Supernaturalhorrormovieshave been around since the invention of the film reel. In the first couple of decades of the 18th century, adaptations of supernatural horror fiction novels flooded the market andthe genre found its golden age and officially became a permanent fixturefor cinema. The fear of the unknown is one of humanity’s most primal instincts, and thebest horror moviesexploit that in the form of jumpscares and fearful lore. While technological advancements have improved the texture of horror movies to feel more realistic and thus more terrifying, perhaps the most exciting change over the years has been the reclamation of monsters.
Ghost stories remain the most common sources of inspiration, as directors and screenwriters unearth more and more obscure folklore and myths, butsupernatural horror movies are not always about ghosts. While spirits and apparitions provide the simplest premise for supernatural horror,distortion of nature is often a common source of inspiration for filmmakersas well. But, the scariest supernatural horror movies sometimes don’t even feature a tangible entity to instill fear in viewers, relying instead on the horrifying nature of violent and ominous occurrences, often based on curses and superstition.
Directed by Ari Aster
Hereditary
The feature film debut of writer-director Ari Aster, Hereditary tells the story of the unwittingly cursed Graham family. Annie Graham (Toni Collette) lives with her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) and their children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). After the death of Annie’s mother, the family is beset by disaster and stalked by a supernatural entity that dredges up a past that Annie had spent her life trying to overlook.
Featuring one of the most scarring deaths ever committed to screen,Hereditarypremises its horror on the unexplained phenomena that haunt a grieving family after a freak accident kills the youngest among them. The death of her daughter pushes the mother to seek solace in the idea of summoning her daughter’s spirit, but the summoning goes wrong as it is interrupted halfway through. During the next few days,the family is plagued by inexplicable occurrences that destroy their mental stabilityand push them to the brink of death repeatedly.
Based on a version of the Devil from folklore,Hereditary’s scariest aspect is perhaps the nonchalance of the film’s atmosphere where people burning to death and beheading themselves are explained through mythological references.It proceeds at a gradual, almost meditative pacetowardHereditary’sending,where the fearsome omen wreaks havoc and finishes the family.The pacing provides space for the exposition to be introduced without giving away enough for the film to become predictable and creates the atmosphere where horrifying visuals can prey on a viewer’s mind.
Directed by Demián Rugna
Terrified
Terrified follows police commissioner Funes and a team of supernatural researchers as they delve into bizarre and eerie incidents plaguing a Buenos Aires suburb. Released in 2018, the horror film explores inexplicable phenomena, challenging the boundary between reality and the paranormal.
Set in a suburb in Argentina,Terrifiedtells the story of a paranormal interdimensional infestation that makes life difficult for three different households on the same street. Paranormal investigators are summoned to figure out what’s going on and possibly dispose of the great danger, only to get disposed of themselves. While the plot and concept are underexplored,Terrifiedis a solid horror film with a tight 90-minute runtime.
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Terrifiedfeels a little like a test of patience in its second half as the story shifts to the narrative about the paranormal investigators because the pace is disappointingly broken, and the exposition is paper-thin. But, if for nothing else,Terrifiedwill always be memorable for the opening sequences. There’sno context, no buildup, and no mental preparation for the gruesome imagery that the film throws at its viewers from the get-go. It’s rare for horror films to plunge into the scares without first setting up an atmosphere or a location, butTerrifiedpulls it off in superior style.
Directed by Peter Medak
The Changeling
The Changeling is a supernatural horror-mystery film by director Peter Medak, released in 1980. A composer named John Russell moves to Seattle, Washington, after his wife and daughter are killed in a tragic car accident, but soon discovers his new residence may have uninvited guests of the otherworldly variety.
A classic haunted house story of an unsatisfied ghost seeking vengeance for his murder and wrongful omission from a fortune,The Changelingis a cross between horror and mystery. While the plot is propelled forward by the scary atmosphere of the mansion that the protagonist hires, the main story plays out like a mystery thriller of tracking down a cold murder case from the past.
A slow burn from start to finish,The Changelingrewards viewers for their patience by providing them with a meticulously constructed eerie atmosphere.A sense of grief hangs over every frame of the film, which uses slow zooms and dollys along with shadow play to build the terrifyingly spooky setting of the haunted mansion where danger lurks at every corner, but seems to be taking its time in striking.The Victorian architecture provides the perfect backdrop for the creepy angles and POV handheld shots that make every space inThe Changelingfeel haunted.
Directed by Hideo Nakata
Ringu
Based on the Japanese horror novel by Koji Suzuki, Ringu is a supernatural horror film directed by Hideo Nakata and was released in 1998. Reporter Reiko Asakawa is prompted to investigate a strange videotape that supposedly led to the death of her niece and her friends. However, after Reiko finds and views the tape, she too becomes cursed and must solve the case behind the tape within a week before meeting her fate.
A remake of the made-for-TV movie of the same name released three years prior to its release,Ringuwas eventually remade by Gore Verbinski, birthing two separate but conceptually connected franchises, one in Japanese, and another in English. All together, there are 14 films inThe Ringfranchise which weren’t released in orderof events.
Premised on an urban legend about a videotape that causes the death of its viewers within a week of watching it,Ringuis one of the most influential horror films of all time. It made the horror genre blow up in Asia, and prompted a craze that would lead to the manyremakes, reboots, and sequels which have all gathered a cult following. While many of the parodies, remakes, and spoofs have affected its reputation, anyone watchingRingufor the first time is in for a scare that could cause permanent fear of television screens.
Directed by Robert Eggers
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is a psychological thriller directed by Robert Eggers. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow, two lighthouse keepers who begin to experience strange and supernatural phenomena after they get stranded on a remote island in the 1890s.
Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s unfinished story of the same name,The Lighthousetells the story of two lighthouse guards, a veteran sailor, and the young man he’s supervising. While the lack of human contact outside each other is reason enough to lose each other’s minds, the two of them areplagued by supernatural phenomena that make them question their reality. One of them even finds a mermaid and gets allured by it, despite being warned by the other to stay away from them.
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Made in black and white,The Lighthouseemploys high contrasts and shadows with masterful precision to craft a drab world devoid of excitement besides the occasional call of seagulls and sirens. The descent into madness that the characters experience is paced perfectly too, buoyed by unbelievably good performances. It’s one ofWillem Dafoe’s best horror movieperformances.The terrifying climactic sequence simply employs close-ups of facial expressions, and that’sThe Lighthouse’s strongest selling point - the horror is in the characters' minds and crosses the screen to plague viewers' minds.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
Cast
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum follows the crew of a horror web series as they embark on a live broadcast from an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Venturing deeper within the asylum, the team confronts unforeseen horrors within the foreboding ruins of the historic, derelict structure. Released in 2018, this film explores themes of fear and suspense.
Popularized byThe Blair Witch Project, the found-footage people-trapped-in-a-place subgenre of horror has really come into its own as a niche with a cult following in the years following its release, withNetflix housing some amazing found footage horror movies, andGonjiam: Haunted Asylumis proof of that. While it doesn’t add anything new to the genre and the techniques its films usually employ, the film makes use of the elements common to the genre to create some truly scary visual imagery.
Following a group of ghost hunters who want to document the suspected paranormal activities in an asylum for their show,Gonjiam: Haunted Asylumtakes time to pick up pace. But when it’s running at full speed, especially in the final half hour of the film, the jumpscare per minute rate is incredibly high, and each jumpscare is terrifyingly effective because they really do spring up out of nowhere. The highlight of the film, however, isthe particularly scary ghostface girl, whose appearance is enough to forgetGonjiam: Haunted Asylumis a movie and feel personally haunted.
Pulse (2001)
Pulseis a rare cross of sci-fi and horror, using techno themes to create the horror. UnlikeRingu, where a videotape causes inexplicable deaths, the horror element ofPulselies in the screens themselves, which start leaking into reality. The lines between, behind, and beyond the screen get blurred as phantoms start appearing all over the place and terrify the characters into meeting some gruesome ends.
Pulsewas remade in English five years later by Jim Sonzero, but it fails to capture the same feeling of terror that Kurosawa’s film does.
While there’s a compelling mystery narrative that’s satisfyingly fleshed out and plays itself out to conclusion over the course of its runtime,Pulse’s strength lies in the atmosphere it’s set in. Since screens break the boundary between virtual and real, the entire film seems set in a meta world where every dark corner, which there are too many of, is hiding a phantom that can pop out at any moment. Despite the obviously ominous vibe, though,every jumpscare is effective because of the patient pacingthat relaxes a viewer’s mind enough to not expect any of them when they happen.
Directed by Andrzej Żuławski
Possession
Possession is a horror-drama film by director Andrzej Żuławski that was released in 1981. The film follows international spy Mark, who returns home only for his wife to divorce him and leave him for another man. The triangle between the three grows increasingly violent, but the truth behind Anna goes deeper and darker than any of them realize.
A cult classic featuring a terrifying performance from Isabel Adjani,Possession,tells the story of a woman who descends into mental chaos, exhibiting inexplicable erratic behavior.The resolution of the plot can be read as a feminist take on the concept of monstrosity and hysteria, but to explain that would be to spoil it. It must be experienced in its true chaotic messy form to fully grasp the relevance ofPossession. Interestingly, aremake starring Robert Pattinson is in development, showing that there’s still plenty of interest in the movie’s themes.
The iconic scene in the subway where Adjani showcases just how good of a body genre actress she is has been played at a million horror conventions and studied for years, receiving critical and scholarly attention for its revisionist take on female hysteria. The exploration of female sexuality and the implications of the supernatural element that possesses her body more and more as the film progresses makesPossessiona uniquely anti-establishment film as ittackles the theme of human toxicityin its construction of a dysfunctional marriage.
Directed by Neil Marshall
The Descent
The Descent is a horror film that follows a group of thrill-seeking friends who find themselves fractured after one of them loses their husband and daughter in a car accident. Attempting to rejuvenate her friend Sarah and bring her back to the group, Juno convinces her to follow her and their friends to a mysterious cave system they find in the mountains. However, when they find themselves traped with no way out, she reveals she took them to an uncharted region with no chance of rescue, hoping to give them the adventure of the life time. Angry, fearful, and low on supplies, the group travels further into the caves only to discover they’re not alone.
Considered to be one ofthe best monster movies of all time,The Descentfollows a group of six thrill-seekers who descend an unknown cave system for a spelunking adventure. Within minutes of descending and finding a place to gather,they’re caught in a cave-in as the entrance of the cave collapses and traps them inside.Unknown to them, one of the group members has led them to a different cave than the one they had planned to explore originally, thus practically making it impossible for them to seek or expect rescue.
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Forced to reckon with an unknown space they have to move forward through if they want to survive, the group trudges on and dies one by one as monsters start picking them off with time. The monsters are clearly present, but impossible to see in the darkness through night vision goggles. The use of POV shots with the green filter of dark vision adds to the terrifying atmosphere ofThe Descent. The monsters are designed to instill paralyzing fear, but the scariest part ofThe Descentisthe claustrophobia it creates using cramped framing and echoing sound design.
1When Evil Lurks (2023)
When Evil Lurksis horror maestro Rugna’s crowning achievement. It is based on a supernatural myth about a local demon that possesses a body as it awaits its birth by parasitically feeding off of the host body.When Evil Lurksfollows two brothers whose lives are upended by the discovery of a dead body which leads them to the possessed man. They initially assume he is just ill and not possessed, a suspicion that’s validated by the local law enforcement’s disdain for the rumors of the myth, dismissing it as superstition.
When Evil Lurksgives viewers no break from the horror once it begins. The first twenty-odd minutes set up the ticking time bomb nature of the plot as it is revealed that the demon possessing the man is simply waiting for the opportune moment to manifest in its true form. The initial dismissal of his condition sets up the horrifying events that follow as his presence brings evil into everyone’s lives around him. From dogs biting faces off to people axing themselves in the face,When Evil Lurksfeatures a relentless barrage of masterfully composed scarring imagery.
