There's a saying in theatre that the devil you know is safer than the devil you don't. Not all horror movies need to rely on jump scares, special effects, and gratuitous amounts of gore to be scary. Sometimes it's more fun just to screw and skew the audience's perception.
Though not easy to manipulate, a horror movie's sense of reality can make or break its scare factor. The best entries in the genre will have audiences questioning how much is real, who's really in danger, how much is actually a threat, and if the entire thing isn't all in someone's fractured psyche.
The Haunting (1963 Version)
Although the Netflix adaptation of Shirley Jackson's horror classic might be the more popular version, the original horror flick featuring the titular Hill House made its debut in 1963. Viewers will find no CGI specters or graphic special effects, but they will be treated to haunted happenings on a more subtle scale.
Reality is highly suspect with a protagonist suffering from past trauma being placed in a location with an eerie history. Yes, things move on their own, and eerie noises are heard, but viewers are meant to question just how much is actual supernatural activity, and how much is all in Elanor's imagination.
It
Pennywise is 100% real, that fact is made early on. But fans of both the book and the film adaptations will know that he's not the only evil entity that calls Derry home. Granted, most of the horrific encounters had by the Losers Club are courtesy of a certain demonic clown, but what about products of their own childhood traumas?
Pennywise might feed on these fears, but he doesn't cause them alone. From Henry Bowers and his gang of bullies to Beverly's abusive father, the Losers are all carrying some form of emotional experiences that might trigger flashbacks and disturbing memories.
The Babadook
There is definitely something supernatural at work in this unsettling horror gem, but as with Pennywise, how much of it is truly the monster's fault">due to the presence of Mr. Babadook, but grief and stress have been known to make many people do things they shouldn't.
The film is often considered an allegory for grief, depression, and coping with loss. Amelia is already struggling with grief, insomnia, and a son with erratic behavior, so it makes the viewers wonder if the Babadook is really possessing her, or if this is a woman finally pushed to her breaking point?
Krampus
The main reason this holiday horror flick gets a mention is its ambiguous ending. After seeing the Engle family go literally through hell and back on one dark and gloomy Christmas Eve, the rug is pulled out from under the viewers when the camera pans away to reveal the house is being kept inside a snowglobe on one of Krampus's shelves.
This, of course, brings up more questions than it answers. Was everything all just a dream per the standard cliché? Did Max's selfless act cause Krampus to undo his curse? Did any of it really happen? There are no wrong (or definitive) answers.
Black Swan
A Black Swan show a glimpse into the cutthroat world of ballet, but it does so in a creative and unique way of visualizing a character's mental breakdown.
Nina has dedicated her life to becoming a lead dancer, but her ambitious efforts don't come without the price of her mental and physical health. When her role as the Swan Queen is threatened, it manifests itself as Lily, Nina's rival. But is Lily really the evil antagonist Nina makes her out to be? Or is Nina battling her own demons?
The Lighthouse
There is such a thing as too complex, but that's part of the reason The Lighthouse has earned the reputation of being one of the most ambiguous horror flicks out there. Several strange and unusual factors contribute to the film's shaky reality.
On one hand, it could be the effects of prolonged isolation and starvation setting in on the two wickies. On the other, it could all be a giant hallucination from Ephriam Winslow's guilty conscience. With so many trippy visuals, nightmare sequences, and omens and themes of cursed fates, it can be very easy to get lost in the film's heavy narrative.
Secret Window
As well as being one of Johnny Depp's most underrated performances, Secret Window has more twists and turns than a dark ride at Disneyland, and it comes with all the trimmings and trappings of a horror story by King and a psychological character study.
When a writer is accused of plagiarism by a mysterious stranger, he's beset by his acc's violent threats and mysterious vendetta. People are murdered, heads are turned, and identities and innocence are both called into question. But it's the grand finale that earns the film some serious applause.
1408
Along with It and Secret Window, Stephen King has a bonafide talent for turning reality on its head. 1408, however, turns that idea all the way up to 11. When a skeptical writer spends a night in a dangerously haunted hotel room, he's plagued by both visions of the hotel's haunted history and his own fractured past.
Every time the door opens, there's something supernatural on the other side. And as with all Stephen King stories in this vein, everything is highly suspicious. Sanity, reality, the afterlife, and even the reliability of the protagonist are all called into question.
American Psycho
There is a laundry list of reasons why the events in both the book and the movie, American Psycho, all might be products of Patrick Bateman's cocaine-fueled fever dream. The line between reality and imagination is continuously blurred throughout the production, and it's been the subject of debate for years.
Slightly absurd, but unapologetically scary, the film is an '80s era bloodbath. Patrick is shown killing multiple people, but the bodies seemingly disappear and some of his victims are alluded to still being alive later in the film (i.e. the business card exchange). So how much is really to be believed?
The Others
Considered to have one of the greatest twists in horror history, The Others is a unique approach to the haunted house/possession film. It's a slow burn but delivers on one of the biggest and best endings that will have nearly all first-time viewers scratching their heads.
Without giving up a massive spoiler, The Others shows that the ghosts in a haunted house aren't always the invasive characters. Sometimes the living cause more trouble for the dead than they know.
