Best Spanish-Language Horror Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Hot off our guide to the 110 Essential Spanish-Language Movies, we’re galloping into the night for all things spooky en Español!

Here you’ll find only the Freshest scary selections from Mexico (Cronos), Spain (The Orphanage), Uruguay (The Silent House), Chile (The Wolf House), and Argentina (Cold Sweat). Inside each film, an underworld teeming with our favorite monsters. Zombies in [rec]! Mad scientists in The Skin I Live In! Vampires in Dracula! (Yep, there was another version to the Universal classic.) Creepy kids in The Orphanage! And In the Devil’s Backbone, maybe something beyond…

We gathered virtually every Spanish-language horror movie we could find, separating the Fresh and Certified Fresh, but also including the Rotten because, hey, that’s part of the fun with scary flicks! If you’re wondering about the decided lack of chucapbras and La Llarona on this list, it’s because there hasn’t been a critically-noted movie made yet. Though KM 31 comes closest with its take on Mexican folklore.

And most recently we’ve added the Certified Fresh films La Llarona and The Platform. See where they place with our guide of the Best Spanish-Language Horror Movies by Tomatometer!

#30

In a Glass Cage (1987)
67%

#30

Adjusted Score: 64063%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Now confined to an iron lung, a former Nazi torturer (Günter Meisner) gains an apprentice.... [More]

Starring: Günter Meisner, David Sust, Marisa Paredes, Gisela Echevarria

Directed By: Agusti Villaronga

#29

Rec 4: Apocalypse (2014)
68%

#29

Adjusted Score: 68116%

Critics Consensus: After a lackluster third entry, [REC] 4 gets the series back on track, at least to the level of the first sequel.

Synopsis: Survivors of a strange contagion which turns humans into ghouls find themselves aboard a ship where a doctor is trying... [More]

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Paco Manzanedo, Héctor Colomé, Ismael Fritschi

Directed By: Jaume Balagueró

#28

The Silent House (2010)
68%

#28

Adjusted Score: 67195%

Critics Consensus: Shot in a single take, The Silent House may be a gimmick movie, but it's one that's enough to sustain dread and tension throughout.

Synopsis: Laura and her father stay in a house overnight, but a mysterious noise makes her very frightened.... [More]

Starring: Gustavo Alonso, Florencia Colucci, María Salazar, Abel Tripaldi

Directed By: Gustavo Hernández

#27

Rec 2 (2009)
68%

#27

Adjusted Score: 69874%

Critics Consensus: It lacks the surprising jolt of the first installment, but [REC] 2 almost maintains the original's chilling momentum -- and proves not all horror sequels were made equal.

Synopsis: A doctor and a SWAT team enter a quarantined building where a virus has turned the residents into a pack... [More]

Starring: Jonathan Mellor, Oscar Sánchez Zafra, Alejandro Casaseca, Pablo Rosso

Directed By: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza

#26

We Are What We Are (2010)
72%

#26

Adjusted Score: 73006%

Critics Consensus: We Are What We Are is elevated horror that combines family drama and social politics, with plenty of gore on top.

Synopsis: A misfit teenager must take on a daunting responsibility when the patriarch of his cannibal family dies, leaving them without... [More]

Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alán Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato

Directed By: Jorge Michel Grau

#25

We Are the Flesh (2016)
74%

#25

Adjusted Score: 75471%

Critics Consensus: Visually striking and aggressively confrontational, We are the Flesh may prove as difficult to watch as it ultimately is to forget.

Synopsis: After wandering a ruined city for years, two siblings enter a building and find a man who makes them a... [More]

Starring: Noé Hernández, María Evoli, Diego Gamaliel, Gabino Rodríguez

Directed By: Emiliano Rocha Minter

#24

Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971)
75%

#24

Adjusted Score: 75951%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Cowled skeletons of Spanish knights ride again, blinded by crows for their 13th-century savagery.... [More]

Starring: Cesar Burner, Lone Fleming, Maria Silva, José Thelman

Directed By: Amando de Ossorio

#23

The Day of the Beast (1995)
75%

#23

Adjusted Score: 51793%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A heavy-metal fan (Santiago Segura) and a psychic (Armando De Razza) help a priest (Alex Angulo) seek the infant Antichrist... [More]

Starring: Alex Angulo, Armando De Razza, Santiago Segura, Terele Pavez

Directed By: Alex de la Iglesia

#22

Cold Sweat (2010)
75%

#22

Adjusted Score: 38403%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A young man's search for his missing ex-girlfriend leads him to an old house filled with stolen explosives and two... [More]

Starring: Facundo Espinosa, Marina Glezer, Daniel De La Vega, Victoria Witemburg

Directed By: Adrián García Bogliano

#21

Verónica (2017)
78%

#21

Adjusted Score: 36440%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A female psychologist who has stopped practicing medicine decides to take the case of Veronica de la Serna, a young... [More]

Starring: Olga Segura, Sofía Garza, Arcelia Ramírez, Horacio Castelo

Directed By: Carlos Algara, Alejandro Martinez Beltrán

#20

The Platform (2019)
79%

#20

Adjusted Score: 82301%

Critics Consensus: While it may feel muddled at times, The Platform is an inventive and captivating dystopian thriller.

Synopsis: In the future, prisoners housed in vertical cells watch as inmates in the upper cells are fed while those below... [More]

Starring: Emilio Buale, Zorion Eguileor, Alexandra Masangkay, Ivan Massagué

Directed By: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

#19

Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2017)
80%

#19

Adjusted Score: 45156%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A blacksmith holds a demon in captivity, torturing it as revenge for his troubles. One day, an orphan girl stumbles... [More]

Starring: Kandido Uranga, Eneko Sagardoy, Uma Bracaglia, Ramón Aguirre

Directed By: Paul Urkijo Alijo

#18

The Skin I Live In (2011)
81%

#18

Adjusted Score: 86553%

Critics Consensus: The Skin I Live In lacks Almodovar's famously charged romance, replaced with a wonderfully bizarre and unpredictable detour into arthouse ick.

Synopsis: A traumatic event upsets the weird dynamic between a plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas) and the woman (Elena Anaya) he keeps... [More]

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet

Directed By: Pedro Almodóvar

#17

Thesis (1996)
83%

#17

Adjusted Score: 79549%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A Spanish film student (Ana Torrent) finds a videotape showing the torture and murder of a missing coed.... [More]

Starring: Ana Torrent, Fele Martínez, Eduardo Noriega, Rosa Campillo

Directed By: Alejandro Amenábar

#16

Juan of the Dead (2011)
83%

#16

Adjusted Score: 82152%

Critics Consensus: Filled with wild splatter slapstick, Juan of the Dead also deftly uses its zombie premise as an undead Trojan horse for insightful political commentary.

Synopsis: When the dead rise and attack the living, Juan starts a zombie-killing business, until he has to save his small... [More]

Starring: Blanca Rosa Blanco, Elsa Camp, Antonio Dechent, Luis Alberto Garcia

Directed By: Alejandro Brugués

#15

Witching & Bitching (2013)
83%

#15

Adjusted Score: 83590%

Critics Consensus: Dark, nasty, and delightfully subversive, Witching and Bitching is gross-out genre fun with a heaping helping of warped comedy for good measure.

Synopsis: Jewel thieves flee into the Basque forests and are captured by a coven of witches.... [More]

Starring: Hugo Silva, Mario Casas, Carolina Bang, Carmen Maura

Directed By: Alex de la Iglesia

#14

The Untamed (2016)
86%

#14

Adjusted Score: 88786%

Critics Consensus: The Untamed attempts some ambitious tonal juggling between fantastical and disturbing -- and draws viewers in with its slippery, inexorable pull.

Synopsis: A couple in a troubled marriage locate a meteorite, initiating an encounter with a mysterious creature. Their lives are turned... [More]

Starring: Kenny Johnston, Simone Bucio, Jesus Meza, Ruth Ramos

Directed By: Amat Escalante

#13

The Orphanage (2007)
87%

#13

Adjusted Score: 93575%

Critics Consensus: Deeply unnerving and surprisingly poignant, The Orphanage is an atmospheric, beautifully crafted haunted house horror film that earns scares with a minimum of blood.

Synopsis: Several months after her adopted son disappears, a grieving woman (Belén Rueda), in her childhood home, believes she hears spirits... [More]

Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla

Directed By: J.A. Bayona

#12

Rec (2007)
89%

#12

Adjusted Score: 89626%

Critics Consensus: Plunging viewers into the nightmarish hellscape of an apartment complex under siege, [Rec] proves that found footage can still be used as an effective delivery mechanism for sparse, economic horror.

Synopsis: A reporter (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman record the horrifying outbreak of a disease that turns humans into vicious cannibals.... [More]

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Carlos Lasarte

Directed By: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza

#11

Timecrimes (2007)
89%

#11

Adjusted Score: 90039%

Critics Consensus: Timecrimes is a low-budget thriller that's well-crafted and loaded with dark humor and bizarre twists.

Synopsis: Accidentally traveling backward in time causes unforeseen disasters for a man.... [More]

Starring: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga, Juan Inciarte

Directed By: Nacho Vigalondo

#10

Julia's Eyes (2010)
90%

#10

Adjusted Score: 90597%

Critics Consensus: Smart, suspenseful, and visually distinctive, Julia's Eyes marks another modern Spanish thriller that quickens the pulse while engaging the mind.

Synopsis: The closer she gets to solving her sister's death, a woman (Belén Rueda) with a degenerative eye disease becomes increasingly... [More]

Starring: Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui, Francesc Orella

Directed By: Guillem Morales

#9

Sleep Tight (2011)
91%

#9

Adjusted Score: 91753%

Critics Consensus: The strong lead performance, clever plot turns, and the unsettling ending makes Sleep Tight worth stalking.

Synopsis: César is the superintendent of an apartment building and keeps very close tabs on the tenants. He secretly enjoys inflicting... [More]

Starring: Luis Tosar, Marta Etura, Alberto San Juan, Petra Martínez

Directed By: Jaume Balagueró

#8

Cronos (1993)
91%

#8

Adjusted Score: 93842%

Critics Consensus: Guillermo del Toro's unique feature debut is not only gory and stylish, but also charming and intelligent.

Synopsis: An antiques dealer (Federico Luppi) finds an ancient artifact that grants him eternal life, but in the form of a... [More]

Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

#7

The Devil's Backbone (2001)
92%

#7

Adjusted Score: 96342%

Critics Consensus: Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil's Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.

Synopsis: The newest resident at a remote Spanish orphanage contends with a brutal janitor, a bully and a youngster's ghost.... [More]

Starring: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

#6

Shrew's Nest (2014)
95%

#6

Adjusted Score: 94007%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Monte's agoraphobia keeps her secluded in her apartment until a young man is injured in a stairwell and crawls to... [More]

Starring: Silvia Alonso, Carolina Bang, Nadia de Santiago, Asier Etxeandia

Directed By: Juanfer Andres, Esteban Roel

#5

The Similars (2015)
95%

#5

Adjusted Score: 95084%

Critics Consensus: A smart homage to genre filmmaking, The Similars is a fun and frightening film that balances socio-political issues with aplomb.

Synopsis: Eight people experience a strange phenomenon while waiting for a bus at a remote station on a rainy October night.... [More]

Starring: Humberto Busto, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Luis Alberti, Cassandra Ciangherotti

Directed By: Isaac Ezban

#4

The Wolf House (2018)
96%

#4

Adjusted Score: 97879%

Critics Consensus: Surreal, unsettling, and finally haunting, The Wolf House is a stunning outpouring of creativity whose striking visuals queasily complement its disturbing story.

Synopsis: A young woman takes refuge in a strange house in the woods after escaping from a German colony in southern... [More]

Starring: Amalia Kassai, Rainer Krausse

Directed By: Joaquín Cociña, Cristóbal León

#3

La llorona (2019)
96%

#3

Adjusted Score: 99427%

Critics Consensus: La Llorona puts a fresh spin on the familiar legend by blending the supernatural and the political to resolutely chilling effect.

Synopsis: Alma is murdered with her children during a military attack in Guatemala, but when the general who ordered the genocide... [More]

Starring: María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kénefic, Julio Diaz

Directed By: Jayro Bustamante

#2

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)
97%

#2

Adjusted Score: 101995%

Critics Consensus: Tigers Are Not Afraid draws on childhood trauma for a story that deftly blends magical fantasy and hard-hitting realism - and leaves a lingering impact.

Synopsis: When a girl's mother disappears leaving her on her own, she goings a gang of street children, leading to a... [More]

Starring: Paola Lara, Ianis Guerrero, Rodrigo Cortés, Hanssel Casillas

Directed By: Issa López

#1

Dracula (1931)
100%

#1

Adjusted Score: 95851%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: This was made at night using the same sets and script as the Bela Lugosi classic but with a Spanish... [More]

Starring: Carlos Villarias, Lupita Tovar, Pablo Alvarez Rubio, Barry Norton

Directed By: George Melford