Best Psychological Horror Movies Of All Time
Best Movies, Horror/Thriller

The Best Psychological Thriller Movies

“What are the best Psychological Thriller Movies Of All-Time?” We looked at 233 of the top Psychological Thriller films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 27 films, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Psychological Horror” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 200+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

See our Top 16 Psychological Thriller films in our new video as well:

You can also check out our sister website, Book Scrolling, for a Best Psychological Horror Book List.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 27 Psychological Horror Moviess



27 .) A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) directed by Kim Jee-woon

Lists It Appears On:

  • Daily Hunt
  • Refinery29
  • Taste Of Cinema

A recently released patient from a mental institution returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house- all of which are connected to a dark past in the family’s history.

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26 .) Bug (2006) directed by William Friedkin

Lists It Appears On:

  • Decider
  • IMDB
  • The Odyssey Online

A lonely waitress with a tragic past, Agnes rooms in a run-down motel, living in fear of her abusive, recently paroled ex-husband. But when Agnes begins a tentative romance with Peter, an eccentric, nervous drifter, she starts to feel hopeful again – until the first bugs arrive…

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25 .) Frailty (2001) directed by Bill Paxton

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • The Odyssey Online

A man confesses to an FBI agent his family’s story of how his religious fanatic father’s visions lead to a series of murders to destroy supposed “demons.”

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24 .) Kill List (2011) directed by Ben Wheatley

Lists It Appears On:

  • Daily Hunt
  • Taste Of Cinema
  • The Vore

Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.

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23 .) Manhunter (1986) directed by Michael Mann

Lists It Appears On:

  • Decider
  • Taste Of Cinema
  • The Odyssey Online

FBI Agent Will Graham, who retired after catching Hannibal Lecktor, returns to duty to engage in a risky cat-and-mouse game with Lecktor to capture a new killer.

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22 .) Psycho (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Lists It Appears On:

  • Spark Views
  • The Culture Trip
  • The Top Tens

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.

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21 .) Session 9 (2001) directed by Brad Anderson

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • The Odyssey Online

Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

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20 .) Seven (1995) directed by David Fincher

Lists It Appears On:

  • Spark Views
  • The Culture Trip
  • The Top Tens

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the “seven deadly sins” in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Sommerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer’s mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

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19 .) Stoker (2013) directed by Park Chan-wook

Lists It Appears On:

  • Crave
  • Scoop Whoop
  • The Lineup

After India’s father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.

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18 .) The Gift (2015) directed by Joel Edgerton

Lists It Appears On:

  • Crave
  • Decider
  • Scoop Whoop

A husband and wife try to reinvigorate their relationship but their lives are threatened by a “friend” from the husband’s past who holds a horrifying secret about him, sending their world into a tailspin.

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17 .) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) directed by Anthony Minghella

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Daily Hunt
  • The Lineup

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it’s better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

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16 .) Fight Club (1999) directed by David Fincher

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Lineup

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground “fight clubs” forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

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15 .) Misery (1990) directed by Rob Reiner

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Daily Hunt
  • The Lineup
  • The Top Tens

Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car on a snowy Colorado road. He is found by Annie Wilkes, the “number one fan” of Paul’s heroine Misery Chastaine. Annie is also somewhat unstable, and Paul finds himself crippled, drugged and at her mercy.

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14 .) Primal Fear (1996) directed by Gregory Hoblit

Lists It Appears On:

  • Decider
  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views

An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a 3rd person in the room. The intensity builds when a surprise twist alters everyone’s perception of the crime.

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13 .) Rear Window (1954) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Spark Views
  • The Lineup
  • The Top Tens

Professional photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbors. He begins to suspect that a man across the courtyard may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists the help of his high society fashion-consultant girlfriend Lisa Freemont and his visiting nurse Stella to investigate.

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12 .) Shutter Island (2010) directed by Martin Scorsese

Lists It Appears On:

  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Top Tens
  • The Vore

World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his troubling visions and also by a mysterious doctor.

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11 .) The Shining (1980) directed by Stanley Kubrick

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Culture Trip

Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren’t prepared for the madness that lurks within.

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10 .) Vertigo (1958) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Spark Views
  • Taste Of Cinema
  • The Lineup

A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend’s wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

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9 .) Hard Candy (2005) directed by David Slade

Lists It Appears On:

  • Decider
  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Scoop Whoop
  • Spark Views

A mature 14-year old girl meets a charming 32-year old photographer on the Internet. Suspecting that he is a pedophile, she goes to his home in an attempt to expose him.

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8 .) Jacob’s Ladder (1990) directed by Adrian Lyne

Lists It Appears On:

  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • Taste Of Cinema
  • The Odyssey Online

A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn’t what he believes it to be when he’s attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him…

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7 .) Taxi Driver (1976) directed by Martin Scorsese

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Daily Hunt
  • IMDB
  • Spark Views
  • The Lineup

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.

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6 .) The Machinist (2004) directed by Brad Anderson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Decider
  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Culture Trip

The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. This is no ordinary insomnia…

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5 .) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) directed by Jonathan Demme

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Daily Hunt
  • IMDB
  • Spark Views
  • The Lineup
  • The Top Tens

FBI trainee, Clarice Starling ventures into a maximum-security asylum to pick the diseased brain of Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist turned homicidal cannibal. Starling needs clues to help her capture a serial killer. But her Faustian relationship with Lecter soon leads to his escape, and now two deranged killers are on the loose.

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4 .) Black Swan (2010) directed by Darren Aronofsky

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Crave
  • Daily Hunt
  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Lineup

A ballet dancer wins the lead in “Swan Lake” and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan – Princess Odette – but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.

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3 .) Gone Girl (2014) directed by David Fincher

Lists It Appears On:

  • Crave
  • Daily Hunt
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Culture Trip
  • The Lineup
  • The Vore

With his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.

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2 .) The Sixth Sense (1999) directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • Daily Hunt
  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Lineup
  • The Top Tens

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.

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1 .) Memento (2000) directed by Christopher Nolan

Lists It Appears On:

  • Backpack Verse
  • IMDB
  • Refinery29
  • Spark Views
  • The Culture Trip
  • The Lineup
  • The Odyssey Online
  • The Top Tens

Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman’s noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of photos to aid in his search and jog his memory. He even tattoos his own body in a desperate bid to remember.

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The 200+ Additional Best Psychological Horror Movies



 

# Movie Director Lists
(Films Appear On 2 Lists Each)
28 Altered States (1980) Ken Russell Refinery29
Refinery29
29 American Psycho (2000)
Spark Views
The Odyssey Online
30 Blue Ruin Crave
The Vore
31 Cape Fear
The Odyssey Online
The Top Tens
32 Coherence (2014) James Ward Byrkit Refinery29
Scoop Whoop
33 Cube (1997) Vincenzo Natali IMDB
Refinery29
34 Das Experiment (2001) Daily Hunt
Taste Of Cinema
35 Dead Man’s Shoes
The Odyssey Online
The Culture Trip
36 Donnie Darko (2001) Richard Kelly Refinery29
Spark Views
37 Funny Games (1997) Michael Haneke Decider
IMDB
38 Green Room Jeremy Saulnier
Scoop Whoop
The Vore
39 I Saw the Devil (2010) IMDB
The Odyssey Online
40 Inception (2010) Christopher Nolan Refinery29
Spark Views
41 Insomnia (2002) Christopher Nolan IMDB
Scoop Whoop
42 Martha Marcy May Marlene Sean Durkin Crave
Scoop Whoop
43 Mulholland Drive (2001) David Lynch Refinery29
Spark Views
44 Nocturnal Animals Tom Ford
Scoop Whoop
The Vore
45 Panic Room (2002) IMDB
The Odyssey Online
46 Phone Booth (2002) IMDB
The Odyssey Online
47 Primer (2004) Shane Carruth Refinery29
Scoop Whoop
48 Queen of Earth Alex Ross Perry Decider
Scoop Whoop
49 Repulsion
Taste Of Cinema
The Odyssey Online
50 Rosemary’s Baby
Taste Of Cinema
The Culture Trip
51 Saw (2004) IMDB
Spark Views
52 Se7en (1996) David Fincher IMDB
Refinery29
53 Sound Of My Voice (2012) Zal Batmanglij IMDB
Refinery29
54 Split (2017) M. Night Shyamalan Refinery29
The Vore
55 The Exorcist (1973) IMDB
The Top Tens
56 The Game (1997) IMDB
Spark Views
57 The Invitation (2016) Karyn Kusama Crave
Refinery29
58 The Prestige (2006) Christopher Nolan Refinery29
Spark Views
59 Tom at the Farm Xavier Dolan
Scoop Whoop
The Vore
60 Triangle (2009) Christopher Smith Refinery29
Refinery29
61 Unbreakable (2000) IMDB
The Odyssey Online
62 Videodrome (1983) David Cronenberg Refinery29
Taste Of Cinema
63 Zodiac (2007) IMDB
The Odyssey Online
(Films Appear On 1 Lists Each)
64 13 Tzameti (2005) IMDB
65 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubrick Refinery29
66 88 Minutes (2007) IMDB
67 A Bigger Splash (2015) Luca Guadagnino
Scoop Whoop
68 A Perfect Murder (1998) IMDB
69 A Scanner Darkly (2006) Refinery29
70 Absentia (I) (2011) IMDB
71 Affliction (1997) IMDB
72 After Hours (1985) Martin Scorsese Refinery29
73 Akagi
Online Fanatic
74 Alias Grace (2017) Refinery29
75 Anamorph (2007) IMDB
76 Angel Heart
Taste Of Cinema
77 Argo The Vore
78 Arrival (2016) Denis Villeneuve Refinery29
79 Asylum Seekers (2009) Refinery29
80 Atonement (2007) Joe Wright Refinery29
81 Audition (1999) IMDB
82 Awake (2007) IMDB
83 Basic Instinct Paul Verhoeven Decider
84 Blade Runner (1982) Refinery29
85 Blood Simple
The Odyssey Online
86 Blow Out
The Odyssey Online
87 Blue Velvet
Taste Of Cinema
88 Borgman The Vore
89 Bound (1996) IMDB
90 Breakdown (I) (1997) IMDB
91 Captain Philips The Vore
92 Code Geass
Online Fanatic
93 Cold Fish Crave
94 Compliance Crave
95 Copycat (1995) IMDB
96 Dark Water (2005) IMDB
97 Dead Ringers
Taste Of Cinema
98 Death Note
Online Fanatic
99 Don’t Say a Word (2001) IMDB
100 Don’t Look Now
Taste Of Cinema
101 Drive The Vore
102 Duel (1971 TV Movie) IMDB
103 Enemy Denis Villeneuve
Scoop Whoop
104 Ergo Proxy
Online Fanatic
105 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Michel Gondry Refinery29
106 Ex Machina Alex Garland
Scoop Whoop
107 Extraction (2012) IMDB
108 Eyes Wide Shut
Taste Of Cinema
109 Flatliners (1990) IMDB
110 Following (1998) IMDB
111 Fracture (2007) IMDB
112 Frozen (I) (2010) IMDB
113 Gerald’s Game (2017) Mike Flanagan Refinery29
114 Good Time The Vore
115 Hannibal (2001) IMDB
116 Hide and Seek (2005) IMDB
117 High Tension (2003) IMDB
118 Higurashi When They Cry
Online Fanatic
119 Holy Motors (2012) Leos Carax Refinery29
120 Hour of the Wolf
Taste Of Cinema
121 Identity (2003) IMDB
122 In the Cut (2003) IMDB
123 Inland Empire David Lynch
Scoop Whoop
124 Inside (2007) IMDB
125 Irreversible (2002) IMDB
126 Jagged Edge
The Odyssey Online
127 Killer Joe The Vore
128 L’inconnu du Lac The Vore
129 Les Diaboliques
Taste Of Cinema
130 Les Salauds The Vore
131 Martyrs (2008) IMDB
132 Mirai Nikki (Future Diary)
Online Fanatic
133 Monster
Online Fanatic
134 Moon
The Culture Trip
135 Mother! (2017) Darren Aronofsky Refinery29
136 Mr. Brooks (2007) IMDB
137 Mr. Nobody (2004) Jaco Van Dormael Refinery29
138 My Little Eye (2002) IMDB
139 Mystic River (2003) IMDB
140 Nemesis Game (2003) IMDB
141 Neon Genesis Evangelion
Online Fanatic
142 Next Door (2005) IMDB
143 Night Crawler Crave
144 November (I) (2004) IMDB
145 Oldboy (2003) Park Chan-wook Refinery29
146 One Hour Photo (2002) IMDB
147 One Outs
Online Fanatic
148 Out of the Furnace The Vore
149 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Refinery29
150 Paranormal Activity (2007) IMDB
151
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
IMDB
152
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
IMDB
153 Parasyte the Maxim
Online Fanatic
154 Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas
Scoop Whoop
155
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom
Online Fanatic
156 Pi (1998) IMDB
157 Prisoners The Vore
158 Psycho Pass
Online Fanatic
159 Red Dragon (2002) IMDB
160 Red Lights (2012) IMDB
161 Red Road (2006) IMDB
162
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
IMDB
163
Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010)
IMDB
164 Saw II (2005) IMDB
165 Saw III (2006) IMDB
166 Saw IV (2007) IMDB
167 Saw V (2008) IMDB
168 Saw VI (2009) IMDB
169 Secret Window (2004) IMDB
170 Side Effects (I) (2013) IMDB
171 Silence of the Lambs
The Culture Trip
172 Sinister (I) (2012) IMDB
173 Sleep Tight (2011) IMDB
174 Sliding Doors Peter Howitt Refinery29
175 Soylent Green (1973) Richard Fleischer Refinery29
176 Spider (2002) Refinery29
177 Steins;Gate
Online Fanatic
178 Stigmata (1999) IMDB
179
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Refinery29
180 Take Shelter Jeff Nichols
Scoop Whoop
181 Tell No One
Taste Of Cinema
182 Terror in Resonance
Online Fanatic
183 The Broken (2008) IMDB
184 The Butterfly Effect (2004) IMDB
185 The Cell (2000) IMDB
186 The Circle The Vore
187 The Conversation
Taste Of Cinema
188 The Double Richard Ayoade Decider
189 The Exorcist III (1990) IMDB
190 The Flock (2007) IMDB
191 The Fountain (2006) Refinery29
192 The Fury of a Patient Man The Vore
193
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Vore
194 The Hitcher
The Odyssey Online
195 The Hunter (IV) (2011) IMDB
196 The Illusionist (2006) Neil Burger Refinery29
197 The Innocents
Taste Of Cinema
198 The Killing Gene (2007) IMDB
199 The Killing Room (2009) IMDB
200 The Lazarus Project (2008) IMDB
201 The Lobster (2016) Refinery29
202 The Master Paul Thomas Anderson
Scoop Whoop
203 The Matrix (2013) Refinery29
204 The Night of the Hunter
Taste Of Cinema
205 The Others (2001)
Spark Views
206 The Pledge (I) (2001) IMDB
207 The Ring (2002) IMDB
208 The Ring Two (2005) IMDB
209 The Secret in Their Eyes
Taste Of Cinema
210 The Skin I Live In (2011) Pedro Almodóvar Refinery29
211 The Snowman The Vore
212 The Strangers (2008) IMDB
213 The Tenant
Taste Of Cinema
214 The Truman Show (2013) Refinery29
215 The Usual Suspects (1995) Bryan Singer Refinery29
216 The Vanishing
The Odyssey Online
217 The Wicker Man
Taste Of Cinema
218 Them (2006) IMDB
219 Timecrimes
Taste Of Cinema
220 Timer (2009) Refinery29
221 Transsiberian (2008) IMDB
222 Trauma (I) (2004) IMDB
223 Upstream Color (2013) Shane Carruth Refinery29
224 Vacancy (2007) IMDB
225 Vanilla Sky (2001) Cameron Crowe Refinery29
226 What Lies Beneath (2000) IMDB
227
Whatever Happened to Baby
Taste Of Cinema
228 White Noise (I) (2005) IMDB
229
White Noise 2: The Light (2007)
IMDB
230 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Mike Nichols Refinery29
231 Wind River The Vore
232 Wolf’s Rain
Online Fanatic
233 You’re Next (2011) IMDB


15 Best Psychological Horror Film Sources/Lists



Source Article
Backpack Verse The 10 Best Psychological Thriller Movies That Will Alter Your Reality
Crave The 10 Best Psychological Thrillers of the Decade (So Far)
Daily Hunt 10 Best Psychological Thriller Movies That Will Completely Twist Your Brain
Decider 10 Underrated Psychological Thrillers You Can Stream Now
IMDB The 100 best Psychological Thriller Movies
Online Fanatic Top 15 Best Psychological Thriller Anime List [Recommendations]
Refinery29 These Movies Will Hurt Your Brain (In A Good Way)
Scoop Whoop 18 Twisted Psychological Thrillers That Will Leave You Totally Mind Fucked
Spark Views Best Psychological Thriller Movies
Taste Of Cinema The 25 Best Psychological Thrillers of All Time
The Culture Trip Top 10 Psychological Thrillers Of All Time
The Lineup 12 Twisted Psychological Thriller Movies That Will Mess with Your Head
The Odyssey Online 20 Psychological Thrillers That Deserve More Love
The Top Tens Top Ten Psychological Thrillers of All time
The Vore 15 most suspenseful psychological thriller films (2017) – Top Netflix & Cinema