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Best Supernatural horror Movies

Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of supernatural horror cinema — measured across 5,058 indexed frames from 55 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.

Supernatural horror films over-index on blood, teeth and girl — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.

  1. 1

    Terrifier 3 (2024)

    Damien LeoneDP George SteuberIMDb 6.2TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →

    Five years after surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna and Jonathan are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they're safe, Art returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.

  2. 2

    Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

    Brian GibsonDP Andrew LaszloIMDb 5.7TMDB 6.0See in full on FrameThrower →

    The Freeling family move in with Diane's mother in an effort to escape the trauma and aftermath of Carol Anne's abduction by the Beast. But the Beast is not to be put off so easily and appears in a ghostly apparition as the Reverend Kane, a religeous zealot responsible for the deaths of his many followers. His goal is simple - he wants the angelic Carol Anne; but the love of her family and the power of psychic Tangina once again unite, along with an elderly native American, to fight for her life.

  3. 3

    The Exorcist (1973)

    William FriedkinDP Owen RoizmanIMDb 8.1TMDB 7.7See in full on FrameThrower →

    A visiting actress in Washington, D.C., notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical make-up of her 12-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, a young priest at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. And, book-ending the story, a frail, elderly priest recognizes the necessity for a show-down with an old demonic enemy.

  4. 4

    Longlegs (2024)

    Osgood PerkinsDP Andres ArochiIMDb 6.5TMDB 6.5See in full on FrameThrower →

    FBI Agent Lee Harker is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer. As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.

  5. 5

    Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

    John Carl BuechlerDP Paul ElliottIMDb 5.2TMDB 5.5See in full on FrameThrower →

    After Jason Vorhees was chained to the Bottom of Camp Crystal Lake by Tommy Jarvis. A Young Telekinetic Girl known as Tina Shepherd accidentally killed her Father with her Powers at Crystal Lake. Years Later, Tina and Her Mother return to Camp Crystal Lake, Where Tina's Doctor trys to manipulate her powers for his own evil plans. Tina then trys to ressurect Her Father but Accidentally Awakens Jason Instead. It's now up to Tina to use her Powers to Stop Jason and Her Evil Doctor.

  6. 6

    The Shining (1980)

    Stanley KubrickDP John AlcottIMDb 8.4TMDB 8.2See in full on FrameThrower →

    Haunted by a persistent writer's block, the aspiring author and recovering alcoholic, Jack Torrance, drags his wife, Wendy, and his gifted son, Danny, up snow-capped Colorado's secluded Overlook Hotel after taking up a job as an off-season caretaker. As the cavernous hotel shuts down for the season, the manager gives Jack a grand tour, and the facility's chef, the ageing Mr Hallorann, has a fascinating chat with Danny about a rare psychic gift called "The Shining", making sure to warn him about the hotel's abandoned rooms, and, in particular, the off-limits Room 237. However, instead of overcoming the dismal creative rut, little by little, Jack starts losing his mind, trapped in an unforgiving environment of seemingly endless snowstorms, and a gargantuan silent prison riddled with strange occurrences and eerie visions. Now, the incessant voices inside Jack's head demand sacrifice. Is Jack capable of murder?

  7. 7

    The Boogeyman (2023)

    Rob SavageDP Eli BornIMDb 5.9TMDB 6.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl and her younger sister find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before it’s too late.

  8. 8

    Sinister (2012)

    Scott DerricksonDP Christopher NorrIMDb 6.8TMDB 6.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    True-crime writer Ellison Oswalt is in a slump; he hasn't had a best seller in more than 10 years and is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So, when he discovers the existence of a snuff film showing the deaths of a family, he vows to solve the mystery. He moves his own family into the victims' home and gets to work. However, when old film footage and other clues hint at the presence of a supernatural force, Ellison learns that living in the house may be fatal.

  9. 9

    Jason Goes To Hell (1993)

    Adam MarcusDP Bill DillIMDb 4.1TMDB 4.6See in full on FrameThrower →

    The secret of Jason's evil is revealed. It is up to the last remaining descendant of the Voorhees family to stop Jason before he becomes immortal and unstoppable. This is the final (?) battle to end Jason's reign of terror forever.

  10. 10

    Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

    James WanDP John R. LeonettiIMDb 6.6TMDB 6.7See in full on FrameThrower →

    How deep into the darkness will you go to discover the truth? The terrifying sequel to Insidious follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. They must rely on familiar allies to exile the demons that follow them and unearth the secret before the evil continues its deadly rampage.

What supernatural horror films are made of

How much more often each element appears in a supernatural horror frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — blood is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.

  • blood3.1×
  • teeth2.7×
  • girl2.1×
  • child2.0×
  • door1.9×
  • plaid shirt1.8×
  • collared shirt1.8×
  • lamp1.7×

How supernatural horror films are shot

Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate supernatural horror from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.

  • 26%dayvs 42% baseline
  • 61%low keyvs 40% baseline
  • 28%naturalvs 43% baseline
  • 62%nightvs 43% baseline
  • 15%widevs 20% baseline

What breaks the pattern

Jason X (2001) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.

Method

Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 5,058 frames from 55 films carrying the supernatural horror label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.

Machine-readable: /api/list/supernatural-horror

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These are real movie frames, shown at reduced resolution. All rights remain with their respective owners; they appear here for study, commentary and education under fair-use principles. How these are meant to be used