Best Psychological Horror Movies Of All Time [Based on Personal Research]

Horror movies have diverse catalogs. There are all sorts of ways to intimidate viewers, but emotional horror is a particular technique through which all movies practice empathy. It takes vision, technical precision, and the interest of your audience to go through the juices to pull an audience into a boring mind hole.

There are a few of my favorite psychological horror movies these movies are not necessarily about psychology and it is causing phobias, anxiety, pain. What you will find here is a whole bunch of mentally taxed freakout films that will help boost your mood. So, what are the best psychological horror movies of all time?

It’s obviously nowhere near an extensive list, it’s just an assortment of my favorite movies that have delighted my mind. Sometimes I like to celebrate a few falls instead of just picking and ranking, and I still do today. From my point of view, I will discuss some of the Best Psychological Horror Movies.

Best Psychological Horror Movies Of All Time

What is Psychological Horror Movie?

Psychological horror movie is a subgenre of horror film. It focuses more on the mental destruction and fear rather than physical damages and harm. Most common example of such movies are ‘psycho’, ‘the shining’, ‘silence of the lambs’. Psychological horror has its root in Gothic fiction and Victorian era literature with authors like Edgar Allan Poe.

Which Type of People should Psychological Movie

Psychological horror movie focuses on the mental destruction and fear rather than physical damage. It is perfect for people who like suspense type of horror movie.

10 Best Psychological Horror Movies Of All Times

1. Se7en

se7en

Two murder detective films (Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt) are desperate victims for the serial killer, who has proven his guilt as an extermination for ignorance about Seven Deadly Sins. In this movie, two detectives, a camouflage and an experienced, hunt down a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motive.

The movie takes us further from the remnants of a victimized torture. In this movie the terrifying power of the killer is illustrated in the dark and defeated melodies of the film. Somerset explores the seven deadly sins in an attempt to understand the murderer’s modus operandi while ridiculing the green and persuasive detective Mills (Pitt) while shining in an attempt to enter the mind of a murderer.

  • Director: David FincherWriter: Andrew kevin walker
  • Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad pitt, kevin spacey
  • Release Date: 22 September 1995 (USA)
  • Budget: $33,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $327,333,559

2. Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob's-Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder is one of the most fearless, ambitious and enduring head trip films ever made. In the film, Tim Robbins plays Jacob Singer, who is tortured in a hallucinogenic limbo between nightmares and reality after a mysterious frame injury on the Vietnam battlefield.

Mourning for her dead child, haunted a veteran of the Vietnam War, suffered a serious divorce case and tried to uncover her past. To do this, he must interpret reality and life from his own dreams, delusions and perceptions of death. With nothing but the support of friends and loved ones, he has been able to push through the fog of his PTSD.

  • Director: Adrian LyneWriter: Bruce Joel Rubin
  • Stars: Tim Robins, Elizabeth pena, Danny Aiello
  • Release Date: 2 November 1990 (USA)
  • Budget: $25,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $26,118,851

3. The Silence Of The Lambs

The-Silence-Of-The-Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is based on the novel by Thomas Harris. It was made in 1991 and won five Oscars in 1992. The movie follows young agent Clarice Sterling, an FBI cadet who sought the help of a jailed serial killer from a psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who has killed five people so far, all based in East America, all young women, somewhat overweight.

  • Director: Jonathan Demme
  • Writer: Thomas harris (novel), Ted Tally (screenplay)
  • Stars: Jodie foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney
  • Release Date: 14 February 1991 (USA)
  • Budget: $19,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $272,753,884

4. The Sixth Sense

the-six-sense

Malcolm Crowe is a child psychologist who received an award the same night that he met a very dissatisfied former patient. After this confrontation, Crowe has taken on the task of healing a sick child equal to the former patient. This boy “sees dead people”.

Crowe spends a lot of time with the boy to frustrate his wife. Cole’s mother (Tony Colette) has run out of ideas about what to do about her son’s growing problems. Crowe is the boy’s only hope.

  • Director: M. night shyamalan
  • Writer: M. night shyamalan
  • Stars: Bruce willis, haley joel osment, tony collette
  • Release Date: 6 August 1999 (USA)
  • Budget: $40,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $672,806,292

5. Angel Heart

Angel-Heart

To find a singer named Johnny Favorite, a personal investigator was hired by a man who called himself Louis Seifre. But the investigation took an unexpected turn. Harry Angel has a new case to find one named Jerry Favorite. Things aren’t quite easy and so Johnny doesn’t want to find out. All we can say is that it all really boils down to the detailed and beautiful view of the period.

  • Director: Alan Parker
  • Writer: William Hjortsberg (novel), Alan Parker (screenplay)
  • Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet
  • Release Date: 6 March 1987 (USA)
  • Budget: $17,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $17,185,632

6. The Cell

the-cell

Any social worker who specializes in a new experimental technology needs to get into the mind of the Comoros serial killer to find out where he is hiding his latest abduction victim. Katherine Dean is a psychotherapist who is part of a revolutionary new treatment that allows her mind to literally enter the minds of her patients. His experience in this method took an unexpected turn.

They had just identified a notorious serial killer, Carl Stargher, whose method of operation was to abduct women at one point and keep them in a secret place where they were held for about forty hours until they were slowly drowned. Katherine Dean must fight over time to explore the killer’s crooked mind to get the information she needs.

  •  Director: Tarsem Singh
  • Writer: Mark Protosevich
  • Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio
  • Release Date: 18 August 2000 (USA)
  • Budget: $33,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $104,155,843

7. Funny Games

funny-games

Apparently two well-educated young men, who call each other Paul and Peter by different names, go to the family on vacation. They are, apparently, friends of neighbors and, at the beginning, their real motives are not known, but soon, a family is being violently tortured by Tara in her own home.

A mother, father and son are held hostage in their holiday cabin and forced to play sad “games” with each other for their own entertainment. Which is forcing most viewers to imagine that the specific complication with criminals is this and somehow playing with the lives of husbands, wives, sons and dogs, why are they doing it?

  •  Director: Michael Haneke
  • Writer: Michael Haneke
  • Stars: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Muhe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
  • Release Date: 11 March 1998 (USA)

8. The Shining

The Shining': Listen to the Minnesota Opera's complete production | Classical MPR

shinning A family travels to an isolated hotel for the winter where a naughty appearance inflicts violent violence on the father. Jack Torrance, a general writer and former teacher, agrees to take care of the hotel, which has a long, violent past that has left everyone at the hotel in a nervous state.

As Jack gradually becomes more violent and angry with his life, his son Danny tries to use a special talent “Shining” to inform outsiders about what’s going on at the hotel.

  • Director: Stanley KubrickWriter: Stanley Kubrick
  • Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
  • Release Date: 19 June 1980 (USA)
  • Budget: $19,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $46,208,870

9. Psycho

Psycho

Phoenix office worker Marianne Crane is upset about the way life has treated her. She had to meet her boyfriend Sam during the lunch break, and they couldn’t get married because Sam kept most of his money secret.

One Friday, the Phoenix secretary embezzled forty thousand dollars from his employer’s client and left the city of Marion to head to Sam’s California store to start a new life. Exhausted after a long drive, he got off the main highway and pulled towards the Bates Motel. The motel is run by a quiet young man named Norman, who appears to be dominated by his mother.

  •  Director: Alfred Hitchcock
  • Writer: Alfred Hitchcock
  • Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
  • Release Date: 08 September 1960 (USA)
  • Budget: $806,947 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $32,000,000

10. The Witch

the-witch

A family in New England in the 1930’s, William and Catherine, lived a devout Christian life, living in a remote wilderness with five children.

When their newborn son mysteriously disappears and their crops fail, their families begin to move towards each other. Withccraft,black magic and the forces of occucapation have torn aprt their family

  • Director: Robert Eggers
  • Writer: Robert Eggers
  • Stars: Anya Taylor-joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Julian Richings
  • Release Date: 19 February 2016 (USA)
  • Budget: $4,000,000 (estimated)
  • Cumulative worldwide gross: $40,423,945

Frequently Asked Questions

1.Who Was The Inventor Of Horror Movie?

Ans: The horror film genre has its roots in Gothic literature, but since the 20th century it has become one of the most popular genres in cinema. No doubt an important part played by silent films which were based on supernatural subjects.

But it is difficult to find a single author behind this invention. Some sources suggest that it was German director Paul.

2.Which Is The Best Psychological Thriller Of All Time?

Ans: Psychological thrillers are often used in literature, painting and video games. The most famous examples of the genre include “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Se7en” or several books by Stephen King. No doubt that psychological thriller is one of the most interesting movie genres.

3.Which Is The Best Horror Movie Of All Time?

Ans: The first horror film ever produced was the 1900 silent short “Le manoir du diable”. Since then, many filmmakers and producers have tried to create their own classic. The best-known examples of this genre include “Frankenstein”, “Dracula” or “Nosferatu”.

4.What Was The First Theory Of Horror Films?

Ans: The first theory of horror movie was created by a German art historian Max Dreyer. In his book “Visions of Death” he claims that the monster in horror films is a double image that has a physical form and a psychic form.

5.What Are Some Movies That Mess With Your Head?

Ans: Movies that mess with your head are often films that tell stories of psychological thrillers. The most famous example in this category is “Twilight Zone”, but there are also several other, including the 1980 film “The Shining” or American Psycho 2000.

Conclusion

Who doesn’t love a good psychological thriller? These movies provide a column of horror that competes with artificially horror movies, but their skepticism and anxious character study – which is often not needed and is emotionally debilitating and often frightens people. I hope you got  Best Psychological Horror Movies List watched and enjoy your time. I hope now you know what are the best psychological horror movies of all time.
Thank you

81 / 100

Leave a Comment