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The 26 scariest films that aren’t horror movies, ranked

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21 hours ago

November 1, 2024

The 26 scariest films that aren’t horror movies, ranked

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Let’s be trustworthy, we’ve all been stung by the hysteria surrounding a horror film that folks declare to be the “scariest of all-time”, just for it to be a moist squib that wouldn’t frighten a child.

Look again by means of the historical past of movie and it’s typically the titles that aren’t categorised as horror that may trigger the most important scares, typically unintentionally, as administrators try and thrill or educate us.

Whether or not it’s an innocent-seeming household movie, a brutally truthful struggle movie or a documentary that doesn’t pull any punches, cinema has confirmed time and time once more {that a} movie doesn’t want a chainsaw-wielding maniac to terrify us.

Listed here are 26 movies that aren’t horror motion pictures, however most likely needs to be, ranked.

26. The Arrival of a Prepare at La Ciotat Station (1896)

Let’s make one factor clear, a 50-second silent film a couple of prepare pulling right into a station shouldn’t be scary within the slightest. Nevertheless, a hearsay has adopted this movie since its first-ever displaying by the Lumiere brothers in Paris, in 1896. Resulting from shifting photos nonetheless being a really new medium, experiences claimed that audiences actually screamed as they believed they have been about to be hit by the prepare. The claims have been scrutinised by historians over time, however that didn’t cease Martin Scorsese from recreating the second in his 2011 homage to early cinema, Hugo.

‘The Arrival of a Prepare at La Ciotat Station’ (Société Lumière)

25. The King of Comedy (1982)

Earlier than Joaquin Phoenix wore the face paint for Joker and earlier than Jake Gyllenhaal’s unhinged efficiency in Nightcrawler, there was Robert De Niro as Rupert Pupkin. Martin Scorsese’s creepy dive into the world of celeb obsession sees De Niro dig into a sort of derangement that many have tried to duplicate however few have surpassed. Amplified by an equally disturbing flip by Sandra Bernhard, King of Comedy’s scariest achievement is probably making viewers sympathise with a pair of kidnapping psychopaths.

Robert De Niro in ‘The King of Comedy’ (20 Century Fox)

24. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

OK, Judy Garland taking us singing and dancing down the Yellow Brick Highway to see the “Great Wizard of Oz” shouldn’t be scary. However its fantasy components tip the traditional musical over into one thing akin to a technicolour fever dream, typified by Margaret Hamilton’s devilish efficiency because the Depraved Witch of the West and the multitude of weird characters Dorothy meets on her journey. Don’t get us began on the flying monkeys…

Margaret Hamilton and Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ (Warner Bros)

23. The White Ribbon (2009)

Any film concerning the rise of fascism goes to be scary, however making that story concerning the literal origins of the evil inside kids creates one thing much more unnerving. Director Michael Haneke has a historical past of subverting horror tropes all through his profession, in much more specific motion pictures like The Seventh Continent, Humorous Video games and Cache. Nevertheless, the mysterious approach the wickedness is uncovered in The White Ribbon makes for a much more haunting expertise.

Leonard Proxauf and Maria Dragus in ‘The White Ribbon’ (Curzon)

22. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Very like many administrators on this checklist, Terry Gilliam has used horror components all through his movies with out ever making a film that matches into the style. 12 Monkeys – a sci-fi movie impressed by the 1962 quick movie La Jetée, a couple of virus that wipes out a lot of humanity – is a troubling sufficient idea in itself. Nevertheless, the movie’s nihilistic ending about witnessing your personal demise and being powerless to cease it’s much more deeply upsetting.

Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in ‘12 Monkeys’ (Common Photos)

21. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 masterpiece, which gained three Oscars, is the director at his greatest; endeavouring to search out the humanity throughout the worlds of fantasy or horror. Set throughout Franco’s fascist reign in Spain, Pan’s Labyrinth options among the Mexican visionary’s scariest creations, comparable to “The Pale Man”, a saggy-skinned, child-eating monster whose eyes are on his fingers.

Doug Jones as ‘The Pale Man’ in Guillermo del Toro's ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ — Doug Jones as ‘The Pale Man’ in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (Warner Bros.)

20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Any movie set in a psychological hospital isn’t going to be a barrel of guffaws, however One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes that premise and presents us with one of many coldest and scariest villains in film historical past. Nurse Ratched, performed by Louise Fletcher, has the identical wickedness that any sadistic horror antagonist possesses, however it’s her general lack of humanity that ought to strike concern into any viewer. It may very well be argued that Jack Nicholson’s RP McMurphy doesn’t deserve any sympathy, however the identical can’t be mentioned for his fellow sufferers, particularly the stuttering Billy (Brad Dourif), whose demise, as the results of Ratched’s demeaning remedy, is totally heartbreaking.

Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (United Artists/Fantasy Movies/Kobal/Shutterstock)

19. Man Bites Canine (1992)

This Belgian black comedy, disguised as a documentary, sees a movie crew observe the wicked crimes of a charismatic serial killer performed by Benoît Poelvoorde. At first, the crew preserve a distance from the killer’s misdemeanours, however then they slowly develop into his accomplices as they delve additional into his seedy world. Man Bites Canine is a movie that’s as horrific as it’s brutally humorous, holding a darkish mirror as much as our personal acceptance of violence.

Benoît Poelvoorde in ‘Man Bites Dog’ — Benoît Poelvoorde in ‘Man Bites Canine’ (Palisades Tartan)

18. The Night time of the Hunter (1955)

This sole directorial effort from Charles Laughton sees a serial killer preacher stalk two kids within the hope that they’ll lead him to a big sum of stolen cash that their father has hidden. Its premise alone makesThe Night time of the Hunter instantly disturbing however Robert Mitchum’s menacing efficiency as Harry Powell is virtually an embodiment of pure evil, which might’t be dispelled by the movie’s dreamlike high quality.

Robert Mitchum in ‘The Night of the Hunter’ — Robert Mitchum in ‘The Night time of the Hunter’ (REX)

17. Deliverance (1972)

In the event you’ve ever been invited away for a weekend outside with your pals and thought higher of it, then you definately’ve most likely watched Deliverance too many occasions. John Boorman’s movie, starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight, sees a humble canoeing journey shortly develop into a traumatic ordeal involving sexual assault, homicide and a possible lifetime of remedy. For those who have seen it, it’s also possible to thank Deliverance for ruining the in any other case enjoyable sound of a banjo.

Bill Mckinney, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox in ‘Deliverance’ — Invoice Mckinney, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox in ‘Deliverance’ (Moviestore/Shutterstock)

16. Grizzly Man (2005)

The scariest a part of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man isn’t the bears however Timothy Treadwell, who was killed and eaten by a bear in 2003 and had the unlucky honour of capturing his personal demise on tape. The audio is rarely used within the movie however we do see the famously fearless Herzog hearken to the tape, calling it “essentially the most terrifying factor I’ve ever heard in my life”. The expression that Treadwell’s ex-girlfriend, Jewel Palovak, offers whereas watching Herzog hearken to the tape is one thing extra harrowing than any actor may convey.

Jewel Palovak and Werner Herzog in ‘Grizzly Man' — Jewel Palovak and Werner Herzog in ‘Grizzly Man’ (Lionsgate)

15. The Zone of Curiosity (2023)

If Haneke’s The White Ribbon was concerning the origins of evil, what occurs when it’s totally manifested? Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning Zone of Curiosity, based mostly on a 2014 Martin Amis novel, isn’t horrifying for what you see on display screen, however for the horrors which might be implied by means of its sound design as we observe the mundane lifetime of SS officer Rudolph Hoss and his household, of their idyllic home subsequent door to the Auschwitz focus camp.

Christian Friedel in ‘The Zone of Interest’ — Christian Friedel in ‘The Zone of Curiosity’ (AP)

14. Good Blue (1997)

In the event you preferred 2010’s Black Swan, then permit us to introduce you to the unique (though Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky denies being influenced by the movie). The film by the late, nice animator Satoshi Kon follows Mima Kirigoe, a member of a J-Pop idol group who begins to lose her grip on actuality after being stalked and seeing visions of a doppelganger. The horror of Good Blue isn’t at the hours of darkness visuals that Kon conjures up, however the psychological torment that the younger pop star goes by means of. It’s a theme that’s much more related now than when the movie was made.

Junko Iwao voices Mima Kirigoe, a J-Pop idol who loses her grip on reality in ‘Perfect Blue’ — Junko Iwao voices Mima Kirigoe, a J-Pop idol who loses her grip on actuality in ‘Good Blue’ (Rex Leisure)

13. Zodiac (2007)

When keen newspaper cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has develop into consumed with fixing the case of the Zodiac killer, winds up within the basement of a possible lead, you recognize issues aren’t going to go effectively. An amazing sense of dread engulfs one scene the place Graysmith hears a creak on the floorboards above him, inflicting him to bolt for the exit. Though the scene is nothing however a crimson herring, it’s a small however terrifying reminder that the Zodiac case was by no means resolved, that means the killer may nonetheless be lurking anyplace.

Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Zodiac’ (Warner Bros)

12. The Act of Killing (2012)

Few documentaries have blurred the boundaries between truth and fiction fairly like Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing. The Oscar-nominated movie follows the previous chief of an Indonesian demise squad, Anwar Congo, who between 1965 and 1966 killed or ordered the executions of an estimated 500,000 to at least one million suspected communists. Reasonably than have Congo and his associates retell their tales, Oppenheimer as a substitute challenged them to dramatically recreate the killings as in the event that they have been making a film, resulting in deep psychological introspection. The marginally tamer 2014 companion piece, The Look of Silence, isn’t any stroll within the park both.

‘The Act of Killing’ received rave reviews but fear of reprisals from the documentary’s subjects means its co-director and local crew remain anonymous — ‘The Act of Killing’ obtained rave critiques however concern of reprisals from the documentary’s topics means its co-director and native crew stay nameless (Dogwoof Photos)

11. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Manufacturing unit (1971)

Roald Dahl right here, proving that even a visit to a chocolate manufacturing facility needed to characteristic an undercurrent of homicide and meanness – though it’s the surrealness of Willy Wonka that the majority will keep in mind. Gene Wilder’s oddly menacing presence all through the movie creates moments that make you query the character’s true intentions, and that’s earlier than you realise that 4 kids “die” on the tour of his manufacturing facility. All we will say is thank goodness it wasn’t as miserable because the Glasgow Willy Wonka expertise, which left kids in tears.

Gene Wilder in ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ — Gene Wilder in ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Manufacturing unit’ (Paramount Photos)

10. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Darren Aronofsky typically treads the effective line between horror and drama, often descending into wicked excesses that would appear too far-fetched for even essentially the most excessive of films. Requiem for a Dream, his adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr’s 1978 novel about 4 drug addicts whose lives quickly spiral uncontrolled, options imagery that’s so grotesque and humiliating it nearly undermines its highly effective message about substance abuse. Plus, it’s bought Jared Leto in it, and what may very well be scarier than that?

Jared Leto in ‘Requiem for a Dream’ (Picture by John Baer/Artisan/Kobal/REX)

9. Watership Down (1978)

Many childhoods could have been ruined by dad and mom innocently pondering Watership Down was a pleasant animated movie about bunnies and never realising it was really a horrifying story of the hardships of nature. Based mostly on Richard Adams’s 1972 novel of the identical identify, the movie plunges you down right into a literal rabbit gap of distressing imagery and brutal violence. Though the movie now holds a PG score within the UK, having been upgraded from a U, it’s baffling to suppose that this was ever made for the only real consumption of youngsters.

General Woundwort in ‘Watership Down’ — Basic Woundwort in ‘Watership Down’ (PA Media)

8. Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park is basically Steven Speilberg’s homage to the “monster motion pictures” of Hollywood’s Golden Age, like King Kong, however simply much more scary and violent. Whether or not it was velociraptors stalking their human prey like a prehistoric Jason Voorhees, or a T rex consuming a person whereas he’s on the bathroom, the fear unleashed by the dinosaurs was in contrast to something blockbuster cinema had seen earlier than. Such was the bloody depth of the assault scenes in Jurassic Park that the BBFC upgraded the score of the film from a PG to a 12A after a rerelease in 2023.

‘Jurassic Park’ became an era-defining blockbuster when it first came out in 1993 — ‘Jurassic Park’ turned an era-defining blockbuster when it first got here out in 1993 (Common)

7. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Right here are some things that each good household movie wants: cute children, an eccentric father determine, a form and caring love curiosity, some nice songs, a flying automobile and… an unbelievably creepy character who kidnaps kids. The Youngster Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, tailored by Roald Dahl from Ian Fleming’s novel, has plagued the goals of youngsters for many years, with Robert Helpmann, a famend ballet dancer who in actual life cherished kids, basically stealing this movie in each scene he’s in, tapping into one thing a lot darker than is ever proven on display screen.

Robert Helpmann in ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ (MGM)

6. Mulholland Drive (2001)

Any variety of David Lynch movies may have ended up on this checklist, with a lot of his filmography, from Eraserhead to Inland Empire, presenting us with deeply unsettling imagery that performs with our perceptions of goals and society. His 2001 magnum opus, Mulholland Drive, maybe options one of many best scares in all of cinema once we are introduced with “The Bum” behind Winkie’s Diner, a scene so cleverly constructed and dripping with dread.

Patrick Fischler in ‘Mulholland Drive’ (Common Photos)

5. Return to Oz (1985)

Making a sequel greater than 40 years after the unique Wizard of Oz was all the time going to be a daring transfer, and fairly than rekindle the enjoyment of the primary movie, frequent Francis Ford Coppola collaborator Walter Murch as a substitute doubled down on the darkness. Return to Oz is a much more horrifying film than the unique, that includes an evil princess who has a group of changeable heads and a gang of goons who’ve wheels as a substitute of fingers and ft. On the time, one critic referred to as it “a horror present flying beneath the banner of household leisure”.

Fairuza Balk in ‘Return to Oz’ (Walt Disney)

4. Come and See (1985)

Set in Belarus, in the course of the Nazi occupation of the nation within the Second World Conflict, Come and See has rightfully earned a popularity as one of many scariest struggle movies ever. Director Elem Kilmov wrote the movie with Ales Adamovic, who witnessed most of the atrocities carried out by the Nazis in the course of the battle. The nightmarish expertise, seen by means of the eyes of a 14-year-old resistance fighter, strives to indicate simply how horrific struggle may be, each bodily and mentally.

Aleksi Kravchenko in ‘Come and See’ (The Criterion Assortment/Kobal/Shutterstock)

3. Jaws (1975)

Movie followers will debate for the remainder of the time whether or not Jaws is a horror movie or a thriller with a killer shark in it, however the truth stays that it modified cinema and has possible precipitated generations of individuals to cease swimming within the ocean. Very like Jurassic Park, Jaws is Spielberg’s tackle the traditional monster motion pictures and, in essence, set the template for a lot of horror movies that contain killer beasts for many years to come back.

The shark in ‘Jaws’ is not even seen for the first 82 minutes — The shark in ‘Jaws’ shouldn’t be even seen for the primary 82 minutes (Common Photos)

2. The Witches (1990)

Who thought that letting Nicolas Roeg (the person behind the terrifying Don’t Look Now and surreal The Man Who Fell to Earth) direct a children’ movie could be a good suggestion? Effectively, that’s precisely what occurred in 1990, with The Muppets creator Jim Henson additionally working as a co-producer and creating the ugly sensible results. Any youngster who has seen the sequence the place Anjelica Huston and her fellow witches remodel into their demonic selves is probably going nonetheless having nightmares to today, and let’s not speak about turning little boys into mice. As disturbing because the movie was, Roald Dahl was reportedly incensed that it had a constructive ending, in comparison with the a lot darker conclusion of his novel.

Anjelica Huston in ‘The Witches' — Anjelica Huston in ‘The Witches’ (Warner Bros)

1. Threads (1984)

Mick Jackson’s 1984 docudrama is a horrifically real looking depiction of a nuclear winter, with the director opting to concentrate on the scientific and sociopolitical influence of what an assault of that magnitude would appear like. Including to the bleakness of the movie is the kitchen sink drama of the story, specializing in a younger couple in Sheffield. This home story is interspersed with scenes of social unrest, determined efforts to outlive and fictional information reels. Threads, which has solely ever been broadcast on BBC tv 4 occasions, stays as harrowing and essential because it was 40 years in the past.