The horror genre brings a variety of markers to subtly (or not so subtly) tell our brains that we are about to be spooked, creeped out, and jump-scared. But it’s all that more terrifying when a film shocks us without warning that it’s about to happen.
An internet user wanted to know what films people thought ended up being more frightening than most horror movies out there. People’s answers ranged from being freaked out as a child to films that cover psychologically disturbing topics. So take notes for your next movie night and be sure to upvote your favorites as you scroll through and comment your thoughts below.
#1
Coraline – it’s technically a kids movie but it’s freaky as hell
Image source: SpiritualSock9
#2
Does Watership Down count? The 1978 version. It’s not categorized as a horror but as a KIDS animation/adventure yet it has blood and gore in it. Scared the s**t out of me as a kid, couldn’t sleep for days. I still can’t watch it.
Image source: bluestar8889
#3
HBO’s Chernobyl was hands down the scariest tv series I’ve ever watched. Radiation is terrifying
Image source: PM_Me_UrRightNipple, Home Box Office (HBO)
#4
Black Swan. That movie should be marked as horror.
Image source: Lachimanus, Searchlight Pictures
#5
Schindler’s List. Can’t believe such horror actually took place.
Image source: a_guy_named_gai
#6
Who Framed Roger Rabbit scared the hell out of me, especially with the Judge Doom scene at the end when it’s revealed he’s a toon.
Image source: Goose_Politician, Touchstone Pictures
#7
Mommy dearest. It’s about a narcissistic actress who adopts a child, shows love initially, then turns into a horrible, abusive monster when the child starts thinking for herself. If you’ve been in an abusive relationship, this movie hits harder than any horror flick
Image source: hashedram, Paramount Pictures
#8
I saw Return to Oz when I was a kid during a sleepover. I didnt get any sleep that night.
Saw it again a few years ago as a 30yr old. Still scary.
Image source: Ol_Man_Rambles, Walt Disney Pictures
#9
Not a movie but the handmaid’s tale f*****g scares me to death.
Image source: F-350SUPERDUTY
#10
Requiem For A Dream is scary as hell! If you really want your kids to understand why drugs are bad, just show them this movie (well, don’t show this movie to kids, maybe on their teen years)
A lot of frightening scenes, graphic moments and a sad ending.
Image source: marmogawd, Artisan Entertainment
#11
In a weird way I find The Truman Show scary
Image source: Daniele_Bellini
#12
Trainspotting. The baby scene, but also Robert Carlyle’s violently deranged character.
Image source: greenvortex, Channel Four Films
#13
As a child, I was terrified of the Pinocchio donkey scene.
Image source: nau818, Walt Disney Animation Studios
#14
7 year old me would say *Mars Attacks!*
Hell, I’ll still stand by it.
Image source: JimothyJollyphant, With Warner Bros
#15
Children of Men. And it’s only gotten more frightening in light of recent events.
Image source: Cream_Gingerly, Universal Pictures
#16
The Dark Crystal. no questions.
Image source: anon
#17
The Labyrinth. Gave me nightmares when I first saw it as a teen. Fucking Hoggle makes me shudder. Jim Henson for the creep factor. I saw one of the puppets in real life at a museum. I’ll never be the same.
Image source: flammable1313, Henson Associates (HA)
#18
Dr who, the double episode with the angels
Image source: GunterSlaush
#19
AI: Artificial Intelligence. I watched that pretty young and the whole thing was fairly traumatizing.
Image source: Big_Simba, Warner Bros.
#20
A scene from The Elephant Man by David Lynch. When the disfigured man is laying in bed and the carnival guy breaks in through the window and charges people to see his face haunts me.
They way they dance around him laughing when he is dealing with so much mental anguish sticks with me.
Image source: anon
#21
“Heathers” bothers me because when it came out, it was really far-fetched parody. Now, it’s f*****g uncomfortable because of how realistic it seems. I went to school in a high-achieving town, with a serious teen suicide problem, and a couple of credible bomb threats to the schools. It upset me that everything portrayed in the film was plausible in regards to the experience I had there.
Image source: Uatu_The_Watcher07
#22
Cats. It’s absolute nightmare fuel
Image source: Conells, Perfect World Pictures
#23
Parasite. It was not marketed as a horror movie but…you know what I’m talking about
Image source: Politropos, CJ Entertainment
#24
W***y Wonka and the chocolate factory.
Image source: Gov-Man2020
#25
The cable guy. If it wasn’t a comedy it would be one of the scariest stalker movies is ever seen.
Image source: wilusa, Columbia Pictures
#26
Child Catcher. I always thought in the back of my mind if I misbehaved as a kid my parents would toss me outside for the Child Catcher to grab me and throw me in his cart.
Image source: cornmill7
#27
Titanic. It’s super scary to die in the middle of the ocean.
Image source: anon, Paramount Pictures
#28
Nightcrawler isn’t scary in the traditional sense, but it’s extremely unsettling
Image source: 1spicytunaroll, Bold Films
#29
Whiplash. Ever see JK Simmons and think “Boy, he’s pretty intense. He might be really scary if he weren’t so funny?”
Yeah. No one laughs during Whiplash.
Image source: Stovepipe032, Bold Films
#30
The Killing of a Sacred Deer, on Netflix. Holy c**p, this movie is disturbing. Honestly? I thought after it was over ‘I didn’t like that.’ But it stuck with me, and I thought about it for days afterward. That’s when you know it was a good movie. That kid… holy s**t… Barry Keoghan… his acting was incredible.
Image source: librarianjenn, Element Pictures
Follow Us
