Top 20 Greatest Psychological Horror Movies
Awesome setup! Here’s a countdown of the best psychological horror movies that master the art of slow-burn tension and eerie atmosphere:
### Top 10 Psychological Horror Movies
**10. "The Babadook" (2014)**
- A mother and her son are haunted by a sinister presence from a mysterious book, creating a chilling exploration of grief and mental illness.
**9. "The Others" (2001)**
- Nicole Kidman stars in this atmospheric ghost story set in a remote mansion, where she and her children experience increasingly disturbing events.
**8. "Funny Games" (1997)**
- Michael Haneke’s harrowing film about a family held hostage by two sadistic young men is a masterclass in sustained tension and psychological torment.
**7. "Black Swan" (2010)**
- Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller delves into the mind of a ballerina, played by Natalie Portman, as she descends into madness while preparing for a role.
**6. "The Witch" (2015)**
- Set in 1630s New England, this film follows a family torn apart by paranoia and witchcraft, creating a palpable sense of dread and isolation.
**5. "Hereditary" (2018)**
- Ari Aster’s debut feature is a haunting tale of family secrets and supernatural terror, anchored by a powerful performance from Toni Collette.
**4. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)**
- Roman Polanski’s classic film follows a pregnant woman who becomes increasingly paranoid that a cult is after her unborn child.
**3. "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)**
- Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins star in this psychological horror thriller about an FBI trainee who seeks the help of a cannibalistic serial killer to catch another murderer.
**2. "The Shining" (1980)**
- Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is a slow-burn masterpiece, featuring Jack Nicholson’s unforgettable descent into madness at the Overlook Hotel.
**1. "Psycho" (1960)**
- Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking film remains a touchstone in psychological horror, with its shocking twists and eerie atmosphere.
### Honorable Mentions
- **"Session 9" (2001)**
- A cleaning crew working in an abandoned mental hospital discovers something far more sinister lurking in the building.
- **"The Sixth Sense" (1999)**
- M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller about a young boy who sees dead people and the psychologist who tries to help him is known for its suspenseful atmosphere and iconic twist.
- **"It Follows" (2014)**
- This modern horror film about a supernatural entity that relentlessly follows its victims is a tense and innovative take on the genre.
Did we miss any of your spooky favorites? Let us know in the comments below!
### Top 10 Psychological Horror Movies
**10. "The Babadook" (2014)**
- A mother and her son are haunted by a sinister presence from a mysterious book, creating a chilling exploration of grief and mental illness.
**9. "The Others" (2001)**
- Nicole Kidman stars in this atmospheric ghost story set in a remote mansion, where she and her children experience increasingly disturbing events.
**8. "Funny Games" (1997)**
- Michael Haneke’s harrowing film about a family held hostage by two sadistic young men is a masterclass in sustained tension and psychological torment.
**7. "Black Swan" (2010)**
- Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller delves into the mind of a ballerina, played by Natalie Portman, as she descends into madness while preparing for a role.
**6. "The Witch" (2015)**
- Set in 1630s New England, this film follows a family torn apart by paranoia and witchcraft, creating a palpable sense of dread and isolation.
**5. "Hereditary" (2018)**
- Ari Aster’s debut feature is a haunting tale of family secrets and supernatural terror, anchored by a powerful performance from Toni Collette.
**4. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)**
- Roman Polanski’s classic film follows a pregnant woman who becomes increasingly paranoid that a cult is after her unborn child.
**3. "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)**
- Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins star in this psychological horror thriller about an FBI trainee who seeks the help of a cannibalistic serial killer to catch another murderer.
**2. "The Shining" (1980)**
- Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is a slow-burn masterpiece, featuring Jack Nicholson’s unforgettable descent into madness at the Overlook Hotel.
**1. "Psycho" (1960)**
- Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking film remains a touchstone in psychological horror, with its shocking twists and eerie atmosphere.
### Honorable Mentions
- **"Session 9" (2001)**
- A cleaning crew working in an abandoned mental hospital discovers something far more sinister lurking in the building.
- **"The Sixth Sense" (1999)**
- M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller about a young boy who sees dead people and the psychologist who tries to help him is known for its suspenseful atmosphere and iconic twist.
- **"It Follows" (2014)**
- This modern horror film about a supernatural entity that relentlessly follows its victims is a tense and innovative take on the genre.
Did we miss any of your spooky favorites? Let us know in the comments below!
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 20 Psychological Horror Movies.
00:17For this list, we're looking at the greatest films that earned their scares primarily through slow burn tension and eerie atmosphere.
00:24Did we miss any of your spooky favorites? Let us know in the comments below.
00:31Jordan Peele's directorial debut scares audiences in all the right ways.
00:35In lieu of gory set pieces or excessive jump scares, his film relies on its politically charged mysteries to generate tension.
00:42And to say it works would be a massive understatement.
00:46Chris meeting his girlfriend's parents is its own kind of horror.
00:54But by the time the credits roll, Get Out devolves into a bone-chilling fright fest that's bound to leave you thinking.
01:00Its biting social critique struck a major chord with audiences and critics.
01:05Alongside a massive box office haul, Peele walked away with the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
01:17Clearly, Get Out leaves its viewers wanting to do anything but.
01:25With just one look at this film's striking visuals, it's obvious why it's considered a revolution for arthouse horror movies.
01:32Dr. Caligari's twisted set design is the very definition of unsettling.
01:36Even when nothing particularly scary is happening on screen.
01:45And that's to say nothing of its actual narrative.
01:48The tale of a mad hypnotist turning patients into murderers is a painfully potent mirror to the state of 20th century Germany.
01:55It's all the more impressive since the silent film accomplishes it without any spoken dialogue.
02:03Dr. Caligari's artistic merits have kept it in the conversation for over a hundred years after its release.
02:11And there's no reason to believe it can't do it for another hundred too.
02:17The story here is remarkably straightforward.
02:20Henry has a wife, he cheats on her, he blames their baby and the screen cuts to black.
02:26However, the what isn't nearly as interesting as the how and why.
02:31You see, David Lynch's surrealist masterpiece features imagery so disturbing it has to be seen to be believed.
02:44Whether it's walking home from the grocery store or eating dinner with some friends,
02:48the film successfully turns each and every mundane act into a deeply horrific set piece.
02:53It's a harrowing portrait of parenthood for better or for worse.
02:57Suffice it to say, Eraserhead is utterly unforgettable, if only for that nightmarish baby prop.
03:09This film is a little bit of everything on the horror scale.
03:12Psychological terror mixed with arthouse vibes and surrealistic moments.
03:19But above all else, it is terrifying.
03:22The movie follows Tim Robbins as a Vietnam War veteran who begins to experience extremely strange visions.
03:28The nature of these visions remains a tantalizing mystery throughout and you soon begin to question the film's reality.
03:34It'll make you feel disgusted long after the credits roll thanks to its discomforting scenes and hopeless attitude.
03:41But no matter how difficult it may be to stomach, Jacob's Ladder is definitely worth stepping on.
03:53Repulsion was director Roman Polanski's first feature film to be released in English and what an introduction it was.
04:04When the troubled Carol Ledoux is left alone in the apartment she shares with her sister,
04:08she begins to experience strange and unexplainable occurrences.
04:12The movie is terribly claustrophobic and isolating, a terrifying depiction of a young woman's slow dip into utter insanity.
04:19The acting, Polanski's use of sound, the startling images and the filmmaking are all top notch
04:25and the result is a truly unnerving psychological experience.
04:43Director Robert Wise interpreted this story as one about mental health instead of ghosts
04:48and that vision is reflected in the film's final cut.
04:51Namely, there's a distinct lack of blood or monsters in its two-hour runtime.
04:56Don't mistake that as a lack of scares though.
04:58On the contrary, The Haunting is easily one of the most off-putting films of its time.
05:07Wise purposefully used an imperfect camera lens in order to give the set a distorted look.
05:12As a result, The Haunted House feels as much like a character as The Paranormal Investigators.
05:17Plus, the focus on Eleanor's deteriorating mental state ensures that when the scares do come,
05:23they are fiendishly effective.
05:38The Others follows Nicole Kidman as a single mother who begins to suspect that her house is haunted.
05:43And even though it's a modern movie, it gleefully reminds us of old school horror.
05:47There are no cheap jump scares, screeching violins or buckets of blood.
05:51It's just a creepy haunted house that acts up in subtly horrifying ways.
05:55And Nicole Kidman perfectly portrays a troubled and increasingly desperate mother
05:59who only wants the safety of her children.
06:01It also has one of the most shocking endings in horror movie history,
06:05even if it's become common knowledge in the years since.
06:08We're not dead!
06:09We're not dead!
06:10We're not dead!
06:11The Others is a simple old-fashioned ghost story, and we love it.
06:25For the first hour of this seminal Japanese work, you'd be forgiven for assuming it's an oddly paced romance film.
06:31But a body bag and an infamous needle scene later,
06:34an audition reveals itself as one of the most sinister horror films of all time.
06:46The shocking twist of fate works so well because the film spends most of its runtime
06:50intentionally lulling the audience into a false sense of security.
06:54Outside of an odd line here and there,
06:56there is nothing to prepare you for what the movie becomes in its final minutes.
07:05Ichiban tokushita no...
07:10Watashi desu ne.
07:11Audition is a true masterclass of turning audience expectations into a sadistic type of gruesome horror.
07:25That's when you'll know he's around.
07:28You'll see him if you look.
07:29The Babadook was an unfortunate victim of misleading marketing.
07:33Many audiences expected another haunted house romp like The Conjuring
07:36and were left disappointed with this more methodical film.
07:39However, those without faulty expectations found a harrowing movie about the destructive power of grief.
07:45The story follows a depressed single mother who becomes hunted and influenced by the Babadook,
07:50a monster found in her son's pop-up book.
07:53While the Babadook is indeed scary,
07:55it's in the metaphorical nature of the monster where the real scares lie,
07:58as Emilia soon becomes enveloped by the madness that the Babadook represents.
08:03This is both a depressing and uplifting film, and it's frightening to boot.
08:20To make this found footage movie,
08:22three actors were set loose in the woods with a camcorder and no written dialogue.
08:26Eight days of filming later,
08:28they turned in a movie that's still influential to this day.
08:37The shaky cam presentation adds a certain visceral quality to each unnerving moment,
08:41and there are a lot of them.
08:43Yet somehow, the accelerating scares never compromise how authentic the footage feels.
08:48Even with the knowledge that this is fiction,
08:51the movie never fails to put you right in the character's shoes.
08:56So sorry...
08:59for everything that has happened.
09:01At a time when horror films were becoming increasingly cinematic,
09:04the Blair Witch Project went in the completely opposite direction.
09:08And evidently, that was a very good thing.
09:14Despite its name, this horror flick is no laughing matter.
09:17Just not for the reasons most expect.
09:20On paper, a pair of sadistic invaders tormenting an innocent family is pretty standard horror fare.
09:26But instead of resisting those tropes,
09:28Funny Games embraces them by slowly and surely blurring the line between fact and fiction.
09:41While there are still plenty of grisly moments to satisfy genre diehards,
09:45none of them matches the mind-bending twists this movie throws at you.
09:49At a certain point, it feels less like a movie and more like, well, a game.
09:54Albeit one that is totally rigged.
09:56Nothing is scarier than villains who can write their own ending.
10:11Another oldie but a goodie,
10:12Don't Look Now stars Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as a depressed couple who travel to Venice.
10:18There, they meet a psychic who informs them that their dead daughter
10:21is attempting to reach and warn them of impending danger.
10:27The movie is arguably a masterpiece,
10:29and it still manages to stop the heart all these years later
10:33thanks to its horrifying scenes and harrowing depiction of grief.
10:37It also has one of the scariest endings in horror movie history,
10:40one that's sure to leave you open-mouthed and petrified.
10:44It's influenced many filmmakers over the years,
10:46and it's not hard to see why.
11:00M. Night Shyamalan's breakout feature is known for having the twist ending to end all twist endings.
11:06But there's a whole film preceding that moment,
11:08and its execution is just as exemplary.
11:12From the very start,
11:14The Sixth Sense excels in the steady rise and fall of tension.
11:17It takes the time to let its characters sit back and breathe.
11:21Then, when a ghostly hand reaches out from under the bed,
11:24it has genuine stakes.
11:26Best of all,
11:27the film is just as interested in its contemplative themes
11:30as it is terrifying its audience.
11:33I'm not gonna see you anymore, am I?
11:38I think we said everything we needed to say.
11:40That thoughtful approach makes for an incredibly fulfilling two hours,
11:44whether you know the ending or not.
11:53Director Darren Aronofsky certainly knows how to explore the dark sides of the human mind,
11:57and he does it masterfully in Black Swan.
12:00This is a movie about a ballerina who descends into insanity
12:03due to the immense pressure of landing a coveted role.
12:06Natalie Portman shines as Nina Sayers,
12:08capturing both the childlike innocence of the White Swan
12:11and the dark maturity of the Black Swan,
12:13and helping us to feel conflicted about the nature of her character and her sanity.
12:18The film explores the dangers of attempting to reach perfection
12:21in a beautiful, scary, and unforgettable way.
12:24Aronofsky is a true master of the psychological.
12:27I felt it.
12:28What?
12:30Perfect.
12:37It was perfect.
12:41At its core, this is a movie about a family in mourning.
12:44And yet even in its most innocuous moments,
12:47Hereditary channels an unbearable amount of rising dread.
12:50It's hard to breathe.
12:54What do you mean?
12:56I think my throat's getting bigger.
12:58Then, just like that, it all boils over in a burst of graphic violence.
13:03And then another.
13:04And another.
13:10None of these scenes is easy to sit through by any means.
13:13Still, it's hard not to be mesmerized by the film's ambitious themes,
13:17especially when they're brought to life by a career-best performance from Toni Collette.
13:21Don't you swear at me, you little shit!
13:24Don't you ever raise your voice at me!
13:26I am your mother!
13:28Do you understand?
13:29All in all, Hereditary succeeds because it's an utterly enthralling deconstruction of grief
13:34that just so happens to come with a few jump scares.
13:37Not the other way around.
13:48Stephen King has really done it all when it comes to horror.
13:51A little gross-out gore here, a ghost story there, and some vampires sprinkled on top.
13:56With Misery, he tackled non-supernatural psychological horror,
14:00and he succeeded brilliantly.
14:02I have this gun.
14:08Sometimes I think about using it.
14:10The story, about an author who becomes trapped with a psychotic fan,
14:14was adapted perfectly by Rob Reiner,
14:16who beautifully transfers the isolation and claustrophobia felt on the pages to the screen.
14:21Kathy Bates' performance in particular is stellar,
14:23playing the seemingly pleasant but realistically unhinged Annie Wilkes.
14:28It's a terrific adaptation, and a terrifying look into the dangers of celebrity worship.
14:33Trust me.
14:34God's sake!
14:36It's for the best.
14:40Where were you going, Clarice?
14:42I don't know, I didn't have any food, any water,
14:45and it was very cold.
14:46The Silence of the Lambs is undoubtedly a masterpiece,
14:49and it remains the only horror film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture,
14:53a testament to just how memorable and powerful it is.
14:56The film follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling,
14:59who seeks the help of an imprisoned cannibal in order to catch a serial killer.
15:03If I help you, Clarice, it will be turns with us to quit pro quo.
15:07I tell you things, you tell me things.
15:09She soon forms a fascinatingly therapeutic bond with the cannibal, Hannibal Lecter.
15:14Not only is their relationship tantalizingly complex,
15:17but also the film itself is rife with unforgettable quotes, nightmarish images,
15:22and one of the best villainous performances of all time in Anthony Hopkins.
15:26I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
15:34It's not only a fantastic horror movie, but a fantastic movie too, period.
15:39I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner.
15:47It's not hyperbole to say Alfred Hitchcock's signature slasher flick
15:51practically defined what the horror genre could achieve.
15:54That being unforgettable plot twists, despicable villains,
15:57and loads of spine-tingling moments.
16:00Add in a downright iconic musical score,
16:02and it's really no wonder Psycho lives on as Hitchcock's magnum opus.
16:09It's so scarily good, it's genuinely difficult to choose a favorite part.
16:14The performances, the direction,
16:16or the fact that Hitchcock pulled it all off with a fraction of his normal budget.
16:20Either way, we can all unanimously agree on one thing.
16:23Despite decades of innovations and rip-offs,
16:26Psycho still easily holds up as a gripping example of tasteful horror at its best.
16:31They'll see, they'll see and they'll know,
16:34and they'll say why she wouldn't even harm a fly.
16:42Let's have a baby, alright?
16:44Let's have three babies, one at a time, alright?
16:47Three years after Repulsion,
16:49Rowan Polanski returned to cinemas with Rosemary's Baby,
16:52and it strengthened his status as one of film's most disturbing directors.
16:56The movie, about a woman who begins to suspect
16:58that her neighbors want her baby for cultish reasons,
17:00is a horror masterpiece,
17:02filled with Polanski's unique sense of dread and isolation.
17:05Just the concept itself,
17:07learning that you were impregnated by Satan
17:09and gave birth to his offspring is horrifying enough.
17:17However, it's Polanski's filmmaking,
17:19complete with a disturbing use of sound
17:21and tormenting lack of visuals,
17:23that elevates the movie to art.
17:30One hair!
17:32Here is one goddess!
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17:53Although the initial reaction to Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece The Shining was mixed,
17:57it's now widely regarded as one of the best and scariest movies of all time.
18:10The story follows a recovering alcoholic father
18:12who slowly loses his sanity due to the malevolent forces of a hotel.
18:16Jack Nicholson is simply outstanding in this role,
18:19delivering a nuanced performance that is equally terrifying and captivating.
18:23Here's Johnny!
18:26Aside from its now classic scares,
18:28like the twin girls in the bloody elevator,
18:30the movie explores the petrifying concept
18:32of watching a comforting and protective family member
18:35descend into murderous insanity.
18:37This is the ultimate psychological horror film
18:40and one of Kubrick's best.
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