The Scariest Movie the Year You Were Born

Unlike the lifeless victims left in their wake, the best scary movies tend to age well. Sometimes, they even grow alongside us, especially when it comes to the horror film linked to your birth year.Scary movies have come a long way, from silent supernatural films in the 1920s to sleek psychological thrillers and 2000s remakes that rival the originals. The 1930s birthed some of our favorite classic monsters, immortalized in films like Dracula and Frankenstein. The '60s brought horror much closer to home, with staples like Psycho and Rosemary's Baby playing on real-life fears like secluded serial killers and possessed pregnancies. By the time '80s babies arrived, box offices were booming with slasher hits like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, with Freddy Krueger introducing a supernatural side to the subgenre.Some films were overshadowed by later sequels, while others became horror blueprints the moment they hit theaters. So, what was the scariest horror movie the year you were born? To solve the mystery, Reader's Digest looked at Rotten Tomatoes' rankings, audience reviews, and overall scare factor to find the freakiest film for every year from 1950 to 2005. Whether you're a Boomer, a Millennial, or somewhere in between, would you still rewatch your scary movie twin today?The Scariest Movie the Year You Were BornLouis Hayward and Dorothy Patrick in 'House By The River' | LMPC/GettyImages1950House by the River, directed by Fritz Lang1951The Thing from Another World, directed by Christian Nyby1952The White Reindeer, directed by Erik Blomberg1953House of Wax, directed by André De Toth1954Them!, directed by Gordon Douglas1955Diabolique, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot1956Invasion of the Body Snatchers, directed by Don Siegel1957Night of the Demon, directed by Jacques Tourneur1958The Fly, directed by Kurt Neumann1959House on Haunted Hill, directed by William CastleVera Miles in 'Psycho' | Archive Photos/GettyImages1960Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock1961The Innocents, directed by Jack Clayton1962Carnival of Souls, directed by Herk Harvey1963The Haunting, directed by Robert Wise1964Onibaba, directed by Kaneto Shindō1965Repulsion, directed by Roman Polanski1966Kill, Baby … Kill!, directed by Mario Bava1967Viy, directed by Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov1968Night of the Living Dead, directed by George A. Romero1969The Cremator, directed by Juraj HerzPoster for 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage' | LMPC/GettyImages1970The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, directed by Dario Argento1971Let's Scare Jessica to Death, directed by John D. Hancock1972The Last House on the Left, directed by Wes Craven1973The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin1974The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper1975Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg1976The Omen, directed by Richard Donner1977Suspiria, directed by Dario Argento1978Halloween, directed by John Carpenter1979Alien, directed by Ridley ScottJack Nicholson in 'The Shining' | Archive Photos/GettyImages1980The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick1981The Evil Dead, directed by Sam Raimi1982The Thing, directed by John Carpenter1983The Entity, directed by Sidney J. Furie1984A Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Wes Craven1985Day of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero1986The Fly, directed by David Cronenberg1987Hellraiser, directed by Clive Barker1988The Vanishing, directed by George Sluizer1989Pet Sematary, directed by Mary LambertKathy Bates and James Caan in 'Misery' | Archive Photos/GettyImages1990Misery, directed by Rob Reiner1991The Silence of the Lambs, directed by Jonathan Demme1992Candyman, directed by Bernard Rose1993Body Snatchers, directed by Abel Ferrara1994In the Mouth of Madness, directed by John Carpenter1995Se7en, directed by David Fincher1996Scream, directed by Wes Craven1997Event Horizon, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson1998Ringu, directed by Hideo Nakata1999The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo SánchezAli Larter, Devon Sawa, and Karr Smith in 'Final Destination' | Getty Images/GettyImages2000Final Destination, directed by James Wong2001The Others, directed by Alejandro Amenábar2002The Ring, directed by Gore Verbinski2003A Tale of Two Sisters, directed by Kim Jee-woon2004Saw, directed by James Wan2005The Descent, directed by Neil MarshallMore Like This: