While some horror fans love jump-scares that elicit an immediate fight or flight response, others hate that feeling and prefer more atmospheric horror that is terrifying on a psychological level. One horror lover reached out to other fans of the genre on a popular internet forum looking for suggestions on excellent scary movies that don’t make you jump out of your skin. Fans of psychological thrillers provided many examples in the comments.
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Nope (2022)
As another psychological masterpiece by Jordan Peele, Nope is about the potential threat of aliens lurking above. There is only one genuine jump scare in the whole movie, and the gore is kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, there are moments in Nope that you'll never forget.
Midsommar (2019)
If you're searching for a horror film that exclusively takes place in a sunny, serene atmosphere, Midsommar is a perfect choice. A young couple and their friends embark on a trip to celebrate a Midsommar festival with a small European group living in a remote area. But as the friends learn more about the group's culture, they discover they may be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Triangle (2009)
This mind-bending sci-fi movie focuses more on what's lurking in the shadows rather than what's jumping out from behind the corner. It follows a group of passengers on a yacht who must evacuate when the boat sinks during a storm. They end up crawling on board another vessel, hoping it will save their lives, but what they find may be a more terrible fate than sinking into the sea.
The Exorcist (1973)
"The Exorcist is the exemplar of this type of film," writes one horror buff, suggesting the film is more psychological and less reliant on physical fear responses. When a young girl begins acting strange, her mother goes to all ends to find her old daughter again. A priest tells the mother her daughter is possessed and begins an exorcism that changes everyone's lives forever.
The Witch (2015)
The Witch is a horror film without any jump scares but still manages to fill viewers with dread and fear. In colonial New England, an isolated family tragically loses their young son while he's under the watch of the family's eldest daughter. As the film progresses, the family begins to suspect her of witchcraft.
The Shining (1980)
This classic horror film is known for being a slow burn that haunts the psyche of its viewers. A writer and his family move into a hotel, hoping that the writer can cure his writer's block. But as his son has disturbing visions and he learns more about the hotel's gruesome history, the writer begins to turn against his family.
The House of the Devil (2009)
"The House of the Devil is a great slow burn that builds intensity with only one jump scare," shares one fan. When a college student looking for some cash takes a babysitting gig, she learns that the job is not quite what she expected and may instead be a fight for her life.
Suspiria (1977)
This gorgeous, eerie, atmospheric film takes place at an elite dance academy in Germany, where a new student arrives for her first class. She meets a fellow student on her first night, only to discover that she was found murdered in her apartment that same day. Can the new student uncover the school's mysteries in the hopes of saving others from a similar fate?
This thread inspired this post.
The Village (2004)
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Village is about a community that lives in isolation from the outside world, separated by the woods that they fear holds unspeakable evil. They believe that to survive, they must never venture into the forest. But when a young woman grows deathly ill, the man who loves her ignores the villagers' pleas and travels through the woods in search of a nearby town for medicine.