Horror is an incredibly popular genre, which is strange considering people continue to watch films whose sole purpose is to scare them. Whether it’s the shocking deaths, like Charlie’s in Hereditary, or because they are based on true events like The Strangers, people tune in for the thrill that comes from watching a scary movie.
For some, it’s the gore-filled scenes and the use of special effects that help make a scary movie too scary. For others, low-budget horror films like Terrifier and Lights Out can incite enough fear. Most can appreciate an impactful final scene like in The Blair Witch Project. Whether you like seeing your phobias played out on screen or you just enjoy a good scare, here are 15 of the scariest films that people have dubbed too scary to watch more than once.
Updated on August 3rd, 2023 by Federico Furzan: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
Warning: Entries may include potential spoilers.
15 Sinister (2012)
For some, Sinister was considered a breakout role in horror for Ethan Hawke. The 2012 horror film placed Hawke as a true crime writer who moves his family into a new home where the previous owners were murdered. He finds a box of Super 8 tapes in the attic that depict murders that date back to the 1960s.
He becomes obsessed with the tapes and with solving the murders, which brings him unknowingly face to face with a sinister force that uses children to murder their families. Thanks to the nature of children committing murders, this film is often considered too scary to watch more than once.
14 The Descent (2005)
The Descent is a 2005 horror film with an almost entirely female cast. The women go on a caving expedition a year after Sarah’s husband and daughter are killed in a tragic accident. The semi-professional group is used to caving, but even they were unprepared for what they found in the depths.
When the group gets stuck in a new cave without a map, they find that they’re not the only ones down there. Between the creatures stalking them and the tension of some revealed secrets, The Descent is often called one of the scariest films of the 2000s.
13 The Strangers (2008)
The Strangers is famously based on true events, which increases its overall scare factor. The 2008 film takes place in an isolated summer vacation home where a young couple is stalked by three assailants in masks, simply “because they were home.”
As the film progresses, the masked individuals become increasingly more violent and ultimately deadly. This progression of thrill and the limited dialogue by the stalkers makes The Strangers one of the most terrifying films ever made.
12 Hereditary (2018)
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Hereditary uses the supernatural as its backing to create a scary movie that is hard to watch more than once. It follows a family who has ties to a sinister presence that threatens to tear the family apart after the passing of a grandmother.
They discover more about the grandmother’s dark beliefs and connection to an ancient cult. However, the accidental death of their daughter Charlie sets the Grahams into a downward spiral of possession, family values, and extreme violence.
11 Hell House LLC (2015)
We guarantee that if you watch Hell House LLC more than once, the second time you will probably be among friends, or all the lights will be on. This found footage gem from the 2010s tells the story of a group of friends who decide to get together and set up a haunted house for Halloween.
However, they do it in a location that’s actually haunted. Survivors suddenly have to deal with murderous clowns, a terrifying lady with white eyes, and a purely frenetic third act. Hell House LLC is pure nightmare fuel, which is made even better with the Director’s Cut.
10 Terrifier (2016)
The Terrifier franchise, whose success has continued to grow since the All Hallows’ Eve films, uses a murderous clown to develop its concept. The use of clowns in films is not a new concept, but what helps the Terrifier franchise stand apart from the other horror films are the completely sadistic and gore-filled acts by Art the Clown.
He not only enacts horrific deaths, but his overall demeanor is enough to make the film hard to watch more than once. And if the first Terrifer film proved to be too much for horror fans, then it’s likely that Terrifer2 will push those fans past the rest of their limits for gore and violence.
9 Smile (2022)
Smile is one of the most recent horror films on this list. While the film received mixed reviews, they all concluded that the use of a spiritual entity and the unsettling grin plastered on the faces of those who are forced to end their lives is downright haunting.
This entity attacks those who have witnessed trauma, another unsettling feeling that most people can relate to. Each possessed victim crafts a dark new grin that will haunt viewers of the sure-to-be modern classic. However, it’s the final gut-wrenching scene that will keep fans from rewatching the 2022 hit.
8 The Ring (2002)
The Ring used a popular recreational item as a portal for a sinister entity to stalk its victims for a week before killing them. Of course, we’re talking about VHS tapes. When the tape falls into the hands of an investigative journalist, she has one week to uncover the truth behind the urban legend.
Unfortunately, her investigation soon becomes personal when her son watches the tape, and she has to try to save his life before time runs out. The 2002 film is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film Ringu but with a bigger focus on the horror aspect. The Japanese film is considered more of a mystery, but it’s also incredibly scary.
7 Lights Out (2016)
Lights Out is another low-budget film that did not expect to gain such a large following. The 2016 film stars Teresa Palmer as Rebecca, a woman who’s been tasked with taking care of her brother after he is terrorized by an entity attached to their mother.
This same entity used to scare Rebecca when she was younger. This film uses people’s fear of the dark to entice its thrilling experience. When it comes to jump scares, this one will chill you to the bone. Lights Out is actually based on a short feature about a ghost by the night table lamp that some fans might have seen online first.
6 The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project is the greatest found footage film ever made. The film is actually a supercut of the footage filmmakers shot when doing a documentary about a local legend. From the start, you know the students who filmed the footage have been missing for a year.
This allows the viewers to watch the events unfold with the knowledge that it won’t end well for the filmmakers. As the students start to go missing, we lost any hope of them ever being found alive. This one is downright terrifying, but it’s the final scene that burned itself into the collective consciousness of the ’90s.
5 Insidious (2010)
2010’s Insidious features one of the best jump scares in horror film history. When the Lambert family is about to learn the truth about their son’s potential possession, Insidious takes things a step further and allows the viewers to get an up-close look at the entity that is actually plaguing Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson).
This not only foreshadowed the ongoing plot of the sequels that involved the Lambert family, but it also effectively terrified everyone watching and convinced them to put the film on the shelf for good once it was finished. Insidious has since gone on to spawn a popular franchise, although the original is often regarded as the best and the scariest in the series.
4 Lake Mungo (2008)
Lake Mungo is a subtle mockumentary about a family grieving the loss of one of their members, and the strange occurrences that begin happening soon after the body is found. We won’t spoil more because this is one that’s better seen.
However, we can say that Lake Mungo features one of the best jump scares in cinema history. Because it happens in a mockumentary, fans aren’t really prepared and that’s the beauty of this finely crafted import from Australia.
3 The Exorcist (1973)
1973’s The Exorcist is the finest horror film ever made, and there is a reason for that. The 50-year-old film tells the story of a mother whose girl gets possessed by “the Devil himself,” though it’s really the unkillable demon known as Pazuzu.
At least that’s what the tricky demon says to one of the priests that decide to take over the medical trials before declaring it a full-blown possession. We don’t have to tell you much about this one, but chances are if you saw it, you’re still traumatized by the crucifix scene and you fast-forward it during every rewatch.
2 The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a perfect ghost movie. It’s purposefully disorienting, greatly acted, and downright scary. It tells the story of the Torrance family as they get isolated by the winter months as caregivers in the mountain-set Overlook Hotel.
Soon after their arrival, a natural propensity for violence makes the husband and father Jack an appropriate vessel for ghosts who want to wreak havoc in this realm. His young son’s developing psychic abilities allow him to see the evil of the Overlook while his father falls under its control in one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever.
1 Noroi: The Curse (2005)
It’s time to call Noroi: The Curse a modern horror classic. The Japanese horror film isn’t quite prominent in the J-Horror movement because it’s not conventional. But it’s potentially more effective than any other horror film of the 2000s.
The use of realism, the disturbing imagery, and the fact that it combines mockumentary resources with found footage tropes make Noroi: The Curse stand out. It’s a jarring film told from the perspective of a documentary filmmaker who goes too deep when exploring a local legend. You won’t have fun with this one because it’s very unsettling.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
