There are a lot of different ways horror movies can deliver scares to their audience. While bloody death scenes and shocking jump scares seem to be the usual methods, there is something very different when it comes to a psychological horror movie.
These movies can be more subtle or even clever with how they deliver unease to the viewers. With haunting premises and unsettling moments, these are the types of scares that will stay in the audience's mind long after the credits have rolled. And certain titles prove just how effective a psychological horror movie can be.
Updated on March 2nd, 2022 by Colin McCormick: While movies can be a fun escape, sometimes audiences want to be challenged by them as well. Psychological horror movies often put viewers in uncomfortable headspaces while also leaving them on the edge of their seats. These types of stories remain a huge part of the horror genre, from older classics to modern hits. With so many more to choose from, it only seems right to add a few more titles to the collection of psychological horror movies as well as where fans can find them.
Last Night In Soho (2021)
- Available to stream on Apple TV.
One of the most recent additions to the psychological horror genre is Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho. Unlike Wright's other work that always leaned into comedy, this chilling thriller mostly plays it straight and reveals new talents from the acclaimed director.
The movie follows a young woman who moves to London to go to fashion school. But each night in her sleep, she finds herself transported back to the 1960s where she follows another young woman pursuing her own dreams in the big city.
The Silence of The Lamps (1991)
- Available to stream on Prime Video, Roku, Tubi, Kanopy, and Pluto TV.
The Silence of the Lambs seems to have a reputation as being a bloody and gruesome movie, and while there are certainly those elements, much of the uneasy comes from the foreboding feel. The tale of a young FBI agent who seeks out the help of an imprisoned serial killer to catch a new killer is bone-chilling.
Hannibal Lecter has become an iconic movie villain and just watching him speak will likely give viewers nightmares. The conversations between him and Clarice Starling as he attempts to get in her head are as intense as anything else in the movie.
Les Diaboliques (1955)
- Available to stream on HBO Max, Roku, The Criterion Channel, and Plex.
One might think that older movies can't deliver the same level of horror as modern offerings of the genre. However, Les Diaboliques is a perfect example of a movie that was released decades ago still packing a big punch.
The movie follows a woman who has suffered under her brutish husband and finally has enough. Partnering with his old mistress, the wife sets in motion a seemingly fool-proof way of getting rid of him. It is a gripping story filled with dread and paranoia until the final shocking moments.
The Fly (1986)
- Available to stream on Prime Video.
While psychological horror movies are usually a very cerebral experience, that doesn't mean they can't also deliver on the gore and gruesomeness of other horror movies. David Cronenberg's The Fly is just such a movie as it combines body-horror elements with a haunting character study.
Jeff Goldblum stars as a scientist whose experiment goes wrong, causing him to gradually transport into a grotesque man/fly hybrid. The stages of transformation become more and more unsettling, and it is certainly not a movie for fans with weak stomachs.
Funny Games (1997)
- Available to stream on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel
While some movies in this genre might feature mind-bending premises, Funny Games takes a rather simple idea that becomes a truly terrifying and unsettling experience. The Austrian movie follows a pair of young men who take a family hostage and force them to play sadistic games.
There is an inescapable terror to the movie that will be quite hard for many viewers to take. It is an experience designed to make audiences squirm as it also comments on the use of violence in media.
The Lighthouse (2019)
- Available on Prime Video and Kanopy.
The follow-up movie from writer and director Robert Eggers after the breakout success of his debut, The Lighthouse follows two late 19th-century lighthouse keepers on a remote island, the intense monotony and indignity of their isolation giving way to paranoia and delusion.
Though gorgeously shot in a fittingly claustrophobic 1.19:1 aspect ratio and filled with unforgettably weird visuals, it's a movie that hinges almost entirely upon of its two lead performances. With actors Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson rising to the challenge with total commitment to every scene, no matter how wild.
Session 9 (2001)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
Though still quite underrated, Session 9 sits comfortably as one of the most chilling psychological horror movies of the 21st century so far.
Shot on location in the abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts, the movie follows a group of stressed asbestos removal workers trying to clean out the haunting old building. The toll of the job, and the overall economy around them, brings out some of the worst in the men as the genuinely, palpably, chilling history of their surroundings seems to come back to life.
Cat People (1942)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
Director Jacques Tourneur was a pioneer of many aspects of the horror movie genre that are considered integral today, with his 1942 movie, Cat People, standing out as an early example of psychological horror.
Tapping into complex psychoanalytical fears, the movie's horror is played out mostly within the imagination of the main characters and the audience, using suggestion and shadowplay to skirt around the restrictiveness of censorship and standards of the time period. It's a fascinating cornerstone of modern filmmaking despite humble B movie origins and is still brimming with atmosphere. A jump scare that's powerful enough to still work over three-quarters of a century later is something that's worth cherishing.
The Changeling (1980)
- Available on Shudder, AMC+, Tubi, Arrow TV, Plex, and Spectrum on Demand.
Following the tragic loss of his family, an aging composer moves into a beautiful old house but quickly discovers a dark history haunting its walls and becomes overwhelmed by a need to uncover its origins and resolve its unfinished business.
As far as ghost stories in movies go, The Changeling may not be one of the most famous but it remains a firm favorite with film buffs thanks to its focus on grief, slow-burning dread, and a genuinely engaging story. It's a sterling example of how terrifying a horror movie can be without kills or gore, making the audience feel sucked into the story and the headspace of the main characters themselves.
It Follows (2014)
- Available on Netflix.
Monster movies don’t usually appear on lists of the best psychological horror movies but It Follows is a very different monster movie. For one thing, the audience never sees the monster’s true form. Instead, it takes on the scarier disguise of everyday people.
The film has an instantly compelling plot where the main character has a curse ed on her, meaning she will be hunted by this inconspicuous force until she es it to another. It doesn’t waste a killer premise like this, infusing the film with a paranoid mood suggesting the danger could be anywhere.
