As a true staple of horror cinema, the use of a great jump scare can give audiences a terrifying, heart-racing thrill that startles them for a moment, but jump scares alone cannot evoke the brand of visceral terror that stays with viewers long after the credits roll. Offering ample proof of this, these horror movies crept under the skin of their audiences to make a lasting impact without the use of jump scares.
Instead, these movies create an aura so utterly terrifying by employing eerie visuals and settings, unusual and intense atmospheres, and harrowing scores to embed themselves in the minds of viewers with haunting results. Ranging from ghost stories and possession movies to cult/folk horrors, and from modern classics to iconic films that have stood the test of time, these legendary horror pictures are famous for their ability to terrify.
15 'The Poughkeepsie Tapes' (2007)
Directed by John Erick Dowdle
Off the back of the success of The Blair Witch Project, the idea of found-footage realism became a significant trend in horror throughout the 2000s with 2007's The Poughkeepsie Tapes a thoroughly grim and unnerving offering of the subgenre. It mixes its raw found-footage aesthetic with the morbid intrigue of murder mystery and serial killer intrigue as it focuses on the contents of a serial killer's vast collection of homemade snuff films which are uncovered in a police raid.
With each new tape the police - and, by extension, the audience - watch, more of the killer's heinous and twisted crimes come to the fore as he documents the abduction, mistreatment, murdering, and postmortem mutilation of his victims. The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a great film for found-footage fans and horror lovers who crave morbid and disturbing stories, but for many others it may prove to be too bleak and confronting.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Release Date January 30, 2009
Director John Erick Dowdle
Cast Stacy Chbosky , Ben Messmer , Samantha Robson , Ivar Brogger , Lou George , Amy Lyndon
A psychological thriller from Austria, Goodnight Mommy played out like one of the Brothers Grimm's twisted fairy tales as it focused on a complex relationship between a mother and her twin sons. Having undergone facial cosmetic surgery, a woman returns to her isolated lakeside home covered in bandages where her treatment towards her boys startles the two brothers, with one of them in particular being ignored by their mother unless he misbehaves, in which case he is punished harshly.
With its dreamlike, disorienting cinematography and its quaint and concentrated story, Goodnight Mommy excelled as an art house horror film that immerses viewers in its menacing and forthright atmosphere. The film's final moments have an uncanny knack of leaving viewers speechless as well as chilled to the bone.
Robert Eggers emerged as a master of modern horror, a reputation that was ignited with his stunning directorial debut, The Witch. Set in 1630s New England, it tells the story of a family exiled from a Puritan settlement who build a farm near a huge forest and start to fall apart when their newborn goes missing. Amid the panic and despair, the family soon turns against the eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy).
With incredible performances from the entire cast coupled with a rich sense of isolation and creeping evil, The Witch excels with its palpable atmosphere which strives to — and succeeds at — creating a deeply unsettling experience that viewers simply cannot look away from. It has been heralded as one of the creepiest films ever made and is undoubtedly one of the best scary movies without jump scares.
Release Date February 19, 2016
Runtime 92minutes
12 'Lake Mungo' (2008)
Directed by Joel Anderson
A terrifying Australian horror film that has become a notorious cult classic on account of its ability to creep up on audiences with its paranormal eeriness, Lake Mungo is viewed by many to be one of the most underrated and scariest horror movies ever made. In the wake of a teenage girl's drowning, her struggling family hires a parapsychologist with hopes of finding an explanation for some strange occurrences around their house, leading to some unexpected discoveries that prompt them to go to Lake Mungo.
While its supernatural chills and psychological prowess make it a relentlessly unnerving movie, Lake Mungo also finds a lot of its weighted punch in its dramatic elements and the authenticity depicted in the rattled family's grieving. That gripping base makes the horror all the more impactful and the shocking twists and turns have a tendency to rattle audiences even days after they watch the movie.
Lake Mungo
Release Date July 30, 2009
Director Joel Anderson
Cast Talia Zucker , Rosie Traynor , David Pledger , Martin Sharpe , Steve Jodrell , Tamara Donnellan
While it isn’t the scariest horror movie of all time, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Nightstill thrives as a refreshing spin on genre norms that leans heavily on old, defining tropes while bending them into something completely original. Set in an Iranian town, it follows a young man whose life is gradually unfurling between a dead-end job and his responsibilities to his drug-addicted father. However, his circumstances change when he meets a skateboarding woman who turns out to be a vampire.
Flaunted as an “Iranian vampire Western”, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is certainly a stylistic and impressionable picture, but it is not one that has to lean on jump scares to have an impact. In fact, it is only really a spooky horror movie in its broad strokes and its containing of a vampire. Still, its use of black-and-white imagery, its contemplative feminist themes, and its brilliantly realized atmosphere makes for an intriguing horror movie all the same.
Outlandish, bombastic, cynically hilarious, and completely bewildering, House(or Hausu) is a mind-boggling and bizarrely hypnotic Japanese haunted house film from 1977. It has become a cult icon for its visual presentation and creativity as it follows a young girl who visits her ailing aunt’s house with some of her classmates only to be drawn into a sequence of supernatural terrors.
Like many of the best and most endearing horror movies, House boasts a certain gleeful depravity, a sheer, unadulterated joy for the demented possibilities of cinematic storytelling. Much like the story progression itself, the film’s mixture of horror and comedy sometimes feels sporadic and without direction, but this chaotic energy is precisely what has defined its brilliance for decades. While it doesn’t contain jump scares, it still thrives as a sensory overload of horror cinema that all adventurous genre purists ought to appreciate.
Release Date July 30, 1977
Director Nobuhiko Obayashi
Cast Kimiko Ikegami , Miki Jinbo , Ai Matubara , Kumiko Oba , Mieko Sato , Eriko Tanaka , Masayo Miyako , Yōko Minamida
Runtime 88 Minutes
9 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
Directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick
When The Blair Witch Project first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999, an instant cult classic was born. The cast and crew behind The Blair Witch Project managed to tell a story so realistic and convincing that audiences became more terrified of what was off-screen than what was on it. The cast was only given a basic outline of the narrative and had no idea exactly what they would encounter in the paranormal forest, with each actor improvising many of the most horrific moments.
It was, of course, the rampaging, low-budget success that inspired a wave of found-footage horror to dominate the genre throughout the '00s, but none were able to match the impact of the original classic. Without any jump scares or even any strikingly scary imagery, The Blair Witch Project created an atmosphere drenched in terror and remains the gold standard of found-footage horror.
Release Date July 30, 1999
Director Daniel Myrick , Eduardo Sánchez
Cast Heather Donahue , Michael C. Williams , Joshua Leonard
Runtime 81 minutes
8 'The Fly' (1986)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Image via 20th Century Studios
A rare case of a movie remake that matched—if not surpassed—it’s original, The Flystands as an appropriately grotesque and thought-provoking picture by body horror extraordinaire David Cronenberg. It sees Jeff Goldblum star as Seth Brundle, a brilliant scientist whose experiments with a teleportation device leads to his DNA meshing with that of a housefly. As his body and mind begin to transform horrifically, he desperately tries to figure out a way to reverse the process.
The gruesome picture has excelled for decades now as a brilliant combination of revolting yet incredibly realized visual horror and a strong narrative propelled by well-rounded and grounded characters who are believable in their circumstances. Its strengths result in a story that has no need for jump scares to be effective and harrowing. The Fly’s mastery of visual horror was rewarded with an Academy Award for Best Makeup at the Oscars.
Release Date August 15, 1986
Runtime 96 minutes
7 'Night of the Living Dead' (1968)
Directed by George A. Romero
While jump scares were a growing trend in horror at the time, George A. Romero's pioneering zombie horror classic instead relied on chilling music, creepy special effects, and strong acting performances to evoke a sense of dread and petrified terror in audiences. It follows a group of strangers who find themselves seeking shelter in a farmhouse when reanimated corpses rise from the grave and start feasting on human flesh.
It is a testament to its horrifying brilliance that Night of the Living Deadremains such an iconic title in its own right well over 50 years since it was released. It is even more impressive that it remains at the pinnacle of zombie horror when so many other zombie movies have had to rely on jumpy moments and intense gore to garner a response from viewers.
Night of the Living Dead
Release Date October 4, 1968
Director George A. Romero
Cast Duane Jones , Judith O'Dea , Karl Hardman , Marilyn Eastman , Keith Wayne , Judith Ridley
Runtime 96
Main Genre Horror
6 'The Wailing' (2016)
Directed by Na Hong-jin
Image via 20th Century Studios
Korean horror films have garnered a reputation for being some of the most terrifying, and The Wailingis no exception. After the arrival of a mysterious stranger in the small village of Gokseong, an infection breaks out and begins to spread hysteria and panic among the locals. Bloody and haunting, heartbreaking and shocking, The Wailing utilizes every component of horror to treat genre fans to a true masterpiece.
Interestingly, just about the only horror trope the film doesn't employ, is jump scares which makes it all the more astounding that across the film's two-and-a-half-hour runtime, there is seldom a dull moment. In addition to its gripping horror narrative, the film also features spectacular cinematography and a flawless grasp of tone, which helped it garner a stunning score of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Wailing
Release Date May 12, 2016
Director Na Hong-jin
Cast Kwak Do-won , Hwang Jung-min , Jun Kunimura
Runtime 156 minutes
5 'Midsommar' (2019)
Directed by Ari Aster
A true gem of modern horror which was rightfully celebrated as such, Midsommarmeshes folk horror and psychological suspense with an eerily serene setting and a spectacular breakout performance from Florence Pugh to be a truly unnerving film. It follows a small group of American students who travel to their classmate's ancestral commune in a remote area of Sweden to attend a midsummer festival.
Doing away with the typically bleak horror aesthetic, Midsommar instead thrives as a nightmare amid a paradise as the beautiful imagery clashes violently with disturbing rituals and an ominous energy that takes hold from the film's opening minutes to make for a sickeningly tense viewing experience. While there was some infrequent use of graphic gore, the film excelled as a deeply psychological horror and has scarred many of its viewers.
Midsommar
Release Date July 3, 2019
Cast Julia Ragnarsson , Rebecka Johnston , Henrik Norlén , William Jackson Harper , Gunnel Fred , Anna Åström , will poulter , Archie Madekwe , Louise Peterhoff , Björn Andrésen , Isabelle Grill , Jack Reynor , Florence Pugh , Liv Mjönes
Runtime 147 minutes
4 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968)
Directed by Roman Polanski
Image via Paramount Pictures
As an Academy Award-winning horror film, Rosemary's Babyis a defining genre classic that has lost absolutely none of its visceral impact since it was released over half a century ago. The chilling masterpiece combines supernatural and psychological terrors to immerse audiences in a world of demonic dread as it follows a pregnant woman who grows suspicious of her new neighbors when she experiences strange happenings when she moves into an old apartment complex with her husband.
A mounting sense of paranoia is at the heart of Rosemary's Baby as viewers are nurtured into a similar state of delirium as Rosemary (Mia Farrow) as she is manipulated by those dearest to her for a sinister purpose. There can be no doubt that the film is one of the most disturbing horror movies ever made, and while it is shocking, it never resorts to jump scares.
Rosemary's Baby
Release Date June 12, 1968
Director Roman Polanski
Cast Mia Farrow , John Cassavetes , Ruth Gordon , Sidney Blackmer , Maurice Evans , Ralph Bellamy
Runtime 137 minutes
3 'Hereditary' (2018)
Directed by Ari Aster
Hereditaryhas garnered quite a reputation, becoming an immediate horror classic with many fans even labeling it definitively the best horror movie of the 21st century so far. The notorious picture follows Annie (Toni Collette) as she and her family mourn the death of her mother before a series of strange occurrences haunt them, leading them to discover the disturbing truth of their ancestry.
With several notably terrifying scenes throughout, Hereditary excels as director Ari Aster uses just about every horror tool there is to terrify the audience – except for jump scares. While the film uses eerie sound design, disturbing and darkened imagery, powerful acting performances, and supernatural entities, it doesn't see the film revert to jump scares as it depicts the Graham family's descent.
Release Date June 8, 2018
Runtime 2h 7m
2 'The Exorcist' (1973)
Directed by William Friedkin
Image via Warner Bros.
Heralded by many as the scariest film ever made, The Exorcisthas become an enduring highlight of horror cinema, one that some people have even speculated is a film with evil ingrained into its very creation. It focuses on the possession of young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), a 12-year-old girl who becomes possessed. When her mother exhausts medical options to cure her ailment, she resorts to the help of two Catholic priests.
A masterpiece of gripping horror, The Exorcist doesn’t need to rely on jump scares to leave audiences feeling terrified. William Friedkin’s decision to subdue the film’s more supernatural aspects and focus on the realistic elements of the film—such as a mother’s concern for her child being the major focus of the first half of the picture—works a treat. Bolstered by ageless special effects and a deeply unsettling tone of predatory evil, The Exorcist may have actually been less effective had it incorporated jump scares. Ironically, The Exorcist III is famous for having one of the scariest jump scares of all time.
Release Date December 26, 1973
Runtime 122 minutes
1 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1994)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Image via Orion Pictures
Gripping and so intense it is intoxicating, The Silence of the Lambsis one of the most enrapturing and compelling horror/psychological thriller films ever made. Defined by its atmospheric dread and its two breathtaking lead performances, it is famously the only horror movie ever to have the Academy Award for Best Picture, and remains one of only three movies of any genre to have won the “Big Five” Oscars at the ceremony.
Its pulsating story follows FBI cadet Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she works with detained psychologist and cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to gain insights into an active case. Devoid of jump scares, it relies on its performances and its menacing tone to creep under the audiences’ skin, making for a frightful and unnerving viewing experience more so than a bombastically scary one.
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