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The Best Elevated Horror Movies

“What are the best Elevated Horror Movies?” We looked at 104 of the top Elevated Horror films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 26 films, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Elevated Horror” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 75+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 26 Best Elevated Horror Movies Ever Made



26 .) A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) directed by Ana Lily Amirpour

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.



25 .) Amer (2009) directed by Hélène Cattet

Amer (2009)

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

Searing memories and carnal desires rule the mind of Ana, a young woman in thrall to her own fantasies whose visions and obsessions draw her toward deeper eroticism – and deeper danger, in this modern take on a Giallo.



24 .) It (2017) directed by Andrés Muschietti

It (2017)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Forbes

In a small town in Maine, seven children known as The Losers Club come face to face with life problems, bullies and a monster that takes the shape of a clown called Pennywise.



23 .) Hereditary (2018) directed by Ari Aster

Hereditary (2018)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Letterboxd

When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.



22 .) Don’t Breathe (2016) directed by Fede Álvarez

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • Letterboxd

A group of teens break into a blind man’s home thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime. They’re wrong.



21 .) Berlin Syndrome (2017) directed by Cate Shortland

Berlin Syndrome (2017)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • IMDB

A passionate holiday romance leads to an obsessive relationship when an Australian photojournalist wakes one morning in a Berlin apartment and is unable to leave.



20 .) Antichrist (2009) directed by Lars von Trier

Antichrist (2009)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Letterboxd
  • TV Over Mind

A grieving couple retreats to their cabin ‘Eden’ in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.



19 .) It Comes At Night directed by Trey Edward Shults

It Comes At Night

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • Slash Film

Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son, but this will soon be put to test when a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.



18 .) Let the Right One In (2008) directed by Tomas Alfredson

Let the Right One In (2008)

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

Set in 1982 in the suburb of Blackeberg, Stockholm, twelve-year-old Oskar is a lonely outsider, bullied at school by his classmates; at home, Oskar dreams of revenge against a trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old, next-door neighbor Eli, who only appears at night in the snow-covered playground outside their building.



17 .) Night of the Living Dead (1968) directed by George A. Romero

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mental Floss
  • Slash Film

A group of people try to survive an attack of bloodthirsty zombies while trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse. Although not the first zombie film, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is the progenitor of the contemporary “zombie apocalypse” horror film, and it greatly influenced the modern pop-culture zombie archetype.



16 .) Psycho (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho (1960)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mental Floss
  • Slash Film

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother. The place seems quirky, but fine… until Marion decides to take a shower.



15 .) Spring (2014) directed by Justin Benson

Spring (2014)

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.



14 .) Suspiria (1977) directed by Dario Argento

Suspiria (1977)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mental Floss
  • Slash Film

From the moment she arrives in Freiberg, Germany, to attend the prestigious Tanz Academy, American ballet-dancer Suzy Bannion senses that something horribly evil lurks within the walls of the age-old institution.



13 .) The Babadook (2014) directed by Jennifer Kent

The Babadook (2014)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Letterboxd
  • TV Over Mind

A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.



12 .) The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) directed by Colm McCarthy

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • Letterboxd

In the future, a strange fungus has changed nearly everyone into a thoughtless, flesh-eating monster. When a scientist and a teacher find a girl who seems to be immune to the fungus, they all begin a journey to save humanity.



11 .) The Neon Demon (2016) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

The Neon Demon (2016)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Letterboxd
  • TV Over Mind

When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.



10 .) The Sixth Sense directed by M. Night Shyamalan

The Sixth Sense

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Slash Film

A psychological thriller about an eight year old boy named Cole Sear who believes he can see into the world of the dead. A child psychologist named Malcolm Crowe comes to Cole to help him deal with his problem, learning that he really can see ghosts of dead people.



9 .) The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013) directed by Hélène Cattet

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013)

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

A woman vanishes. Her husband inquires into the strange circumstances of her disappearance. Did she leave him? Is she dead? As he goes along searching, he plunges into a world of nightmare and violence…



8 .) Under the Skin (2013) directed by Jonathan Glazer

Under the Skin (2013)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Letterboxd
  • TV Over Mind

A seductive alien prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.



7 .) A Quiet Place directed by John Krasinski

A Quiet Place

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Forbes
  • Slash Film

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.



6 .) It Follows (2014) directed by David Robert Mitchell

It Follows (2014)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

For 19-year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But a seemingly innocent physical encounter turns sour and gives her the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her teenage friends must find a way to escape the horror that seems to be only a few steps behind.



5 .) mother! (2017) directed by Darren Aronofsky

mother! (2017)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • Letterboxd
  • TV Over Mind

A couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.



4 .) Raw (2016) directed by Julia Ducournau

Raw (2016)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Forbes
  • IMDB
  • Letterboxd

In Justine’s family everyone is a vet and a vegetarian. At 16, she’s a gifted teen ready to take on her first year in vet school, where her older sister also studies. There, she gets no time to settle: hazing starts right away. Justine is forced to eat raw meat for the first time in her life. Unexpected consequences emerge as her true self begins to form.



3 .) The Exorcist (1973) directed by William Friedkin

The Exorcist (1973)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Mental Floss
  • Slash Film

12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith.



2 .) The Witch (2015) directed by Robert Eggers

The Witch (2015)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Forbes
  • Letterboxd
  • Slash Film

In 1630s New England, William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness, exiled from their settlement when William defies the local church. When their newborn son vanishes and crops mysteriously fail, the family turns on one another.



1 .) Get Out (2017) directed by Jordan Peele

Get Out (2017)

Lists It Appears On:

  • Fast Company
  • Forbes
  • Letterboxd
  • Mental Floss
  • Slash Film

Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.



 


The 75+ Additional Best Elevated Horror Films



 

# Movies Directors Lists
27 10 Cloverfield Lane   Forbes
28 A Dark Song (2016)   Letterboxd
29 A Field in England (2013)   Letterboxd
30 A Ghost Story (2017)   Letterboxd
31 Alléluia (2014)   Letterboxd
32
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
  Mental Floss
33 Annihilation   Forbes
34 Berberian Sound Studio (2012)   Letterboxd
35 BLACK SUNDAY (1960)   Mental Floss
36 Borgman (2013) Alex van Warmerdam IMDB
37 CARRIE (1976)   Mental Floss
38 CAT PEOPLE (1942)   Mental Floss
39 Climax (2018)   Letterboxd
40 Creep 2   Forbes
41 Darling (II) (2015) Mickey Keating IMDB
42 Dawn of the Dead   Slash Film
43 DIABOLIQUE (1955)   Mental Floss
44 Double Lover (2017)   Letterboxd
45 EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960)   Mental Floss
46 Fashionista (2016)   Letterboxd
47 FREAKS (1932)   Mental Floss
48 Goodnight Mommy (2014)   Letterboxd
49 Green Room (2015)   Letterboxd
50 Gremlins   Slash Film
51 HALLOWEEN (1978)   Mental Floss
52 Halloween (2018)   Slash Film
53 Hounds of Love (2016) Ben Young IMDB
54 HOUSE (1977)   Mental Floss
55 In Fabric (2018)   Letterboxd
56 Jaws   Slash Film
57 Kill List (2011)   Letterboxd
58 Last House On the Left   Slash Film
59 Lifechanger (2018)   Letterboxd
60 Lights Out   Forbes
61 Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) Sean Durkin IMDB
62 Moebius (2013)   Letterboxd
63 Nosferatu   Slash Film
64 Ouija: Origin of Evil   Forbes
65 Personal Shopper (2016)   Letterboxd
66 Piranha   Slash Film
67 Pontypool (2008)   Letterboxd
68 Prevenge (2016)   Letterboxd
69 Revenge (2017)   Letterboxd
70 RINGU (1998)   Mental Floss
71 ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968)   Mental Floss
72 SCREAM (1996)   Mental Floss
73 Silence of the Lambs   Fast Company
74 Sleep Tight (2011)   Letterboxd
75 Split   Forbes
76 Starry Eyes (2014)   Letterboxd
77 Sun Choke (2015)   Letterboxd
78 Suspiria (2018)   Letterboxd
79 Tag (2015)   Letterboxd
80 The ‘Burbs   Slash Film
81 The Addiction (1995) Abel Ferrara IMDB
82
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
  Mental Floss
83 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari   Slash Film
84 The Ghoul (2016)   Letterboxd
85 THE HAUNTING (1963)   Mental Floss
86 The House That Jack Built (2018)   Letterboxd
87 The Living and the Dead (2006)   Letterboxd
88 The Lure (2015)   Letterboxd
89 The Nightmare (2015) Akiz IMDB
90 The Omen (1976) Richard Donner IMDB
91 The Ones Below (2015) David Farr IMDB
92 The Perfection (2018)   Letterboxd
93 The Ring   Fast Company
94 The Samurai (2014)   Letterboxd
95 THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)   Mental Floss
96 The Skin I Live In (2011)   Letterboxd
97 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre   Slash Film
98 The Transfiguration (2016)   Letterboxd
99 The Wailing   Forbes
100 The World of Kanako (2014) Tetsuya Nakashima IMDB
101 Train to Busan   Forbes
102 Unsane (2018)   Letterboxd
103 We Are the Flesh (2016)   Letterboxd
104 Woodshock (2017) Kate Mulleavy IMDB

 


 


7 Best Elevated Horror Film Sources/Lists



Source Article
Fast Company Why horror movies are now more important than ever in Hollywood
Forbes The Top 20 Best Horror Films Of The Past 3 Years
IMDB elevated horror
Letterboxd Top 50 “Elevated horror”
Mental Floss The 20 Best Horror Movies of All Time
Slash Film Elevated Horror Movie
TV Over Mind Hereditary’–Like: The 5 Best Recent Arthouse Horror Movies