I searched far and wide for lists of best horror movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and covering all time, not just a decade. The lists were generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 26 lists. I took the 26 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. The total number was almost 1,500 including all the repeats. I experimented with different formulas, trying to balance the value of being ranked high on any list and being included on the most lists. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 211 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 26) were:

  • Toy Story (1995) – all 26 lists
  • Spirited Away (2001) – 25 lists
  • The Lion King (1994) – 23 lists
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – 23 lists
  • Finding Nemo (2003)  – 22 lists
  • Up (2009) – 22 lists
  • WALL-E (2008) – 21 lists
  • Beauty and the Beast (1991) – 20 lists

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created: