Spooky season is upon us! Are you a horror movie fan but prefer not to scar your eyes with gratuitous gore? If you’re seeking chills and thrills without massive blood spills, you’ve come to the right place! This list is for those who want to indulge in the macabre without the massacres and prefer horror movies that build suspense through ambiance, storytelling, and a devilish dash of psychological turmoil. That’s not to say there aren’t fiendishly fantastic slasher films out there, but sometimes we just crave a different kind of dread!
Here are eight scary movies without gore to watch this Halloween:
1. The Changeling (1980)
This classic appears frequently on Reddit threads about horror movies that are creepy but not gory. It has earned an impressive slew of awards and nominations, including eight inaugural Genie Awards and one for Best Motion Picture. The film follows an esteemed composer who flees to a secluded Seattle mansion to escape the pain of losing his wife and daughter in a tragic accident. He soon discovers he is not alone in his grief.
Critic review from Michael J. Casey: “It’s spooky without being schlocky, terror with hardly a drop of blood. And as effective as the haunted house device is, the real mystery driving the haunting is so cold-blooded and practical that you won’t even think twice about its motivation.”
The Changeling; Image credit: Pan-Canadian Film Distributors
2. The Others (2001)
This Gothic supernatural psychological horror film is another frequent phantom in Reddit threads about scary movies without violence. The Others follows a woman and her two photosensitive children who encounter paranormal phenomena in a dark, oppressive mansion. It is praised as one of the greatest horror films ever made. See for yourself, if you dare!
Critic review from Wendy Ide: “Alejandro Amenábar’s elegant chiller creates more tension from atmosphere alone than most other horror films do from vats full of fake blood.”
The Others; Image credit: Dimension Films
3. The Babadook (2014)
This Australian psychological horror film is one of my favorites and has become a well-deserved cult classic. It spirals into a tense, twisting tale of a widowed mother and her troubled son as they navigate grief and trauma. I loved the sinister storybook atmosphere and the deeper themes it exposed. However, it is important to note that this film includes a dog death. You can avoid seeing it by skipping from 1:09:20 to 1:11:20 and from 01:13:31 to 01:13:32.
Critic review from Wael Khairy: “Here’s a horror film that strays away from cheap thrills, and taps into something real; true human fear, grief, anxiety, and depression…the more I thought of The Babadook, the deeper it sank into my psyche.”
The Babadook; Image credit: Umbrella Entertainment Pty. Ltd.
4. 1408 (2007)
This psychological thriller follows a successful author renowned for debunking supernatural phenomena. He checks into an infamously haunted room at the Dolphin Hotel, which some describe as one of the greatest depictions of hell on earth.
Critic review from David Keyes: “An excursion through the psychological intrigue of the human mind that is precise, tense, atmospheric and performed with great dramatic intensity.”
1408; Image credit: The Weinstein Company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
5. The Haunting (1963)
You know a horror film is exceptional when it is described as one of the scariest movies of all time without a drop of gore. The Guardian ranked it as the 13th best horror movie of all time, and it earned first place on prolific director Martin Scorsese’s list of the 11 scariest horror movies of all time. As one of the original haunted house explorations, The Haunting creates an enthralling atmosphere that chills you to the core.
Critic review from James Powers: “When The Haunting digs into the internals of its story, summons its spirits and lets them play havoc with cold reason, it has a power and fervor unmatched by any film ghost stories.”
The Haunting; Image credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
6. Insidious (2010)
Insidious centers on a married couple whose son falls into a mysterious comatose state, rendering him vulnerable to malevolent entities. Despite (or perhaps thanks to) its PG-13 rating, it’s often described as one of the scariest movies of the 21st century, and this popular Reddit thread calls it the most important horror film of the 2010s.
Critic review from Chauncey K. Robinson: “A scary movie that doesn’t rely heavily on CGI and gore like many horror movies of today, but rather more on plot and interesting characters.”
Insidious; Image credit: FilmDistrict Distribution LLC
7. The Ring (2002)
This was one of my very first horror films and it still haunts me to this day. The premise alone is enough to hook you; a journalist finds a cursed videotape that causes the deaths of those who watch it seven days later. If you dare, you can also watch Ring (リング, Ringu), the 1998 Japanese original that inspired the 2002 remake. This film was a powerful force in the world of horror, triggering both the Western popularization of Japanese horror and spurring Hollywood’s shift from slashers to more haunting, cerebral films in the 2000s.
Critic review from David Day: “The tone of The Ring is deadly serious, and it lands just right in the quiet of your darkened home on a Friday night. It feels morose and hopeless and creepy beyond compare.”
The Ring; Image credit: DreamWorks Pictures
8. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Now we will end with a cinematic legend that will linger in the dark corners of your mind. As a found footage film, you won’t have a choice but to feel the raw, writhing terror that slowly ensnares the ones behind the camera.
Critic review from Lloyd Rose: “The Blair Witch Project is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. Not the goriest, the grossest, the weirdest, the eeriest, the sickest, the creepiest or the slimiest… Just flat out the scariest.”
The Blair Witch Project; Image credit: Artisan Entertainment
We hope this list gives you some delightful frights without nasty sights! What are your top recommendations for horror movies without gore? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
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