This article contains spoilers.Mosthorrormovies set out to terrify and unsettle audiences, doing so throughsudden jump scares, ominous atmospheres, and stomach-churning violence. While such efforts have proven to be wildly successful over the years, some of the best and most impactful horror flicks have managed to add another ingredient to the creepy cocktail formula: heartbreak and unrelenting emotion. A slew of the most outstanding horror pictures have managed to not only frighten viewers but also make them truly feel for the characters being menaced on the screen, doing so through profound themes like grief, heartache, and devastating losses.
While watching such films can often be a difficult and draining experience, this style of horror definitely stays with you far longer than your run-of-the-milltraditional slasher movie, and can sometimes be incredibly cathartic. Danielle Radcliffe broke away from hisHarry Potterpersona by taking on the lead role in the spooky gothic horror pictureThe Woman in Black,just like Nicole Kidman served up a distressing performance as an overprotective mother in the ghostly filmThe Others.LikeThe Others, many of the most heavily emotional horror films are about parents and the risks to their children, a theme which points to the biggest fears of parents and one of the simplest and most elegant ways to create emotional stakes in cinema. These are some of the saddest and most emotional horror movies.
8The Woman in Black
In his first major role following the conclusion of the groundbreakingHarry Potterfranchise, Daniel Radcliffe decided to switch lanes and embrace the spooky when he starred as lawyer Arthur Kipps in the 2012gothic supernatural horrorfilmThe Woman in Black.The terrifying picture takes place in 1906 Edwardian London in a remote village, where a vengeful and sinister spirit lures children to their deaths in penance for the son she lost.
Radcliffe’s Arthur battles against the evil entity, culminating in a heartbreaking showdown in which the Woman in Black targets Arthur’s young son and leads him to train tracks. The distraught father rushes to rescue his child, and they are both tragically struck and killed by the oncoming train, leaving audiences devastated by the unjust fate of the kind-hearted lawyer and his innocent son.
David Cronenberg’s 1986 sci-fi horror classicThe Flychronicles the disturbing transformation of an offbeat scientist as one of his experiments goes horribly awry and causes him to slowly evolve into a frightening fly-hybrid creature. The ‘80s staple is a looseremake of the original 1956 picturewith Vincent Price, and stars Jeff Goldblum as the brilliant scientist Seth Brundle, who falls for the savvy science journalist Veronica “Ronnie” Quaife as he is working tirelessly on a teleportation device.
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Wen a housefly mistakenly finds its way into the machine, Brundle begins to swiftly deteriorate and become a ghastly monster. Quaife is forced to do the unthinkable and mercy kill her partner and true love by the end of the freaky film, shattering not only her own heart in the process but also those of viewers as well. Watching Brundle fall apart and the despair he and Quaife (a wonderful Geena Davis) feel is truly heartbreaking.
6Dark Water
The 2002 Japanese horror filmDark Watercenters on divorced mother Yoshimi Matsubara as she rents a creepy, run-down apartment and fights to keep custody of her six-year-old daughter Ikuko. After the pair move into their less-than-ideal new home, the unstable Yoshimi begins noticing ominous occurrences like mysterious water leaks and visions of a ghostly, long-haired girl. The emotional horror picture is based on the short story collection by writer Koji Suzuki and depicts the tenacious mother’s struggles and efforts to gain custody of her daughter while combating her own childhood trauma and a relentless ex-husband.
Dark Water’s ending is absolutely devastating and features Yoshimi making the ultimate sacrifice to save her child’s life, giving herself up to the spirit. In their review, theLondon Evening Standardwrote that, “Its cleverness relies on transferring our concern from the supernatural elements emanating from one lost child to the natural fear of a mother losing her own child to the other world.”
5The Others
Featuring one of the greatest plot twists in modern-day cinema, the 2001 gothic psychological horror pictureThe Othersstars Nicole Kidman as religious mother Grace, who raises her two photosensitive children Anne and Nicholas in a secluded English estate in the aftermath of World War II. As the trio become acclimated with their new home, Grace comes to the chilling conclusion that there may be spirits lurking within the residence after experiencing eerie visions and supernatural activity that leaves them shaken.
In a horrifying twist, Anne and Nicholas make a heart-rending discovery about their mother’s true nature and their forsaken situation, shocking audiences in truly jaw-dropping fashion.The Otherswas lauded by critics as was Kidman’s commanding performance;Roger Ebertdeclared that the actress, “succeeds in convincing us that she is a normal person in a disturbing situation and not just a standard-issue horror movie hysteric," and it’s true that this is one ofKidman’s best movies of the 2000s.
4A Quiet Place
Set in a world where sightless monsters with acute hearing terrifyingly kill anything that draws their attention, the 2018 post-apocalyptic horror filmA Quiet Placefollows the Abbott family as they fight to survive and protect their children from the death-bringing ruthless creatures while navigating their spine-chilling new world. Emotions run high from the very beginning of the blockbuster hit, with parents Evelyn and Lee heartbreakingly losing their youngest son to the monsters when one of his toys mistakenly goes off, a tragedy their daughter Regan believes to be her fault.
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Remarkably,with almost no dialogue,A Quiet Placeis not only a pulse-pounding horror genre knockout but also delves into everyday family drama and dynamics, as Lee and Regan are constantly at-odds with one another and share a very strained relationship. The tear-jerking final act of the picture features Lee heroically sacrificing himself to ensure the safety of his beloved family right after he makes amends with his daughter, in an ending which is sure to emotionally resonate deeply with any parent.
3Hereditary
The 2018 supernatural psychological horror movieHereditaryfocuses on the members of the Graham family as they find themselves haunted by a sinister presence after the death of their mysterious grandmother, with the dark picture chronicling the terrifying occurrences that befall them. Though filled with its fair share of scares and fear-inducing demonic forces,Hereditaryat its core is an analysis of a family plagued by grief and trauma, and includes one of the most gasp-worthy deaths to ever appear in a horror movie.
Toni Collette’s agonizing performance as the anguished mother suffering from the loss of her child is difficult to stomach, as is her downward spiral into madness brought on by her own guilt and fury towards her family.Hereditarywas lauded by critics, withNewsweekwriting that it “feels like an endless drawing out of that queasy, shocking, falling dream sensation, as the ground beneath the Graham family, and the viewer, crumbles.” Like the similarly emotionally demonstrative filmThe Babadook,Hereditaryis a masterpiece of manifesting family trauma and turning it into terror.
Based on the novel of the same name by theKing of Horror himself Stephen King, the 2007 sci-fi horror flickThe Misttouts an ensemble cast including Thomas Jane and Marcia Gay Harden, telling the eerie story of a group of residents of the small town of Bridgton, Maine who seek refuge in a supermarket during a severe thunderstorm. While collecting supplies, their surroundings become engulfed by an ominous mist where Lovecraftian creatures lurk, which leads to tremendous fear and high-tension among the survivors.
Lead protagonist David (Jane) realizes by the end that hope is futile and that they will never escape the monsters, and in an act of mercy he shoots and kills his young son and friends to spare them the impending horrors. In a truly cruel twist of fate, the vanguard of the U.S. Army arrives moments after, as David devastatingly realizes he killed his loved ones for nothing. One of the darkest endings in horror history,The Misthas haunted viewers ever since its release.
1Train to Busan
The adrenaline-pumping 2016 South Korean action horror filmTrain to Busandepicts the valiant efforts a father will go to to protect his daughter, with the frightening flick taking place on a high-speed train that is traveling from Seoul to Busan, where its passengers are faced with a zombie apocalypse. Seok-woo is a pessimistic workaholic father of his daughter Su-an, who is on a mission to get his child to Busan in order to spend time with her mother and his ex-wife for the girl’s birthday; as a zombie infection spreads across the country, Seok-woo must fight to keep his daughter safe against the hordes of the undead.
The thrillingTrain to Busanis jam-packed full of horrific zombies, heart-stopping action and an emotional and moving look at the bond between a father and daughter. The tragic and stirring ending of thissurprisingly realistic zombie movieis sure to bring a tear to even the toughest viewer’s eyes, as audiences witness the unwavering and selfless love a parent has for their child.
