Content Warning: The following article contains discussions of graphic violence, animal cruelty, sexual assault, and rape.Everybody loves a good scare, as the undying popularity of horror movies continues to prove. From unexpected jump scares and eerie atmosphere, to terrifying creatures and supernatural occurrences, a lot of fun can be had with the genre. However, these films aren’t always meant to be a pleasant experience, and there are some horror movies that are actually scary and truly disturbing and twisted that even the most seasoned enthusiast would struggle to sit through.
Whether it’s due to graphic violence, excessive gore, controversial subject matter, or unsettling imagery, these movies are hard to unsee. The scariest horror movies will definitely have viewers questioning the filmmaker's intentions and leave them with no desire to revisit them in the near future. These most disturbing horror movies in cinematic history are full of controversial plots and genuinely nightmare-inducing sequences, which often end up becoming hot topics of discussion among fans and critics alike. Feel good family fun, this certainly is not.
50 'In a Violent Nature' (2024)
Directed by Chris Nash
Acting as a complete deconstruction of the slasher genre that goes beyond simply featuring ultra-violent kills, but relishes in the monotony and process surrounding them, In a Violent Nature is an engaging, terrifying, and sometimes comical take on a slasher. While the plot is relatively simple, following a dangerous undead killer as he lays waste to a group of teens that awoke him, what makes the film stand out is its unique perspective and execution. The film entirely follows the perspective and viewpoint of the killer, Johnny, showing his entire process and viewpoint during his murderous rampage.
In a Violent Nature certainly delivers when it comes to gruesome, wince-inducing and creative kills, but its greatest strengths and most terrifying aspects come from the slow monotony in between the carnage. The film does an excellent job of letting the killer's fractured and animalistic mindset simmer between kills, allowing the audience to sit in silence and dread as he goes through the motions of walking from victim to victim. It manages to make each kill hit much harder, and while the film's experimental approach won't be for everyone, it will surely leave a pit in your stomach. - Robert Lee
In a Violent Nature
Release Date January 22, 2024 Director Chris Nash Cast Lauren-Marie Taylor , Andrea Pavlovic , Ry Barrett , Reece Presley Runtime 94 minutes49 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' (2017)
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Director Yorgos Lanthimos is known for his unique movies, like The Favourite and Poor Things, which usually feature an offbeat tone, quirky characters, and deadpan delivery. However, the director’s darkest film to date is the horror-thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which still retains the director’s signature elements, but in a far more sinister manner. Colin Farrell plays Steven Murphy, a wealthy surgeon and family man who has a seemingly perfect life.
When Steven meets the strange and awkward teen Martin (Barry Keoghan), he takes him under his wing. Martin then infiltrates his family home, and violent and unsettling occurrences begin to take place. While The Killing of a Sacred Deer isn’t as graphic as some traditional horror movies, it has an eerie and uncomfortable tone that is hard to stomach, making for an uncomfortable viewing experience.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
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Release Date November 3, 2017 Director Yorgos Lanthimos Cast Colin Farrell , Nicole Kidman , Barry Keoghan , Sunny Suljic , Denise Dal Vera Runtime 121 minutes48 'The Exorcist' (1973)
Directed by William Friedkin
Arguably the most iconic demonic possession horror movie, The Exorcist is a classic within the genre, and influenced a whole new generation of horror movies. The film follows Regan (Linda Blair), a young girl who becomes possessed by a demonic entity, and her mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), who enlists the help of two priests to save her.
At the time of release, The Exorcist was the scariest horror movie audiences had ever seen, with viewers even fainting. While some of the film’s scare factor has become outdated thanks to the evolution of filmmaking and effects, and almost seems tame compared to other movies, The Exorcist is still scarier than some horror movies released today. It is striking and unnerving, with visceral imagery that has become legendary in the horror pantheon.
The Exorcist
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Release Date December 26, 1973 Director William Friedkin Cast Ellen Burstyn , Max Von Sydow , Linda Blair , Lee J. Cobb Runtime 122 minutes 47 'Barbarian' (2022)
Directed by Zach Cregger
Barbarian is one of the most bonkers horror movies to hit screens in recent memory. On the surface, it seems like your standard creepy horror flick. A woman named Tara (Georgina Campbell) books an Airbnb, only to find it has been double-booked by a mysterious stranger named Keith (Bill Skarsgård). Just when you think you know where the narrative is going, Barbarian flips the script and goes to a totally unexpected and wild place.
The film’s second half is completely demented and gross, but it does not reach the disturbing level of some of the higher-ranked films on this list due to its unexpected humor and self-awareness. Barbarian is a totally wild and unpredictable ride that will have viewers questioning what it is they just witnessed.
Barbarian
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Release Date September 9, 2022 Director Zach Cregger Cast Georgina Campbell , Bill Skarsgard , Justin Long Runtime 10246 'The Conjuring' (2013)
Directed by James Wan
James Wan is one of the most popular horror directors working in the industry today, responsible for hits like Saw and Insidious. However, it was his 2013 film The Conjuring that reinvigorated the horror genre for the first time in years, giving it new life. Based on true events (what everybody wants to hear at the start of a horror movie), the film follows paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), who help a family being terrorized by a supernatural presence.
Along with a genuinely intriguing story and fleshed-out characters, The Conjuring brought back old-school scares in a way that remains fresh and exciting. The film also introduced fans to the now infamous Annabelle doll, and its success would go on to launch a franchise.
The Conjuring
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Release Date March 20, 2013 Director James Wan Cast Vera Farmiga , Patrick Wilson , Lili Taylor , Ron Livingston , Shanley Caswell , Hayley McFarland Runtime 11245 'The Perfection' (2018)
Directed by Richard Shepard
Netflix has released a slew of original horror films, but one that stands out (and is easily underrated) is The Perfection, starring Get Out and M3GAN’s Allison Williams. Williams plays troubled music prodigy Charlotte, who returns to her prestigious music school to find that she has been replaced by new star pupil Lizzie (Logan Browning).
The pair are sent down a sinister path there is no returning from, embarking on the ultimate revenge plot. While viewers may initially make comparisons to a rivalry narrative like Black Swan, it turns out The Perfection is much more David Cronenberg's body horror style. The film takes big swings and risks, featuring some incredibly repulsive and striking imagery that will leave you squirming.
The Perfection
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Release Date September 20, 2018 Director Richard Shepard Cast Allison Williams , Alaina Huffman , Steven Weber , Logan Browning , Glynis Davies , Christina Jastrzembska Runtime 9044 'Funny Games' (1997)
Directed by Michael Haneke
Despite not technically being a horror movie, Michael Haneke’s original Funny Games is one of the most terrifying non-horror films of all time, and is truly difficult to stomach. The psychological thriller follows two young men (Arno Frisch and Frank Giering) who hold a family hostage in their lakeside vacation home. They abuse and force them to play sadistic games for their own sick entertainment.
The psychotic Paul (Firsch) and Peter (Giering) often break the fourth wall throughout the film, directly addressing the audience. The pair tease the viewers, asking them moral questions and therefore making them feel complicit by simply watching the torture play out on screen. It’s an effective narrative technique that makes the whole viewing experience much harder to digest. By the end of Funny Games, audiences will be asking themselves what exactly they got out of watching something so horrid.
Funny Games (1997)
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Release Date March 11, 1998 Director Michael Haneke Cast Susanne Lothar , Ulrich Mühe , Arno Frisch , Frank Giering Runtime 108 minutes 43 'Deliver Us from Evil' (2014)
Directed by Scott Derrickson
While there are definitely better exorcism films out there than Scott Derrickson’s Deliver Us from Evil, there is no denying that it leaves you feeling unsettled and frightened. Eric Bana plays Ralph, a police officer who teams up with Mendoza (Édgar Ramírez), a priest, to combat possessions that are wreaking havoc on New York City.
From gruesome corpses to otherworldly demons, Deliver Us from Evil features some truly grotesque and scarring imagery that leaves an impact. Its religious themes are also extremely dark and disturbing, but thanks to its cop drama element and moments of levity, it is not the scariest movie on this list. However, the film is still a gnarly and bleak horror outing that is not for the faint of heart.
Deliver Us from Evil
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Release Date July 2, 2014 Director Scott Derrickson Cast Eric Bana , Edgar Ramirez , Olivia Munn , Chris Coy , Dorian Missick , Sean Harris Runtime 118 minutes42 '[Rec]' (2007)
Directed by Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró
The use of found-footage filmmaking is extremely popular within the horror genre, thanks to the success of films like The Blair Witch Project. One of the most effective and frightening uses of the stylistic technique can be seen in the Spanish horror film[Rec]. Entirely using found footage, it depicts a television reporter (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman (Pablo Rosso), who follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building.
There is a virus outbreak, trapping everybody inside and slowly turning people into vicious cannibals. The found-footage presentation makes [Rec] feel terrifyingly authentic and intimate, fully immersing the viewer in a very realistic manner. The gruesome effects, convincing acting, and production elements make it feel as if you are watching a real TV report, and the film’s bleak ending will leave viewers feeling extremely unsettled.
[REC]
R Release Date November 23, 2007 Director Jaume Balagueró , Paco Plaza Cast Manuela Velasco , Ferran Terraza , Jorge-Yamam Serrano , Pablo Rosso , David Vert , Vicente Gil Runtime 8041 'Host' (2020)
Directed by Rob Savage
We have all become far too familiar with Zoom and communicating remotely through work meetings and social catch-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, director Rob Savage capitalized on the popularity of the application (and social circumstances) to make Host, a film that proves you don’t need a big budget to make something terrifying.
Filmed entirely through webcams and set on a computer screen, a group of friends perform an online seance and accidentally invite a demonic presence into their homes. Savage uses simple tricks to conjure up genuinely nasty scares during a heart-pounding runtime of just under an hour. Host is a brilliant technical experiment, and Zoom meetings will never be the same again.
Host
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Release Date July 30, 2020 Director Rob Savage Cast Haley Bishop , Jemma Moore Runtime 56 minutes40 'The Descent' (2005)
Directed by Neil Marshall
One of the most terrifying and claustrophobic movies ever made, The Descent is a lean and nasty horror experience. The film follows a group of friends on a cave expedition, where they become trapped inside and are hunted by bloodthirsty creatures. The film is a back-to-basics horror thriller, utilizing the isolation and limited space of its setting for some truly horrific and visceral sequences.
It starts with a slow-burn build and then releases full carnage for its remaining runtime. The suffocating atmosphere of the caves and the situation makes this film so uncomfortable and scary to watch, as it plays on people’s real-life fears of closed and small spaces. The Descent’s ending is also incredibly grim, leaving viewers with a sense of hopelessness as the credits roll.
The Descent
RRelease Date August 4, 2006 Director Neil Marshall Cast Shauna Macdonald , Natalie Jackson Mendoza , Alex Reid , Saskia Mulder , MyAnna Buring , Nora-Jane Noone Runtime 99 minutes39 'Veronica' (2017)
Directed by Paco Plaza
Commonly referred to as one of the scariest movies on Netflix, Veronica is full of well-executed scares and demonic imagery that will haunt audiences. During a solar eclipse, a teenage girl (Sandra Escacena) uses an Ouija board with her friends to summon her father. Afterward, she becomes plagued by evil forces.
Veronica features all the unease and spookiness of any possession film, but what really makes it so memorable and frightening is the fact that it is loosely based on a true story. It takes inspiration from the Vallecas case, where a young girl similarly used the board to contact a loved one, and died soon after. The movie has a sense of realism that makes it incredibly creepy and difficult to sit through.
Verónica (2017)
Madrid, 1991. A teen girl finds herself besieged by an evil supernatural force after she played Ouija with two classmates.
Release Date August 25, 2017 Director Paco Plaza Runtime 1 hr 45 min38 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2006)
Directed by Alexandre Aja
CloseWhile the 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes is definitely a horror classic, its 2006 remake is certainly more effective and brutal, and might even be a better version. The film follows a family traveling to California to celebrate an anniversary, but things turn nightmarish when they are captured by mutated cannibals.
The Hills Have Eyes features extreme gore and repulsive elements like animal cruelty and sexual assault, with certain scenes that are particularly hard to stomach. It will make your skin crawl and have you most likely avoiding any kind of road trips in the near future. The mutant cannibals, and the acts they commit, are absolutely horrific. While it’s a well-made horror film that certainly leaves a mark, it is equally traumatizing.
37 'Sinister' (2012)
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Considered by many to be the scariest modern horror film of all time, Sinister is… well, pretty darn sinister. Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswald, a true crime non-fiction crime writer who moves his family into a house where gruesome murders took place. Desperate for inspiration for his work, he delves into who may have been responsible for those murders, but his research reveals horrifying discoveries.
The film has a simple plot but is executed in a way that will be lodged in your subconscious for a long time. The Super-8 tapes Hawke’s character stumbles upon featuring various murders are already uneasy to watch, but it’s the demonic face that keeps popping up in each of them that is the stuff of nightmares. Its terrible twist has also become well-known among horror fans, who likely wish they could watch it all again for the first time.
Sinister
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Release Date March 29, 2012 Director Scott Derrickson Cast Ethan Hawke , Juliet Rylance , Fred Dalton Thompson , James Ransone , Michael Hall D'Addario , Clare Foley ll Runtime 11036 'Would You Rather' (2012)
Directed by David Guy Levy
CloseWould You Rather is the perfect example of how a premise and character dynamics can go the extra mile in making a viewing experience that much more dreadfully painful and horrific for an audience. The film follows Iris, a young woman looking to earn money in order to pay for her brother's leukemia treatment, and finds herself competing in a deadly dinner party game hosted by philanthropist Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs). Throughout the party, Lambrick forces the guests to perform increasingly vile and painful challenges and tests, with only one winner getting their needed money and making it out alive.
Death games have been a common part of horror and modern media for a while now, ranging from classics of the genre like Saw to modern smash hit twists like Squid Game and Escape Room. What makes Would You Rather stand out as an especially painful viewing experience is its relishing and embellishment of the desperate state of these characters and Jambrick's masochistic enjoyment of their suffering. It takes the "eat the rich" approach to the genre nearly a decade before Squid Game, and delivers even harder when it comes to painful and cringe-inducing kills. - Robert Lee
35 'Hereditary' (2018)
Directed by Ari Aster
Director Ari Aster has cemented himself as a profound and fresh new voice in horror over the last few years, as exhibited with his debut Hereditary. The film follows a grief-stricken family after the death of their matriarch, as they discover sinister ancestral secrets through supernatural disturbances.
The scariest movie ever from A24's collection, Aster’s film is bleak and utterly hopeless, littered with unnatural and explicit imagery among its unnerving ambiance.Toni Collette’s performance is incredibly chilling, and one particular scene involving a nut allergy takes an abhorrent turn that viewers will not soon forget. That one scene has likely shocked and terrified viewers into never seeing the film again. Dark, dark stuff.
Hereditary
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Release Date June 8, 2018 Director Ari Aster Cast Toni Collette , Gabriel Byrne , Alex Wolff , Milly Shapiro , Ann Dowd , Zachary Arthur Runtime 127 minutes34 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Many argue that modern horror films are always scarier, but that’s not the case when it comes to 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The film sees Leatherface and his cannibal family hunt down a group of unsuspecting hitchhikers for the first time, with mean and bloody results.
Thanks to its balance of sheer dread and extreme gore, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was banned in several countries when first released, and is still considered one of the scariest movies of all time to this day. Disgusting and remarkably impressive for its time, it is certainly not for the faint of heart. Although later entries in the Texas Chain Saw Massacre haven't managed to reach the impressive heights of the first, there's still something to be said for the way the 1974 film established an enduring franchise beloved among horror fans.
Texas Chain Saw Massacre
RRelease Date October 11, 1974 Director Tobe Hooper Cast Marilyn Burns , Paul A. Partain , Edwin Neal , Jim Siedow , Gunnar Hansen , Allen Danziger , William Vail , Teri McMinn Runtime 83 Minutes33 'Goodnight Mommy' (2014)
Directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
CloseGoodnight Mommy is a slow-burn psychological horror film that is drenched in dread from start to finish. It follows twin brothers Elias (Elias Schwarz) and Lukas (Lukas Schwarz), who begin to suspect the identity of their mother (Susanne Wuest) when she comes home covered in bandages after facial reconstructive surgery.
Always cited among the scary horror movies, Goodnight Mommy gets under your skin with its creepy atmosphere and delicate pace but will have viewers squirming during its icky and excessive torture scenes, where the torture is being carried out by children. It goes to extremely dark and shocking places and knows how to use its twisted mother-child relationship to its full advantage, subverting expectations of what such a connection should look like.
32 'The Innocents' (2021)
Directed by Eskil Vogt
CloseIf you’ve seen any of their films, you’d know the Nordic always nail atmospheric horror and use it to create really scary movies. Pair that with creepy kids carrying out sadistic acts, and you’ve got yourself some pretty uncomfortable viewing. The Innocents takes these elements to create an understated yet relentlessly haunting film.
During a bright Nordic summer, a group of kids experiment with their newfound powers as things take a dark turn. The violence and cruelty on display (including towards animals) in The Innocents are made all the more difficult to stomach because it is being carried out by children. The characters who are supposed to be innocent due to their age commit unspeakable acts without remorse, with each one worse than the last. Viewer discretion is advised.
31 'Terrifier 2' (2022)
Directed by Damien Leone
The Terrifier movies are some of the most controversial in the horror genre, and sequel Terrifier 2 outdoes its predecessor in every way possible. This time round, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) is resurrected by an evil entity, and returns to the town of Miles County to terrorize Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullman).
Almost an hour longer than the original film, Terrifier 2 goes all out in the gore and shock department. Audiences reportedly vomited and fainted while watching the film, which includes detailed and nausea-inducing kills and torture from Terrfier's main villain. While it is undoubtedly difficult to watch, hardcore fans of the slasher genre responded positively to the film, as it received rave reviews and performed surprisingly well at the box office.
Terrifier 2
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Release Date October 6, 2022 Director Damien Leone Cast Felissa Rose , David Howard Thornton , Samantha Scaffidi , Griffin Santopietro , Tamara Glynn , Lauren LaVera Runtime 138ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kwKSt0bJkoaeip7yzecyoraKdo2LBsLuMnaCsrKWnr6q6xmarqGWimnq4rdOcn2g%3D