When you think of a movie scaring you, you probably think of jump scares. Those moments are often built on tension, fear and threat. If you want a spooky time that doesn't involve getting surprised by loud sounds and jarring pop-ups, then check out this list of thrillers and horror films that don't involve any such heart-in-mouth moments.
They may give you nightmares, sure, but they won't make you anxious about a freaky jump cut coming up around the corner.
'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer' (2017)
Yorgos Lanthimos might be better known for Oscar-winning films, surrealistic flicks and more experimental fare, but his psychological thriller — starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone and the always creepy-as-hell Barry Keoghan — drips with dread in every frame without startling you one bit.
'The Witch' (2015)
Robert Eggers's works have appeared on our movie lists before, simply because they're all fantastic. The thing that put him on the map was this Folk and Euro-centric horror, which also happened to give Anya Taylor-Joy a breakout performance. What sets him apart from other standard elevated horror is how this film subtly gets in your head and body without racing your heartbeat.
'Wolf Creek' (2005)
The most obscure film on this list, it's about three backpackers who get lost in the Australian outback, and of course they encounter a psychotic (and racist) serial killer who is obsessed with shoving large knives into their spinal cords.
'Nightcrawler' (2014)
Dan Gilroy has been a lifelong screenwriter involved in terrific films and TV shows alongside his brother Tony. His directorial debut is by far his best movie, and includes Jake Gyllenhaal's best performance (that should have been nominated at the Oscars), as well as Dan's wife Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed and the late, great Bill Paxton. This is one hell of a creepy movie that's unnerving, but not startling.
'The Menu' (2022)
Anya Taylor-Joy is back again! But this time, it's a different thriller about an island cult who praise the works of Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). It has some elements of satire, but it's also becomes terrifying when you get brainwashed people, human secrets and sacrificial rituals in the same room.
'Midsommar' (2019)
It's quite rare that a scary movie gets set entirely during the day (and it's bright as hell) with no jump scares in it whatsoever, but that's what Ari Aster followed up with after breaking through as an acclaimed horror freak. The fright comes from being in an isolated village, with no one around you, and the threat of pain, misery, disembowelment and pure torture. There's no one to trust or any way to get out. Sounds like a lovely holiday to us! Florence Pugh, William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter are all fantastic.
'The Zone of Interest' (2023)
Some of scariest historical films are always the ones about the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The most recent example of this banal evil is Jonathan Glazer's Academy Award-nominated film. Glazer, a master filmmaker, knows how to show us planet earth and human civilization as if they're an alien species. How could Auschwitz happen? Why? The movie offers just a sliver of insight into that era of history, without any footage of the concentration camp itself. You just hear it, and that makes the movie even more devastating and unbelievably frightening.
'Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
We saved the best for last. The OG horror film with no jump scares. The most celebrated and awarded horror film of all time. Jonathan Demme's adaptation about Hannibal the Cannibal is so well known, so obvious, so imitated and parodied that even if you've never seen it, you know about Buffalo Bill and Clarice Starling. But at no point is this movie interested in trying to outright scare you with a cut in its timeline, it just happens to be incredibly scary without the need of editing tricks.
