Horror for the Hesistant

Because horror isn't just about constant jump scares galore, despite most people thinking it is.

For anyone who wants to watch a horror film that isn’t a traditional jump scare horror, here are a few recommendations from me to you.

Plenty more out there in the horror sub genres too, this is just a few selections, as I believe if someone says that don’t like horror films, they just haven’t found the right sub genre.

Horror doesn’t just = lots of jump scare attempts, so here are some films I would recommend that don’t rely on jump scares, because you know, dread can work in a number of ways, and horror can be done in a number of ways too.

Gatekeeping = bad, but anyway, here are a couple of other horror articles to check out after, too.

The Many Faces of Horror Movie Subgenres

6 Horror Comedies That Are Actually Hilarious

The Others

Nicole Kidman in a big old mansion with two kids who can’t touch sunlight, where you just watch them try to live while weird stuff happens around them, and most of the film is simply spent watching this family stick to a strict routine, and trying to keep everything under control while living in a house that seems determined to make that impossible.

It’s better than I have just made it sound though.

Get Out

Daniel Kaluuya meets girlfriend’s family, and it all seems normal, but slowly you realize everything is wrong, and Jordan Peele uses the setup to say a lot about race, but he never forgets to make the film entertaining either.

It's smart, funny, uncomfortable in all the right ways, and one of those films that becomes even better once you start thinking about everything it was really saying underneath the surface.

Rosemary’s Baby

Mia Farrow is pregnant, and the neighbors are weird, and it’s a film where nothing flashy happens, just a slow, unsettling watch where everything feels wrong, and while some people will find it boring, for me t’s simply pyschological horror done perfectly, so just be warned, it’s slow, but it’s also a classic for a reason.

The Cabin in the Woods

College kids in a cabin where verything seems normal, before it’s not, with tropes galore getting flipped - it’s part horror, part satire, and it keeps you guessing while also making you laugh at what it’s doing.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Two sisters, with one being a tad unhinged, and the tension is insane.

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford actually hated each other in real life, and you feel that hate in some scenes too - no monsters needed here – just people.

You’re Next

A family reunion happens but masked intruders show up – it’s a calm, almost ordinary-looking film that slowly turns unsettling, relying on strong mood and soft-spoken horror - also funny in a dark way, and the characters aren’t idiots either, and I’d say it is also fairly clever horror, which is rare.

It Follows

Girl sleeps with someone, and something starts following her - simple, and uncomplicated built on a basic idea that keeps growing in discomfort the longer you watch with a constant sense of being watched and never really safe.

Unknown = scary.

The Wicker Man

You could add any folk horror film really, as not many are use tradintional horror aspects, as that’s not what folk horror is about, but since The Wicker Man is a favorite of mine, about a police officer who travels to a remote island to investigate a missing girl.

It’s slow, creepy, controlled, and uncomfortable in a way that builds rather than explodes, where the horror somes from realising how far outside the normal world the main character has ended up without ever noticing the exact moment it happened.

It also has one of the best endings ever.

Deadstream

Deadstream is a horror-comedy, and is severely underrated in my view, where it balances the horror and comedy better than most, and while it does have a couple of jump scares, it’s nothing major, so I’m including it.

It starts off funny in a cringe way, then slowly turns into funny panic, and does the haunted house gimmick incredibly well, where the mix of humour and horror works so well simply because neither side fully disappears like in some other films of the same nature.