There's a saying in theatre that states the devil you know is safer than the devil you don't, and movies like It Comes At Night and Ari Aster's work are great examples of the practice. Sometimes the unknown or the unnatural can be much more terrifying than any masked slasher with a chainsaw.
It's not so much that these films rely on someone hiding in the shadows and yelling boo, but rather the audience knows something is wrong but can't identify what. While jump scares and other such tactics might be sparsely employed, the real horror in these movies comes from both knowing and not knowing what might be in store.
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
Sometimes, the scariest movies are the ones where nobody dies, and Disney's Something Wicked This Way Comes is a brilliant example. Based on the book by Ray Bradbury, the film tells the story of what happens when a mysterious carnival lurks into town one windy October.
Led by the mysterious Mr. Dark, Cooger and Dark's Shadow Show has the uncanny ability to grant anyone's wishes and make their dreams come true. But like with most things Disney, all magic comes at a price. When two boys and the local librarian are able to see through the illusions, a slow-burning battle with the freakshow for the souls of the town takes place.
The Wicker Man (1973)
The original Christopher Lee is the only true horror element
Like so many movies of its vain, the film presents a scenario where the audiences are aware something is up, they just don't know it until the protagonist does. Only after it's too late does the true horror come to light.
Antebellum (2020)
The horror elements are a great deal more present in Antebellum, but it's not so much of the "everybody's going to die" horror as it is the return of horrible acts from the past. In the film, an African-American activist is kidnapped from her modern setting and thrown back into what appears to be the antebellum south where she and others are cast as slaves on a plantation.
From the get-go, both she and the viewers know something's not right and this can't be real. The horror in movies like Antebellum comes in trying to figure out how to get back home and escape this regressive nightmare. Well not as subtle as it could be, it's a different type of scary.
The Strangers (2008)
Masked murderers and home invasions are nothing new in the horror world, but The Strangers from 2008 was a movie that not only took its time with its scares, but also played with certain tropes and elements of the slasher genre while maintaining an original identity. This wasn't Jason Voorhees hacking up campers, it was a team of killers working as a unit slowly picking off their victims.
The killers are slow, subtle, and silent as they carry out their dark deeds. With the use of position, lighting, and visuals, the audience can track them better than the hapless couple they stalk. Simply put, sometimes slow and steady wins the race.
Get Out (2017)
With this twisted psychological thriller, Jordan Peele made a name for himself in the horror industry. Dealing with sensitive topics of race, culture, and even ableism, the comedian turned director created a slow-burning yet incredibly chilling horror experience that one him an Academy Award.
Once more, audiences are presented with a film that plays with their environment and perception. They know something is up, and eventually so does the protagonist. It's only when the psychedelic hypnosis sequences are introduced does the horror take a more in-your-face approach.
Hush (2016)
If John Carpenter's Hush is not a slasher film, at least in a conventional sense. Hush is a film that plays with the audience's environment in a sensory way, rather than by scares alone.
The film's heroine is a deaf author, so the filmmakers make use of that factor in their sound direction. It's a very immersive film that manages to turn the typical home-invasion tropes on their heads.
The Awakening (2011)
The Awakening is a gothic horror movie, but it plays with the viewers' expectations. It does follow a few haunting movie tropes, but they're used as a form of misdirection. In a plot concerning a ghost-hunter investigating mysterious events at a boarding school, a murder mystery and a rich suspense story lie under the guise of a supernatural horror movie.
It's a horror movie that those used to the tropes might be thrown for a loop. Without going into spoiler territory, it's a brilliant work of atmospheric suspense that fans of supernatural/paranormal films will devour.
The Haunting (1963)
The Haunting of Hill House might be one of the more current renditions of Shirley Jackson's classic novel, but the 1963 film, The Haunting, took a more subtle approach to this tale of haunted mansions, past trauma, and supernatural happenings. In fact, some viewers have debated whether or not the ghosts are even real.
It's this ambiguity of reality that makes Hill House's ghosts scary, not the presence of actual spirits created by cheesy effects. Suggestion is a powerful thing, and it's definitely an element that works in the film's favor.
The Others (2001)
The power of suggestion can make for some interesting horror, but so can the power and placement of perspective. The Others is a fascinating take on the traditional haunted house movie, but the point of view and the twist ending is where the real scares come from.
More unsettling than literally scary, the theme of ghosts inhabiting a haunted house is turned around in such a way that so much is questioned that reality starts to fall apart. It's not the ghosts themselves that make the film creepy, but how they are treated in their home. If fans want to get the full effect, The Others needs to be watched twice.
The Invisible Man (2020)
2020's reimagining of the classic horror story by H.G. Wells turned a once gimmicky mad scientist into the stuff of nightmares. Instead of being a chemist who discovers the ability to turn himself invisible, the character is reimagined as an abusive ex-boyfriend with an optically-enhanced invisibility suit.
As he stalks and further abuses his former partner after faking his own death, both she and the audience begin to watch the environment carefully as if anticipating his location. Everything from a shadow to a slight indention on fabric can suddenly become a terrifying image.
