Summary
Although horror films do a good job of scaring their audience, gothic horror has captured the magic of sending chills down your spine from the minute the movie starts. With their dark, moody Victorian Era-esque atmospheres and eerily beautiful settings, gothic horror movies blend thesupernaturaland the macabre while exploring their characters' states of mind.
A distinctive theme in gothic horror tales often sees its characters' narratives play out in dilapidated castles, mansions or abbeys, while exploring themes of paranoia, insanity and romantic tragedy. From adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe to original creations brought on-screen, here are some of the best gothic horror movies to get your horror fix.
10The Nun
2018
Following in the footsteps ofJames Wan’scelebrated Conjuring franchise, 2018’s The Nun finally shines the spotlight on the demon nunValak’sorigins. The movie takes place in an abbey in an isolated part of Romania, where a group of nuns has been praying constantly since the Middle Ages to prevent Valak’s return.
Although the story falls flat in some places, thejumpscaresand spooks are top-notch. The film also excelled at capturing the dark, creepy atmosphere of being stuck in a massive, ancient castle with barely any people around, tying in incredibly well with the other events in the Conjuring universe.
9The Woman In Black
2012
The Woman in Black is the first film Daniel Radcliffe has starred in since the Harry Potter series ended. Set during theVictorian Era, the movie stuns with its cinematography and effective use of its gloomy atmosphere to drive this exceptional ghost story.
Although the appearances of The Woman in Black herself are tastefully done, it’s the rising terror and dread that keeps that crippling sense of unease throughout the film. Radcliffe also gave a fantastic performance, portraying the widowed lawyer Arthur Kipps, who is sent to a small village in the middle of nowhere to sort out the documents of Eel Marsh House. Kipps soon finds that the desolate manor is haunted by the vengeful spirit of Alice Drablow, who’s been terrorising the area by orchestrating the deaths of the village’s children.
8Crimson Peak
2015
Crimson Peak brings out the best ofGuillermo del Toroand his love for gothic romance, horror and tragedy. The film was visually pleasing, from the set design of Allerdale Hall to the costumes and the artistic conception of the ghosts, which helped bring to life the macabre beauty of the world del Toro wanted to portray.
Crimson Peak has a star-studded cast, including Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, and Mia Wasikowska, all of whom did their respective roles justice. The story follows the wealthy Edith Cushing, who falls for industrialist Thomas Sharpe. After marrying Thomas, Edith moves into Allerdale Hall, where Thomas' sister, Lucille, also lives. However, Edith’s marriage isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, as the ghosts roaming Sharpe’s crumbling castle reveal that all is not as it seemed with the Sharpe siblings.
7Sleepy Hollow
1999
A Tim Burton classic, Sleepy Hollow stars the crème de la crème of Hollywood, from Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci to the late great Sir Christopher Lee. The movie was given the quintessential Tim Burton touch since the magnificent, atmospheric setting of Sleepy Hollow gives the film both a dark and magically enchanting quality.
Set in the late 1700s, the film casts Johnny Depp as the intelligent constable Ichabod Crane, who is sent to the tiny village of Sleepy Hollow to solve a series of brutal murders. Although disbelieving at first, Crane begins to realise that the Headless Horseman is real and is actually enacting the murders. But things aren’t as they seem as Crane delves deeper into the case in this macabre beauty of a film.
6The Devil’s Backbone
2001
Guillermo del Toro’s third film, The Devil’s Backbone, is a must-see, evocative and impactful gothic horror film that deals with themes of vengeance, greed, tragedy and war. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the movie is a visual masterpiece in its camerawork and gritty, sombre setting, with a well-paced storyline that’s chock-full of symbolism and emotional rollercoasters.
Carlos, a boy who’d recently lost his father, is taken to a desolate, crumbling orphanage as far away as possible from the war. However, not only does he face daily struggles wrought by the war, but also unfriendly caretakers and bullying from the other boys. Aside from this, he begins to encounter the spectre of a murdered boy, Santi, who used to live alongside the other orphans. The film depicts the horrifying, inescapable effects of war, while also wrestling with monsters much closer to home.
5Bram Stoker’s Dracula
1992
A gothic horror romance in every sense of the word, Francis Ford Coppola does a tragically beautiful and respectable adaptation of Dracula’s tale in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Although Keanu Reeves' performance was less than stellar, Gary Oldman went above and beyond in his portrayal of Count Dracula.
Not only are the setpieces utterly gorgeous in their detail, but both the costumes and dialogue are what help bring the age-old story of Dracula to life in all its romantic tragedy. The film follows barrister Jonathan Harkner’s attempt to save his fiancée, Mina, from Dracula’s clutches after the vampire discovers she is the incarnation of his deceased wife.
4The Uninvited
1944
The Uninvited is an underrated gothic horror film that revolves around the haunted Windward House and its tragic past. Despite the eerie, unnerving moments in the film, it’s occasionally interjected by romance and brief moments of levity that works due to its top-notch script.
The story follows the Fitzgerald siblings, Rick and Pamela, who become enchanted with Windward House and buy it off of Commander Beech for a suspiciously cheap price. It doesn’t take long for the house’s ghosts to make themselves known, and the siblings start to dig deeper into the house’s history. A tragic love triangle, two murders and more dark secrets fill the narrative of this old classic, with an unexpected twist at the end.
3The Others
One of Nicole Kidman’s finest works, The Others, is directed and written by Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar. It is set in 1945, after the end of World War II. The story focuses on Grace Stewart and her two young children, who all live in a manor on Jersey Island, where all its curtains are kept closed because of the children’s extreme sensitivity to sunlight.
From the film’s beginning, subtle clues are peppered in the setting and the dialogue that Grace and her children are not as they seem. Unlike most ghost films, The Others makes us believe we’re seeing a small family living in a haunted house, only to masterfully flip the tables on the audience in its spectacularly done twist ending. The Others is a film worth watching, with its impeccable camerawork, Kidman’s performance, and suspense-ridden narrative that doesn’t rely on jumpscares to scare you.
2The Haunting
1963
In the first adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s celebrated novel The Haunting of Hill House, director Robert Wise chose to do the movie in black and white, and it was certainly the right choice. 1963’s The Haunting is very much apsychological horror, where the monster or ghost is never seen, but certain characters succumb to the madness engendered by the atmosphere of Hill House.
The movie was largely a faithful portrayal of the novel, telling the story of a group of four people who were investigating (and trying to prove) the paranormal occurrences in Hill House. The massive house affects each of the characters in different ways, as unexplained events such as disembodied voices and strange noises start happening. Although Mike Flanagan’s 2018 Netflix show The Haunting of Hill House was a critically acclaimed smash hit, The Haunting is well worth going back to for a traditional ghost story.
1The Innocents
1961
The Innocents is a gripping depiction of terror, paranoia and the slow spiral towards insanity. Based on Henry James' 1898 novel, The Turn of the Screw, the film is quite accurate when comparing it to the source material, as we follow a governess, Ms Giddons, and her belief that the children under her care have been possessed.
However, throughout the film, Ms Giddons has proven to be an unreliable narrator. Although we see and hear ghostly apparitions and unexplained noises alongside the governess, we start to question if Ms Giddons' experiences were real or an imagination borne out of her fear and isolation. Deborah Kerr gave a marvellous performance as Ms Giddons, but the child actor Martin Stephens stole the show as the boy Miles.
