10 Horror Movies Where You Don't See The Monster

Jacques Tourneur's legendary 1942 horror classic Cat People revolves around Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), a young woman who believes herself to be descended from an ancient tribe of people who will transform into panthers upon becoming sexually aroused.

As absurd as its premise might seem, Tourneur's film is a masterful horror for one major reason - it balances its heightened setup with enormous restraint.

Tourneur makes the bold decision to never show the Cat People to the audience, eschewing potentially silly monster makeup in favour of eerie shadow tricks and sound effects, trails of foot and paw prints, and the reactions of his characters.

While on one hand the mere $135,000 budget may have explained the lack of on-screen monsters, it was certainly a fortuitous result all things considered, building palpable mood and suspense through what we don't see.

Paul Schrader's 1982 remake meanwhile opts for a decidedly gorier and more sexually explicit affair where the titular creatures are shown, and while hardly a sacrilegious remake, it doesn't get under the skin nearly as effortlessly as the original.