10 RIDICULOUS Horror Movies That Are TERRIFYING

10. The Ring

It's easy to imagine another version of The Ring - either the 1998 original Ringu or its surprisingly solid 2002 U.S. remake - that just doesn't work at all. 

The premise, of a cursed VHS tape that causes viewers to die seven days later, sounds totally laughable on paper, and with both films arriving in an era where goofy techno-centric horror films were all the rage, The Ring could've gone so, so wrong. But credit to original filmmaker Hideo Nakata and remake director Gore Verbinski for soaking this undeniably silly concept in an almost unbearable amount of dread. 

Both films make masterful use of slow-burn storytelling to heighten the viewer's unease, enough to make them forget how utterly daft the whole cursed videotape setup actually is. More than 25 years after Ring's release, it remains a high point of modern international horror, while Verbinski's sumptuous feast of a remake is basically the benchmark by which all glossy Hollywood retellings are measured.