The horror genre always seems to be growing, producing a wide range of movies for different types of audiences. They challenge our perception of reality and let us escape for some hours to a different world where spooky creatures, dark technologies, and superhumans exist. You can find the hits everyone knows about and plenty of low-budget films that never take off. The number of options can be overwhelming, and finding some good supernatural movies can be tricky.
Halloween is still pretty far away, but that’s not an excuse to overlook some less mainstream stories. Prepare to be scared out of your mind, if you’re brave enough, with three good friends at your side. Today we’ll share some of the most acclaimed supernatural flicks that managed to remain relevant after multiple viewings. If you’re searching for a list of supernatural movies that you really shouldn’t sleep on, look no further. These scary movies deserve to be the main characters of the nights in with your cinephile friends. From classic horror movies to (almost) family-friendly ones, we have the one for you, so check out our all-time favorite best supernatural movies! Rest assured: they’re gonna leave you spooked well after the credits roll.
Have we overlooked a real hidden masterpiece? We’re waiting for your own additions to our list of movies to watch!
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#1 Mirror, Mirror
1990 | 1h 44m | Directed by Marina Sargenti
Starring Karen Black, Rainbow Harvest and Yvonne De Carlo
Mirror, Mirror marks Scott Forbes’s last work in the movie industry before his death in 1997. This almost all-female cast movie features Megan, a shy teenager that moves to a new town with her widowed mother and quickly becomes the target of bullies in her high school. When she starts to communicate with a mysterious mirror, everyone around her begins to get involved with a terrifying series of accidents.
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51points
#2 He Sees You When You're Sleeping
2002 | 1h 40m | Directed by David Winning
Starring Cameron Bancroft, Erika Eleniak and Nickol Tschenscher
This is an award-winning Christmas mystery movie starring Cameron Bancroft as Sterling Brooks, a man who died in a bizarre accident. His not-that-exemplary life won’t let him earn his place in heaven unless he gets back to the human world and performs a good deed. And not just any act: he’ll have to rescue a young single mom and her daughter from the criminals who destroyed their family. Based on a story by Mary Higgins Clark.
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51points
#3 Firestarter
1984 | 1h 54m | Directed by Mark L. Lester
Starring Drew Barrymore, David Keith and Freddie Jones
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Firestarter features a nine-year-old Drew Barrymore in the role of Charlie McGee, a kid with the ability to set things on fire just with the power of her mind. Prophetically, a few years before she was cast in the movie, Drew Barrymore’s mother thought that Drew resembled Charlie McGee, as shown on the book cover. A new adaptation of the film is set to be released in 2022.
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49points
#4 Sightings: Heartland Ghost
2002 | 1h 45m | Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring Beau Bridges, Nia Long and Miguel Ferrer
The crew of a reality TV show about paranormal events visits a small town in Kansas to investigate a Victorian house suspected to be haunted. Based on a real-life haunting case investigated on the Sightings TV series across multiple episodes between 1993 and 1997.
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48points
#5 Bad Girls From Valley High
2005 | 1h 24m | Directed by John T. Kretchmer
Starring Julie Benz, Nicole Bilderback and Monica Keena
Three arrogant friends start rapidly aging as soon as a foreign student transfers to their high school. The girls are desperate to get their youthful appearance back, and they begin to suspect the foreign student is connected to a murder they committed a year earlier. This exciting drama stars legendary Janet Leigh in her last appearance.
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48points
#6 Legion Of The Dead
2005 | 1h 22m | Directed by Paul Bales
Starring Courtney Clonch, Claudia Lynx and Bruce Boxleitner
When a group of scientists and students get the chance to study a newfound Egyptian tomb, a four-thousand-year-old evil high priestess takes the opportunity to awaken and revive her legion of mummies. Her goal? Bring her father back to life, become immortal and rule the world. Despite being released in between two similar and more successful movies (The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor), it’s definitely worth a watch!
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48points
#7 Nine Lives
2002 | 1h 25m | Directed by Andrew Green
Starring Rosie Fellner, Vivienne Harvey and Paris Hilton
A birthday party ends in tragedy when nine friends are stranded in a snowstorm in an isolated Scottish manor house, and a centuries-old spirit is set free. Even the strongest friendships are at risk when the ghost tries to kill them all. Who will survive? Starring Vivienne Harvey in her debut role.
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46points
#8 Hellraiser: Deader
2005 | 1h 28m | Directed by Rick Bota
Starring Kari Wuhrer, Ionut Chermenski and Hugh Jorgin
London-based journalist Amy Klein uncovers an underground sect in Romania thanks to a leaked videotape. The bizarre video shows a ritual murder ending with the dead coming back to life as a zombie. Curiously, this movie was filmed back to back with its sequel Hellraiser: Hellworld, also released in 2005.
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44points
#9 The Monster Hunter
1999 | 1h 31m | Directed by Mark Lambert Bristol
Starring Michael Bowen, David Carradine and Darren E. Burrows
Residents of a small town in Texas react strangely when a serial killer invades their little world. We were pleasantly surprised by this one! Monster Hunter is one of those movies where you have to switch your brain off and just enjoy the ride. Fully immerse in this definitely-not-mainstream film that leaves some space for moments of genuine humor!
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44points
#10 The Minion
1998 | 1h 35m | Directed by Jean-Marc Piché
Starring Dolph Lundgren, Françoise Robertson and Roc Lafortune
In 1999, at the dawn of the new millennium, an ancient body belonging to one of the Templar Knights was discovered in New York City’s subway system. Soon, the fate of a demonic minion and a modern Templar Knight meet, starting a battle that will decide the world’s future. The movie features Canadian actress Victoria Sanchez in her debut in the movie industry.
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42points
#11 The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow
1999 | 1h 45m | Directed by Pierre Gang
Starring Brent Carver, Rachelle Lefevre and Vlasta Vrana
A frightened schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane arrives in Sleepy Hollow and befriends a lovely young woman named Katrina Van Tassel (Rachelle Lefevre in her debut role). Her suitor, Brom Bones, the town blacksmith, tries to scare Ichabod away by dressing up as the dreaded Headless Horseman. Instead of simply scaring off Ichabod, Brom’s prank inadvertently summons the real Headless Horseman. Based on the 1820 novel by Washington Irving.
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41points
#12 Sleepy Hollow
1999 | 1h 45m | Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Miranda Richardson
Washington Irving’s classic tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” serves as the inspiration for this 1999 movie by Tim Burton. Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the blood-curdling death of three people, the culprit being the legendary “Headless Horseman.” The movie is faithful to the dream world that Irving painted and mixes horror, fantasy, and romance with an extraordinary cast of actors.
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41points
#13 Nightscream
1997 | 1h 27m | Directed by Noel Nosseck
Starring Candace Cameron Bure, Casper Van Dien and Denis Arndt
Based on a novel by Robert Specht, NightScream is a 1997 thriller starring Candace Bure as Drew Summers, a young woman experiencing dream-like trances. These visions are the key to finding out what really happened to Laura, an assassinated woman that looked exactly like her.
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40points
#14 Skinwalkers
2002 | 1h 40m | Directed by Chris Eyre
Starring Adam Beach, Wes Studi and Michael Greyeyes
This all-Native American cast movie will allow you to fully immerse in the Navajo culture and the legend of skinwalkers, spirits of murdered Native Americans returning to seek revenge against those who disrespected their land. The main characters, two police officers, investigate a killer that uses Navajo witchcraft as his modus operandi.
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39points
#15 The Haunting Of Hell House
1999 | 1h 30m | Directed by Mitch Marcus
Starring Michael York, Andrew Bowen and Jason Cottle
Filmed in Ireland, the movie tells the story of a mysterious professor who has suffered several horrific events in his life. He tries to help a young college student whose girlfriend died during an illegal abortion. The meeting of these tormented souls will spin into a terrifying journey.
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39points
#16 Lost Voyage
2001 | 1h 36m | Directed by Christian McIntire
Starring Judd Nelson, Janet Gunn and Jeff Kober
In the 1970s, SS Corona Queen’s cruise ship disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly reappearing only twenty-five years later. Seven people, including Aaron, who lost his parents on the ship, get on board to learn the truth behind its disappearance. But it didn’t return alone, and creepy things start happening.
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38points
#17 Megiddo: The Omega Code 2
2001 | 1h 44m | Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring Michael York, Michael Biehn and Joseph Makkar
Megiddo follows the rise of an evil leader focused on building the greatest army in world history for the battle against Armageddon. His brother, who also happens to be the American vice president, finds himself pitted against him over the fate and souls of the entire world. Did you know this movie features a shot from Air Force One (1997)?
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37points
#18 Sometimes They Come Back... For More
1998 | 1h 29m | Directed by Daniel Zelik Berk
Starring Clayton Rohner, Faith Ford and Max Perlich
After a mysterious disaster at a US military base in Antarctica in which only two team members survived, neither knowing what really happened to the rest of them, the CIA sends two soldiers to investigate. As soon as they find the corpses, they begin to suspect that something inhuman is lurking among them. Get ready for an hour and a half of goosebumps. This is the second sequel in the Sometimes They Come Back series.
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36points
#19 Wishmaster
1997 | 1h 30m | Directed by Robert Kurtzman
Starring Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff and Robert Englund
A gemologist makes the mistake of a lifetime: she releases an evil genie that immediately tries to capture her soul, thereby opening a portal allowing his kind to enslave the Earth. While the genie plays deadly tricks on her friends and acquaintances, she attempts everything possible to save the world.
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35points
#20 The Picture Of Dorian Gray
1945 | 1h 50m | Directed by Albert Lewin
Starring George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield and Donna Reed
An Oscar-winning movie inspired by Oscar Wilde’s novel. Sounds like a pun, but it’s the reality of this 1945 black and white film! The hedonist Dorian Gray manages to keep his youthful appearance forever, but a bizarre portrait reveals the worsening inner corruption of his soul. Ivan Le Lorraine Albright’s famous painting of the decaying Dorian Gray—which took a year to complete—is now owned by the Art Institute of Chicago, where it has been on display for decades.
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32points