Horror Movies Quiz
Psycho, Halloween, The Ring, Get Out: 15 questions on the films that kept you up at night.
Who directed Psycho (1960), the film with the infamous shower scene?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock shot Psycho cheaply in black and white with his television crew, and the shower murder of Janet Leigh's character, set to Bernard Herrmann's shrieking strings, became the most studied scene in horror.
Hitchcock bought up copies of Robert Bloch's source novel to keep the ending secret and barred cinemas from admitting latecomers.
Which masked killer stalks the town of Haddonfield in Halloween (1978)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Michael Myers
Michael Myers escapes from a sanitarium and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois, where he pursues babysitter Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut, through one long Halloween night.
His blank white mask was a Captain Kirk mask from a costume shop, painted white and with the eye holes widened, bought for under two dollars.
In which 1973 film is 12-year-old Regan MacNeil possessed by a demon?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Exorcist
The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin from William Peter Blatty's novel, starred Linda Blair as Regan and Max von Sydow as the priest who confronts the demon in her Georgetown bedroom.
It became the first horror film nominated for Best Picture, with ten nominations in total, and reports of fainting audiences fuelled its box office.
What is the name of the masked killer identity in the Scream films?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ghostface
Ghostface is the hooded, screaming-mask persona adopted by a different killer in each Scream film, beginning with Wes Craven's 1996 original, which famously killed off Drew Barrymore in its opening scene.
The mask was an off-the-shelf Halloween costume from the company Fun World that a producer spotted in a house during location scouting.
In The Shining (1980), what is the name of the isolated Colorado hotel where Jack Torrance goes mad?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Overlook Hotel
Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance spend the winter as caretakers of the snowbound Overlook Hotel, whose ghosts drive Jack Nicholson's character to hunt his family with an axe in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation.
Stephen King got the idea while staying at the real Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and he has never hidden his dislike of Kubrick's film.
In Jaws (1975), what is the name of the resort island terrorised by the great white shark?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Amity Island
The fictional Amity Island is where police chief Brody, oceanographer Hooper and shark hunter Quint set out to kill the shark; the film was shot on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.
The malfunctioning mechanical shark was nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg's lawyer, and its constant breakdowns forced him to keep it off screen, which made the film scarier.
In The Ring (2002), how long do people have to live after watching the cursed videotape?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Seven days
A phone call after the tape ends warns the viewer they have seven days, which is how long journalist Rachel Keller, played by Naomi Watts, has to uncover the story of Samara before the deadline.
The film is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, and its success triggered a wave of American remakes of Asian horror.
Which 2017 film earned Jordan Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Get Out
Get Out, Peele's directing debut about a Black photographer visiting his white girlfriend's family, cost about $4.5 million, grossed more than $250 million and made him the first Black writer to win that award.
The hypnotic teacup scene sends victims to the Sunken Place, a term that quickly entered everyday language.
Which 1968 Roman Polanski film follows a young woman who suspects her neighbours have sinister plans for her unborn child?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby stars Mia Farrow as a New Yorker whose pregnancy is manipulated by a coven living in her apartment building, filmed at the Dakota on Central Park West.
The novel's author, Ira Levin, also wrote The Stepford Wives, which became another horror film in 1975.
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play a real married couple of paranormal investigators in The Conjuring films. What is their surname?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Warren
Ed and Lorraine Warren were real demonologists from Connecticut whose case files, including the Perron farmhouse in Rhode Island and the Enfield poltergeist in London, inspired the Conjuring series.
The Warrens also investigated the Amityville house, and the Annabelle doll from their occult museum spawned its own spin-off films.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) follows three student filmmakers who vanish in the woods of which US state?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Maryland
The students set out to document the Blair Witch legend near Burkittsville, Maryland, and the film was presented as their recovered footage, an approach that convinced many viewers it was real.
Made for a tiny budget with improvising unknown actors, it grossed almost $250 million and launched the found-footage boom.
Who is revealed as the killer at the end of the original Friday the 13th (1980)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pamela Voorhees
The murders at Camp Crystal Lake are committed by Pamela Voorhees, played by Betsy Palmer, taking revenge for the drowning of her son Jason; Jason himself appears only in a final dream sequence.
Jason became the killer in the 1981 sequel but did not wear his famous hockey mask until Part III in 1982.
Which 2007 found-footage film was made for roughly $15,000 and went on to gross more than $190 million?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Paranormal Activity
Oren Peli shot Paranormal Activity in his own San Diego house in about a week, with Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat filming themselves as a couple haunted at night; Paramount released it in 2009.
Paramount's original plan was to remake it with a bigger budget, until Steven Spielberg saw the film and argued it should be released as it was.
Who directed Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ari Aster
Ari Aster made his feature debut with Hereditary, starring Toni Collette as a grieving mother, and followed it with the daylight folk horror Midsommar, starring Florence Pugh, both released by A24.
Robert Eggers directed The Witch and The Lighthouse for the same studio, and the pair are often grouped together as leaders of so-called elevated horror.
In the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu, what is the name of the vampire?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Count Orlok
F. W. Murnau's film was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula, so the names were changed and Max Schreck played the rat-like Count Orlok; Bram Stoker's widow sued and a court ordered the prints destroyed.
A few copies survived, and Robert Eggers' 2024 remake cast Bill Skarsgård, the Pennywise actor, as Orlok.
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All Entertainment quizzes →About the Horror Movies Quiz
Horror has always punched above its budget. Halloween was shot in 1978 for about $300,000, Paranormal Activity cost around $15,000 and grossed more than $190 million, and The Exorcist became the first horror film ever nominated for Best Picture. From a silent vampire in 1922 to a hypnotising teacup in 2017, the genre keeps reinventing how to scare us.
These 15 questions start with the classics everyone knows (who directed Psycho, who stalks Haddonfield) and then creep into haunted hotels, cursed videotapes, real-life ghost hunters and the twist in the original Friday the 13th that trips up even dedicated horror fans. Perfect for a Halloween party, a scary movie night or a quick fright on your lunch break.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What was the first horror film nominated for Best Picture?
The Exorcist (1973), which earned ten nominations and won two Oscars, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound.
Who is the killer in the first Friday the 13th?
Pamela Voorhees, Jason's mother, played by Betsy Palmer. Jason himself only becomes the killer from the 1981 sequel onwards and gets his hockey mask in Part III.
What is the highest-grossing horror movie?
It (2017), the adaptation of Stephen King's novel, grossed more than $700 million worldwide, a record for the genre.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Who directed Psycho (1960), the film with the infamous shower scene?
Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock shot Psycho cheaply in black and white with his television crew, and the shower murder of Janet Leigh's character, set to Bernard Herrmann's shrieking strings, became the most studied scene in horror. Hitchcock bought up copies of Robert Bloch's source novel to keep the ending secret and barred cinemas from admitting latecomers. - Which masked killer stalks the town of Haddonfield in Halloween (1978)?
Michael Myers Michael Myers escapes from a sanitarium and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois, where he pursues babysitter Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut, through one long Halloween night. His blank white mask was a Captain Kirk mask from a costume shop, painted white and with the eye holes widened, bought for under two dollars. - In which 1973 film is 12-year-old Regan MacNeil possessed by a demon?
The Exorcist The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin from William Peter Blatty's novel, starred Linda Blair as Regan and Max von Sydow as the priest who confronts the demon in her Georgetown bedroom. It became the first horror film nominated for Best Picture, with ten nominations in total, and reports of fainting audiences fuelled its box office. - What is the name of the masked killer identity in the Scream films?
Ghostface Ghostface is the hooded, screaming-mask persona adopted by a different killer in each Scream film, beginning with Wes Craven's 1996 original, which famously killed off Drew Barrymore in its opening scene. The mask was an off-the-shelf Halloween costume from the company Fun World that a producer spotted in a house during location scouting. - In The Shining (1980), what is the name of the isolated Colorado hotel where Jack Torrance goes mad?
The Overlook Hotel Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance spend the winter as caretakers of the snowbound Overlook Hotel, whose ghosts drive Jack Nicholson's character to hunt his family with an axe in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation. Stephen King got the idea while staying at the real Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and he has never hidden his dislike of Kubrick's film. - In Jaws (1975), what is the name of the resort island terrorised by the great white shark?
Amity Island The fictional Amity Island is where police chief Brody, oceanographer Hooper and shark hunter Quint set out to kill the shark; the film was shot on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. The malfunctioning mechanical shark was nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg's lawyer, and its constant breakdowns forced him to keep it off screen, which made the film scarier. - In The Ring (2002), how long do people have to live after watching the cursed videotape?
Seven days A phone call after the tape ends warns the viewer they have seven days, which is how long journalist Rachel Keller, played by Naomi Watts, has to uncover the story of Samara before the deadline. The film is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, and its success triggered a wave of American remakes of Asian horror. - Which 2017 film earned Jordan Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay?
Get Out Get Out, Peele's directing debut about a Black photographer visiting his white girlfriend's family, cost about $4.5 million, grossed more than $250 million and made him the first Black writer to win that award. The hypnotic teacup scene sends victims to the Sunken Place, a term that quickly entered everyday language. - Which 1968 Roman Polanski film follows a young woman who suspects her neighbours have sinister plans for her unborn child?
Rosemary's Baby Rosemary's Baby stars Mia Farrow as a New Yorker whose pregnancy is manipulated by a coven living in her apartment building, filmed at the Dakota on Central Park West. The novel's author, Ira Levin, also wrote The Stepford Wives, which became another horror film in 1975. - Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play a real married couple of paranormal investigators in The Conjuring films. What is their surname?
Warren Ed and Lorraine Warren were real demonologists from Connecticut whose case files, including the Perron farmhouse in Rhode Island and the Enfield poltergeist in London, inspired the Conjuring series. The Warrens also investigated the Amityville house, and the Annabelle doll from their occult museum spawned its own spin-off films. - The Blair Witch Project (1999) follows three student filmmakers who vanish in the woods of which US state?
Maryland The students set out to document the Blair Witch legend near Burkittsville, Maryland, and the film was presented as their recovered footage, an approach that convinced many viewers it was real. Made for a tiny budget with improvising unknown actors, it grossed almost $250 million and launched the found-footage boom. - Who is revealed as the killer at the end of the original Friday the 13th (1980)?
Pamela Voorhees The murders at Camp Crystal Lake are committed by Pamela Voorhees, played by Betsy Palmer, taking revenge for the drowning of her son Jason; Jason himself appears only in a final dream sequence. Jason became the killer in the 1981 sequel but did not wear his famous hockey mask until Part III in 1982. - Which 2007 found-footage film was made for roughly $15,000 and went on to gross more than $190 million?
Paranormal Activity Oren Peli shot Paranormal Activity in his own San Diego house in about a week, with Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat filming themselves as a couple haunted at night; Paramount released it in 2009. Paramount's original plan was to remake it with a bigger budget, until Steven Spielberg saw the film and argued it should be released as it was. - Who directed Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019)?
Ari Aster Ari Aster made his feature debut with Hereditary, starring Toni Collette as a grieving mother, and followed it with the daylight folk horror Midsommar, starring Florence Pugh, both released by A24. Robert Eggers directed The Witch and The Lighthouse for the same studio, and the pair are often grouped together as leaders of so-called elevated horror. - In the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu, what is the name of the vampire?
Count Orlok F. W. Murnau's film was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula, so the names were changed and Max Schreck played the rat-like Count Orlok; Bram Stoker's widow sued and a court ordered the prints destroyed. A few copies survived, and Robert Eggers' 2024 remake cast Bill Skarsgård, the Pennywise actor, as Orlok.
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