Any time you see someone go into a basement in a horror movie, chances are they’re going to end up in a pretty spooky experience. However, if you really want a chilling experience, you’re going to need to seek out the absolute best movies that also happen to have horrifying basements in them. Here are the twelve best movies and TV shows, according to IMDB, that also happen to have chilling basements. Click here to read more about these terrifying movies and discover other horrifying basements in TV and film.

12. Stir of Echoes – 7.0 IMDB Rating

In Stir of Echoes, a man and his son are both haunted by visions of a young woman who disappeared about six months before they moved into their new home. When the man obeys the young woman’s commands to dig in and around the home, he discovers her dead body after accidentally knocking a hole in the basement wall.

11. The Rocky Horror Picture Show – 7.4 IMDB Rating

You might not think of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as being that much of a horror movie because it leans pretty heavily on the comedy elements. However, the movie definitely has some scary concepts, especially if you actually think about them. Dr. Frank-N-Furter has a laboratory in the basement of a British castle, which holds the Medusa Transducer – a device that can turn people into statues.

10. A Nightmare on Elm Street – 7.5 IMDB Rating

A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the hallmarks of horror movies, and if you’ve ever been interested in horror movies, you’ve almost certainly seen A Nightmare on Elm Street. In the dream world, Freddy maintains his boiler room as the Nightmare Factory, using it for torture and murder. When you die in the dream world, you die in the real world, making it all the more haunting of an experience.

9. The Evil Dead – 7.5 IMDB Rating

The Evil Dead took place in an existing cabin in the woods in rural Tennessee. Outside, inhabitants could find a cellar, which was where the Deadites live. Though the basement itself is pretty scary, it’s also burned down in real life since the filming process, which means that any horrors that the basement may have held are gone for good.

8. A Quiet Place – 7.5 IMDB Rating

The horrifying monsters in A Quiet Place are drawn by sound, and the cellar in the New York home is soundproofed. The Abbott family uses the soundproofed basement as a baby nursery. However, when a broken pipe causes the room to flood, it attracts the noise-sensitive monsters, immediately turning this safe room into a not-so-safe room.

7. Get Out – 7.7 IMDB Rating

Get Out takes place in a colonial-style home in Alabama. In the basement, main character Chris is strapped to a chair and hypnotized, with the basement serving as a laboratory for transposing consciousness. He goes to the “Sunken Place,” a void where his consciousness is still alive, but unable to connect with his body – a place the inhabitants of the home hope to keep him.

6. Misery – 7.8 IMDB Rating

Misery’s basement may not be that scary, but the movie definitely is. The basement is a damp, rat-infested cellar that serial killer Annie Wilkes uses to keep her captive victim Paul from signaling for help. The movie is definitely a slow build, allowing it to really creep into your thoughts and keep you thinking about it.

5. The Exorcist – 8.0 IMDB Rating

The beginning of the entire Exorcist premise hinges on something that happens in the basement. Near the beginning of the movie, 12-year-old Regan finds an old Ouija board in the basement and uses it to communicate with a demon. Sure, it may not be scream-worthy, but it definitely sets the stage for future screams.

4. Psycho – 8.5 IMDB Rating

Die-hard horror fans will know that Psycho’s basement-dwelling horrors are a big part of the reveal of the movie. When the main character, Lila, goes into the underground fruit cellar in Norman Bates’ home, she discovers the mummified corpse of his mother, which he has been keeping with him in the fruit cellar.

3. The Silence of the Lambs – 8.6 IMDB Rating

This is possibly one of the scariest basements on this list. That’s because it’s used by the movie’s serial killer, Buffalo Bill. He abducts women, then holds them in his basement and starves them to make it easier to remove their skin. The terror of this movie makes it one of the scariest basements in all of horror, and the movie is well-liked on IMDB.

2. Parasite – 8.6 IMDB Rating

This is the highest-rated movie on this list, and the movie’s variety of awards make it a great horror movie for anyone who likes horror. In the movie, the Kim family lives in a basement. These basement apartments, known as banjiha, were actually illegal to rent out as apartments until the housing crisis of the 1980s.

1. Stranger Things – 8.7 IMDB Rating

Stranger Things is the only TV show on this list, but it’s also the most highly-rated product on the list. The show is scary and drama-filled in all the right ways, and there are plenty of terrifying moments to enjoy as part of it. Mike uses the Wheeler basement to call Eleven from his pillow fort every night. Though the basement screams aren’t as profound as the others, it’s clear that the series itself has delivered.

Conclusion

Terror-filled basements are a big part of many horror movies and TV shows. They’re definitely scary in all the right ways, and the more poorly a basement is maintained, the scarier it will be in both the real world and in any horror movies you watch. While some basements may be generally scarier than others, there’s lots to love when it comes to the world of basements in horror. Try out one of these next time you’re itching for a great horror story.