The Scariest Movies From the '90s
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It (1990)
The Stephen King miniseries stars a villain that can transform itself into your worst fear. If you weren’t already terrified of clowns, Tim Curry will make you scared of them forever.
(Photo: Warner Home Video)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
The moment it’s revealed that this is actually a vampire movie? Mind. Blowing.
(Photo: Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Ringu (1998)
This Japanese horror film inspired a U.S. film franchise. The idea that an evil VHS tape can lead to your demise is probably why the world has since ceased to use VHS.
(Photo: DreamWorks Home Entertainment)
Scream (1996)
You know a scary flick is willing to break the rules when they kill an A-list star (Drew Barrymore) at the beginning of the movie. That moment when Billy fakes his own death? Never forget.
(Photo: Dimension Films)
Se7en (1995)
The grisly psychological thriller follows a serial killer who murders his victims, using the seven deadly sins as a theme. The graphic crime scenes are absolutely chilling.
(Photo: Warner Home Video)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Perhaps one of the most frightening found-footage films of all time, The Blair Witch Project reveals what happens when a group of film students vanish in the woods. The close-up crying scenes were both terrifying and so unforgettable that they became satire fodder for years.
(Photo: Artisan Entertainment)
Arachnophobia (1990)
This film is undoubtedly the biggest film ever made about giant spiders that are out to get you. Watching spiders sneak into a house through a bathroom sink will make you want to crawl under the covers and hide.
(Photo: Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Candyman (1992)
Candyman combines all the classic tropes of a horror movie: urban legends, calling a name multiple times to summon something scary, and people with hooks for hands. Also, luring victims with promises of sweets is the ultimate sign of being truly evil, isn’t it?
(Photo: Columbia Tristar Home Video)
Cape Fear (1991)
This film is one of those special instances where the remake is even more nightmarish than the original. Robert DeNiro stars as a convicted rapist, now out of jail, who stalks and terrorizes his former lawyer’s family.
(Photo: Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
A group of high school students with a nasty secret get targeted, one by one, for their fatal mistake. A ‘90s slasher classic, this Jennifer Love Hewitt-helmed flick reminds us that your past always comes back to haunt you.
(Photo: Columbia Pictures)
Misery (1990)
Kathy Bates breaks James Caan's ankles with a sledgehammer, and yet that's still only one terrifying moment of many in this Stephen King adaptation.
(Photo: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
This ‘90s remake of a zombie classic reminds us that you can’t escape the living dead. The soul-crushing claustrophobia of knowing they’re after you has inspired many subsequent zombie-related franchises.
(Photo: Twilight Time)
Audition (1999)
This Japanese horror film ends with an unsettling and unexpected torture scene that will haunt your dreams forever.
(Photo: Vivendi Entertainment)
Stir of Echoes (1999)
Kevin Bacon gets hypnotized, then starts seeing spirits. This movie will leave you wanting to sleep with a light on ... and wonder if any of your neighbors are murderers.
(Photo: Artisan Entertainment)
The Faculty (1998)
High school students can have trouble when it comes to relating to the teachers and adults in their lives: It is your imagination, or is that teacher out to get you? This film exploits that by turning teachers into aliens who are, yes, quite literally, out to get the kids.
(Photo: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment)
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Horror like only Wes Craven can deliver, this film features a pair of incestuous siblings who keep tortured children in their basement.
(Photo: MCA/Universal Home Video)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Anthony Hopkins earned a Best Actor Oscar for less than 20 minutes of screen time in this film. That’s the mark of a super scary villain.
(Photo: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The twist at the end of this ghost movie is one of the greatest, and most shocking, horror reveals ever.
(Photo: Buena Vista Pictures)
Tremors (1990)
This iconic monster movie, the first in a franchise, has an impossible-to-escape killer. How do you get away when an underground creature is following your every move?
(Photo: Universal Studios Home Entertainment)