10 Scariest Movies That Aren't Horror

Though some might well consider it a card-carrying horror movie, David Fincher's Zodiac is better categorised as a crime thriller/police procedural - and an exquisitely well-crafted one at that.

From start to finish, this dramatisation of the Zodiac Killer's rampage across the San Francisco Bay Area is utterly soaked with dread, Fincher building an atmosphere of deep unease that's all the more unsettling because - spoilers! - Zodiac remains at large to this very day.

Fincher does his level-best to erode the facade of safety that most movies put up, instead acutely reminding audiences that they never know who they're going to encounter out on the street on any given day.

No fantastical monsters are necessary here - with a mere flesh-and-blood antagonist, Zodiac delivers one of the most chilling cat-and-mouse games in cinema history, underlining the cold brutality with which serial killers operate.

While many serial killer movies love to play fast and loose with the facts for dramatic effect, Fincher's fastidiously researched and meticulously detailed approach finds true terror in the distressingly everyday.