Top 10 Horror Movie Chase Scenes

Getting chased is scary enough, but getting chased through a morgue by a man wearing that mask is downright terrifying. In this slasher flick, a group of women is stalked while making preparations for Valentine’s Day. This scene is terrifying not only due to the idea of the chase itself, but also because of the tension we feel when Shelley hides with the dead bodies in the morgue. It’s a disgusting and freaky scenario, and one we would not want to find ourselves in pretty much ever. The music and ominous footsteps only add to the terror.

In this supposed final installment of the “Friday the 13th” film series, Jason returns to Camp Crystal Lake one last time to kill innocent civilians, but he meets his match in the form of Tommy and Trish during this scene. It begins horrifically, with Trish discovering her friends’ dead bodies, and it also features Jason at his most determined. Some nice signature gore effects enhance the scene’s scariness, and it finishes with a fantastic stunt in which Trish throws herself out of the window, capping an already thrilling chase with an amazing finale.

This slasher franchise, about friends who are killed off a year after they dump a dead body, has some fantastic chase scenes, including Karla’s chase in the sequel. However, it’s in the first flick when Helen is chased into her family’s store and an intense game of cat and mouse occurs that has us all holding our breath. What makes this scene so devastating is the false sense of security Helen has; the police officer protecting her is killed, then her sister, and then Helen herself is finally murdered only steps away from safety. It’s a terrifyingly fun scene to watch.

This slasher classic sees Freddy Krueger stalking teenagers in their dreams, which makes escape nearly impossible and all the situations that much scarier. Take Tina’s dream for instance, where Freddy is able to grow abnormally long arms and cut off his finger just so he can watch Tina squirm. Robert Englund gives a great performance as Freddy, as he gleefully laughs his way through the terror. Filled with brutal imagery, including Freddy’s face being ripped off and Tina’s chest being slashed open, this chase is one of the bloodiest and scariest in horror history.

There’s nothing like a nice, candlelit dinner with friends and relatives in the dark...until the infected burst in and kill everyone, that is. This sci-fi horror flick sees infected individuals running amok in quarantined London, and this opening scene sets the tone perfectly. Starting with a fantastic jump scare and a stark contrast between quiet and chaotic, things only build in intensity from there. With a memorable score throughout, this “28 Days Later” sequence nails the horror of running for your life and has our hearts pumping before the main titles even appear.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, this psychological horror film was based on a novel by Stephen King, so it was bound to have some terrifying scenes. After the hotel he’s a caretaker for drives Jack back to alcoholism and insanity, he chases his son Danny through a hedge maze with an axe. A father chasing his son with an axe with an intent to kill is a disturbing concept, and the scene plays on that, but to top things off, “The Shining” has Jack Nicholson giving a mesmerizing performance as the crazed dad. Danny eventually outsmarts him, and what follows is one of horror’s most iconic shots.

This film is a true slasher classic, and one that jumpstarted Jamie Lee Curtis’ Scream Queen career. When Michael Myers returns to his hometown after many years to stalk teenagers on Halloween, Laurie must defend the children from him in the Doyle house. It’s a terrifically tense scene, the scariest part perhaps being when she’s stuck in the closet, as it plays on two fears: a serial killer after you and claustrophobia, all at once. And who can forget the famous shot when Michael gets back up after being presumed dead?

Sure, high school can be a scary experience for everyone, but nothing to this extent (we hope)! When a serial killer begins murdering teenagers on their prom night, Wendy is forced to run from him in her darkened, desolate school. The true scope of this chase is ambitious, as it leads us through many rooms of the school, and the length only adds to the scariness. While she almost gets away, the scene ends on a perfectly terrifying note, as Wendy finds her friend’s dead body and is subsequently axed to death. What a way to go.

While Sidney’s chase through Stu’s house is creepy, this scene with Drew Barrymore is perhaps the most famous opening of any horror flick. This meta movie sees a serial killer killing high school students, but it’s poor Casey that he toys with the most. The sequence is terrific due to the progressive nature of the scares, going from playful to downright terrifying. The idea of a stranger stalking you outside your own home is certainly frightening, and then things end magnificently with a shot of Casey hanging from a tree. Now that’s how you start a movie.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Naked Chainsaw Chase
“American Psycho” (2000)
- The Pale Man
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)
- Chasing Paige
“House of Wax” (2005)
- Dead Air
“Urban Legend” (1998)
- The Unseen
“Suspiria” (1977)

This chase is pure, unrelenting terror at its best. While the 2003 remake had a respectable chase in a slaughterhouse, this scene of pursuit from the original tops it. When Leatherface attacks friends in a small town, Sally flees after watching her brother being killed. When she reaches the safety of a house, she instead finds a dead woman and a horribly withered old man and bolts to a gas station, only to be further attacked. If being chased by a man with a chainsaw isn’t terrifying enough, the idea of two false sanctuaries is sure to get anyone’s blood pumping.

Do you agree with our list? What thrilling big screen horror chase scene do you consider to be the scariest? For more exciting top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.