For some people ghosts and ghouls are what scares them most, others are far more terrified of blood and guts, but perhaps the scariest thing that people forget about, is how frightening it is to be scared of your own imagination. Psychological horror films know this all too well, swapping out blood, guts, ghosts, and ghouls for what lurks in the deepest corners of our minds. This is our pick of the most powerful, inspirational, and downright scary psychological horror movies ever to be made.
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The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project was a film that has inspired a huge number of directors. It was one of the very first films to use found footage style filming in its creation, taking a terrifyingly homemade approach to the genre. The story follows a group of students who want to make a documentary about the myth of the Blair Witch. However, as they become increasingly lost in their search for the witch and their equipment starts to fail them, it starts to become clear that the witch might not be such a myth after all. Despite the footage of all of their misadventures, the witch herself is never captured on camera, leaving it up to the viewer to decide if she ever really existed or not.
Alien (1979)
When it comes to films that have stood the test of time, there’s nobody that could argue that Alien isn’t one of them. Alien has inspired numerous casino game studios to come up with titles such as Aliens, a slot that invites you right into the lair of the alien, and Agent 51 by Kalamba Games. Its scope as an inspirational movie has been vast and it’s not hard to see why when the subject matter is so terrifying. Directed by Ridley Scott back in 1979, the film used the incredible talent of H.R. Giger to imagine what the terrifying alien at the heart of this film could look like. Of course, whilst the alien itself is horrific, a lot of the frightening factor of this film is in the parts where you don’t see the alien. When things are quiet on the Nostromo, you can hear the whole cinema hold their breath as they wait for the alien to strike. It’s this psychological terror and genre-defining storyline that saw Alien entered into the US National Film Registry back in 2002, a place it firmly deserves to be.
Parasite (2019)
By far the newest release on this list, Parasite is one of the hottest Korean movies ever, being the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. It tells the tale of a struggling family, who make a plan to all work for the same wealthy family as hired help. Each of them poses as a new and skilled person, totally unrelated to the rest of their family, until they’re all hired and working in the same house as one another. The tale takes an incredibly dark and disturbing turn next, which we won’t spoil for you, but suffice it to say, it’s strange. This film requires you to have a little introspection, as well as take a good look at the world that we inhabit and question if our morals, laws, and expectations are enough to truly protect us.
Hannibal (2001)
What could be scarier than a person who eats human beings? Perhaps a highly qualified, well-spoken, even charming man who eats them. Hannibal is truly the stuff of nightmares and the 2001 film based on the real-life cannibalistic doctor brings to life the most frightening parts about him. In this film, detective Clarice Starling sets out to find Hannibal Lecter, who is living as a fugitive by this point. A thrilling cat-and-mouse chase ensues, putting Clarice right in the path of danger and leaving the whole audience gasping at what she tries to do next.
