Psychological Horror is a subgenre that disturbs by tapping into mental and emotional vulnerabilities, exposing repression, paranoia, and self-doubt rather than relying on gore or monsters. It uses atmosphere, suspense, and unreliable perspectives to unsettle, think Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) with Norman Bates’ fractured psyche, Jennifer Kent’s grief-fueled The Babadook (2014), and modern indies like Hereditary (2018) or The Invitation (2015), which probe familial trauma and creeping paranoia. These films haunt long, proving that true terror often comes from within.
The Banishing is streaming on Shudder. A haunted house horror & thriller movie from Triangle director Chris Smith.
“The Night” film review comes influenced by films like The Shining. A Farsi-language haunted hotel horror movie directed by Kourosh Ahari
Revisiting Perry Blackshear’s They Look Like People (2015). Our deep-dive review explores the psychological horror, stunning performances, and why its ending is a masterclass in tension and empathy. Explanation & more movies like it.
The Vigil is a Jewish horror movie. Watch the trailer for The Vigil & find out why writer-director Keith Thomas wants you to have nightmares.
The Bloodhound from Arrow, is explained by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Like The Raven this film is depressed, & dark.
A psychological thriller & horror movie, Kindred shows you how to fear things you can’t control. A pathological nightmare by Joe Marcantonio.
