The Best Survival Horror Movies
“What are the best Survival Horror movies of all-time?” We looked at 103 of the top Survival Horror films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 19 films, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Survival Horror” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 75+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 19 Survival Horror Movies
19 .) 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter with two men, who claim the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack.
18 .) Alien (1979)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
17 .) Cloverfield (2008)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.
16 .) Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
15 .) Extinction (2014)
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- Where’s The Jump
The amazing footage you will see in this documentary was recorded during an expedition to the Amazon in South America. It has been assembled as per the camera time codes. It has not been altered or tampered with in any way and after extensive testing has been considered absolutely genuine. What you will see will change the way you view the natural world. Are you ready for that? For in the heart of the rainforest, a team of researchers led by the respected Professor John Howson strived to protect endangered and vulnerable species from extinction. But their guides abandoned them after a series of strange and unexplainable events and the team soon got hopelessly lost in the jungle. When events took a horrifying turn, the team realized that they were in the hunting grounds of an apex predator. And now they were the ones on the endangered species list.
14 .) I Am Legend (2007)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.
13 .) Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
Shaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenuous attempts to snack on ordinary Londoners.
12 .) Silent Hill (2006)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
The eerie and deserted ghost town of Silent Hill draws a young mother desperate to find a cure for her only child’s illness. Unable to accept the doctor’s diagnosis that her daughter should be permanently institutionalized for psychiatric care, Rose flees with her child, heading for the abandoned town in search of answers – and ignoring the protests of her husband. It’s soon clear this place is unlike anywhere she’s ever been. It’s smothered by fog, inhabited by a variety of strange beings and periodically overcome by a living ‘darkness’ that literally transforms everything it touches. As Rose searches for her little girl, she begins to learn the history of the strange town and realizes that her daughter is just a pawn in a larger game.
11 .) The Reef (2010)
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Freak News
- IMDB
A great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef.
10 .) The Shallows (2016)
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- Where’s The Jump
When Nancy is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself on the feeding ground of a great white shark. Though she is stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of Nancy’s ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fortitude.
9 .) The Thing
Lists It Appears On:
- Where’s The Jump
- Where’s The Jump
Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people it kills.
8 .) Wrong Turn (2003)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
Chris crashes into a carload of other young people, and the group of stranded motorists is soon lost in the woods of West Virginia, where they’re hunted by three cannibalistic mountain men who are grossly disfigured by generations of inbreeding.
7 .) Zombieland (2009)
Lists It Appears On:
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
Columbus has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee doesn’t have fears. If he did, he’d kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they’re about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.
6 .) The Ruins (2008)
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Freak News
- IMDB
- Speeli
A group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when they, along with a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins
5 .) Backcountry (2014)
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Freak News
- IMDB
- Where’s The Jump
A couple on a deep-wilderness hike become hopelessly lost within an aggressive black bear’s territory.
4 .) Eden Lake (2008)
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Freak News
- IMDB
- Where’s The Jump
Eden Lake is a relentlessly tense and immaculately paced horror-thriller about modern youth gone wild. When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize the couple in unimaginable ways, and a weekend outing becomes a bloody battle for survival.
3 .) Frozen (2010)
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Freak News
- IMDB
- Speeli
When three skiers find themselves stranded on a chair lift at a New England ski resort that has closed for the next week, they are forced to make life or death choices that prove to be more perilous than staying put and freezing to death.
2 .) The Descent (2005)
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
After a tragic accident, six friends reunite for a caving expedition. Their adventure soon goes horribly wrong when a collapse traps them deep underground and they find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty creatures. As their friendships deteriorate, they find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive the creatures and each other.
1 .) 28 Days Later (2002)
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- Speeli
- Where’s The Jump
Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs — and it’s absolutely impossible to contain.
The 75+ Additional Best Survival Horror Movies
| # | Movies | Lists |
| 20 | 31 |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 21 | [Rec] |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 22 | 127 hours (2010) | Speeli |
| 23 | 1408 (2007) | Speeli |
| 24 | 28 Weeks Later |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 25 | 30 Days of Night |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 26 | A Lonely Place to Die (2011) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 27 | A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) | Speeli |
| 28 | A Quiet Place |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 29 | Alien 3 |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 30 | Alien: Covenant |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 31 | Alien: Resurrection |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 32 | Aliens |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 33 | Anaconda (1997) | Speeli |
| 34 | Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes (2011) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 35 | Black Water (2007) | IMDB |
| 36 | Cargo |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 37 | Cell |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 38 | Cold Prey (2006) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 39 | Cujo (1983) | IMDB |
| 40 | Devil’s Pass (2013) | IMDB |
| 41 | Don’t Breathe (2016) | IMDB |
| 42 | Drag Me to Hell (2009) | Speeli |
| 43 | Evil Dead (2013) | Speeli |
| 44 | Final Destination (2000) | Speeli |
| 45 | Friday the 13th (1980) | Speeli |
| 46 | Funny Games (1997) | IMDB |
| 47 | Halloween (1978) | Speeli |
| 48 | Here Alone |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 49 | Hidden |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 50 | High Lane (2009) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 51 | Howl (2015) | Speeli |
| 52 | Hush (I) (2016) | IMDB |
| 53 | I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) | Speeli |
| 54 | Into the Grizzly Maze (2015) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 55 | It Comes at Night |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 56 | It Follows (2014) | Speeli |
| 57 | It’s In the Blood (2012) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 58 | Jaws (1975) | IMDB |
| 59 | Jeepers Creepers (2001) | Speeli |
| 60 | Life |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 61 | Lights Out (2016) | Speeli |
| 62 | Mama (2013) | Speeli |
| 63 | Open Water (2003) | IMDB |
| 64 | Open Water 2: Adrift (2006) | IMDB |
| 65 | Pandorum |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 66 | Poltergeist (1982) | Speeli |
| 67 | Quarantine |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 68 | Ravenous (1999) | IMDB |
| 69 | Resident Evil |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 70 | Rogue (2007) | Speeli |
| 71 | Scream (1996) | Speeli |
| 72 | Severance (2006) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 73 | Shadow (2009) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 74 | Sleepy Hollow (1999) | Speeli |
| 75 | The Amityville Horror (2005) | Speeli |
| 76 | The Belko Experiment |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 77 | The Blair Witch Project (1999) | IMDB |
| 78 | The Cabin in the Woods (2011) | IMDB |
| 79 | The Canyon (2009) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 80 | The Crazies |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 81 | The Edge (1997) | IMDB |
| 82 | The Faculty (1998) | Speeli |
| 83 | The Fog (1980) | Speeli |
| 84 | The Forest (I) (2016) | IMDB |
| 85 | The Girl with All the Gifts |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 86 | The Happening |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 87 | The Hills Have Eyes (1977) | IMDB |
| 88 | The Hills Have Eyes (2006) | Speeli |
| 89 | The Mist |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 90 | The Mist (2007) | Speeli |
| 91 | The Monster |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 92 | The Purge (2013) | Speeli |
| 93 | The Purge: Anarchy |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 94 | The Ring (2002) | Speeli |
| 95 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) | Speeli |
| 96 | The Tunnel |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 97 | Thinner (1996) | Speeli |
| 98 | Tremors |
Where’s The Jump
|
| 99 | Triangle (2009) | IMDB |
| 100 | Willow Creek (2013) | IMDB |
| 101 | Wind Chill (2007) |
Horror Freak News
|
| 102 | World War Z (2013) | Speeli |
| 103 | You’re Next (2011) | IMDB |
4 Best Survival Horror Film Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| Horror Freak News | The 15 Best Survival Horror Movies of the 21st Century |
| IMDB | Survival Horror Movies |
| Speeli | A list of Survival Horror Movies |
| Where’s The Jump | Survival Horror Movies |
