Only 2 Horror Movies Ever Made Hold a Perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

Summary

• Audience members often disagree about what makes a movie great.
• Many horror movie staples have fallen short of a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
• The only two horror movies to reach this landmark are a zombie mockumentary and a haunted house story.

It's almost impossible to define a perfect movie. What works for one audience member won't work for another – as anyone who has tried to pick a perfect 'date night' movie can attest to.

When looking for a consensus, the closest we can get is Rotten Tomatoes. This site tallies up all of the available reviews on a movie, and asks the critics to assign it a 'Fresh' or 'Rotten' rating. Although many critics might consider a flawed movie to fall somewhere between, the rules are clear: you have to pick one.

That Elusive 100%

There are only two horror films that have ever achieved a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes – meaning that every single critic gave it a thumbs-up.

The two movies probably aren't ones that you would guess off the top of your head. Many horror classics have sublime RT scores, but still fall short of that elusive 100%. That includes Get Out (98%), Jaws (97%), and Psycho (also 97%).

Some horror staples have lower scores than you would expect. The Exorcist (1973) is a classic, and still considered one of the scariest movies ever made. But it only carries a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. One critic found it 'crude and corny' (NPR) and another went so far as to call it 'a deeply cynical, morally corrupted, often utterly senseless work that has somehow been raised to the status of greatness.' (Fort Worth Star Telegram).

Likewise, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is right up there on many lists of Greatest Horror Movies Ever, but not everyone cared for it. The movie has a surprising 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, with more than one reviewer accusing Kubrick of making a pretentious film. New York Magazine roasted the movie by saying:

'Most of the movie is unfelt, unscary, and bizarrely heavy-handed. It's the first pompous haunted-house movie.'

Surprising Picks

So which movies have managed to achieve that miraculous 100% rating? In the horror genre, there have been only two.

1. His House (2020)

In this taut immigration thriller, a pair of South Sudanese refugees manage to escape hellish conflict in their home country. They wind up in England, where they have to wait for months before being given a run-down, damp, terrible home in a neighborhood where nobody is friendly and they are regarded with suspicion.

Even worse, the couple soon becomes convinced they are being haunted by an 'apeth', a specter from back home. The story of what the couple had to do to survive slowly becomes apparent as the haunting worsens.

Reviewer Nick Allen said, 'From the start, 'His House' sucks you in with having hope for this couple to find some kind of new life in this impossible system, but a growing unease about what kind of trap they might be in.'

2. One Cut of the Dead (2017)

In this lesser-known horror mockumentary, a camera crew enters an abandoned plant to film a zombie movie. They plan to film the whole thing in one long cut, but accidentally resurrect real zombies. The ambitious filmmakers decide to just use the monsters to get their movie made, and keep the cameras rolling.

The result is a unique, wild movie that keeps peeling back metanarrative layers. Critics adored this film, which they saw as not only a refreshingly smart satire but also as an effective zombie flick.

The Los Angeles Times called One Cut of the Dead 'A master class in endless narrative inventiveness and an ode to the resourceful and collaborative spirit of hands-on filmmaking…an explosively hilarious rarity.'

You can rent or buy One Cut of the Dead on Prime Video or Apple TV. His House is available on Netflix.