10 Best Horror Movies Where Nobody Dies
Who'd have thought you could have such a good time without a single death?
Horror movies and death go hand in hand. When we hear the word horror, we know we're in for a gruesome ride, and a huge part of that is smearing people's insides as far and wide as possible across the largest surface area to the screams, and cheers, of a captive audience. Such is entertainment, really, as Gladiator battles, murder mysteries, and bloodsports have proven for many years beforehand: a little bit of death spices everything up.
So what happens when you take out the key element that watchers are turning up for? A horror movie has to work far harder to remain engaging when its main set pieces of blood and guts are stripped away, but it often results in some of the most impressive feats of film in the genre. Horror without a body count has room to build atmosphere and tone in a completely different way, making for a new kind of experience that sticks with you far longer than a simple disemboweling.
Whilst supernatural entities and animals might not have been so lucky, these movies all managed to avoid racking up a human death toll by the close of their credits, much to their own gain...
10. The Babadook
Easily one of the best horror movies of this generation, The Babadook manages to muster up its horror without ever laying out a single character - instead laser-focussing itself on a jet-black tone and a remarkably original monster born from a children's pop up book.
The titular Mr. Babadook is a lurking, shadowy creation that's intent on setting grieving single mother Amelia against her young son Samuel, playing on the families fractured relationship by harbouring fear and resentment between the two as they attempt to outrun his reach.
Personifying a literal looming spectre of Amelia's packed away grief at losing her husband, The Babadook isn't there to outright murder anyone, but rather oppress the young family's happiness and appear as the all-consuming emotional trauma that still hasn't been dealt with.
His ability to shift in and out of darkness, uttering spine-tingling sounds and slowly souring the pair's lives is quietly frightening, but never understated. Mr. Babadook really is the stuff of nightmares.