Scariest Paranormal Films Ever
by cannibalsonparade | created - 10 May 2015 | updated - 11 May 2015 | PublicOpinions vary amongst viewers as to what the term 'scary' actually means, but for me it definitely relies heavily on the paranormal.. These are the most terrifying films that I've ever seen, and they are all based on paranormal phenomena.
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1. Shadow People (II) (2013)
PG-13 | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A radio talk show host unravels a conspiracy about encounters with mysterious beings known as The Shadow People and their role in the unexplained deaths of several hundred victims in the 1980s.
Director: Matthew Arnold | Stars: Dallas Roberts, Alison Eastwood, Mattie Liptak, Anne Dudek
Votes: 3,294
2. Lake Mungo (2008)
R | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake.
Director: Joel Anderson | Stars: Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, Talia Zucker
Votes: 28,897
3. The Butcher Possessions (2014)
70 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
When Chris Shaw takes his friends out to an isolated house to make a web video, they summon an evil spirit and must fight for survival once it begins to hunt them down.
Director: Dale Trott | Stars: Damien E. Lipp, Stephanie Mauro, Sophie Wright, Tristan Barr
Votes: 526
4. The Fourth Kind (2009)
PG-13 | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up.
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Votes: 81,820 | Gross: $25.46M
5. Darkness (2002)
PG-13 | 88 min | Horror
A teenage girl moves into a remote country house with her family, only to discover that their gloomy new home has a horrifying past that threatens to destroy the family.
Director: Jaume Balagueró | Stars: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini
Votes: 20,349 | Gross: $22.16M
6. Insidious (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye
Votes: 338,867 | Gross: $54.01M
7. The Conjuring (2013)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor
Votes: 554,476 | Gross: $137.40M
8. From Within (2008)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A small Maryland town is gripped by a curse which causes residents to take their own life one after another.
Director: Phedon Papamichael | Stars: Elizabeth Rice, Thomas Dekker, Kelly Blatz, Laura Allen
Votes: 7,964 | Gross: $0.07M
9. The Abandoned (2006)
R | 99 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An adopted woman returns to her home country and the family home that she never knew and must face the mystery that lies there.
Director: Nacho Cerdá | Stars: Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Goshev, Valentin Ganev
Votes: 13,296 | Gross: $1.26M
10. The Broken (2008)
R | 93 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
After seeing herself drive down the street, Radiologist Gina McVey unravels a mystery centered around a broken mirror.
Director: Sean Ellis | Stars: Lena Headey, Ulrich Thomsen, Melvil Poupaud, Michelle Duncan
Votes: 11,299
11. The Ring (2002)
PG-13 | 115 min | Horror, Mystery
A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorfman
Votes: 374,792 | Gross: $129.13M
12. The Others (2001)
PG-13 | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
In 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann
Votes: 393,046 | Gross: $96.52M
13. Oculus (2013)
R | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A recently released inmate from a mental asylum learns from his sister that the murders he was convicted of committing were actually orchestrated by a supernatural entity, the Lasser Glass mirror.
Director: Mike Flanagan | Stars: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane
Votes: 139,674 | Gross: $27.70M
14. Grave Encounters (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Horror, Mystery
For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that's supposedly haunted - and it might prove to be all too true.
Directors: Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz, The Vicious Brothers | Stars: Benjamin Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir
Votes: 63,936
15. Grave Encounters 2 (2012)
Not Rated | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
A film student who is obsessed with the movie Grave Encounters sets out with his friends to visit the psychiatric hospital depicted in the original film.
Director: John Poliquin | Stars: Richard Harmon, Shawn C. Phillips, Jennica Fulton, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman
Votes: 27,339
16. Paranormal Activity (2007)
R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery
After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.
Director: Oren Peli | Stars: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong
Votes: 256,064 | Gross: $107.92M
17. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.
Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Campbell Scott
Votes: 140,013 | Gross: $75.07M
18. REC (2007)
R | 78 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Stars: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso
Votes: 196,459
19. The Speak (2011)
TV-14 | 83 min | Horror
Director Anthony Pierce flips a switch on the supernatural genre and films an entire movie in one take. We follow a young film crew as they attempt to create a paranormal web series in the ... See full summary »
Director: Anthony Pierce | Stars: Kristina Anapau, Tina Casciani, Tom Sizemore, Brett Donowho
Votes: 1,705
20. Dark Skies (2013)
PG-13 | 97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
As the Barrett family's peaceful suburban life is rocked by an escalating series of disturbing events, they come to learn that a terrifying and deadly force is after them, one which may have arrived from beyond the stars.
Director: Scott Stewart | Stars: Keri Russell, Jake Brennan, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo
Votes: 79,864 | Gross: $17.41M
21. Case 39 (2009)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.
Director: Christian Alvart | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Ian McShane, Jodelle Ferland, Bradley Cooper
Votes: 93,275 | Gross: $13.25M
22. Sinister (I) (2012)
R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s.
Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Thompson
Votes: 279,974 | Gross: $48.09M
23. The Grudge 2 (2006)
PG-13 | 102 min | Horror, Thriller
Three interwoven stories about a terrible curse. A young woman encounters a malevolent supernatural force while searching for her missing sister in Tokyo; a mean high school prank goes horribly wrong; a woman with a deadly secret moves into a Chicago apartment building.
Director: Takashi Shimizu | Stars: Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen, Arielle Kebbel, Sarah Michelle Gellar
Votes: 51,446 | Gross: $39.14M
24. One Missed Call (2003)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery
People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, foretelling their deaths.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Kô Shibasaki, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, Anna Nagata
Votes: 19,301
25. Pulse (2001)
R | 119 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Two groups of people discover evidence that suggests spirits may be trying to invade the human world through the Internet.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Haruhiko Katô, Kumiko Asô, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka
Votes: 25,563 | Gross: $0.05M
26. Unholy Women (2006)
107 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
When Val is released from prison, she's determined to make a new life for herself. But the criminal underworld won't let her go that easily, and her former boss won't stop until she's paid her debt - with blood.
Directors: Keita Amemiya, Takuji Suzuki, Keisuke Toyoshima | Stars: Noriko Nakagoshi, Yûko Kobayashi, Riko Suzuki, Miharu Morina
Votes: 720
27. Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
PG-13 | 106 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The Lamberts believe that they have defeated the spirits that have haunted their family, but they soon discover that evil is not beaten so easily.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye
Votes: 188,710 | Gross: $83.59M
28. Livid (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Fantasy, Horror
The suggestion of a big treasure hidden somewhere inside Mrs Jessel's once renowned classical dance academy will become an irresistible lure to a fiendish trap for Lucie and her friends.
Directors: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury | Stars: Chloé Coulloud, Félix Moati, Jérémy Kapone, Catherine Jacob
Votes: 7,789
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