Can You Score 20/20? Horror Movie Quiz: Name These Films from Their Subgenres!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Think you’re a horror aficionado? Test your knowledge with this 20-question quiz that challenges you to identify iconic horror films based solely on their subgenres. From easy classics to trickier picks, see if you can name them all without peeking!

20 Trivia Questions on Horror Films by Subgenre

Question 1: Which film is a quintessential 1970s slasher classic?

A. The Exorcist (1973)
B. Halloween (1978)
C. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
D. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Question 2: Which is the pioneering found footage horror film?

A. Scream (1996)
B. The Conjuring (2013)
C. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
D. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Question 3: Which defined the modern zombie subgenre?

A. 28 Days Later (2002)
B. The Mummy (1932)
C. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
D. Psycho (1960)

Question 4: Which is the landmark demonic possession horror?

A. Friday the 13th (1980)
B. The Exorcist (1973)
C. Evil Dead (1981)
D. Poltergeist (1982)

Question 5: Which exemplifies psychological horror?

A. The Shining (1980)
B. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
C. The Ring (2002)
D. Saw (2004)

Question 6: Which is a prime example of folk horror?

A. The Wicker Man (1973)
B. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
C. Final Destination (2000)
D. Hostel (2005)

Question 7: Which pioneered body horror?

A. The Thing (1982)
B. The Fly (1986)
C. Jaws (1975)
D. Carrie (1976)

Question 8: Which launched J-horror globally?

A. Audition (1999)
B. The Grudge (2004)
C. Ringu (1998)
D. Dark Water (2002)

Question 9: Which is classic vampire horror?

A. Dracula (1931)
B. The Wolf Man (1941)
C. Frankenstein (1931)
D. The Invisible Man (1933)

Question 10: Which is a werewolf landmark?

A. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
B. Nosferatu (1922)
C. The Lost Boys (1987)
D. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Question 11: Which is quintessential ghost story horror?

A. The Others (2001)
B. The Sixth Sense (1999)
C. Stir of Echoes (1999)
D. What Lies Beneath (2000)

Question 12: Which started the torture porn subgenre?

A. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
B. Hostel (2005)
C. Saw (2004)
D. Wrong Turn (2003)

Question 13: Which is survival horror origin?

A. Friday the 13th (1980)
B. The Burning (1981)
C. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
D. Madman (1981)

Question 14: Which is a key giallo film?

A. Suspiria (1977)
B. Deep Red (1975)
C. Tenebrae (1982)
D. Inferno (1980)

Question 15: Which exemplifies cosmic horror?

A. The Colour Out of Space (2019)
B. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
C. Dagon (2001)
D. From Beyond (1986)

Question 16: Which is a haunted house classic?

A. The Amityville Horror (1979)
B. The Legend of Hell House (1973)
C. Burnt Offerings (1976)
D. The Haunting (1963)

Question 17: Which kicked off the killer clown subgenre?

A. Terrifier (2016)
B. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
C. Clown (2014)
D. It (2017)

Question 18: Which is primeval creature feature?

A. Tremors (1990)
B. Critters (1986)
C. Gremlins (1984)
D. Arachnophobia (1990)

Question 19: Which is occult/ritual horror?

A. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
B. The Omen (1976)
C. The Devil Rides Out (1968)
D. To the Devil a Daughter (1976)

Question 20: Which is a slasher with a holiday theme?

A. Black Christmas (1974)
B. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
C. April Fool’s Day (1986)
D. My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Answers

  1. B. Halloween (1978) – Directed by John Carpenter, it’s a defining slasher with masked killer Michael Myers stalking teens; others are supernatural possession (A), zombie apocalypse (C), and found footage (D).
  2. D. The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Revolutionised found footage by simulating amateur camcorder footage of woods terror; others are slasher meta (A), supernatural (B), and splatter slasher (C).
  3. C. Night of the Living Dead (1968) – George A. Romero’s film birthed the zombie subgenre with slow undead hordes; A is rage zombie revival, B is mummy monster, D is psycho thriller.
  4. B. The Exorcist (1973) – William Friedkin’s adaptation of Blatty’s novel set the possession standard with Regan’s demonic ordeal; others are slasher (A), cabin deadite (C), poltergeist (D).
  5. A. The Shining (1980) – Kubrick’s adaptation of King’s novel delves into cabin fever madness; others are dream slasher (B), cursed tape ghost (C), trap torture (D).
  6. A. The Wicker Man (1973) – Robin Hardy’s film features pagan island rituals sacrificing outsiders; others are curse comedy (B), death trap (C), extreme travel (D).
  7. B. The Fly (1986) – Cronenberg’s remake shows grotesque human-insect teleportation fusion; A is alien assimilation, C is shark, D is telekinetic teen.
  8. C. Ringu (1998) – Hideo Nakata’s well curse tape film spawned global remakes; others are later J-horror like grudge (B), audition torture (A), flooded apartment (D).
  9. A. Dracula (1931) – Tod Browning’s Bela Lugosi Bela Lugosi version codified vampire tropes; others are werewolf (B), monster (C), sci-fi invisible (D).
  10. A. An American Werewolf in London (1981) – John Landis’ practical FX transformation comedy-horror; others are vampire (B, C), gothic vampire (D).
  11. A. The Others (2001) – Alejandro Amenábar’s twisty WWII mansion ghosts; others are ghost boy psychic (B), buried alive ghost (C), water ghost (D).
  12. C. Saw (2004) – James Wan’s Jigsaw traps launched torture porn; others are later remake (A), Eli Roth extreme (B), hillbilly (D).
  13. A. Friday the 13th (1980) – Camp Crystal Lake killer mother-daughter launched summer camp slashers; others are later camp slashers (B, C, D).
  14. B. Deep Red (1975) – Dario Argento’s giallo with gloved killer and telepathic clues; others are Argento witchcraft (A), slasher (C), building inferno (D).
  15. B. In the Mouth of Madness (1994) – John Carpenter’s Lovecraftian reality-warping author horror; others are later adaptations (A, C, D).
  16. D. The Haunting (1963) – Robert Wise’s Hill House psychological haunt based on Shirley Jackson; others are later possessed houses (A, B, C).
  17. D. It (2017) – Andy Muschietti’s Pennywise adaptation popularised killer clowns in modern horror; others are later indie (A, C), alien clowns (B).
  18. A. Tremors (1990) – Graboid worm monsters in desert town; others are fuzzy aliens (B), mischievous pests (C), killer spiders (D).
  19. A. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Polanski’s satanic pregnancy coven classic; others are antichrist child (B), Hammer devil (C), Hammer daughter (D).
  20. B. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) – Santa-suited killer traumatised by childhood; others are Christmas phone slasher (A), Valentine’s miner (D), April prank (C).

How did you do? Share your score in the comments and challenge your friends to beat it – true horror fans only!