10 Amazing Psychological Horrors You've Never Heard Of

Find out what you have been missing by not seeing these great psychological horrors.

daniel isn't real
Samuel Goldwyn Films

It's a genre that can be painfully hit or miss. Overshoot the complexity and you've got a boring, nonsensical drag of a film, undershoot it and you've got a bland and unoriginal barely-horror. Manage to hit the nail on the head, though, and there really is nothing quite as good as a psychological horror.

They have all the satisfaction and intrigue of a thriller and all the added tension of the classic horror. This melding of sub-genres has produced some of the best films of the past few years: everything from the slow-burning terror of Hereditary to the confounding experience of Suspiria.

We all know the big psychological thrillers and horrors - you would be hard pressed to find someone who hadn't heard of Shutter Island or Midsommar, for example. But what about those lowkey gems that managed to pass you by?

Over the past few decades we have been gifted with a number of underappreciated psychological horrors that haven't got the praise they deserve yet. Here we will look at just a few of these flicks that you may have missed...

10. Unsane

daniel isn't real
20th Century Fox

Directed by the award-winning Steven Soderbergh, this film tells the unfortunate story of a woman wrongfully held in a psychiatric hospital.

After making an appointment to see a psychiatrist because she is struggling to deal with her trauma of being stalked, she unwittingly agrees to being held in the institution for 24 hours - a time period which eventually extends to much longer.

She soon realises that there’s something very wrong going on at the hospital, and on top of that her stalker appears to be closer than ever and posing as an employee. Even in what is meant to be a protective place, he always finds his way to her.

Secrets unfold as our protagonist’s life falls down around her and it seems that there’s no safety from her own demons. It’s a well-paced, well-constructed little number and, with a great performance from Claire Foy as our frontrunner, is well worth a watch if you’re after some stalker-based scares.

Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's shortest contributor (probably). Lover of cats, baked goods and Netflix Originals.