The Top 9 International Scary Films That Will Truly Bone-Chilling

Originally released in 2004, director Fabrice du Welz's New French Extremity classic Calvaire (aka The Ordeal) is finally available to stream in the US as of March 3. What's more, Yellow Veil Pictures has given the film a lush HD remaster.

Unrelentingly bleak but with a vein of pitch-black comedy running through it, Calvaire follows Marc (Laurent Lucas), a traveling entertainer whose van breaks down in the backwoods of Belgium. An odd, lonely innkeeper takes Marc in for the night… but his check-out time may be never.

In the mood for some good old-fashioned haunted house horror this month? Then take a trip to the English countryside with director Jamie Hooper's The Creeping, which hit VOD platforms on March 3.

The film centers around Anna (Riann Steele), who hasn't returned home for many years due to a traumatic childhood experience. But with her grandmother's dementia worsening, Anna comes back to care for her, only to stumble into a fight for her life against a malevolent presence. A dark family secret is returning to haunt them, and the key to solving the mystery may lie within granny's fading memories.

I wasn't kidding about the killer duck, because horror-comedy series Wreck delivers a new slasher killer that isn't afraid to get its feathers bloody. Created by Ryan J. Brown, the series follows 19-year-old Jamie (Oscar Kennedy) as he joins the crew of the cruise ship Sacramentum in search of his missing sister. Perhaps her disappearance has something to do with the knife-wielding maniac in the duck costume…

After broadcasting in its home country last fall, Wreck arrived on Hulu March 1. Hop on board and get your sea legs now because a second season is on the way!

Let's soak up some Mediterranean sun—or rather, chilly blue lighting— in Sound of Silence, the first English-language horror film from Italian filmmaking trio Alessandro Antonaci, Daniel Lascar, and Stefano Mandalà, collectively known as T3.

Said to be "in the vein of The Conjuring and Oculus," Sound of Silence sees a young woman returning to her family home in Italy after her father is gravely injured. Once there, she encounters a haunted radio… and the evil entity behind it. Don't let them hear you when Sound of Silence hits VOD and digital platforms on March 9.

If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a small but deadly surprise! Irish-born director Jon Wright (Grabbers) returns with Unwelcome, a creature feature centering around a malevolent breed of goblins from Scottish and Irish folklore: the Redcaps.

Unlwecome follows an expectant couple escaping the urban nightmare of London only to discover something worse waiting for them in the woods at the bottom of their garden in rural Ireland. Released in the UK and Ireland back in January, the film arrives in US theatres as part of AMC's Thrills and Chills lineup on March 8 before coming to digital outlets on March 14, just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Looking for a relaxing lakeside getaway? You probably won't find it in The Lake, a Thai-Chinese co-production from directors Lee Thongkham and Aqing Xu—but you will find a badass practical monster brought to life through life-sized animatronics with a dash of CGI.

Said monster was designed by artist Jordu Schell, whose previous credits include Cloverfield, Starship Troopers, The Mist, and The Cabin in the Woods. When its egg is stolen, it emerges from the lake to unleash its fury on a nearby town. Catch the monster if you can in limited theatres from March 10, or wait until it bites into digital platforms on March 14.

Step into the candy-colored nightmare that is the Magic Forest on March 10 when director Alberto Vásquez's adult animated film Unicorn Wars releases in theatres in select markets and on demand.

The age-old war between the teddy bears and the unicorns will end in blood and spilled stuffing when two bear cub brothers embark on a dangerous combat tour with a group of inexperienced recruits. Described as "Bambi meets Apocalypse Now," Unicorn Wars blends comedy, fantasy, and drama with a swirl of psychedelic horror—and the end result is anything but cuddly. If you're in the market for some potential teddy bear impalement by way of unicorn horn, check out this exclusive clip.

Fugue (Poland/Czech Republic)

Returning to Europe, director Agnieszka Smoczynska's memory-loss psychodrama Fugue introduces us to an amnesiac woman wandering the streets of Warsaw who is suddenly thrust back into a domestic life she has no recollection of choosing. It might be a stretch to call this one a horror film, but after Smoczynska's last feature—the man-eating mermaid horror-musical The Lure—we're certainly curious.

Fugue debuted at the Cannes Film Festival back in 2018 and had its global online premiere on MUBI in 2019. It's set to open in theatres in Los Angeles on March 10 before coming to NYC on March 31.

Ignoring the title, let's wrap up this month's horror journey with a trip to Norway in Leave.

From director Alex Herron, Leave follows Hunter (Alicia von Rittberg), who is on the hunt for her biological parents after being abandoned in a cemetery as an infant. She was found wrapped in satanic symbolics, so nothing bad could possibly come from this quest. Catch the film on Shudder from March 17.

That's it for March, but we'll be back next month with more frightful fare from around the world!