In our opinion, for supernatural horror films to be truly qualified as supernatural, there needs to be some evidence that the hauntings and coincidences are actually occurring in the film's narrative and not just in a character's head. So when we set out to make this list, we left movies likethe broadcast, where clearly inexplicable malevolence is afoot. (Remember, Jack may have seen ghosts, but so has his son. This tells us the Overlook Hotel is a place to avoid on your next movie vacation.)
Now that those ground rules are out of the way, let's share them13 Supernatural Horror Movies That Aren't Supernatural At AllRating: Movies we think have a simple explanation for their scary situations.
(NOTE: HEAVY, HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD, so if you don't want to be spoiled for every one of these movies, bookmark this article and see the ones that interest you before proceeding.)
13. Glas
Oculusis a rare achievement from WWE Studios that is poised, if not poised, to be a quality horror film. That's thanks in large part to writer-director Mike Flanagan, whose writing collaboration with Jeff Howard is an interesting entry on this list of supernatural horror movies that aren't supernatural at all, since they feature a lot of supernatural things. -In. A brother and sister with a dark past believe the horrors they experienced as children can be directly attributed to a possessed mirror.
However, there is ample evidence in the film that all supernatural events are seen through the eyes of one or the other, and since they both shared this horrifying experience from their parents trying to kill them, their visions are easily plausible to the damage caused attributed the incident. It's unclear if Flanagan wants you to think that way by the end of the film, but the evidence is overwhelming.
Kaylie (Karen Gillan) and her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) suffer knowing what their parents were trying to do. As children, we want to believe the best about our parents, so it's easier to blame our failures on an outside source. If both the mother and father were mentally ill, it is also easy to see how this might affect the daughter and son's later lives, especially since their understanding of the incident is linked to minigroup psychosis, which lingers from infancy to later life extended. adults, mixed with cohabitation. Love for the people who raised them.
For a superior Flanagan performance, check out his more straightforward suspense thriller,stay calm.
12. The number 23
There are better ways to mask a psychological horror film as something otherworldly than Jim Carrey's clumsy thriller.the number 23he does. First off, the true identity of Carrey, the author of the title book that hints at the bizarre coincidences surrounding the number 23, is telegraphed from the start. The premise gets sillier from there as your character is haunted by a murder he committed a few years earlier and escaped.
Now that he is a family man, guilt drives him away from his family, worried about killing again and that his next victims will be his wife and son. Add in a subplot about the man wrongly convicted of the earlier crime and you have another tangled mess from director Joel Schumacher (8MM, someone?). Of course, what's new about this film is that Carrey is trying his hand at serious acting. To that we say stick with itDie Truman Show.
11. The innkeepers
We know criticism is possible due to the ending scene, but here we go.the innkeepersDirector Ti West keeps things ambiguous and tells the story from Claire's (Sara Paxton) point of view until the end of the film. The ghosts we actually see are through Claire's eyes and don't significantly resemble what we see of the apparition in the final moments.
But what about this apparition, you ask? As we spend the last few moments inside Claire's mind, we can see that what is happening to her is completely different than what the other characters are seeing. No other characters actually saw the apparition, so it's very likely, and we'd even say likely, that the last moment Claire appears and the door closes is the last bit of consciousness that slips out of Claire's head. He eventually realizes that she is dead and believes that her ghost will continue to haunt the hotel. Slam says otherwise. He says, "No, that's the end of the line, Claire; that was her last thought before the void of death."
Of course, whether that's supernatural to you depends on your interpretation of the afterlife and how long we retain consciousness even after we've been pronounced dead. To each their own, but by the basic rules of the film, that's clearly not supernatural.
10. Black Swan
Fiery ballerina Nina (Natalie Portman) wants nothing more than to land the roleblack Swanfor future production. Unfortunately, he's a white swan through and through, and Lily (Mila Kunis) has the natural poignancy needed for the darker role. This setup creates a rivalry and then a dark and twisted friendship between the two.
What makes this otherworldly (and gruesome) on the surface are the visions Nina's character has as she becomes more and more obsessed with getting the part. This leads to her doing some pretty tricky things in the final act of the film; But to the film's credit, it never really tries to "fool" you that it's something it's not, since you get to spend more time with Nina. Still, it's hard to fully trust the insane plot because Nina distorts our perception of the authenticity of the other characters. Only when the 51 cards are on the table do we really see the film for what it is.
9. Hide and seek
A widower (Robert De Niro) and his daughter (Dakota Fanning) try to rebuild their lives after the suicide of their wife/mother. They're moving from their hometown of New York to a more remote location in upstate New York, but they're not moving alone. The daughter takes in an imaginary friend with murderous ambitions. For most of the film, director John Polson tries to convince you that this is a supernatural horror film.
They know that the daughter or father is the "friend", so they commit the murders that soon follow. Also, it's telegraphed that it's the father since they try so hard to make you believe the girl is crazy. There are no surprises along the way, giving you around 85-90 minutes of horror film trying to be supernatural, with most finding the twist at the 10 minute mark. Ultimately, it's a missed opportunity with such a strong cast and would probably be 100 times more compelling if told directly from the girl's perspective, where she creates an imaginary friend that she and the audience know doesn't exist . to appease this distraught janitor.
8. The boy
From the moment Greta, a young woman in an abusive relationship, flees to the UK to take a job as a nanny, we know something is wrong with the assignment. The "son" she will take care of is actually a porcelain doll named Brahms. Her elderly "parents" are going on vacation and need to make sure she is in the right hands. After they leave, strange things start happening to the doll: its apparent ability to move from room to room is the most important among them. The point is that these movements are conveniently shielded from the public eye.
We only find out why in the final moments of the film. Brahms, the namesake of the older couple's son who "died" at the age of eight, is not really a doll with supernatural abilities. He is the replacement for the psychopath who lives within the walls of the mansion. You owe wrist movements to your invisible guardian.
7. Carnival of Souls
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) survives a traumatic car accident. After that, she gets sucked into a mysterious carnival where tons of spooky things are going on around her, making her run for what she thinks is her life. A word of caution here: you might be inclined to declineCarnival of Soulsbecause a) you think it's the horrific 1998 remake and don't realize there was a classic horror movie just like thisPsychoBefore; or b) they've seen all these horribly obscure transfers over the years and assume a crappy print means a crappy movie.
Tip: Get the Criterion Collection DVD or watch your print on Hulu if you have it.Carnival of Soulsinspired other horror greats, such asSoul Survivor (1983)jJacob's ladder(a little further down this list). You'll understand it fully after you've seen all three movies and if you've just watched itJacob's ladder, so you probably already know what it's all about, so there's no point diving into spoilers.
6. The hands
For our money, Oliver Stone has never directed an easier or more entertaining film than this 1981 horror film starring Michael Caine. Yes, all of his critical acclaim and acclaim come from his more politicized efforts, butThe handIt's great because it's suspenseful and fun without succumbing to the frequent proselytization of Stone's later efforts.
Caine does a great job playing comic book artist Jon Lansdale, who loses his right hand in a car accident that still gives him goosebumps after all these years. His hand was never found, but Lansdale believes he followed him and is now doing very bad things. Stone makes sure you get most of the movie from Caine's point of view to keep the ruse going, but by the end you're pretty sure you know what's what. Still, it's so adept with well-drawn characters that you don't particularly care, you just want to see how things develop.
5. The Uninvited (2009)
you could name 2009The Mystery of the Two Sistersa new version ofThe story of two sisters, but in reality both films are based on a Korean folk tale filmed in 1924, 1936, 1956, 1962 and 1972. The Kingdom of Joseon (1392-1897).
The Mystery of the Two Sistersis based on two sisters' belief that their wicked stepmother is responsible for the death of their ailing biological mother. She was his house nurse and now he has his father in the palm of his hand. In addition, one of the sisters, our main character, was recently released from a mental institution. Now she has disturbing ghost visions that lead to a plot twist in the third act that reveals the hauntings, the crimes of the stepmother and even the other sister in the head of the violent and dangerous protagonist who suffers from personality problems. Disturbance. Disturbance.
4. Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's ladderIt has a lot more depth than the typical horror film. At the same time, it shows what the genre is capable of in the right hands. Tim Robbins plays Jacob, a Vietnam veteran mourning the death of his son. Meanwhile, he is being hunted by malevolent forces he knows little about. As the narrative progresses to the final act, it becomes clear that much of what Jacob sees does not correspond to reality.
Suffering from a severe case of dissociation, she must find out where her dreams and illusions end and her reality and life begin. The ending is moving and moving, with a very different tone to the rest of the film but with a reasonable resolution. Jacob essentially dies on an operating table in a shunter during the Vietnam War. The struggle you have experienced is your struggle to get out of the hell you are in and into the heaven that awaits you.
3. El Babadook
The Babadookflirts in many ways with the same subjects ashide and seek, but it does so in a much more competent way. Rather than basing its entire existence on a twist we see in the first five minutes, it takes root in the characters and makes us worry about what drives their horrifying experiences with the Babadook creature.
Amelia (Essie Davis) is mentally and emotionally drained after the death of her husband and the hateful antics of her 6-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman). As Samuel's fascination with the Babadook, a sinister creature from a children's book, invades their lives, they both begin to "see" it. In fact, the film uses the creature as a destructive symbol of Amelia's pain, which is in direct conflict with her desire to be a good mother and do good to her son. It's a conflict that puts both of them at risk until, at the film's climax, Amelia realizes that as long as the Babadook is controlled, it has its place.
2. The last round
the last curveis a cross between John CarpenterAttack on District 13and Ole Bornedalthe night watch,with a supernatural twist that isn't real if you stay to the end. This can be tricky as there are some surprisingly effective moments of suspense and horror that will haunt you long after the last frame.
Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) is an inexperienced cop assigned to guard a precinct that is scheduled to be closed on its final night. But cries for help from a girl on the run and sinfully strange sights in many corridors and cells lead her to believe something else is going on. A predictable but well-orchestrated climax reveals that Jessica has a fragmented, delusional personality and that what's going on in her mind will have deadly consequences in the real world. This is just as much fun in a group as it is alone. Add it to this year's Halloween playlist if you get the chance.
1st session 9
Strong cast. strong direction. Spooky environment.session 9It has everything. Not only is it our favorite type of movie like this, it's also one of our favorite horror movies, period. It has a surprising level of replayability, thanks to the fact that writer-director Brad Anderson digs his material and setting more for its inherent cunning than for any plot twists or horrors.
An asbestos cleanup team leader suffering from sleep deprivation and marital troubles agrees to a crazy turnaround time to clean up Danvers State Hospital. His crew members, who have been promised a bonus upon completion, follow him against their better judgment, even as they all struggle with their own conflicts, both with each other and with the asylum itself. The film has some pretty spooky moments and the various interactions with the asylum suggest that some kind of malevolent force might be haunting her. The ending then clears things up as Gordon, the leader of the crew, is revealed to have killed his wife and child before entering the crime scene. Any suggestion that something supernatural was the cause is tainted by the fact that our "evidence" was unfolding within Gordon's already damaged sanity.
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Next time you're in the mood for a horror movie with a supernatural twist, we think most of these movies will still do; but don't go into it to validate your belief in the supernatural because the evidence just isn't there. Which options on the list do you agree or disagree with? And what movies like this have we missed? Complain in the comments section!