10 Most Anxiety-Inducing Horror Movies EVER
1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
There's no denying that this one was a predictable pick for number one. There's also no denying, by anyone who has seen Tobe Hooper’s 1974 horror The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, that it's the film most deserving of the title "the most anxiety-inducing horror film ever".
Shot on a shoestring and featuring no recognisable famous faces, this gruesome cannibal horror is grimier, grittier, and more upsettingly "real" feeling than any number of reboots and sequels.
Where the director's own follow-up cast Dennis Hopper, this original features local non-professional actor who intensify its authentic and upsetting atmosphere.
Where the remake and later reboots featured flashy camerawork and impressive effects, the cheapness of this production is tangible in everything from the rundown settings to the greasy surfaces of the sets.
Yes, many later rip-offs attempted to ape this style and some come close, but even the film's lack of onscreen gore makes it a more upsettingly anxious watch. There are no unintentionally funny moments of comic relief where viewers can laugh at an unconvincing decapitation here. Instead, death takes place quickly, brutally, and often offscreen, with the audience eventually left as shattered as the film's disturbed heroine.