For many, horror movies are comfort food. Like science fiction or even comedies like The Hangover, they take us to worlds or experiences that otherwise we would never set foot in. With horror, though, there’s an added visceral thrill of surviving something incredibly dangerous, all as we vicariously live the protagonist’s life from the safety of our couches. Some horror movies, however, are so grim that once is really enough. You might have heard someone say this about The Descent, The Witch, Hereditary, The Wicker Man and the like. But then there are the horror films that are easy to pop into the DVD player or press play on over and over again. Horror movies that are scary or creepy but also extremely entertaining. Those are the ones that follow. The only caveat was that the vast majority of the films’ prospective audience could find it very easy to rewatch.
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So, while The Silence of the Lambs is a masterpiece and many people can watch it over and over again, some find it to be a bit too close to reality to really be, say, an annual viewing. The same goes for Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which is beloved by horror fans and respected by general audiences alike, but is too gritty and dread-inducing to be imminently rewatchable. You need a good chunk of time in between viewings, even if you’re one of its biggest fans.
10) The Fog
The Fog is a movie that moves very swiftly. If anything, it could have used an extra fifteen minutes or so. But when the biggest complaint with a movie is that it should have been longer, you know you have a very enjoyable movie.
Antonio Bay is one of those cinematic towns that feel decidedly lived-in, not unlike Bodega Bay in The Birds (though Bodega Bay is a real place, unlike Antonio). You enjoy spending time there just as you enjoy meeting its people. Then, when those people are desperately evading leper ghosts to Carpenter’s fantastic score, you’re cheering for their survival and feel as though you’re sitting right beside them.
Stream The Fog on The Criterion Channel.
9) Scream
Wes Craven’s Scream managed to singlehandedly yank the slasher subgenre up from the increasing shroud of obscurity that was rising around it in the ’90s, when even Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers were failing to make the dents that were expected of them. And, while Craven had already attempted the meta approach with Freddy a few years prior in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, it was Scream that took the approach and made it a formula which many others would attempt to replicate.
Scream is perpetually watchable because the characters are all just so charming. Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich and, respectively, goofy and sinister as the killers, Neve Campbell is phenomenal as top tier “Final Girl” Sidney Prescott, and Courteney Cox and David Arquette have such sterling chemistry it’s no surprise they ended up getting married. But the biggest sell is Kevin Williamson’s script, which is stuffed with dialogue that is funny and clever even all these years later.
Stream Scream on Hulu.
8) The Shining
An ’80s horror movie that is still scary to this day, Stanley Kubrick’s layered, haunting The Shining is the definitive Stephen King adaptation, even if King himself doesn’t much care for it. It’s also extremely rewatchable for two very different reasons.
The first is the pure entertainment factor of Jack Nicholson’s unhinged performance. Like his work as Joker, you feel you just have to see it more than once. Then there is the final twist, which makes you feel as though you need to go through it all at least one more time to see if there are hints as to this final ghostly reveal along the way.
Stream The Shining on HBO Max.
7) Friday the 13th
A film as important to the history of the slasher subgenre as Halloween, Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th is a classic that gave birth to a franchise even though, as an individual film, it’s pretty much a closed loop. And that’s why it’s the most rewatchable, even more than the comedic Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.
The original film doesn’t play as part of a larger story. It’s what the poster advertises: a 24-hour nightmare of terror. You feel like you’re right there alongside the counselors re-opening Camp Crystal Lake, and nothing is more rewatchable than an experience that is involving.
Stream Friday the 13th on AMC+.
6) Gremlins
A wholly unique movie that ended up being the box office smash it deserved to be, Joe Dante’s Gremlins is certainly one part comedy, but it’s even more so the ultimate starter horror movie for the kids in the house. Scenes like the kitchen fight and their watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs all straddle a line between zany cartoon and classic monster movie.
In short, Gremlins is a movie that is likely to scare kids but not alienate adults. Inversely, it’s a ton of fun for kids but just shy of being too inappropriate for the younger set. You can watch Gremlins at the age of 10 and then make it an annual holiday viewing for the remainder of your days.
Stream Gremlins on HBO Max.
5) A Nightmare on Elm Street
The remake may be an embarrassing failure, but the original A Nightmare on Elm Street is the best horror movie of 1984 by a country mile. And it was a pretty stacked year for the genre.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is rewatchable for a multitude of reasons. Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger is iconic, and was never scarier than he was here, Nancy Thompson is a likable lead character, and its kill scenes are both highly inventive in their construction and genuinely shocking.
Stream A Nightmare on Elm Street on HBO Max.
4) The Thing
A movie that could possibly benefit from a narrative continuation, at least one better than the 2011 prequel, John Carpenter’s The Thing is the ultimate example of a horror film that outright begs for more than one viewing. It’s so sharp in its construction that you feel you need to press play as soon as the credits have rolled so you can try to figure out who the Thing is when.
Then there’s the general fact that this is one of the best films of the ’80s, especially for monster movie fans. The isolated tone envelops you, the characters are endearing, and the practical effects never get old.
Stream The Thing on Peacock.
3) Evil Dead II
The original The Evil Dead is plenty rewatchable, and many think the same of the very silly Army of Darkness, but it’s Evil Dead II that most fans agree can be easily digested not long after you previously enjoyed it as a meal. It’s all so wild and so much happens within a slim runtime that it’s easy to have great visual jokes wash over your.
Evil Dead II is a live-action R-rated cartoon. If you can get on its wavelength, which isn’t hard considering how accessible Sam Raimi’s particular sense of humor manages to be, you’ll find this one being an annual watch.
Stream Evil Dead II on HBO Max.
2) Halloween
If The Thing isn’t John Carpenter’s best movie, Halloween is. Tense yet subtle, it’s a slasher movie for people who don’t like slasher movies.
Like Antonio Bay in The Fog, Haddonfield, Illinois is a place that feels lived-in with residents whose company you enjoy. And, while it can be a jarring movie, this isn’t like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre where it’s so unsettling you need a healthy chunk of time between viewings.
Stream Halloween on Shudder.
1) Jaws
Any number of “When Animals Attack” and monster movies have tried to replicate the pure terror of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and none of them have been able to cut the mustard. Not even close.
Plenty of people consider Jaws the greatest film of all time, and it’s hard to argue that point. The performances, cinematography, pacing, and scares are all note-perfect. It also helps that it’s basically two movies in one. The first half is pure horror while the second is basically a buddy action movie. Both halves are endlessly rewatchable and combined they make it the type of movie where, when you’re watching the first half, you’re excited for the second and, when watching the second, you wouldn’t mind going back and immediately watching the first half again.
Stream Jaws on Netflix.
Which horror movie do you find yourself revisiting most frequently? Let us know in the comments.
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Courtesy of Toei Animation
