20 Best Horror Movie Quotes, Ranked Scary to Scariest

While horror movies are best known for their masked slashers and paranormal activity, sometimes there’s nothing scarier than a single, spine-chilling line coming out of the mouth of one of the characters. Victim or villain, these characters have uttered some of the eeriest lines that fans of the genre have ever heard.

From questions that left audiences feeling queasy to startling statements and paralyzing proclamations, some horror movie quotes are simply so terrifying that they become as unforgettable and iconic as they are horrifying. Ranging from haunting lines spoken in some of the earliest horror films ever made to chilling quotes from more recent films, these famous sayings have come to be definitive of the horror genre.

20 “The power of Christ compels you!”

‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

Few films of any genre have impacted audiences quite like The Exorcist did upon release, with the William Friedkin horror movie stirring controversy aplenty as even religious leaders cried out against it. Still widely regarded to be the scariest movie ever made, it follows a desperate mother who, upon learning her daughter is possessed, enlists the help of two priests to perform an exorcism and save the girl’s life.

With a dreadful sense of evil seeping through every frame of the picture, it should come as no surprise that it has several lines that have come to define its terrifying magnificence. None have become as famous nor as suspenseful as Max von Sydow’s “the power of Christ compels you!” as Father Merrin fights the demonic force inside young Regan (Linda Blair).

19 “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

‘Jaws’ (1975)

The film that saw Stephen Spielberg become a bona fide Hollywood A-lister, Jaws is a rare achievement in that it managed to be a heart-pounding horror and became a massive box office success, even breaking the record for highest-ever intake at that point in time. With a giant great white shark terrorizing beachgoers, it follows the chief of police, a marine biologist, and a professional shark hunter as they voyage out to sea to kill the beast.

It presents Spielberg at his trademark best, building gripping suspense while still presenting an exciting and immersive story that is accessible yet personable. When, after getting a glimpse of the shark, a terrified Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) backtracks to the helm and blankly mutters “you’re gonna need a bigger boat,” audiences get a great chuckle that doesn’t for one second break the mounting dread.

18 “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

‘The Fly’ (1986)

An early success from body horror maestro David Cronenberg, The Fly follows a scientist who, after experimenting with his teleportation machine, begins to change as his DNA morphs with a fly’s. While out on the town, Seth (Jeff Goldblum) hits it off with a woman and tries to show her his invention, only to be interrupted by Ronnie (Geena Davis) who advises Seth’s date to “be afraid. Be very afraid.”

In addition to being a memorable line, it was also used as the tagline for the movie. It has since come to define not only David Cronenberg’s The Fly and 80s horror cinema but become an emblematic quote for the entire genre as well, thus becoming one of the absolute best scary movie quotes.

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17 “I’m your friend to the end.”

‘Child’s Play’ (1988)

When serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) transports his soul into a children’s doll, he speaks plenty of phrases a Good Guy doll doesn’t typically say, with many going on to achieve iconic status. But of all the eerie things Chucky says in Child’s Play, the creepiest of all is one said by the Good Guy doll.

When the doll isn’t introducing himself and asking Andy (Alex Vincent) if he wants to play, another phrase he says is, “I’m your friend to the end.” What’s normally a sweet sentiment turns sinister when you know an end may be in sight, making the seemingly good-intentioned sentence one of the scariest in the classic horror film.

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16 “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make.”

‘Dracula’ (1931)

One of the earliest and most famous horror movies ever made, the 1931 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s legendary horror novel Dracula remains one of the greatest monster movies ever made. Featuring an impeccable starring performance from Bela Lugosi, it follows Count Dracula as he bends an English real estate agent to his command before traveling to London where his plague of bloodlust and terror sees vampire hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) enlisted to put an end to his terror.

Creepy and atmospheric, yet cryptically enchanting and even beautiful, the film is a dazzling spectacle, one that’s aura can be surmised in the scene where Dracula leads Renfield (Dwight Frye) up the stairs of his castle. As howling wolves make Dracula take pause, he turns and slowly speaks one of the most famous horror quotes of all time. Lugosi’s delivery is faultless, giving the words a rhythmic Transylvanian might that has become truly iconic.

15 “One of us. One of us.”

‘Freaks’ (1932)

It’s arguably one of the most repeated quotes from cinematic history and has been referenced and re-used seemingly hundreds of times, but few people know where the line originated from. Released in 1932, Freaks was a pre-Code horror movie that followed a touring circus act, focusing on a trapeze artist’s conniving ploy to gain a dwarf’s inheritance and the unforeseen consequences her scheme brings with it.

Upon Cleopatra’s (Olga Baclanova) marriage to the dwarf Hans (Harry Earles), the troupe breaks into their famous chant to welcome her to their family. Enraged and disgusted by her colleagues, the prejudiced Cleopatra vehemently rejects their kinship, revealing her true colors to the group and setting in motion a violent plot of revenge.

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14 “Ba-ba-ba… dook! Dook! Dook!”

‘The Babadook’ (2014)

A modern masterpiece of horror cinema, The Babadook thrives as an unnerving monster movie that has a brilliant knack for crawling under the audience’s skin without featuring much violence at all. It follows a single mother and her young son as they are tormented by a monster invading their home from the pages of a creepy children’s book.

One of the film’s more paralyzing scenes sees Amelia (Essie Davis) answer the phone only to hear the piercing, guttural screech of the monster on the other end of the line as it cries out “ba-ba-ba… dook! Dook! Dook!.” There is no jump scare or use of haunting images in the scene, but the simple titular phrase delivered in such a grating and unpleasant manner makes for a bloodcurdling moment that viewers will not soon forget.

13 “We traced the call, it’s coming from inside the house.”

‘When a Stranger Calls’ (1979)

To emphasize how effective and harrowing this quote from 1979’s When a Stranger Calls is, it is worth noting that the film itself is considered only to be a middling horror movie. It follows a private detective on the hunt for a child murderer after he escapes from a psychiatric facility. However, the best part of the film is the opening sequence which features one of the scariest moments in the horror genre, which takes place seven years prior as a babysitter is tormented by a man on the phone.

When she calls the police they tell her to stay on the line with the harasser long enough so they can trace where he is calling from. After talking to the culprit again, the police immediately call Jill (Carol Kane) to inform her the caller is in the house. The heart-stopping moment of pure terror immortalized the movie. Interestingly, five years earlier, Black Christmas ran with a similar twist and, while it was a better movie, the moment was executed with quite the same impact as it was in When a Stranger Calls.

12 “They’re coming to get you, Barbara.”

‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968)

Released in 1968, George A. Romero’s zombie masterpiece Night of the Living Dead ushered in a new wave of horror filmmaking that would surge through the 70s and 80s. The first zombie film, it follows a group of people trapped in a farmhouse following an outbreak of flesh-eating, undead ghouls.

It begins with Barbara (Judith O’Dea) and her brother Johnny (Russell Streiner) visiting the cemetery where their father is buried, with Johnny teasing Barbara about her childhood fears of the graveyard. Mocking her, he puts on a creepy voice as he jests “they’re coming to get you, Barbara” even as a zombie staggers towards them in the background. It would become a prophetic line that sets the tone for the bleak events that follow.

11 “What’s your favorite scary movie?”

‘Scream’ (1996)

Other than a knife, Ghostface’s biggest weapon in Scream is an AT&T 3850, or at least a 1990s cell phone resembling it. The killer would use this phone to first call his victims, making conversation that included several spine-chilling lines. Of these quotes, one dire question stands out and remains popular today: “hat’s your favorite scary movie?”

The query has become one of the genre’s most well-known quotes from horror movies, partially on account of the immediate terror it struck audiences in the context of the scene, but also because of how it epitomized the Scream series’ meta-awareness of the genre. It reflected what the legendary film wanted to be, and how it effectively does so through dialogue.

10 “Here’s Johnny!”

‘The Shining’ (1980)

During their time at The Overlook Hotel, The Torrance family is met with plenty of haunting quotes, like The Grady Twins uttering, “Come play with us” and Danny’s (Danny Lloyd) imaginary friend Tony continuously muttering, “Redrum, redrum, redrum.” These have become as unforgettable as the plot and visuals themselves, though one line has outdone the rest.

The scariest line of The Shining came from Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) himself when he barges his head through the chopped door, a crazed look in his eyes when he announces, “Here’s Johnny!” While it’s all of two words, the line – which was improvised by Nicholson – remains the most memorable from the Stephen King film.

9 “It’s alive! It’s alive!”

‘Frankenstein’ (1931)

The black-and-white monster classic Frankenstein was one of the films that launched the horror genre, telling the story of Dr. Frankenstein of the creation of his monster. He struggles and puts every effort into his creation, and after all of Dr. Frankenstein’s hard work pays off, he exclaims a simple phrase in both disbelief and celebration.

When the monster awakens on the table, Dr. Frankenstein jumps for joy over his success, repeating, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” This line turned into a horror classic which, while not necessarily scary, kicks off Frankenstein’s monster’s rampage. It has also been endlessly referenced and parodied in pop culture since then.

8 “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.”

‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ (1984)

From his twisted yet comedic jabs to his more cynical and disturbing jeers, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has many great wise-cracking one-liners throughout A Nightmare on Elm Street and the larger horror movie franchise. However, the most harrowing line of the franchise is spoken not by Krueger but by the fan-favorite final girl Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp).

With the dream stalker on the prowl, the teenage hero devises a plan to bring Krueger into the real world where he can be dealt with once and for all, but she needs help to bring her scheme to fruition. Turning to her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) for help, she warns him “whatever you do, don’t fall asleep,” offering advice he should have taken heed of.

7 “You’ll float, too.”

‘It’ (2017)

While the phrase, “You’ll float, too,” seems to be Pennywise’s mantra in It, it’s Georgie’s voice that hollers the famous phrase. When Bill is lured to the flooding basement by Georgie’s presence, he finds his deceased brother standing in the water where he repeats those cryptic words over and over as his young voice turns monstrous.

In the Stephen King adaptation filled with red balloons and children’s corpses hovering around a sewer, the line “You’ll float, too” best fits Pennywise’s threat of luring children in and then devouring them in order to fuel his murderous entity. Anyone who has seen the famous movies can be forgiven for shuddering when recalling this quote.

6 “I’m scared to close my eyes; I’m scared to open them… I’m going to die out here.”

‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999)

A pioneer of the found-footage horror emergence, The Blair Witch Project became a genre sensation when released in 1999. The iconic film used shaky, grainy camera footage, documenting three student filmmakers who trek into the woods to investigate the Blair Witch and find themselves being haunted by the forest when become lost.

As their situation grows more and more terrifying, Heather (Heather Donahue) records herself one night, apologizing to the families of the students with hopeless terror. As she grows more horrified in the dark of the night, she closes out the recording with the unforgettably harrowing line “I’m scared to close my eyes; I’m scared to open them… I’m going to die out here.” It’s a spine-chilling and powerful quote that comes at the perfect time towards the film’s terrifying ending.

5 “I see dead people.”

‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)

Of all the quotable lines in horror films, it’s Cole Sear’s four-word phrase in The Sixth Sense that wins for being among the absolute scariest. After spending most of the film acting erratically, the big twist is revealed in dramatic fashion through an incredible quote. While talking to his psychologist, Cole finally admits his secret, revealing in a choked whisper, “I see dead people.”

The concept of one seeing dead people is scary enough, but when you’ve got a little boy uttering those words to who we later find out is a dead man, it makes for the most chilling line to be said in a horror film.

4 “We all go a little mad sometimes.”

‘Psycho’ (1960)

Psycho may be best remembered for its horrifying shower scene, but it served up an ominous quote said by the film’s villain Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). After overhearing a fight between Norman and his mother, Marion (Janet Leigh) suggests he put her “someplace,” causing Norman to go on a rant about mental institutions.

As Norman goes on and on about “mad houses” and his mother’s spiraling, he calmly says to Marion, “We all go a little mad sometimes”. It may not be the deftest or subtle foreshadowing of the character’s twisted turn to come, but it does adequately set the scene for his impending breakdown and the chaotic tale ahead while playfully engaging with one of the film’s major themes.

3 “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”

‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

Often, in any genre of movie, it is imperative that the villain makes a striking and memorable introduction. Horror movies are usually able to do this with visual terror and plenty of blood, but The Silence of the Lambs needed only a conversation to establish Sir Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter as one of the horror genre’s most chilling antagonists.

With Clarice (Jodie Foster) sent to interview a detained Lecter to gain insight into an active case, his introduction maintains an eerie suspense despite – or rather because of – his sophisticated presentation. Any illusion of pleasantries is shattered though when he declares how he fed on a census worker, followed by that unforgettable, horrifying hiss.

2 “They’re here…”

‘Poltergeist’ (1982)

Poltergeist is scary enough without ominous, spine-chilling quotes from cute but creepy children in the horror movie, so Carol Anne’s (Heather O’Rourke) proclamation was the last straw when it came to ensuring the hit horror classic would haunt audiences in their nightmares. The film follows an ordinary family whose lives are uprooted when their home is overrun by malevolent spirits who abduct their young daughter.

It’s when the television goes static and the ghosts fly out in front of a mesmerized Carol Anne that she turns to her parents and announces, “They’re here…” This phrase not only spooks in the film, but has been quoted in several other works for its ability to unnerve the viewer.

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1 “I want to play a game.”

‘Saw’ (2004)

Games play a big part in horror films, and in the Saw franchise, games are taken to a whole new deadly level. Once the victims discover their surroundings, Jigsaw will appear on a screen and his muffled voice will state, “I want to play a game.” Taken out of context, it’s an innocent request, but every Saw fan knows where the terrifying quote leads in every horror movie within the franchise.

The iconic line has successfully broken into pop culture, becoming a renowned quip that even people who don’t like horror films know well and has been referenced numerous times, even being used in the MCU in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Aided by the frightful and striking image of the Jigsaw puppet, the line has unequivocally become one of the all-time best horror quotes.

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