16 Best Supernatural Horror Movies to Binge

Creativity comes in many ways, shapes and forms, but when it comes to the horror genre, I found that the most creative horror films tend to be supernatural horror movies.

It might just be a personal preference, but these films always manage to keep me guessing, and in suspense.

They can be predictable at times, but still less than other types of horror films. There are fewer rules, and the supernatural horror that stalks the protagonist(s) can often end up being something unexpected.

And, while it may be Halloween season or not, I often feel like watching some of the scariest horror movies, and so I did.

Now, I would like to share some of the best supernatural horror movies that I’ve seen, and while narrowing it down, I came up with a list of 16 such films, with jump-scares, evil forces, dark secrets, and more. I hope you enjoy them!

The Conjuring (2013)

The first on my list of the best supernatural horror movies is The Conjuring, with the plot set in 1970.

The film follows real-life paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine, who travel to a small farmhouse, which serves as the home of the Perron family.

The family actually summoned them due to an unknown supernatural presence that has made itself known, and it terrified the family.

At first, the manifestations that the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine are encountering are mild, although it doesn’t take long for them to escalate.

Things go from bad to worse after the investigators discover the house’s true history.

This is one of the best supernatural movies that has all the classic elements, a haunted house, a terrified family, paranormal investigators, and an absolutely terrifying experience.

The Guardian said that the movie was such a box office success “perhaps because it plays to skeptics and believers alike; there’s never any question that what we’re seeing might be absurd or imaginary.”

The film stars Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Sterling Jerins, Joseph Bishara, Shannon Kook, Joey King, and others.

The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

Moving on, we have another great film for horror fans, filled with jump scares, ghosts, and paranormal activity.

The film in question is called The Devil’s Backbone, and it follows a 10-year-old boy Carlos, whose father died in the Spanish Civil War.

All alone in the world, the boy arrives at the Santa Lucia School, which is essentially an orphanage of the Republican militia and politicians, led by the steely headmistress, Carmen.

However, the old school has many secrets, and some of them are quite terrifying, as they involve the supernatural.

Carlos makes it a point to discover them, starting with a youthful ghost who wanders the school’s grounds.

If you are into supernatural horror films, this one is definitely a must-watch.

The film stars Federico Luppi, Eduardo Noriega, Inigo Garces, Marisa Paredes, Fernando Tielve, Irene Visedo, and others.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Moving on with our supernatural horror movies list, we have The Evil Dead, the original, from 1981.

This is a film that follows Ashley “Ash” Williams, his girlfriend, as well as three friends, as they take a hike to a cabin in the woods.

Ominous as it sounds, the group decides to have a fun night, but along the way, they run into the Necronomicon, an ancient and powerful book of spells. Upon reading them out loud, the five friends accidentally awakened the dead, thus releasing an entire flood of evil.

Now, the only thing they can do is try to survive by fighting for their lives.

Ash, as the lead, ends up watching his friends become possessed, and has to make a difficult decision which leads him to become the lone survivor of the incident.

The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Teresa Tilly, and others.

Drag Me To Hell (2009)

In the fourth spot, we have a film featuring Christine Brown, a young woman with a perfect life.

She has a loving boyfriend, a great job at the bank, and pretty much everything seems to be going her way. However, when she denies an old woman who is there to request an extension on her home loan in order to impress her boss, she unknowingly offends a witch.

In retaliation, the old woman jumps her on her way home from work and places a curse on her, damning her soul forever.

Originally skeptical, Christine soon starts noticing signs that something is not right and that a monster or some supernatural entity is closing in on her, so she seeks a psychic’s help to break the curse.

This is one of the best supernatural horror movies that deal with curses, and I strongly recommend watching it if you haven’t already.

The film stars Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, Bojana Novaković, and others.

The Innkeepers (2011)

Next up, we have The Innkeepers, a movie that follows two employees of the New England hotel, who end up intrigued by the hotel’s last guests to check in, as they become convinced that at least one of them is a ghost who took her own life in the hotel in the 1800s.

While skeptical but still curious, they decide to start their own investigation.

Unfortunately for them, doing so wakens an unwanted presence, which is what turns a mystery movie into a paranormal film, and one of the best supernatural horrors of the previous decade.

The feature film does not only deal with the physical threat to its protagonists, but also makes them suffer from the existential crises that are commonly encountered in one’s 20s.

Add to that the inconvenience of staying in a hotel, and the fact that the hotel itself is going out of business, and the characters really have nothing left to lose.

The film stars Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Alison Bartlett, Lena Dunham, and others.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)

Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark is one of the oldest supernatural horror films on the list, and while it got a remake in 2010, I recommend watching the original.

In it, a young couple inherits the old house, and decides to move in. Like in most similar horror films, the house is, of course, not what it seems.

In fact, it is inhabited by small monsters that are determined to possess the mind of the woman, and make her their own.

This movie is also quite famous for imbuing a very young Guillermo del Toro with the love of horror, and fear of things that go bump in the night.

Inspired by it, he joined the creation of a remake several decades later, which is also a fun watch.

The film stars Kim Darby, William Demarest, Jim Hutton, Barbara Anderson, Felix Silla, and others.

Evil Dead II (1987)

Moving on, we have the second movie in the supernatural trilogy of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II. The plot brings back Ash Williams, who survived the original trip into the woods, only to once again end up facing the horrifying demons in a very similar setting.

Ash’s girlfriend, Linda, starts the plot by discovering an audio tape left by a college professor. Upon listening to it, she hears voices reading from the Book of the Dead.

This results in demonic possession, and puts Ash in a position where he must flee or end up consumed by the living dead.

Unfortunately for him, there is no escape so deep in the woods. Will he survive yet another supernatural encounter, or is this the end of the road for him? You will have to see for yourself.

The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Dan Hicks, Denise Bixler, Kassie DePaiva, and others.

Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Halfway down the list, we have a classic haunted house film, Amityville II: The Possession.

One of the best supernatural horror movies about possession, the film follows the Montelli family who bought the house in the Long Island suburb of Amityville. Soon after moving in, however, they start experiencing strange things.

The house appears to be inhabited by mysterious demons, who torture and then possess the family’s abusive father, Anthony, and the strongly religious mother, Dolores.

However, Dolores managed to invite the family priest, begging him to perform an exorcism.

The demons also did not spare the family’s teenager, Sonny, who sinks deeper and deeper into madness, and starts abusing Patricia, his younger sister.

The characters reach their breaking point after a while, which is when this supernatural film explodes with true horror.

The film stars Jack Magner, Diane Franklin, James Olson, Burt Young, Erika Katz, Rutanya Alda, and others.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Next up, we have A Tale of Two Sisters, a Korean film that has grown to be quite well-known among the fans of the best supernatural horror movies.

It shows the reunion of two sisters, Su-mi who was previously institutionalized in a mental hospital, and Su-yeon. The sisters then return to their family’s home in the country.

Su-mi discovers that their widowed father has remarried, and his new wife seemingly resents the girls.

Still, they try to make the best of it and resume their old lives. However, this is easier said than done, as strange events involving supernatural elements start happening in the house.

The film has a massive plot twist and a surprising conclusion, which I will not spoil.

Just note that this is one of the best supernatural horror movies that Korea ever produced, and it is definitely worth the watch.

The film stars Im Soo-Jung, Yum Jung-ah, Moon Geun-young, Seung-Bi Lee, Kim Kap-soo, and others.

The Dead (2010)

The tenth supernatural horror movie on the list is simply called The Dead, and, as you might have guessed, it is about zombies.

The plot revolves around a US military engineer who crashes his plane on the west coast of Africa. Unfortunately, safety is nowhere in sight, and he has to carve his way through entire hordes of zombies in order to find a safe place.

Along the way, he encounters a local African soldier who went AWOL. The two recognize that teaming up is their only chance to survive.

BasementRejects said that “The zombies are pretty standard fare, and I wish they showed up more in the film… much of the film is spent driving around. In this sense, the Africa setting does help. Too many zombie movies are just repeats of zombies walking through the basic United States world…or occasionally England.  The location gives it a different perspective”

The film stars Howard J. Ford, Jonathan Ford, Prince David Osei, and others.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

Moving on, we have one of the films directed by John Carpenter, who is rather famous for excellent horror films. In the Mouth of Madness also deserves to be mentioned as one of the best supernatural horror films.

The plot starts when a horror novelist goes missing, and the insurance investigator, John Trent, scrutinizes the claim made by the writer’s publisher.

Trent believes that retrieving the writer’s unpublished manuscript could help find his whereabouts.

Trent teams up with the novelist’s editor, Linda, but as he reads the novels, he starts getting disturbing nightmares, which lead him to a supernatural town located in New Hampshire.

Supernatural horror movies rarely have a good balance of horror and mystery, and very often, they end up presenting the horror too much, which causes it to quickly lose its edge.

In the Mouth of Madness is a very careful movie that does its best not to make this mistake.

The film stars Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow, David Warner, Bernie Casey, John Glover, and others.

The Witch (2015)

Then, there’s The Witch, a film that takes place in 1630, New England.

The film revolves around a small family, consisting of a father, mother, and their children, which end up in panic and despair after the youngest child, their son, Samuel goes missing.

To make matters worse, he disappeared while being watched by Thomasin, the family’s oldest daughter.

Stressed and worried, the characters quickly starts becoming paranoid and afraid of her, especially after the twin siblings, Jonas and Mercy, accuse Thomasin of being a witch.

The suspicion quickly spreads even among the parents, and it ends up testing the family’s faith, loyalty, and love for one another.

The film also keeps the audience in suspense throughout the movie through the addition of seemingly supernatural movie elements, so the viewers cannot tell whether Thomasin is a witch or not until the very end of the movie.

The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Sarah Stephens, Ellie Grainger, and others.

The Shining (1980)

In the thirteenth spot, we have The Shining, a film inspired by the best-seller of the same name, written by Stephen King. It is one of the best supernatural horror films in the same sense as the Amityville films are, and it has a relatively similar idea.

The movie follows Jack Torrance, a writer with writer’s block, who just became a winter caretaker for the isolated Overlook Hotel based in Colorado, hoping for an inspiration for a best-seller.

However, since he will be spending the entire winter in an empty hotel, he moves in with his wife, Wendy, and their son, Danny.

Danny also appears to be a psychic, which was recognized and explained by one of the locals, the family’s only next door neighbor for tens of miles.

As the movie progresses, Jack’s writing goes nowhere, while Danny starts getting disturbing visions in the hotel.

As Jack starts uncovering the secrets of the hotel, he also starts a transformation into a homicidal maniac that goes after his own family.

The film stars Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, and others.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street by New Line Cinema is one of the most beloved horror movies of all time, which inspired an entire franchise, similar to Halloween and Friday The 13th.

It is one of the most famous names in the world of horror films and one of my favorite horror movies.

Meanwhile, its antagonist, a serial killer Freddy Krueger, is among the most recognizable villains thanks to his iconic hat, striped sweater, burned skin, and, let’s not forget his glove, where each finger ends with a sharp blade.

While technically a supernatural horror movie, you would be forgiven for viewing it as a slasher, as well.

The story kicks off when a number of school kids start dying in their sleep, and while parents are ignoring what is happening, other teens get concerned and try everything in their power to stay awake.

This is the true horror of this movie, as the threat doesn’t lurk in real life but in the dream, and spending time sleeping is a sure way to never wake up again.

The film stars Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Jackie Earle Haley, John Saxon, Amanda Wyss, and others.

The Exorcist (1973)

Speaking of the most famous (and most profitable) horror films, we have The Exorcist, which is one of the fan-favorite horror movies. It has left such an impression on pop culture, that it was referenced in countless other movies, shows, books, and more.

It is a story that is loosely based on actual events.

The story itself kicks off with young Regan (Linda Blair) getting possessed, and starts performing actions such as levitating, speaking in tongues, and alike.

Her mother first seeks medical help, but anyone who sees the little girl quickly discovers that they cannot help. Desperate, the mother turns to two priests, a local, played by Jason Miller, and an expert sent by the church, Max von Sydow.

The two priests see a monster upon entering the family home, and spend the night trying to separate the evil ghosts from Linda Blair.

The film stars Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow, Vasiliki Maliaros, and others.

Daybreakers (2009)

Finally, to end the list of the best supernatural horror movies, we have our last supernatural horror movie, called Daybreakers.

The story of this movie takes place about ten years after an unusual plague turned most people in the world into vampires, and there is now a critical blood shortage.

The general public starts to panic, and several of the characters start suffering from gruesome mutations.

One of the vampire scientists, Edward (Ethan Hawke), spends all of his time in a lab, attempting to create a blood substitute, which is when he encounters two fugitive humans, Lionel and Audrey.

However, the pair claims that they might have a cure, which causes Ethan Hawke-played hematologies to reconsider capturing them and taking them to one of the farms.

Instead, the story sees him joining up with the humans in an attempt to perfect the cure before every vampire in the world goes feral, but the time is running out.

The film stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Isabel Lucas, Michael Dorman, and others.

Conclusion

The supernatural horror movie genre is rich with opportunities, and all of the listed films are only some of hundreds of examples of what a good movie can offer.

Apart from those, there are many other popular films, such as Paranormal Activity, which is a found-footage type of film, or films involving dark secrets, like Crimson Peak or Personal Shopper.

In fact, Crimson Peak and Personal Shopper should be a part of your own list, if you intend to start watching horror movies in the near future.

Did your favorite appear on our list? Let me know in the comments section below, or if you think we missed something, I would love to know too.