Everyone just wants to scream. And these days, there's plenty to get people shrieking. But the horror genre, which has experienced a remarkable renaissance in the last decade, thanks to the work of buzzy auteurs like Jordan Peele and M. Night Shyamalan, is full of super realistic CGI and blood and guts splattered in every color of the rainbow on screen. And while that's all well and creepy, contemporary horror films with their gimmickry and gore are often no match for the classics.
There's something startlingly horrific about black and white terrors from some of history's most inventive and cunning filmmakers. So if you're in the mood to have the living hell scared out of you, these classic films—from psycho killers to supernatural hauntings and the everlasting terror of the undead—are just as heart-stopping as anything that would hit streamers today. Here are our 50 favorite horror films of all time.
