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This list was originally published on November 1, 2023.
Ahead of Halloween, it has been expanded to include 25 additional films.
Horror purveyor Blumhouse has been putting out movies for almost 20 years now.
It has become the name synonymous with big audience scares.
But what are the Houses trulybestfilms?
(This isnt a list forWhiplash, you guys.)
There are foregone conclusions alongside some hot takes.
50.Halloween Kills(2021)
50.
TheHalloweenreboot from 2018 is fun!
Then theresHalloween Kills, which is like a bottle episode sandwiched in the middle of those two.
And really, isnt that how every forever-extending horror franchise should go?
49.The Exorcist: Believer(2023)
49.
47.The Lazarus Effect(2015)
47.
46.Firestarter(2022)
46.
The new ones calling card will likely be putting Zac Efron in his handsome dad era.
(Yes, it has been that long sinceThe Paperboy!)
And we choose to celebrate that.
45.Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension(2014)
45.
It looks more polished, thanks to better camera tech , and that is in factnotan asset.
Seeing so much robs aParanormalof its power, leavingDimensiona little too flat to shock you like the others can.
44.Black Christmas(2019)
44.
Lets get something straight.
This version ofBlack Christmasdidnt shoehorn in some never-before-seen social commentary.
43.Ma(2019)
43.
But outside Spencers mesmerizing performance, it largely makes you wonder what could have been.
42.Happy Death Day 2U(2019)
42.
These are horror-comedy romps silly is good and fun and welcome.
!The rest of the movie is fun, though.
41.Night Swim(2024)
41.
40.Afraid(2024)
40.
39.Insidious: Chapter 3(2015)
39.
Insidious 3is the most mid-tierInsidiousmovie.
But it mostly sublimates into the conventions of the franchise.
If you just loveInsidiousmovies, thenChapter 3can work as a serviceable side dish.
But its not quite an entree.
38.Jessabelle(2014)
38.
37.The Gallows(2015)
37.
The Gallowspunches squarely forward.
A fun way to spend 80 minutes.
36.Unfriended: Dark Web(2018)
36.
And the actors are doing a good job!
The original just captured lightning in a bottle whileDark Webis a plain old scary movie.
35.Paranormal Activity 4(2012)
35.
Kathryn Newton is a star.
The fourth movie follows a logical progression for found footage and incorporates rig POV.
34.Insidious: The Last Key(2018)
34.
Sorry, everyone, butThe Last Keyis a greatInsidiousmovie.
And thats for one simple reason:Last Keyis the full Lin Shaye experience.
33.The Bay(2012)
33.
Scary movies dont have to reinvent the wheel.
Sometimes they just have to freak you out.
The villain behind the villain?
So,The Bayis both eco- and found-footage horror, and it is inexplicably directed by Barry Levinson.
This movie is gruesome and chalked full of jump scares.
32.Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)
32.
By the mid 2010s, the jarring novelty of the earlyParanormalmovies had well worn off.
For that,Marked Onesis worthy of a kinder reappraisal than its initial poor reviews.
Its a fun movie!
31.The Black Phone(2022)
31.
The Black Phoneis a re-teaming of Ethan Hawke and director Scott Derrickson, who brought usSinister.
Like that movie, this one is brutal and scary.
30.Freaky(2020)
30.
This one is a body-swap movie that gives us two treats.
29.Split(2016)
29.
M. Night Shyamalan wentmeanfor his 2016 hit about teen girls getting abducted by a person with dissociative personality disorder.
One of McAvoys personalities is a self-hating pedophile.
Theres a plotline about the trauma of child sexual abuse.
That isnt Shyamalans calling card, but theres a distinguishing cruelty aboutSplitthat puts it in the top 25.
28.Sinister(2013)
28.
(But its entirely his fault, cause he moved his family there!)
27.Sleight(2016)
27.
Sleightgets extra points for being an unexpected indie genre picture amid so much scary bombast.
26.Insidious: The Red Door(2023)
26.
The Red Doorhad to be one of 2023s biggest horror surprises.
Besides, who doesnt love seeing Patrick Wilson dad out in a horror movie?!
25.Speak No Evil (2024)
25.
ThisAmerican remakeof a Danish original is very solid.
Excellent discomfort horror with very compelling performances, especially by its antagonist leads.
24.The Forever Purge(2021)
24.
If youre thinking that putting all thePurgemovies here is too generous, you are wrong!
In the fifth and most recentPurgefilm, the annual tradition reaches its logical conclusion.
Blumhouse should makePurgemovies forever!
23.Halloween(2018)
23.
The script, written with Danny McBride, was ferocious and funny.
Michael comes back home and kills a couple in their house with a hammer for absolutely no reason.
Just brutal stuff, and a great welcome back for the Shape.
22.The Town That Dreaded Sundown(2014)
22.
Keep your 2000s remake-horror snobbery in check!
Blumhouse produced the 2014 take onThe Town That Dreaded Sundownalongside Ryan Murphy, with a script from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
What a bingo board that is!
It doesnt come up often in the millennium remake-wave conversation, but it should be taken as a highlight.
21.Halloween Ends(2022)
21.
Halloween Endshas many, many detractors, but!
The top 25 wouldnt be just without putting such a weird, wild swing at aHalloweenmovie within its ranks.
And its still, yes, part slasher, as aHalloweenis wont to be.
20.Paranormal Activity 3(2011)
20.
Paranormal Activitycould have been an easy cash-in franchise.
Put pennies into production and then just watch the money roll in off the success of the first entry.
But for a few years there, thePAmovies just kept getting better.
The third film is the highest grossing in the franchise, surpassing $200 million all around the world.
Thats a pretty good return on a $5 million production budget.
19.Ouija: Origin of Evil(2016)
19.
Remember whenMike Flanagan still made movies?
Those were the salad days!
You call in the all-hits, no-skips horrors-slinger Flanagan to bring the patient back to life.
!This is product-based horror that cares!
And is by far the best of any of Blumhouses game-based movies.
(Truth or DareandFantasy Island, well get to you later.)
18.The Purge: Anarchy(2014)
18.
Anarchyis the movie that turnedThe Purgeintoan American Fourth of July tradition.
17.The Boy Next Door(2015)
17.
This movie is J.LosFear.
This movie has Kristin Chenoweth in a pixie cut.
This movie has Ryan Guzman meeting Lopez bicep first.
The worst part aboutThe Boy Next Dooris that Blumhouse didnt keep making more movies just like it.
16.The Belko Experiment(2017)
16.
The Belko Experimentis all about violence and being a subject of the surveillance state.
15.Paranormal Activity 2(2010)
15.
The secondParanormalis another entry that punches above the first.
This time, a family moves into a new house that is shockingly already occupied.
14.Oculus(2014)
14.
This ones about a family terrorized by a haunted mirror.
Its got Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, parents trying to murder their kids, and ghosts.
13.The First Purge(2018)
13.
A prequel,The First Purgeis set on Staten Island as the very first Purge beta test is launched.
Purge parties pop up.
12.The Gift(2015)
12.
This movie is an exercise in discomfort with an outstanding small ensemble.
A great, lean thriller.
11.Dark Skies(2013)
11.
Plainly,Dark Skiesis goddamned frightening.
Watch it in the black of night with friends and scream together.
10.Insidious(2010)
10.
Insidiousis another one of Blumhouses signature franchises, and it comes from the duo of Whannell and Wan.
(There are also legends on hand with Lin Shaye and Barbara Hershey.)
9.The Purge(2013)
9.
The originalPurgeis an intimate affair compared to every other movie in the franchise it would spawn.
8.The Visit(2015)
8.
7.The Purge: Election Year(2016)
7.
ButThe Purgefranchise has managed to become one of the great pieces of Blumhouses catalogue.
The first movie wasnt beloved by critics, but it made a lot of money on a small budget.
Iconic imagery all around and damn fine action-horror.
6.Happy Death Day(2017)
6.
5.Paranormal Activity(2007)
5.
In a postBlair Witchworld,PAmade lo-fi found-footage style bankable again, and its also just damn scary.
Cheers to the one that laid the foundation for the House.
4.Unfriended(2014)
4.
Unfriendedis a well-reviewed movie that has still managed to be underappreciated and sort of underseen.
In the conversation of scariest Blumhouse movies ever,Unfriendedmakes a strong argument.
This film is sleek and simple.
Horror thats meant to grind your nerves with no filler and lots of killer.
3.The Invisible Man(2020)
3.
Remakes of storied films are always a tall order.
In the capable hands of writer-director Leigh Whannell, though, the updatedInvisible Manis a triumph.
2.M3gan(2022)
2.
Blumhouse has released a lot morescariermovies thanM3gan, but it hasnt released any more bonkers.
And somehow it all works!
about so many silly things and, thanks largely to screenwriter Akelah Cooper, dares to answer them.
And as the top of this list will tell you: Always trust in Allison Williams.
1.Get Out(2018)
1.
Do we even need to say it?
It works as a comedy, thanks to Lil Rel Howerys dogged friend and TSA agent character, Rod.
