15 Movies That Might Actually Scare You

You might remember that recently, I finally completed the 20 most disturbing horror movies challenge. I was a little disappointed with the choices for the list to be honest. With the exception of one movie (The Ring, which incidentally makes it onto this list too), the list relied on blood, gore and torture to be disturbing.

Some of the movies I quite enjoyed, but if we’re going to talk about what’s disturbing, then I think there are much better ways to do that than a gore fest.

With that in mind, I’m putting together my own list of fifteen movies that might actually scare you:

Battle Royale

While there is some blood and gore in this movie, that’s not the disturbing part. The disturbing part is how quickly a collapsing society can turn to dramatic tactics to control their citizens. This move is The Hunger Games for grown ups.

Get your copy here.

The Grudge

This movie is about a supernatural curse that possesses its victims, claims their souls and then moves on to the next unsuspecting person. It doesn’t sound much, but the Japanese know how to do horror and this one won’t disappoint if you’re looking for a chilling movie that will send shivers down your spine. One of the few where the American remake is pretty good too.

Get your copy here.

The Ring

Another decent American remake of a Japanese movie, The Ring follows the story of a journalist who watches a video, knowing that she will be cursed to die in seven days if she watches it. I won’t give spoilers, but this movie has a scene that makes me wince every single time I watch it (and it’s not gory). And can we take a moment to mention how creepy the kid is? Like the one that’s not meant to be.

Get your copy here.

Paranormal Activity

All of the Paranormal Activity movies have that creep factor, and it’s easy to believe you are in fact watching real found footage.

Get your copy here.

The Last Exorcism

This movie centres around an exorcist who doesn’t actually believe in possession. For his last exorcism, he takes a camera crew along to show them how he has convinced people he’s genuinely exorcising demons while in fact, he’s using suggestion techniques to help the person who is supposed to be possessed. His last exorcism might just make a believer out of him yet, as he comes to see that maybe Ashley really is possessed.

Get your copy here.

Mama

Two young girls are found living wild in the woods after the murder of their parents. They taken in by their uncle and slowly, they begin to adapt to living in civilisation again. The only problem is their mama – who, it seems, isn’t quite ready to let her girls go.

Get your copy here.

The Last Horror Movie

This movie is the diary of a serial killer. It’s quite bloody and violent in places obviously, but the insight into the mind of a lunatic is much more disturbing than a bit of blood and gore.

Get your copy here.

Insidious

Insidious is creepy and there’s a good few jump scares. I do feel the ending got a bit too far-fetched and kind of let the movie down, but most people disagree and loved the ending. Whether you love or hate the ending, it’s still a good, creepy watch.

Get your copy here.

The Shining

Would any creepy movie list be complete without The Shining? Spooky twins, redrum and a man losing his mind as the hotel over takes him make this a great watch if you want to be scared.

Get your copy here.

The Omen

The story of a family who unwittingly end up raising the Anti-Christ. Damien’s behaviour escalates as the movie continues, and his innocent look is soon shown to be a sham. The original is far better than the remake for the creepy atmosphere.

Get your copy here.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

I love the format of this movie. It centres around a court case that is trying to determine if Emily’s priest was negligent and whether his actions lead to her death. We see flashbacks of Emily’s story while following the case. Creepy, intriguing and one to make you really think about your own beliefs.

Get your copy here.

The Conjuring

Based on a true story, The Conjuring follows the Warrens as they try to help a family who are suffering from a severe haunting that is affecting their full lives. Definitely a creepy one.

Get your copy here.

The Exorcist

Arguably one of the most disturbing movies of all time, The Exorcist is one of the first (and the best in my opinion) possession movies. I won’t rehash the story here as I think everyone pretty much knows how it goes. I think the hype surrounding the original release of people fainting in the movies and needing counselling afterwards is ridiculous, but its definitely not one to watch if you don’t enjoy being creeped out.

Get your copy here.

Orphan

When Kate and John adopt Esther and a string of strange events occur, it becomes clear to Kate that there’s something wrong with Esther. No one around her sees her anything but a sweet, innocent child though. A great movie that shows Kate’s internal struggles as she wonders whether she’s going crazy, and John’s struggles as he tries to maintain some sort of normal family life. There is also a fantastic twist that makes this a stand out movie.

Get your copy here.

Case 39

Case 39 follows a social worker who gets too attached to one of the children whose cases she works on – with dire consequences.

Get your copy here.

Do you dare to take the challenge and watch all of these movies?

Have you seen any of these movies? Did you enjoy them? What’s your favourite scary movie? Let me know in the comments 🙂

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Disclaimer: I feel like I should add some sort of disclaimer here. Firstly there’s affiliate links in the post which means I get a couple of pennies if you buy through my links but it has no effect on your purchase and all that jazz. Secondly, and in my opinion more importantly, these movies are intended to scare you and if you’re someone who doesn’t like being scared, then you should probably avoid these.