The 10 Most Stressful Horror Movies | ScreenRant – Screen Rant

Some horror films go beyond simply scaring audiences, instead causing them high bouts of stress and anxiety for various reasons.

Horror movies can elicit quite a few different reactions from viewers, from terrified to confused to frustrate, but there are also a number of horrors that can keep fans on the edge of their seats by making viewers incredibly stressed or anxious through the context, tone, or even the score of the film.

RELATED:10 Horror Movies From 2000s That Are Based On A True Story

These stressful films will be remembered for taking the viewers out of their usual horror comfort zones by amping up the adrenaline to eleven, grinding on horror aficionados last remaining triggers, and making people tremble with unrelenting dread and terror as they countdown the minutes until the movie is over and it's safe to breathe again.

1974'sThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre from horror legend Tobe Hooper introduced viewers to Leatherface and his twisted family as a group of college kids found themselves hunted after stopping at an idyllic countryside farmhouse.

While the film's main killer is undoubtedly terrifying with his chainsaw and penchant for making masks out of human faces, the film'snearly incessant soundtrack of screamsfrom Marilyn Burns' Sally as she discovers the horror of Leatherface continues to stress out horror fans of all generations.

Ari Aster's 2018 filmHereditary may also be considered a bit of a slow-burn horror film, that doesn't make it any less stressful as viewers are made to feel uncertain about the reality of the film from the beginning as the camera moves in and out of the model houses that mirror the settings of the film.

As the characters continue to make traumatic and damaging decisions while dark plans unfold unknowingly around them, the audience's sense of unease and dread continues to builduntil the anxiety-ridden climax of the film.

Logan Marshall-Green starred in Karyn Kusama's 2016 psychological horrorThe Invitation, as his character accepted an invitation from his ex-wife to a dinner party, which he attended with his new girlfriend.

RELATED:10 Classic Horror Movies That Reflect Society Today

The film carries an uneasy feeling throughout its entirety as the main character spirals through renewed grief over his lost child while the dinner party takes an ominous shift in tonethat further confuses the evening's events. Tense, gripping,and stressful are just a few of the wordsthat will come to mind as the credits roll.

Both the originalAustrianFunny Games in 1997 and 2007'sFunny Games USwere directed by Michael Haneke, who clearly enjoyed taking viewers on a tense exploration into their own horror obsessions that both rewarded and condemned fans.

The film followed a family at their lakeside home as they are taken captive by a pair of well-spoken but sadistic youths that begin a series of gut-wrenching games that expose the family's own fears and secrets that will shock viewers as the film manages to draw them into the games as well.

Haute Tension/High Tension/Switchblade Romancewas directed by Alexandre Aja, who shocked horror movie fans in 2003 with the violent and frantic film that followed a pair of women on the run from a crazed slasher.

High Tension is an unrelenting chase film that features a number of unsettling kills that drive the main characters to intense acts of survival that result in a truly chaotic and mind-bending finale that came with a lot of white knuckles and torn theater armrests.

Darren Aranofsky'scontroversial 2017mother!was anything but a box-office hit and had fans immediately divided over both theviolent content and the unique allegorical interpretations of stories from the Bible.

While the film begins peacefully as a married couple awakens tostart their day, a series of unexpected visitors soon devolve the household into violent chaos that left viewers spinning as the very world spoiled and corrupted around them with some intense and awful imagery that stressed out and in some cases disgusted moviegoers, but it also definitely left them thinking.

Jordan Peele's 2017 hit horrorGet Out broke records and terrified viewers with a twisted take on meeting a girlfriend's parents for the first time, as seen through the perspective of the boyfriend Chris, played by Daniel Kaluuya.

RELATED:Jordan Peele: Get Out's 5 Scariest Scenes (& 5 From Us)

However, hesoon discoversthat his girlfriendand her cringe-worthy family are also holding a dark secret that keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats with unease. Eventually, the family's revelation dives into the depths of psychological manipulation that left horror fans both terrified and stressed by the dark societal realitieshighlighted by the film.

The original 2008 filmMartyrsfromPascal Laugier (critics say to avoid the 2015 remake if at all possible) was part of a new French movement in horror that explored the extremes of the genre while also producing some of the best horror films ever.

Martyrs kicks off with a pulse-pounding massacre followed by brutal torturesand horrific monsters (both human and inhuman) that continually shocks and terrifies even well-viewed horror fans, and that's all within the first half of the stressful but rewarding film.

2007's l'intrieur/Inside is one of the highlights of the New French Extreme wave of horror films that redefined the genre by re-exploring the elements of a horror film that terrified fans, leading to intensely gory films that shocked audiences.

Insidefeatures a blood-drenched battle between two women over one mother's unborn baby thattouched on so many different fears and stressors from home invasions to real-world stories of similar crimes that make the film hard to forget. However, likeMartyrs, the original French versionis much better than theEnglishremake.

Neil Marshall's 2005 British horrorThe Descentis a stressful horror film for a number of reasons, as it explores the tragic loss of loved ones, the gradual breakdown of friendships, and the terrors that can come with recreational cave-diving.

As six women descend into a dark and unexplored cave system, they encounter deadly creatures that have evolved to live underground and have come out to feed. The film not only features uniquely terrifying monsters but also constantly drives on the fears of being trapped underground in tight spaces, resulting in avery stressful horrorfilm.

NEXT:10 Best Horror Movies On HBO Max (According To IMDb)

Next Top 10 Post-Scream Horror Movies That Cashed In On The Film's Success, Ranked

Entertainment reporter, writer, and all-around geek. I like salad but prefer french fries.

Visit link:
The 10 Most Stressful Horror Movies | ScreenRant - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero