Psychological horror movies are an interesting phenomenon in pop culture. We love watching these movies because they give us a different feeling of dread than we get from your standard ghost or monster movie. Most of the time, these are even scarier than what we get from some body horror monster movies. But why? At the core of these movies is one idea that scares us more than any monster could… people. Psychological horrors scare us because they are about people doing people things.
Get a cup you monsters!
We know monsters don’t exist, and it’s easy to dismiss the movies as pretend and fantasy, but with psychological horrors, it’s hard to get away from the idea that this could happen at any time, to anyone, anywhere.
Take "The Strangers," starring Liv Tyler, for example. This is one of my favorite horror movies, namely because it is a story of two people being targeted by, you guessed it, strangers for random violence. The most chilling line in that whole movie is when Liv Tyler asks, “Why are you doing this to us?” and their reply is “Because you were home.” I got chills just writing that line. In most movies, someone is targeted for a reason. “You dumped pig blood on me”; “my family lures in victims like you to murder”; “I don’t like the ending to your story”; “I have to figure out how to lose a guy in 10 days”. In "The Strangers," three people drove down the street, saw a light on, and decided to kill two innocent people. There was no rhyme or reason, there was only opportunity.
No Thanks
It also goes against almost every psychology study ever done on murderers and assassins. In Gavin DeBecker’s book "The Gift of Fear," Gavin talks about how violence is not random. Targets are picked with reason. It’s the school bully, it’s an overbearing mother, it’s a cheating wife or husband, it’s a celebrity that will make you famous. There are reasons for someone to get up in the morning and choose violence. In this movie, there was no reason other than they were home. They didn’t know them, they didn’t plan out how they would do it, they just saw they were home, walked into their house and tried to kill them. That’s a scary thought that will linger with you forever. No matter what kind of person you are, as long as you’re home, someone can try to brutally murder you.
Another great example of a psychological horror that will take up permanent headspace is "Seven," starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. In this fantastic movie, a serial killer decides to commit a series of murders based on the seven deadly sins in the name of God. It’s just a deranged man doing what he believes is the lord’s work by committing murder. While the body count is not high, it puts a scary thought in your head that just by indulging, by living, by being Gwenyth Paltrow, you are a potential target for a serial killer. It’s scary to think that you potentially and unknowingly have someone you’ve never met, drawing up plans on how they are going to brutally murder you when you have done absolutely nothing to them. It’s not only scary, it’s plausible and that plausibility is what really creates the fear this movie brings. This person CAN exist and possibly does. This is a movie that unsettles you and contains a mind-blowing and easily quotable ending.
"What's in the BOOOOOX?"
Psychological horror movies leave you with an unanswered question, “how could someone do that?” We get why the monsters are doing it. They’re monsters. They prey on victims and eat, dismember, or tear them apart. It’s not so easy when humans are the antagonist. We don’t get how a human goes to that level and we’re left wondering if and when it can really happen. We know monsters don’t exist, but there are plenty of "Dateline" episodes showing us that sick and twisted people exist. That’s what truly makes these movies scarier than any Freddy, Jason, or Alien movie.
A movie that is less thought of as a psychological horror movie is "The Mist," starring Thomas Jane. You may be thinking to yourself that this is a monster movie but you would be wrong. The premise of this movie is that an interdimensional portal was opened and monsters came through on a wave of mist and trapped a lot of people in a grocery store where they barricaded themselves to stay safe. Well here’s the thing, the monsters are a catalyst for the actual story taking place inside the store which resembles a "Lord of the Flies" scenario. The townsfolk create a mini-community within the store in order to survive what is being interpreted as an apocalypse. During this time, cliques and alliances are made, people start following an insane religious leader, and Sam Witwer gets fed to the monsters as a human sacrifice.
The movie is wild. But it deals with the psychology of people in an inescapable situation and the mental toll it takes on them which leads to a little bit of murder. That’s how this is a psychological horror, it’s not about the monsters outside, it’s about the monsters inside. Even if you, as yourself, 100% believe that you would never be one of the crazies in the store, that doesn’t mean that someone else who is desperate and falling apart wouldn’t be. When you picture yourself in that scenario, you already know you can’t trust anyone and being in a building with 80ish people you don’t trust would make you fall apart. The movie does a great job of this, building tensions among everyone and suspense of what will happen next as people go mad.
Pictured here is "Nope!"
That’s our fascination with these movies and that’s why they are the scariest movies of all. It’s plausible and it’s real. We see it every day on the news. Sure there are no monsters like in "The Mist" but replace them with a flood or any major storm and you have all the kindling you need for that scenario to become a reality, i.e., "Alive." These movies may just be exaggerations of real-life events, but at the same time, you can imagine it happening to you and isn’t that part of the fun?
So lock your doors, load your guns, and make sure your alarm system is on. Because as these movies show us, anyone, at any time, can come to your door, put your head in a box, and mail it to your significant other in the desert.
Sweet dreams!
Written by Adam Krause. Combat veteran, horror enthusiast, and Podcaster. You can follow him on Twitter @InfantryAdam.
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