When The Black Phone was released in 2022, it perfectly tapped into a specific vein of horror by blending supernatural dread with the chilling reality of a child-abducting serial killer in a vintage, suburban setting. And now that we have a sequel in theatres, it's reinvigorated its cult following online. We're seeing plenty of Finney and Robin duos, plenty of The Grabber, and even the occasional Gwen costume too.

So if you loved that mix of 70s/80s nostalgia, youthful casts, or spooky occult menace, these 14 films will dial up the dread.

1. The Conjuring (2013)

Starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, this film is set in the early 1970s and is based on a "true" haunting case in a secluded farmhouse. It perfectly captures that early-70s occult panic with a focus on family terror, and has already spawned several sequels, spin-offs and soon, a TV show.

2. Late Night with the Devil (2024)

This found-footage shocker presents itself as a newly discovered master tape of a Halloween 1977 live TV talk show that spectacularly goes off the rails after the host, played by David Dastmalchian, attempts to boost his failing ratings with a Halloween special featuring a parapsychologist and a young girl who is the sole survivor of a Satanic cult's mass suicide.

3. The Third Saturday Of October (2022)

This film is a loving, bloody tribute to the slasher craze of the 90s, where an unstoppable serial killer embarks on a rampage tied to an annual college football tradition. It revels in the straightforward brutality and VHS aesthetic of classic B-movie slashers.

4. Suspiria (2018)

Set in 1977 Berlin amidst political turmoil, this dark remake follows an American dancer, played by Dakota Johnson, who joins a prestigious dance academy that is secretly run by a coven of powerful witches. Director Luca Guadagnino delivered a bleak, unsettling psychological horror experience praised for its intense choreography and unsettling, feminist themes.

5. Super 8 (2011)

This J.J. Abrams-directed film, set in 1979 Ohio, follows a group of teenagers filming a movie who witness a catastrophic train derailment that unleashes a mysterious alien creature. The movie is a warm, authentic homage to the Spielbergian cinematic adventure of the era.

6. Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher's meticulous crime procedural recounts the manhunt for the infamous real-life Zodiac Killer who terrorised the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 60s and early 70s. The film expertly recreates the pervasive, creeping fear the killer inflicted on the community and the investigators' lives over many years.

7. My Friend Dahmer (2017)

Based on the graphic novel by one of his classmates, this disturbing biographical film follows Ross Lynch as high schooler Jeffrey Dahmer as he descends into darkness before committing his first murder. Filmed partly in Dahmer’s actual childhood home in Ohio, the movie is a chilling, unsettling peek behind the curtain of a future monster.

8. House of the Devil (2009)

A college student, played by Jocelin Donahue, takes a seemingly simple babysitting job at a remote mansion during a lunar eclipse, quickly realising something sinister is at play. Director Ti West (Pearl, MaXXXine) meticulously crafted this movie to feel exactly like a lost 1980s low-budget horror film, complete with grainy 16mm film stock and retro title cards.

9. Scream (1996)

Director Wes Craven reinvented the slasher genre with this meta-horror masterpiece about a costumed killer terrorising a group of high school students, led by Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. The film brilliantly blends genuine suspense with self-aware humour about the "rules" of horror movies.

10. It (2017)

This first instalment of the Stephen King novel follows the 'Losers' Club,' a group of young outcasts in 1989 Derry, Maine, as they confront the ancient, evil entity that manifests as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, played by Bill Skarsgård. The film was a critical and commercial smash hit, becoming the highest-grossing horror movie of all time upon its release.

11. Weapons (2025)

The horror epic from Barbarian writer/director Zach Cregger, starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, centres on the mysterious case of seventeen children from the same classroom who vanish on the same night. It's an ambitious, sprawling horror story and was a box-office smash (it's already got a prequel in the works). You can also stream it on HBO Max this month.

12. The Boy Behind the Door (2020)

After two best friends, Bobby and Kevin, are kidnapped and taken to a remote house, Bobby escapes only to hear his friend's screams and make the brave decision to sneak back in to save him. This terrifying, tight thriller, starring Lonnie Chavis and Ezra Dewey, is a relentless test of childhood courage against pure evil.

13. The Lovely Bones (2009)

While not exactly a horror in the obvious sense, this film by Peter Jackson follows 14-year-old Susie Salmon, played by Saoirse Ronan, who watches over her grieving family after being murdered. The film is a visually stunning mix of devastating realism and supernatural events.

14. Split (2017)

In this psychological thriller, three teenage girls are kidnapped by a man (a riveting James McAvoy) suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder with 23 distinct personalities. The movie is a high-tension cat-and-mouse game where the girls must exploit the different alters to survive the terrifying emergence of a 24th personality, "The Beast."