Top 10 Most Visually Striking Horror Movies
Olivia Owen news
Who knew terror could look so beautiful? From The Neon Demon, to The Exorcist, to It follows, these horror movies are eye-popping. WatchMojo ranks the top most visually striking horror movies.
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Special thanks to our user MattW128 for suggesting this idea!
For this list, we’re looking at horror films and thrillers that go above and beyond when it comes to their visual elements, with spectacular imagery as well as terrifying subject matter.
#10: “The Neon Demon” (2016)
Danish director Nicolas Winding-Refn’s blistering indictment of the fashion industry is as visually captivating as it is depressing. A classic tale of a starry-eyed young girl who arrives in Los Angeles with dreams of fashion model stardom, the film’s visual style is heavily influenced by the aesthetics of advertising and fashion photography, to the point where it almost feels like a glossy magazine ad come to life. The film’s lurid colors and surrealist visuals also draw heavily from Italian horror films, evoking the works of Dario Argento and Mario Bava among others. The fashion industry may look glamorous, but this film makes us want to appreciate it from afar.
#9: “Don’t Look Now” (1973)
The opening scene of this 1970s horror film may be familiar to Film Studies students, as it’s often shown as an example of the power of film editing. Specifically, the scene makes use of a technique called a graphic match cut. In one shot, a splotch of red across a projector slide creates a red smear across the bottom of the image. This shape is echoed in a subsequent shot, when the protagonist pulls the body of his daughter, clad in a bright red raincoat, from a pond. It may not be as visually decadent as some other films on our list, but the end result is no less striking.
#8: “It” (2017)
This 2017 horror sensation has a couple of similar qualities to our last entry, particularly a very calculated use of the color red. But if any element from the film’s collection of visuals sticks with us, it’s a technique that recurs throughout the film during the Losers’ Club’s many terrifying encounters with Pennywise. Often, like in the dancing scene that spawned an internet meme, Pennywise’s face will remain largely anchored in one part of the image, with everything else moving around it. It’s easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it, but it’s a creepy and unsettling detail once you notice it - one that helps puts that terrifying face front and center.
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#7: “Let the Right One In” (2008)
This darkly beautiful coming-of-age/vampire movie from Sweden manages the task of being at once understated and breathtakingly beautiful at the same time. While other films go absolutely crazy with their visuals, Tomas Alfredson’s tale of a young boy who falls in love with a vampire prefers to play it cool, with subtle top-notch visual presentation in almost every category we can think of. It just goes to show that, while flashy visual techniques are great, there’s a lot to be said about a movie whose visuals ooze with quiet confidence and grace from start to finish.
#6: “The Exorcist” (1973)
This film may be remembered for its disturbing and transgressive subject matter as much as anything else, but it’s absolutely no slouch in the visuals department. William Friedkin’s film is chock full of images that have ingrained themselves in the language of horror cinema, from the head-spin scene to the iconic shot of Father Merrin’s arrival at the MacNeil home. The film’s makeup and special effects, all wonderfully realized and able to hold up even forty years later, really work in concert with the fantastic visual presentation to create something that’s left a lasting mark on horror cinema itself.
#5: “Psycho” (1960)
We spoke earlier about the use of editing in horror, and in that department, it doesn’t get more groundbreaking or iconic than Alfred Hitchcock’s horror tour du force. Specifically, we’re talking about the iconic shower scene, which uses quick editing to communicate the terror and panic felt by the character before slowing down the pace to let the severity of the crime we just witnessed sink in. Throw in some more graphic-match cuts and a host of other visual tricks, and you’ve got a scene that shook audiences the world over and revolutionized how horror cinema is presented.
#4: “It Follows” (2014)
This 2010s horror film made massive waves upon its release, garnering rave reviews from horror fans and casual moviegoers alike. While many focused on the film’s subject matter and subtext, we’re no less entranced by the cinematography. The film’s opening sequence in particular, which consists of a simple, unbroken shot that pans to track its panicked subject, makes it clear from the moment it began that David Robert Mitchell’s breakout film is a cut above. This motif, as well as a tendency towards slow, creeping camera movements, is repeated numerous times throughout the film, creating a fascinating and hypnotic piece of cinema that we’re always happy to revisit.
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#3: “Alien” (1979)
If we’re talking about first-rate art direction, it doesn’t get much better than this sci-fi horror masterpiece. One could go on all day about the meticulously crafted sets and costumes that make the Nostromo one of the most enduringly convincing spaceships in film history. But it’s the work done by Swiss surrealist artist H.R Giger that makes this film the masterwork that it is. Giger’s designs for the alien ship, as well as its lethal inhabitant, were unlike anything audiences had seen before: grotesque, beautiful and incredibly striking, all rolled into one terrifying package. It’s the stuff that nightmares, and film history, are made of.
#2: “The Shining” (1980)
Stanley Kubrick’s sole entry in the horror genre is also one of his best - regardless of what critics at the time said. It’s a film packed to the rafters with iconic scenes and imagery, so much so that many of the finer details go unappreciated. A fan-favorite oft-overlooked detail is the fact that when you really pay attention to the layout of the Overlook Hotel, you realize that much of the interior space is technically impossible. We’d be tempted to call this an error if Kubrick weren’t a staunch perfectionist. It’s details like this that make the film’s visuals so deceptive, complex and nothing short of genius.
#1: “Suspiria” (1977)
Dario Argento’s legendary tale of witchcraft and terror at a prestigious ballet academy is often held up as one of the all-time greats of Italian horror, and for good reason. In addition to offering up a chilling atmosphere, a mesmerizing score and some seriously brutal gore, the film is also a visual marvel. Awash with lurid colored lighting and set against breathtaking sets, the film is a joy to behold from start to finish, a testament to Argento’s flair for visual extravagance. It’s gone on to influence countless subsequent horror movies, including the first entry on this very list. In terms of horror, it doesn’t get more visually striking than this.
