10 Best Gothic Horror Films

Now, by today’s standards this isn’t a particularly hard horror film, but the grim tone and admittedly frightening central character makes it certainly feel like one!

Made in 1928, the film explores a touching and tragic love story in a similar way to Frankenstein and even Dracula to some extent. However there is no monster, just a lonely and mistreated man. This makes us examine a different type of horror altogether: the horror of our own prejudice.

Based on Victor Hugo’s novel, which is unsurprisingly not the cheeriest read, the film was a German Expressionism gamble from an American studio, which was initially met with very negative responses. Seen as too sad, too overblown and overall an unpleasant experience. Sounds exactly like what a goth would put in their Tinder bio to be honest.

The film also went on to inspire one of the most infamous and compelling characters in all of fiction. He’s quite niche so you may not have heard of him.

DC made a villain called The Joker based off the imagery of The Man Who Laughs, and two incarnations of the character on screen have won Academy Awards for their portrayal.

As I said, pretty niche.