What makes horror movies really terrifying

What is the best scary movie of all time?

Kendall Phillips, who has studied why some scary movies haunt us forever while others flop, can easily name some of his favorite ghoulish classics.

“Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic, Psycho. This is an important film in film history and it’s also just a fun watch,” says Phillips, professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University.

“Beyond its significance in film history, it is just a brilliant film that blends shocking horror and very dark humor.”

Phillips, the author of three books on horror films—including the upcoming second edition of Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture (Bloomsbury, 2025)—admits “it’s always impossible” to select his favorite horror film. But three hair-raising classics stand out.

“The best horror film is 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Fifty years later, Tobe Hooper’s classic still shocks audiences,” Phillips says. “Frankenstein ushered in the horror genre but is also a touching story about a misfit creature who just wants to find a way to fit into the world. Then there’s Issa Lopez’s international horror film, Tigers Are Not Afraid, an engaging and at times disturbing fairytale set on the border of Mexico during drug cartel violence. It is unsettling, but also charming.”

Here, Phillips explains why we love a good scary movie and discusses the key components of the horror film genre:

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