Signs (2002)

Film details

View on IMDb ↗
Year2002
CountryUSA
TypeMovie
Runtime106m
CastMel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan, Patricia Kalember, Ted Sutton, Merritt Wever, Lanny Flaherty

Review

"What makes Signs such an odd but enthralling film is the way its story is open to interpretation. Taken literally, it's War of the Worlds populated with characters carrying a lot of baggage. At the same time, it's a metaphor for faith and an examination of how beliefs shape reality. In fact, the surreal and detached atmosphere offers debate for what exactly is "real" in this movie. Enough peculiarities pop up here and there to make you wonder... If you're not interested in symbolism with your cinema, rest assured that Signs also boasts a good deal of thrills at face value. Tension and unease abound, and the movie has its fair share of sudden jolts and monsters in unseen places." - Andrew Manning, Radio Free

Ranking history

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS IN TOP 1,00011
HIGHEST#3142023
LOWEST#7452026
Top 1,000Outside Top 1,000Missing ranking data

Dashed lines indicate missing ranking data. Select a point to view that year's published list. The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films list was not updated in 2022.

The 21st Century’s Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS RANKED6
HIGHEST#712023
LOWEST#2202026
#51#193#335Top 250Top 50020152020202120232024202520262020 — Not ranked · Outside Top 2502015 — #2202021 — #792023 — #712024 — #752025 — #2012026 — #220
Published rankingNot ranked (outside published list)

The list was not updated from 2016 to 2019 or in 2022. It expanded from a Top 250 to a Top 500 in 2021. Full rankings beyond the published lists are not available. Dotted segments and hollow points indicate editions in which the film was outside the published list; their exact ranks are unknown.

Lists featuring this film 46 lists

Addicted to Horror Movies' The 10 Best Horror Films of 20022017Ranked#3
Addicted to Horror Movies' The 100 Scariest Horror Films of All Time2015Ranked#96
Allocine's Vos plus grosses flippes ciné - Le Top 20 de la peur…2009Ranked#19
Aullidos' Las 100 Mejores Películas de Terror2009Ranked#97
AwardsCircuit.com's Terence Johnson's Top 100 Horror Films2012Ranked#73
Boston.com's The top 60 scariest movies of all time2019Ranked#43
CBS Baltimore's 100 Scariest Horror Movies2013Ranked#75
Chicago Film Critics Association's 100 Scariest Movies of All Time2006Ranked#93
Collider's Brad LaCour's The 10 Greatest Horror Blockbusters Ever Made, Ranked2025Ranked#8
Collider's Safwan Azeem's 10 Sci-Fi Horror Movies That Are Almost as Good as 'Alien'2025Ranked#10
Dexerto's Cameron Frew's 104 best horror movies ever made2025Ranked#95
Dr-Faustus' GREATEST HORROR MOVIES OF ALL TIME2018Unranked—
Dustin Putnam's The Fright File - 150 Films to See Before Halloween2013Unranked—
Edmonton Journal's Girl Brain's top five horror movies2019Unranked—
Elite Daily's Rachel Varina's 33 Non-Gory Horror Movies To Watch If Blood Just Isn't Your Thing2022Unranked—
Esquire's Josh Rosenberg, Emma Carey & Bria McNeal's The 100 Scariest Movies of All Time2024Unranked—
Final Girl Shocktoberfest Poll2017Ranked#422
GameSpot's Dan Auty's 15 Best Alien Invasion Horror Movies Ever Made2020Ranked#5
GotchaMovies' Top 50 Horror Movies2014Ranked#40
Hollie Horror's 2000-20092019Ranked#72
Horror.com's The Official HDC Selection from 100+ Years of Horror Cinema2013Unranked—
Horror.com's The Official HDC Top 200 Of The 2000s2011Unranked—
IndieWire's Alison Foreman & Wilson Chapman's The 32 Scariest Alien Movies2024Ranked#10
IndieWire's The 225 Best Horror Movies of All Time2022Unranked—
Inverse's Matt Donato's The 50 Best Sci-Fi Horror Movies, Ranked2024Ranked#19
io9's Meredith Woerner's 50 Scariest Movies Of All Time2011Ranked#25
Jacky Who's Top 20 Horror Movies2010Ranked#4
John of the Dead's Top 100 Horror Movies of the Decade (honorable mentions)2010Unranked—
Mike Thorn's 100 Favorite Movies2019Ranked#28
MomJunction's Rohit Garoo's 35 Best Scary Movies For Kids And Teens2019Unranked—
Murray Leeder's Horror Film - A Critical Introduction2018Unranked—
Parade's Samuel R. Murrian's 152 Best Horror Movies of All Time2025Ranked#128
Paste's Jim Vorel's A Century of Terror - The 100 Best Horror Movies of the Last 100 Years - Honorable mentions2019Unranked—
PopOptiq's Ricky da Conceição's 200 Greatest Horror Films2015Ranked#162
Rathcoombe Manor's The Best Horror FilmsUnranked—
Reel Reviews' Frank Wilkins' Best Horror Films2010Unranked—
Refinery29's Carolyn L. Todd's These 20 Movies Are Incredibly Scary & Gore-Free2020Unranked—
Stay at Home Mum's Jody Allen's 50 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time2017Ranked#43
Stylist's Kayleigh Dray's Best horror films - the 33 scariest movies of all time2020Unranked—
The Bedrock Blog's The Cutting Room Floor2010Unranked—
The Wandering Image's TOP 100 HORROR MOVIES OF THE 2000s2014Ranked#98
Today's Sarah Lemire's 68 of the scariest horror movies of all time2022Unranked—
Too Scary To Watch's Best 2000's Horror Movies2011Unranked—
TOP 666 HORROR MOVIES (Freaky Fuckin Friday)2014Ranked#179
Vogue's 20 Scary Movies to Watch (or Avoid) this Halloween2014Unranked—
Yardbarker's Asher Luberto 25 horror movies that are great to watch any time2025Unranked—