These Horror Films Will Scare Your Pants Off

In July of 2013, a horror film called The Conjuring hit cinemas and made a non-literal killing at the Box Office against a comparatively minuscule budget. The film — starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as husband-wife paranormal investigators enlisted by a family to exorcise their haunted farmhouse — was also lauded by critics. The Conjuring scored an 86% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as praise for its smart plot, cinematic beauty, and well-crafted scare-moments that harken back to classic horror films like The Exorcist.

The key to The Conjuring's tremendous success — and the reason it got a sequel, The Conjuring 2 — is really pretty simple: It scared the shit out of people. And from the paranormal fright-fests and the psychological thrillers to the classics, that's what a good horror film does. So we decided to round up the best scary movies — i.e. the ones most likely to make you shit your pants.