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Horror’s 10 Scariest Haunted House Movies

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There are no shortages of haunted house horror movies, a major horror sub-genre. Paranormal horror makes for some of the spookiest, timeless horror features. The creaky floors, doors shutting on their own, and things that go bump in the night in what should be a safe space; your home. What further lends to the terror is the intangible nature of the paranormal, therefore the inability to effectively fight off attacks. Or the discovery of a home’s tragic history that refuses to stay dead. Over the decades, horror has presented a vast number of terrifying haunted abodes, from sprawling gothic mansions to the seemingly idyllic suburban home.

The very concept of a haunted house is vague enough that it lends well to reinvention time and time again, giving us classics like Alien, taking the haunted house blueprint and applying it to space, or The Shining, which uses a haunted house story set in a hotel to examine a break down a man’s sanity. To narrow down the scariest haunted house films in horror history, a broad sub-genre, all haunted buildings outside of traditional fare are eliminated; haunted asylums, orphanages, space stations, and the like all make for chilling locations to set a haunt, but exist beyond the scope of this list. Using that basic rule, the 10 scariest haunted house horror films are:


The Haunting (1963)

Adapted from Shirley Jackson’s classic novel The Haunting of Hill House, the plot follows a group of paranormal investigators as they study and investigate 90-year-old Hill House and its sordid history. Accompanied by Hill House heir Luke, Dr. John Markway, psychic Theo, and meek paranormal sensitive Eleanor navigate the labyrinthine mansion as subtle paranormal occurrences begin to pile up. The banging on the walls, the cold spots, and all the requisite signs of a home haunting occur. The most chilling moment comes when Eleanor tightly grips Theo’s handing in the middle of the night when an unseen stranger pounds their bedroom door. Only, it isn’t Theo’s hand at all. The Haunting is an unsettling story of creeping dread that proves horror doesn’t have to have an R-rating to get under your skin.


Burnt Offerings

Based on a novel of the same name, this haunter was co-written, produced, and directed by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows). Starring Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, and Karen Black, this atmospheric gem favors slow burn mystery over jump scares. The Rolf family rent a bargain-priced summer home, a large mansion in Long Island, that comes with a strange caveat; the owners require that their elderly mother live upstairs and that the Rolfs care for her during their stay. Marian (Karen Black) agrees, so excited to claim the bargain price, and before long becomes obsessed with maintaining the expansive house. Unlike most haunted house fare, though, the house seems to thrive off the Rolf family’s presence. Particularly whenever they bleed. Moody, eerie, and fueled by a mysterious force the Rolf family can’t contend with, Burnt Offerings is an underseen horror film that subverts everything we knew about haunted houses.


The Others

If you have yet to watch this gothic ghost story, go in knowing as little as possible (don’t worry, no spoilers here). Alejandro Amenabar’s World War II-set haunter follows Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) as she cares for her two light-sensitive children and their servants in an isolated countryside house while her husband is presumably killed at war. With her kids refined to the house, weird events begin happening. The piano plays itself at night, things move on their own, and Grace’s daughter Anne claims to have seen strangers in their home. The ghostly jump scares stick their landing, and become even more unsettling with the psychological element; is Grace cracking under the pressure of upholding the home on her own, or is there an unwelcome presence?


The Pact

One of the most common themes explored in haunted house horror films is that of the past coming back to literally haunt. For Annie Barlow (Caity Lotz), she’s forced to confront her past in the wake of her mother’s death and her sister’s disappearance, who was last known to be finalizing funeral arrangements from their childhood home. Annie’s return to her childhood home to retrace her sister’s footsteps not only stirs up bad memories from growing up, but also makes her a target for attack by an unseen presence within. Written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy, The Pact manages to make even the most mundane suburban home sinister and reinvigorate old tropes. The Pact takes a huge left turn from the expected direction, with terrifying results.


Lake Mungo

This mockumentary style horror film written and directed by Joel Anderson tells a story of a family coping with the loss of their teen daughter Alice and the supernatural events that have emerged since her drowning. Alice’s brother Matthew sets up cameras around the Palmer household to record sightings of his dead sister, and the family seeks the help of parapsychologist Ray for answers. Part found footage and part faux documentary, including interviews with the family, Lake Mungo feels like a film within a film centered around the palpable grief of a daughter and sister. Anderson takes full advantage of found footage tropes, using the ghostly presence of Alice to deliver shocking twists and scares. In other words, it’s nothing like your average found footage film, and the ideas and imagery presented will linger with you long after the end credits roll.


Ju-On: The Grudge

Ju-On Juon The Grudge

Kayako and her son Toshio may be iconic, but it’s their house in which they are tethered and where the curse resides that gives them power. Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On series has rivaled Ringu in terms of Japan’s most terrifying ghost stories, and it’s no surprise that this long-lasting franchise is getting an American reboot next year. The unnatural way Kayako and Toshio contort their bodies as they haunt their victims is enough to send chills down your spine, and Shimizu is a master of the jump scare. The Ju-On series brings a whole new layer to the haunted house concept; those who are brave (or dumb) enough to step foot inside the Saeki home are doomed to bring the curse back with them. In haunted house horror, the body count is typically quite low. That’s not the case here.


The Sentinel

When one thinks of haunted houses, usually the image of a gothic mansion or a dated home come to mind, not a Brooklyn brownstone. Yet it makes for one of the most unique and creepy haunted house flicks of all, when fashion model Alison Parker moves into one that’s been sectioned off into apartments. It doesn’t take long after move-in day for Alison to begin hearing strange noises, suffer insomnia and nightmares, and endure bizarre encounters with her equally bizarre neighbors. When she complains to her real estate agent, the agent is confused; the brownstone only has two tenants, Alison and the blind reclusive priest on the top floor. Also fitting in line with the Catholic horror of the decade, The Sentinel is an oft-overlooked gem with hellish roots.


The Conjuring

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James Wan’s ode to ‘70s supernatural horror employed every tool in his horror arsenal crafted from previous work on supernatural films Dead Silence and Insidious, proving himself to be a modern master of horror with his uncanny ability to draw out excruciating tension and scares juxtaposed with an emotional story filled with characters the audience actually cares about.  It even takes the controversial real-life figures of Ed and Lorraine Warren and turns them into horror’s most endearing couple as they investigate the haunting of the Perron family at their newly purchased farmhouse. Atmospheric, tense, and expertly paced, it’s no surprise this film launched a horror universe of its own.


Poltergeist

A well-regarded classic for a reason, this Tobe Hooper directed seminal haunted house story centered around the Freeling family proved that not even a newly built suburban home could be free from paranormal activity. Few horror protagonists are as amiable as the Freelings, led by patriarch Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane (JoBeth Williams), and their plight of searching for missing daughter Carol Anne lends an emotional through line. More than that, Poltergeist brings one of the showiest haunted house films in cinematic history. From face peeling nightmares, corpse-filled swimming pools, and even attacking trees, Poltergeist is one epic spectacle that offers chills, laughs, and heart.


The Changeling

This definitive haunted house tale follows George C. Scott as John Russell, a music composer that moves into a large Victorian mansion in Seattle after the deaths of this wife and daughter. The usual phenomena begin shortly after moving in; banging on walls, spooky apparitions, and various other signs of hauntings. John begins to investigate the history of the house, finding a tragic secret and one very pissed off ghost at the center of the sprawling home. Scott’s compelling performance as a mourning man fueled by the mansion’s tragic mystery, the now iconic sounds and imagery (that wheelchair), and the way director Peter Medak frames his shots makes for one of horror’s scariest haunted house films ever. It’s so good that I’m surprised that it took them this long to attempt a remake.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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