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Horror Movies for Beginners

The best horror movies for beginners aren’t the most famous ones. They’re the ones that show you being scared can be fun, then turn the dial up a notch at a time. This path does that in 12 films and three stages: start with Gremlins and Shaun of the Dead, move on to Scream and The Conjuring, and save The Exorcist and Hereditary until you know what you can take.

Someone will always tell you to start with The Exorcist. It’s a superb film and a rough first date. Research on why people like horror movies backs up the slower route: the fun peaks at a middle level of fear, not the maximum. Go in order or jump in wherever feels right, and stop when you’ve found your level. There’s no prize for finishing.

  1. Stage 1First watchesLight to medium
  2. Stage 2The next stepMedium to high
  3. Stage 3Ready for the heavier stuffHigh to very high

Stage 1: First watches

Four films that want you to have a good time. There’s real menace here, but jokes, charm or a big adventure keep it from getting heavy.

  1. A cute pet, three simple rules and a small town at Christmas: you can see the trouble coming and enjoy every minute of it. The gremlins cackle and wreck the place like they’re at a party, so you end up laughing and flinching in the same scene.

    How intense: Light. A PG with teeth, though. This and Temple of Doom helped push Hollywood into creating PG-13.

    LegendaryRated PG

    Subscription: HBO Max

  2. A lifelike doll built to look after a grieving kid starts taking the job far too seriously. The film knows exactly how silly a dancing killer doll is, which makes this the easiest one here to put on with friends who swear they hate horror.

    How intense: Light. The PG-13 cut keeps the blood low. An unrated cut has much more, so start with the PG-13.

    LegendaryRated PG-13

    Content notes: Violence and peril

    Subscription: Netflix · YouTube TV

  3. The zombie apocalypse arrives during Shaun’s worst week, and for a while he’s too hungover and heartbroken to notice. It’s a comedy first, so you pick up the rules of zombie movies while laughing at them.

    How intense: Light to medium. Mostly laughs, but it’s rated R for a reason, and the zombie gore gets strong late on.

    LegendaryRated R

    Subscription: Starz · Philo

  4. Poster artwork for Jaws

    Jaws

    1975 · Movie
    Pick

    Your first lesson in suspense. A broken mechanical shark forced Spielberg to keep it mostly out of sight for over an hour, and two notes of music turn every calm stretch of water into a threat.

    How intense: Medium. A 1975 PG isn’t a modern PG. Expect bloody shark attacks and at least one big jolt.

    LegendaryRated PG

    Content notes: Violence and peril

    Subscription: Netflix · TNT · TBS · +2 more

Liked the laughs? Try the Dark Comedy shelf. Liked the monsters? Try Creature Features.

Stage 2: The next step

Now the scares are the point. Each of these still gives you something solid to hold: a mystery, a family to root for, a rule you can follow. This is where you start finding out which kind of fear you like.

  1. One rule: make a sound and you die. That’s all you need to follow it, and soon you’ll feel guilty about crunching your popcorn.

    How intense: Medium. Steady tension more than blood, but children are in danger and the silence breaks with sudden attacks.

    LegendaryRated PG-13

    Subscription: Paramount+ · MGM+ · fuboTV · +2 more

  2. A horror movie that teaches you horror. Its characters have seen every slasher and recite the rules out loud, so you get a crash course in the genre and a whodunit to solve at the same time.

    How intense: Medium to high. The first real step up in blood, starting with a brutal opening. The jokes and the mystery help.

    LegendaryRated R

    Content notes: Graphic stabbings, Bloody kills, Strong language

    Subscription: HBO Max · Paramount+ · Cinemax · +1 more

    Free: YouTube · Kanopy · Hoopla

  3. Meeting your girlfriend’s parents goes from awkward to alarming. If you already like thrillers, this is your bridge: the fear comes from polite smiles and things that are slightly off, and it’s funny when you badly need it to be.

    How intense: Medium. Mostly steady unease, then a violent final stretch.

    LegendaryRated R

    Subscription: FXNow · fuboTV · YouTube TV

  4. Your haunted house test. James Wan puts you inside a family’s farmhouse and plays with where you’re looking, until a simple game of hide and clap is the scariest thing you’ve seen so far.

    How intense: High. It was rated R for “disturbing violence and terror” rather than gore, and you will jump. If that worries you, read up on jump scares first.

    LegendaryRated R

    Subscription: HBO Max

Liked Scream? Try Slashers. Liked The Conjuring? Try Haunted House.

Stage 3: Ready for the heavier stuff

These four stay with you after the credits. They’re slow, serious and often unkind, and they’re a big part of why people love this genre. Watch them when you’re in the mood, not on a dare, and maybe keep something funny ready for afterward.

  1. A tired crew, a grimy spaceship and a distress call nobody should have answered. It spends about an hour tightening the screws, then shows you what all that patience was for.

    How intense: High. Long stretches of dread, broken by bursts of graphic body horror.

    LegendaryRated R

    Subscription: Netflix · fuboTV

  2. A family, one winter and a hotel that seems to go on forever. Kubrick gives you almost nothing solid to hold on to, so the fear comes from a father coming apart and corridors that feel wrong.

    How intense: High. Long and strange, with violence, blood and a child in danger.

    LegendaryRated R

    Content notes: Blood and gore, Violence and peril, Disturbing themes

    Subscription: AMC

  3. Here’s the one everybody told you to start with, and now you’ve got the stamina for it. Under the famous shocks, it’s about a mother watching doctors run out of answers for her sick daughter, and that’s why it hurts.

    How intense: Very high. A 12-year-old suffers for much of the film, with hard-to-watch medical scenes and deliberately shocking sexual language and imagery.

    LegendaryRated R

    Subscription: AMC

  4. Graduation day. A family is already buried in grief when the film starts taking away everything else, with a patience that makes it worse. Get through this one and want more, and you’re officially a horror fan.

    How intense: Very high. Bleak from start to finish, about grief and harm inside a family, with images that are hard to shake.

    LegendaryRated R

    Subscription: Prime Video · Hulu

    Free: YouTube

Liked The Shining or Hereditary? Try Psychological. Liked Alien? Try Sci-Fi Horror.

Where to go from here

Before you press play

Frequently Asked Questions About Horror Movies for Beginners

What is a good first horror movie?

Gremlins is the easiest place to start if you like your monsters funny, M3GAN if you’d rather watch something recent, and Jaws if you want pure suspense. All three are rated PG or PG-13, and each one shows a different side of the genre.

What is a gateway horror movie?

A gateway horror movie is one that’s easy to enjoy even if you don’t usually watch horror, and that leaves you curious about what else is out there. It usually gives you a reason to keep watching beyond the fear, such as jokes, a mystery or characters you like. The first two stages of this path are built from films like that.

Are these scary movies OK for kids?

This path is written for adults and older teens who are new to horror, not for children. Gremlins and Jaws are rated PG, but both came out before PG-13 existed and have scenes a parent should preview. Check the rating and any content notes on a film’s page before sharing it with younger viewers.

Do I have to watch them in order?

No. None of the 12 is a sequel to another, so the order is only about intensity. If you’ve already seen Scream and liked it, start at stage two. If a film feels like too much, turn it off and go back a stage. There’s no test.

Which horror movies should beginners wait on?

Famous and easy aren’t the same thing, which is why The Exorcist and Hereditary come last here. Films built to push limits, such as Terrifier and The Human Centipede, aren’t on this path at all. Save those until you know you want that kind of night.

How do you decide how intense a movie is?

The intensity labels are HorroRated’s own judgment, not a measurement. They weigh each film’s rating, any content notes on its entry and how hard it is to sit through. Fear is personal, so a film marked Medium might be High for you, and that’s useful to know too.