Thehorror genrehas had its highs and lows over the years. While the 1970s and 1980s introduced classic horror franchises such asA Nightmare on Elm Street,Friday the 13th, andHalloween,the genre had some box offices flops in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, the 1990s offered a variety of horror films that disturbed audiences both on a psychological and visual level.
These movies remain fan-favorites, praised for their clever plots and unforgettable characters. Here are the most terrifying horror movies from the 1990s, ranked.
9Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
This 1994Wes Craven horror flickbrought backA Nightmare on Elm Street’stitular final girl, Nancy Thompson, for one final showdown against Freddy Krueger.New Nightmareis basically a horror movie within a horror movie, following a fictionalized version of actress Heather Langenkamp as the world of theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise starts blurring with reality.
When her son becomes Freddy Krueger’s prime target, Heather goes above and beyond to save him, even resorting to actor Robert Englund for advice on how to defeat his most iconic character portrayal. From it bringing Heather Lagenkamp back to the franchise to its blatant self-awareness,New Nightmareis a spooky, good time.
8I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
This 1997 slasher stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James, a teenager harboring a heavy burden: her friends killed a man and disposed of his body one Fourth of July night, swearing to take the secret to their graves. When the group starts getting menacing notes a year later from an unknown stalker, they start fearing their secret may be exposed.
One by one they fall until only Julie and her boyfriend, Ray, are left standing.I Know What You Did Last Summerwas a box office hit that secured a sequel,I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, only a year after its release.
Related:I Know What You Did Last Summer: Why We Don’t Need Another Sequel
7Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
By the mid 1990s, theHalloweenfranchise was headed in the route of home video after the box office failure ofHalloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. Nevertheless, this all changed when the iconic Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis, returned to the franchise in 1998 as Laurie Strode, rebooting the story back to the aftermath ofHalloween IIand exploring Laurie’s trauma thereafter.Halloween H20: 20 Years Laterhit home withHalloweenfans and arguably saved the franchise from becoming a thing of the past. Unfortunately,Halloween Resurrectionfailed to meetH20’sacclaim for a variety of reasons.
6Scream 2 (1997)
It’s rare that sequels maintain the momentum of their predecessor;Scream 2proves otherwise. With a fresh setting, gorier kills, and featuringScream’siconic final girl, Sidney Prescott,Scream 2solidifiedScreamas a horror franchisethat was here to stay. Arguably the film’s most disturbing moment, the opening scene comments on society’s disconnect to real-life violence as Maureen is killed in a movie theater filled with obliviousStabfans.
5The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1991’sThe Silence of the Lambsis one of the rare horror films that have garnered multiple Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Actress for Jodie Foster.The Silence of the Lambsdelivers its horror by dwelling into the audience’s psyche, putting them in the position of Clarice Starling as she follows Buffalo Bill’s trial.
Starling’s investigation is difficult to sit through, watching her revisit prison repeatedly to obtain clues from cannibal convict, Hannibal Lector, and as a result, forced to confront her own demons through each of their sessions. In one of the horror genre’s tensest moments, Starling must explore Buffalo Bill’s lair in utter darkness, with him ready to strike her down.The Silence of the Lambsis a horror masterpiece through and through.
Related:The Silence of the Lambs: 10 Facts You May Not Know
4Misery (1990)
Another horror masterpiece that garnered an Academy Award for its lead performer, Kathy Bates,Miseryis one of the most acclaimed Stephen King adaptations to date. This film has Bates portraying Annie Wilkes, a crazed fan that stumbles upon her favorite author by chance, abducts him, and tortures him in the pursuit of having him rewrite the ending to one of her favorite novel series. Unsettling in every regard,Miserystarted 1990s horror on the right foot.
3Scream (1996)
Screamdid some never before done by horror; it ridiculed the genre while still managing to horrify audiences.Screamis filled with twists and turns from beginning to end, from killing off the assumed final girl, Casey Becker, less than 15 minutes into the film, mocking other horror classics in the sake of pointing out the genre’s cliché tropes, to introducing a tough as nails final girl, Sidney Prescott.Screamreinvigorated horror fans' love for slashers.
2The Sixth Sense (1999)
Arguably M. Night Shyamalan’s best film ever, 1999’sThe Sixth Senseis a disturbing and equally heartbreaking tale about the afterlife. From Haley Joel Osment’s performance as the tormented Cole, Toni Collete’s plight as his helpless mother, to the film’s ingenious jump scares and that final plot-twist,The Sixth Sensereiterates the ideathat gratuitous violence and bloodbaths aren’t necessary to deliver a compelling horror story.
1IT (1990)
Another excellent adaptationof a Stephen King novel,ITwas released in 1990 as a two-part miniseries that was then distributed as a VHS home video. While Tim Curry’s performance as Pennywise is horrifying to sit through, the way he tortures the children of Derry is what solidifies Pennywise as one of the horror genre’s most notorious villains.
Some ofIT’smost horrifying moments include the sink overflowing with blood, the blood-filled balloon popping, and Stan Uris' death as his wife discovers him in a bathtub filled with his own blood. IT remains one of the most chilling 1990s movies, shocking audiences all across the board.
