10 Scariest Haunted House Movies Ever Made

10. The Woman In Black (2012)

On paper, The Woman in Black was a film that could have gone either way in terms of quality. The talent in front of the camera was something of an unknown quantity, with Daniel Radcliffe taking on his first major role after Harry Potter in a movie that put him on screen alone for almost the entire running time. On the other hand, though, director James Watkins had shown real horror skill with the brutal, terrifying Eden Lake.

The film sees Radcliffe hopelessly miscast as lawyer Arthur Kipps, who is tasked with organising the affairs of the recently deceased woman who owned Eel Marsh House, with a view to readying the property for sale. He is soon pursued by increasingly horrifying apparitions in the house, while children begin to die in the nearby town.

This is perhaps the best example of a horror movie driven solely by jump scares. Watkins builds the tension between the sharp jolts with real craft and skill, judging every loud noise and surprising image to perfection. Radcliffe sells the creeping dread with real skill, en route to a finale that gives the story a memorably bleak sign-off.