Horror movies are commonly known for their great kill and character death scenes and jump scares. However, there is a subgenre of horror that is much more focused on the inner workings of the human mind, rather than making audiences scream. That’s not to say that all psychological horror films are all tell and no show. Netflix’s 2018 release The Perfection does a great job of making the audience question what is real and putting an important emphasis on what is implied and what is seen. Inner conflict, fear of the unknown, and the battle of the monsters that one cannot see are typically the structure of the subgenre known as psychological horror.
One of the earliest films to be considered a psychological horror film was director Edgar G. Ulmer’s 1934 film The Black Cat, which was based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s fictional works were influential to a lot of early filmmakers for their appeal to the strange and unusual that walked a thin line between madness and the supernatural. Today, it is hard to find a horror film that doesn’t blur the lines between the two genres. The term “elevated horror” references films that focus on dramatic elements rather than body count, and faces backlash among fans and critics alike. Elevated horror films have been credited with broadening the audiences that have flocked to the genre in recent years. Most psychological horror films today fall into the elevated horror subgenre as well, being that they deal with the complexities of emotional and generational trauma. From Get Out to Psycho, here are some of the best examples of psychological horror.
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5 Orphan
Warner Bros. Pictures
The 2009 thriller Orphan served up one of the most shocking twist endings in late-2000s horror. The film follows the Coleman family and their mission to adopt a child after the loss of their unborn baby. To their dismay, Kate (played by Vera Farmiga) and John (played by Peter Sarsgaard) unknowingly welcome a stranger into their home who is posing as a child. Esther, played by Isabelle Fuhrman, actually ends up being a 33-year-old woman who has a rare hormonal disorder that results in her looking like a child. Before unveiling the truth behind her identity, Esther attempts to seduce John, but stabs him to death for rejecting her. Horror films are notorious for featuring creepy kids, but Orphan takes it to a new level when it comes to shock factor. The film is set to have a prequel, and Fuhrman will be reprising her role as Esther, thanks to the use of practical effects to make her look young again.
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4 Get Out
Universal Pictures
2017 was a big year for horror, especially with Andres Muschietti’s release of IT: Chapter One. However, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut film Get Out is considered by Rolling Stone as one of the best horror movies of 2017. The film follows Chris, played by Daniel Kaluuya, who has just been invited to meet his girlfriend’s family. Rose, played by Allison Williams, does her best to assure Chris that her family will be welcoming. The Armitages seem over-accommodating at first, which Chris brushes off as the family projecting their nervousness in making sure he, as a Black man, feels welcomed in their white community. However, as Chris continues to see more and more strange musings of the family, he seeks to leave. As his exit is blocked by both his girlfriend and her parents, it is revealed that Rose brings home Black partners to serve as hosts for her white community’s brains. The individual pays for the host and a surgery is performed allowing them to have their desired body, leaving the host in what is referenced as the Sunken Place. Get Out stands as one of horror’s most psychologically frightening movies, all while sprinkling in a little bit of comedy.
3 The Shining
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Shining has been long regarded as one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest films of all time. The film is an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, and although the plot is relatively the same, the character of Jack Torrance was tweaked for a more horrific performance. Jack, played by Jack Nicholson, is offered a job to be the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during the winter months that it is closed. The Torrances pack their bags and move in, but it isn’t long until the family notices that the hotel isn’t the quaint winter home that they thought it would be. Jack begins to become overwhelm with the hotel’s hold on him, and the Overlook becomes a character in itself. Going stir crazy, he heads to the bar where he is served by a ghost and the previous caretaker, who prompts him to murder his family.
2 American Psycho
Lions Gate Films
Mary Harron’s American Psycho has been long regarded as one of the best psychological horror films of all time. Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, weaves his way through society portraying himself as a normal individual. However, underneath the surface lie looming ideologies and the obsession with murder, especially the murder of Paul Allen, played by Jared Leto. The film is shot entirely from the perspective of Bateman, where the viewer watches him kill numerous women and an unhoused man. Yet, the ending suggests that these murders and events never happened, they were just in his head. American Psycho is a well respected cult classic that hits all the right notes when it comes to psychological horror tropes.
1 Psycho
Universal Pictures
The timeless Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho has long held its place in horror since its release in 1960. Hitchcock is a director who commands attention from his audience, and has produced some of the greatest movies twists of all time. After Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, $40,000 from the bank she works for, she stops at a roadside motel where she will unknowingly meet her demise. The motel owner, Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins), offers Marion some food and good conversation. After he leaves her room, Norman makes his way to his office where he watches Marion through a hole he cut in the wall, and it is revealed that Norman isn’t the sweet man he portrayed himself to be. Marion is stabbed to death in the shower, which has become one of the most iconic scenes in horror. Psycho earns its spot as number one because it paved the way for filmmakers to not only showcase an explanation for their villains, but allow for the psychology of horror to be explored.
