10 Best 90-Minute Horror Movies, Ranked

Horror movies, a realm where the unknown dances with our deepest fears, have captivated audiences for decades. The genre serves as a rollercoaster of emotions, plunging viewers into a world where suspense, terror, and supernatural elements collide. Some of the best horror movies are neither too long nor too short – standing at approximately 90 minutes long. They deliver spine-tingling thrills in a compact runtime, mastering the art of suspense and intensity.

While a horror movie aims to scare its audiences, how it does this varies widely. While the gripping A Quiet Place, directed by John Krasinski, explores sound as a weapon in a post-apocalyptic world, Robert Eggers’ The Witch, uses folklore and a New England setting to evoke an unsettling and unfamiliar feeling from its audience. Whatever the case is, they all have one thing in common; these movies create a terrifying plot in a 90-minute timeframe. Whether through psychological tension, supernatural phenomena, or gruesome creatures, horror weaves a narrative that resonates with our collective anxieties. It’s a genre that evolves, adapting to societal fears, yet remains timeless in its ability to elicit screams and shivers, creating an enduring fascination with the macabre.

10 ‘The Babadook’ (2014,)

94 Minute Runtime

Amelia (Essie Davis) is a grieving and sleep-deprived widow struggling with the death of her husband. Her troubled son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), becomes obsessed with a mysterious pop-up book about a sinister creature called the Babadook. As Amelia’s mental state deteriorates, the lines between reality and nightmare blur, and the malevolent force of the Babadook manifests. The film explores themes of grief, motherhood, and psychological terror, using the supernatural as a metaphor for inner demons.

The Babadook garnered critical acclaim for its unique approach to horror. Director Jennifer Kent chose practical effects over CGI, enhancing the film’s eerie atmosphere. The titular character, the Babadook, was created using a mix of puppetry, animatronics, and stop-motion techniques. Despite its modest budget, The Babadook became a horror standout, celebrated for its psychological depth, inventive visuals, and compelling performances.

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9 ‘Don’t Breathe’ (2016)

88 Minute Runtime

Don’t Breathe is a taut horror-thriller that follows a group of young thieves who target a blind military veteran’s home, thinking it’s an easy score. However, they soon discover that the blind man (Stephen Lang) is far more dangerous than anticipated. As they navigate his pitch-black house, they realize he possesses heightened senses and is more than capable of defending himself. The thieves soon find themselves trapped in a life-or-death struggle within the confines of the seemingly inhospitable home.

For this project, director Fede Alvarez collaborated again with producer Sam Raimi after their work on the Evil Dead remake. Together, the pair successfully created a nerve-wracking experience by turning a seemingly simple premise — thieves breaking into a blind man’s home — into a heart-pounding game of survival. The film was not only recognized for its intense and immersive atmosphere but also for its incredible lighting, which was achieved by shooting in Hungary’s Stern Film Studio, employing innovative lighting techniques.

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8 ‘The Witch’ (2015)

92 Minute Runtime

After being banished from their Puritan community, a devout family attempts to build a new life near a secluded forest. Strange occurrences begin, and the family’s teenage daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), is blamed for her brother Samuel’s disappearance and suspected of practicing witchcraft. As suspicions arise and paranoia deepens, the family faces an unseen evil lurking in the woods, testing their faith and unraveling their sanity.

Robert Eggers, in his feature film debut, skillfully weaves a tale of Puritanical paranoia and supernatural horror. The film’s meticulous attention to historical accuracy immerses the audience in the stark reality of 1630s New England. It eschews conventional jump scares, relying instead on a creeping sense of dread and the disintegration of familial bonds. Anya Taylor-Joy’s breakout performance and Mark Korven‘s haunting score further elevate this unique horror experience, making The Witch a chilling exploration of religious fervor and the supernatural.

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7 ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2011)

95 Minute Runtime

The Cabin in the Woods follows five friends who embark on a remote cabin getaway. Soon, they encounter bizarre occurrences and realize they are part of a meticulously orchestrated experiment. An underground facility manipulates their surroundings, forcing them into classic horror tropes. As the group faces terrifying creatures, the film deconstructs horror clichés and explores the morality behind such orchestrated terror.

Directed by Drew Goddard and co-written with Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods is praised for its ingenious deconstruction of the horror genre by cleverly blending satire, meta-horror, and genuine frights. Despite being an all-around accomplished project, many may be surprised that the film’s script was completed in just three days. In a 2012 Collider interview, Whedon stated, “This movie, Drew and I locked ourselves in the hotel for three days and all-time was the time to write…The fingers kept flying; I mean I did a personal best on this which I think was 26 pages in a day.”

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6 ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (1974)

83 Minute Runtime

The film follows a group of friends who, while on a road trip to investigate reports of grave robbing, encounter a family of cannibals in rural Texas. After picking up a hitchhiker with disturbing tendencies, the group becomes prey to Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), a chainsaw-wielding killer. Tobe Hooper‘s gritty and visceral masterpiece delivers relentless terror through its raw storytelling, creating an atmosphere of dread that lingers. It explores the terror of the unknown and the brutality of human nature, leaving a permanent mark on the horror genre and influencing countless slasher films that followed.

Despite its intense reputation, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had a shoestring budget and a short shooting schedule. For this reason, the production team diverted to practical effects for the film, some of which included utilizing actual human skin and fur for the leatherface mask and using real human bones as props. This ultimately led to censorship challenges, with some countries banning or heavily editing it. All of this did, however, contribute to the film’s grotesque and unsettling atmosphere, proving its minimalistic yet effective approach to horror and its prominence in the genre throughout the years.

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5 ‘Talk to Me’ (2022)

94 Minute Runtime

Talk to Me follows a group of friends who discover their ability to summon and communicate with spirits through a severed, preserved hand by holding it and saying the words “I let you in”. As they become engrossed with this discovery and one of them crosses the line, things quickly escalate, unleashing paranormal forces.

Danny and Michael Philippou, the directors behind the film, are twin brothers. Before making their compelling feature directorial debut in Talk to Me, the pair of Australian brothers started their journey by running a YouTube channel named RackaRacka, which often featured live-action horror comedy videos. Though somewhat a leap from YouTubers to big-time directors, the Philippou brothers have always been interested in the film industry, with both of them having crewed on the set of the 2014 Australian horror film The Babadook, and making videos on their YouTube channel.

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4 ‘Blind Beast’ (1969)

90 Minute Runtime

Blind Beast is a Japanese film that centers on a blind sculptor (Eiji Funakoshi) and his mother (Noriko Sengoku) who kidnap a young model, Aki (Mako Midori), to create the perfect art piece by exploring the tactile and sensory experience of her body. Trapped in a bizarre, labyrinthine studio filled with sculpted women’s body parts, the film delves into the psychological and physical horrors faced by the captive model.

Masumura’s visually striking and unsettling film is a unique entry in the horror genre. It gained recognition for its avant-garde approach to horror, pushing boundaries with its grotesque and explicit content. Despite its initial controversial reception, the film has become a cult classic and a significant work in Japanese horror cinema. Its blend of psychological horror, surrealism, and provocative narrative explores the darker facets of human obsession and the unconventional pursuit of artistic perfection.

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3 ‘A Quiet Place’ (2018)

95 Minute Runtime

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by blind extraterrestrial creatures that hunt using sound, a family must navigate their lives in silence to survive. The film follows the Abbott family, led by parents played by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, as they strive to protect their children from the deadly creatures. The family’s struggle for survival unfolds in a tense and virtually silent atmosphere, creating a unique cinematic experience that relies on sensory engagement.

A Quiet Place offers intriguing behind-the-scenes details. In his directorial debut, John Krasinski not only helmed the film but also starred alongside his real-life wife, Emily Blunt. To maintain authenticity, Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress, was cast, adding depth to the portrayal of a family navigating a world dominated by sound-sensitive creatures. The use of silence as a narrative tool, combined with outstanding performances, makes A Quiet Place a standout in the horror genre.

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2 ‘Ringu’ (1998)

96 Minute Runtime

Ring, known as Ringu in Japanese, revolutionized horror with its chilling premise. The film follows journalist Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) investigating a cursed videotape linked to a series of mysterious deaths, including that of her niece, Tomoko. Anyone who watches the tape receives a phone call, foretelling their death in seven days. As Reiko delves deeper, she discovers the vengeful spirit Sadako is behind the curse.

The film, directed by Hideo Nakata, had a huge impact in introducing J-horror to the world, concurrently sparking a global fascination with Asian horror. The film’s eerie ambiance and iconic imagery, like the ghostly Sadako emerging from a well, left an indelible mark. Its success birthed a franchise, inspiring sequels, prequels, and Hollywood adaptations. Ringu triggered the popularity of the vengeful ghost trope, cementing J-horror’s influence on horror cinema.

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1 ‘Eyes Without a Face’ (1960)

90 Minute Runtime

Dr. Genessier (Pierre Brasseur), a brilliant but morally ambiguous surgeon, was involved in a car accident that left his daughter Christiane’s (Edith Scob) face disfigured. Driven by guilt and determined to restore her beauty, he lures young women to harvest their faces and graft them on Christiane’s. With the help of his loyal assistant Louise (Alida Valli), Dr. Genessier performs these gruesome experiments in his eerie mansion.

Known for its poetic horror, Georges Franju‘s 1960 masterpiece was initially met with controversy but later gained critical acclaim. The film’s haunting narrative, coupled with its disturbing surgical sequences, explores the subjects of identity, obsession, and the ethical dilemmas of science. With its unique premise, Eyes Without a Face or Les Yeux sans visage has become a landmark in cinema, influencing subsequent generations of horror films such as Pedro Almodóvar‘s The Skin I Live In and many others.

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