The Thinking Man's Horror Movies
My personal list of of movies that rely less on shock than simply finding those images and situations that get under your skin and stay there. No Freddy, no Jason. No bullsh*t. I'll add to this list as I see more movies. And by all means, if you have any recommendations, send them my way. I'm always looking for something new.
List activity
11K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 200 titles
- DirectorTun-Fei MouStarsDai Yao WuGang WangYing Git WongJapanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to unit 731, where they're horribly tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.Things happen in this movie that will keep you up at night months and years after you see it. Oh, and it's based on true events.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.People talk about the gore in this movie. But for me, it's all about the paranoia.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtAfter investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin, the crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsCharlotte BurkeJane BertishSamantha CahillA young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.Kinda sweet, kinda creepy. Awww... Ewww!
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyô IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower has his film producer friend organize a fake audition as a means of helping him find a new girlfriend, but the woman he selects is not who she appears to be.Such a sweet girl...
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsDonald SutherlandBrooke AdamsJeff GoldblumWhen strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsJoBeth WilliamsHeather O'RourkeCraig T. NelsonA family's home becomes the center of paranormal activity that opens a doorway to the "other side." With help, they must cross over to get their daughter back.Such a wierdly structured movie, full of moments of beauty as well as of terror.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsMorjana AlaouiMylène JampanoïCatherine BéginA young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
- CreatorLynn OkamotoStarsSanae KobayashiChihiro SuzukiMamiko NotoTwo university students come across a seemingly harmless girl named Lucy, unaware that she's actually a mutant serial killer with a split personality.Perhaps the bloodiest anime (in spots) I've seen. Great opening.
- DirectorRichard StanleyStarsRobert John BurkeChelsea FieldZakes MokaeA woman on the run from her abusive husband encounters a mysterious hitch-hiker.The opening sequence is a slow stunner.
- DirectorTom SixStarsDieter LaserWinter WilliamsAshlynn YennieA mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others' rectums.The fact that someone actually thought of this and wrote a script and filmed it...that's the real horror.
- DirectorFred DekkerStarsJason LivelyTom AtkinsSteve MarshallAlien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.Thrill me.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsSam NeillJürgen ProchnowJulie CarmenAn insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.One of the best Lovecraftian horrors out there.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsMax SchreckAlexander GranachGustav von WangenheimVampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.SBD.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPaul HamptonJoe SilverLynn LowryThe residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are infected by parasites that turn them into mindless nymphomaniac fiends.The guy fondling the parasite writhing under the skin of his belly gets me every time.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.Less scary, perhaps, than just quietly eerie. And the closing shots are disturbingly ambiguous.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeff GoldblumGeena DavisJohn GetzA brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.Gross and moving.
- DirectorChuck RussellStarsShawnee SmithKevin DillonDonovan Leitch Jr.A deadly entity from space crash-lands near a small town and begins consuming everyone in its path. Panic ensues as shady government scientists try to contain the horrific creature.Better than the original.
- DirectorsDavid MoreauXavier PaludStarsOlivia BonamyMichaël CohenAdriana MoccaLucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.Like 'The Strangers' only good.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsCillian MurphyNaomie HarrisChristopher EcclestonFour weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.Rage.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsSarah PolleyVing RhamesMekhi PhiferA nurse, a policeman, a young married couple and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.One of the best opening sequences I've seen. 8 minutes of hell.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBarbara CramptonTed SorelA group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms.Never mess with the hypothalamus. Never.
- DirectorMichele SoaviStarsRupert EverettFrançois Hadji-LazaroAnna FalchiA cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.Stop killing the dead.
