film.

It starts as a dark psychological thriller before morphing into something creepier and possibly more supernatural midway through.

Max Schreck in ‘Nosferatu’

Frederic Lewis/Hulton Archive/Getty

Suffice to say, youll never forget it.

Stay the whole night and win $10,000.

Produced on a shoestring budget, the film barely made a ripple on its initial release.

1925: Film star Lon Chaney (1883 - 1930) as Erik the ‘Phantom’, in a scene from ‘Phantom of the Opera’ directed by Rupert Julian for Universal.

John Kobal Foundation/Getty

(And yes, it is where the band got its name.)

How could it not, given that its adapted from a Shirley Jackson novel?

There are no weak links in the collection, either a rare achievement for an anthology film.

Gosta Ekman, Emil Jannings Characters: ,Mephisto Film: Faust: A German Folk Legend (1926)

Mary Evans/AF Archive/Everett Collection

Where to watchRosemarys Baby: Paramount+