13 Killer Horror Picks for Scream Factory’s 13th Anniversary

This year, Scream Factory turns 13, and what better way to mark such a delightfully spooky milestone than by sharing 13 of our favorite horror films? Over the past decade-plus, we’ve been proud to champion slashers, creature features, cult classics, and everything in between. To celebrate, members of our staff have picked films close to their (black) hearts. From iconic fan favorites to underrated gems, these are the titles we return to again and again when we want to scream, shiver, and smile.

Whether you’re a longtime horror fan or looking to discover something new, this list is our love letter to the genre that keeps us up at night.

ALLIGATOR — Joey G.

This is the thinking man’s b-movie. So much more than the straight up satirical big threat homage seen in KILLER TOMATOES or any of the insulting cash grab throwaway stuff that SyFy churns out. Sayles’s script is genuine, while being totally fun.

It’s the type of thing a 10-year-old who’s seen too many radioactive horror movies and read too many comic books would write: a giant alligator attacking a city, army men trudging through the sewers, hardboiled cops, explosions — hard not to be on board for the whole thing. And its PSYCHO-meets-JAWS score only elevates things.

Can’t imagine anyone else in the lead besides great woebegone everyman Robert Forester. Nice cameo by the always intimidating Henry Silva, too. And a really great monster reveal scene — I can only imagine the hoots and screams in the theater when this first played.

CARRIE — Daisy A.

Brian De Palma’s 1976 adaptation of Carrie, by Stephen King, is a classic in horror cinema. The fantastic portrayal of Carrie White is done by Sissy Spacek, whose emotional depth brings the movie’s catastrophic plot to life. As the daughter of a religious fanatic (Piper Laurie), her bullies push her to the edge at the senior Prom where her telekinetic powers are unleashed in a devastating but iconic act of vengeance.

Pino Donaggio’s score combined with De Palma’s vision makes for a truly psychological thriller, solidifying it as a timeless masterpiece.

OBSESSION — Mark D.

Any film that riffs on Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, and there’s enough for it to be basically be a subgenre, always appeals to me and perhaps none are better than Brian De Palma’s Obsession. The man himself was obsessed with Hitchcock and the influence can be felt across several of his films but this story of a man whose wife is tragically killed only for him to much later run into a woman who is a dead ringer for her (and that also features an Oscar-nominated score by Vertigo composer Bernard Herrmann) is particularly direct. But De Palma’s genius lies in how he expands out and perverts the Hitchcock film, bringing in haziness and uncanny that seems to push it more into the supernatural and revealing twists even more strange than the original’s.

What at first pass may seem like one of De Palma’s more optimistic endings quickly switches to one of his most deranged once the implications set in. This remains a deeper cut in his filmography but those who’ve seen it know it’s one of his hardest to shake. It’s also one of his most visually stunning and the Scream Factory Blu-ray perfectly preserves all of its dark majesty.

KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE — Reese M.

One of the defining horror/sci-fi comedies of the '80s, this movie always fills me with nostalgia. I'll never forget watching it at a middle school sleepover at 3 AM while eating bacon with my friends. Every sleepover at this particular friend's place, it was sort of a tradition for us to cook bacon in the middle of the night and magically not burn the house down. A simpler time. Something just always felt right about chowing down on some bacon while watching space clowns ravage townsfolk. Makes you wonder who the real clowns are in this scenario, huh? These are the kinds of existential questions that arise when you witness a masterpiece such as this.

So when I think of Killer Klowns From Outer Space, I'm reminded of laughing at clown insanity, that I wish more comedies were made like this today, and the fact that my body could once handle eating bacon at 3 am. I can only hope it brings fond memories to others like it does for me.

DEAD RINGERS — Leah X.

“Surely you’ve heard of inner beauty? I’ve often thought there should be beauty contests for the insides of bodies,” says Elliot Mantle (Jeremy Irons), a Toronto-based doctor specializes in female fertility issues, to his patient Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold), who has been diagnosed with a trifurcated cervix, a rare condition featuring three entrances to the uterus instead of one. This line perfectly encapsulates the filmography of David Cronenberg, who, after an incredible run of Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983), The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986), concluded his 1980s release with Dead Ringers (1988). Here, Cronenberg employs a more subtle, clinical approach to explore themes of body, sexuality, drug addiction, and the inseparability of identical twins.

Jeremy Irons delivers a masterful dual performance as Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twin gynecologists who share everything in life–until they don’t. Elliot is the confident socializer while Beverly is the more sensitive, research-focused introvert. When actress Clarie approaches them, Elliot finds her condition “fantastic” and becomes intrigued. Following their lifelong pattern of shared experiences, he pushes Beverly into impersonating him and seducing their client. But this time, something shifts fundamentally. Beverly falls in love with Clarie, adopts her drug addiction, and becomes obsessed with designing “gynecological instruments” for operating on “mutant women.” Elliot, desperate to reconnect with his brother, begins abusing drugs himself, setting both twins on a tragic path.

What’s unique about Dead Ringers is that it isn’t as visually horrifying as other Cronenberg classics. Tellingly, Cronenberg never actually shows us Claire’s “mutant” organ, despite its constant discussion throughout the film. The horror in this film seems to emerge from watching the twins gradually lose their grip on life and reality. Irons’ tour-de-force performance anchors the entire film, precisely capturing how one twin is playful while the other is emotional, and how their individual identities gradually dissolve as they become consumed by addiction. The split-screen technology of the era allowed Irons to perform opposite himself on set, with matching lighting and framing achieved through careful video monitoring between takes. The result is seamless and deeply unsettling. The scene where Irons wields his bizarrely shaped “gynecological instruments” in his blood-red surgical scrubs ranks among Cronenberg’s greatest visual inventions, alongside the insectoid typewriter of Naked Lunch (1991) or the flesh gun from Videodrome (1983), and it is also my personal favorite. This scene perhaps captures Cronenberg’s visual language the best–he is a surgeon at heart.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK — Rashad Q.

Few would argue John Carpenter’s place in the Pantheon of Cult/Genre filmmakers, and somehow ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK remains in many ways a cult favorite amid his library of cult favorites.

Starring longtime collaborator Kurt Russell as the disaffected special ops soldier Snake Plissken, it’s an incredible vision of a dystopian New York City now functioning as maximum security prison. What follows is a thrilling race against time as Snake is tasked to rescue the President, who has crashed into Manhattan, within 24 hours or else face an excruciating death by micro-explosives injected into his bloodstream. The cast features titans of the screen including the legendary Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasance, Harry Dean Stanton, and Isaac Hayes as the “The Duke,” the leader of the most powerful gang in Manhattan with the most impeccable style (who else could drive around in a Cadillac adorned with chandeliers and a disco ball?).

Additionally, you can’t talk about a John Carpenter film without mentioning the iconic score, which in trademark fashion he also co-wrote. Like many of Carpenter’s scores, the music becomes like its own character in this nightmarish vision of New York City. Last fun fact: Kurt Russel’s character is the direct inspiration for character Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid franchise of video games, created by Hideo Kojima.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK is one part THE WARRIORS, one part MAD MAX, but a John Carpenter film through and through. 

PS: make sure you check out the Carpenter/Russell commentary included in our bonus features - it's as entertaining as the film itself!

TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT — Emily H.

It's quite possible no one has ever had more fun in a role than Billy Zane does as The Collector in this zany addition to the Tales From The Crypt series, it's no wonder Zane himself has cited this as a favorite role. The zeal with which he tackles his time as a demon who is set on gathering a series of keys is such a blast to watch while also providing genuine creepiness. William Sadler and Jada Pinkett-Smith lead the ragtag group of heroes trapped in the rundown motel where The Collector comes a-calling, with Sadler being the focus of The Collector because he holds one of the mysterious keys while Pinkett-Smith's strength intrigues the demon who isn't used to not getting his way. 

Practical effects featuring a bevy of different demons oozing different goos, CCH Pounder's arm coming off, and a lot of magic tricks from Zane (can't forget the sponge) make the film a visual spectacle, with something constantly happening to draw your eye in a new direction. 

DRAG ME TO HELL — Gus K.

DRAG ME TO HELL plays like something of a movie miracle. After losing genre auteur Sam Raimi to the Spider-Verse for a decade, his return to the world of horror landed like an anvil to the head (something that literally happens within this remarkable film!). Fortuitously timed to comment on the 2008 recession, the story of well-meaning but put-upon loan officer Christine Brown running afoul of an ancient curse is merely a pretense for director Raimi to employ his considerable talents. From a showdown in a Ford Mustang to an unexpectedly loquacious goat to a climactic confrontation in a flooding open grave, no moment is wasted, no scene anything less than a ghoulish delight.

Something of a box office disappointment upon its initial release, the film has since rightfully laid claim to a devoted following, playing as both a stark, center-bullseye horror to the uninitiated, and a gleeful thrill-a-minute spookablast to genre aficionados. I cannot recommend this film highly enough, so dim the lights, pop in a 4K, and prepare yourself to never look at sweater buttons the same way again. “Here, kitty, kitty…”

EVENT HORIZON — AJ M.

Let me take you back to a time in the early internet when movie forums were still somewhat primitive (yet strangely no less toxic). At long last, a community was founded for likeminded cinephiles to gather and share in their love for film. And the added bonus for curious kids like me: a chance to vicariously experience the horror movies I was too much of a scaredy cat to seek out for myself.

Of all the nightmares that fueled my intrigue, none planted a seed in my brain like Event Horizon – a film so revered, it was more than a movie. From the Warhammer 40K comparisons to the long-lost Directors Cut, there was deep lore and dark mystery surrounding it. The word-of-mouth made it feel like a rite-of-passage one must endure to earn the official title of ‘true horror fan’.

After working up the courage to rent it on DVD, it opened up a bold and exciting new dimension of terror for an aspiring horror fanatic: hurtling spaceships powered by demonic spheres, bleak visions of a barbed-wire hellscape, and who could forget Dr. Alan Grant flayed to the tighty-whiteys with gaping lashes adorning his body. Never before had I seen such haunting, visceral imagery I still haven’t been able to shake off.

A cult classic of this magnitude doesn’t have fans - it has a following. And no physical media presentation does more to satisfy that crowd like Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. From the all-new featurettes showing the ambitious practical sets they built in the world-famous Pinewood Studios to the existential ponderances on the painful origins of the screenplay from writer Philip Eisner, this comprehensive celebration of Paul WS Anderson’s interstellar nightmare details each creative decision that led to its heart-stopping success. You don’t need eyes to see that this is the definitive way to enjoy Event Horizon!

PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE — Russel D.

While I’m of course an aficionado of cinema, I’m first and foremost a theatre kid--and it is with that in mind that I can’t help but celebrate the wonderfully daffy Phantom of the Paradise.

Part of the highly unusual cycle of movie musicals that sprung up in the 70s and early 80s (including but not limited to such notable entries as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Xanadu, Bugsy Malone, and Can’t Stop The Music), Phantom recontextualizes Gaston Leroux’s famous gothic horror novel, spinning an oh-so seventies tale set within the devilishly decadent music industry. A fairly early offering from director Brian De Palma (who also wrote the screenplay), it remains a surprising outlier on the legendary filmmaker’s resume—though many of his signature stylings, including split screens and Hitchcock homages, are fully on display.

Musically, De Palma couldn’t have had a better collaborator in this mad vision than singer-songwriter Paul Williams. Exploring a range of genres spanning two decades of popular music, Williams crafts a tracklist that effortlessly veers from haunting ballads to tongue in cheek nods to 50s doo-wop, 60s surf, and 70s glam. Williams of course also pulls double duty here, starring in the film as the sinister, Phil Spector-esque Swan.

Williams is joined onscreen by the indispensable Jessica Harper (Suspiria, Shock Treatment) as Swan’s newest protégé Phoenix, and Gerrit Graham (Used Cars) as the outrageous rocker Beef. And then of course there is the great William Finley as the titular Phantom and his alter ego, Winslow Leach. Tell me that you wouldn’t like his incredible costume in your closet, I dare you!

A cult classic of the highest order, Phantom of the Paradise is a must-see if you like a little music with your mayhem.

SEED OF CHUCKY — Daisy A.

The Child’s Play series fully embraces dark humor and camp with its 2004 release of Seed of Chucky. Tiffany and Chucky’s child, Glen/Glenda, suffers from an identity crisis and the fact that their parents are, well, killers. In a failed attempt to make their parents less violent, Glen/da becomes closer to them along the way.

This film successfully mixes celebrity culture, satire and absurd violence all while being progressive about gender identities. Jennifer Tilly plays herself and Tiffany at the same time, making for an interesting plot. This cult classic explores the topics of family and acceptance in a messy but humorous tone, making it somehow more ridiculous and enjoyable than the last.  

10 TO MIDNIGHT — Joey G.

Has everything you could want from a prime-era Cannon film: Charles Bronson, seedy violence, and a bare-ass naked psychopath chasing girls all over 1980s Los Angeles.

Yet, despite its luridness, it's actually quite well-written and is far more engaging of a story than a Cannon film about a nude slasher has any right to be. Police corruption? Lawsuits? Secondary character love story? This thing swings for the fences!

Plus, the cast is absolutely stacked — Bronson, Andrew Stevens, Wilford Brimley, Geoffrey Lewis, Kelly Preston, Ola Ray, Carmen Filpi. If nothing else, you’ll have a blast playing Spot The Familiar Face!

HUSH — Emily H.

Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan took horror tropes and turned them on their heads, leaning into the scary "woman home alone" theme with the added layer of that woman being deaf, and therefore unable to hear the killer's approach. Kate is a fantastic heroine who is a joy to root for, an important component of a truly good home invasion flick, and so much is done with sound and the lack of to build tension. The new 4K features a brand-new cut of the film called the Shush Cut, a black and white version of the film featuring almost no score and a remixed sound design. This movie's ambience is top notch and well worth a watch in a dark room with those speakers dialed in.