Some of the best movies in cinematic history have been so-called mystery horror movies. It’s a hard subgenre to pull off because you’re basically leading your audience through a somewhat unsettling scenario while still keeping them on the edge of their seats because they want to know how all the pieces come together at the end of the movie. The constant push and pull creates a very exciting combination that creates some of the most immersive experiences you can get on the silver screen. Let’s take a look at some of the movies that did it best.
Shutter Island
It’s sort of cheating because Scorsese combined with DiCaprio does everything best, but Shutter Island sure was one hell of a ride. It’s one of those movies where the plot twists may not be the most surprising ones, but they’re executed so perfectly in the larger story that they still somehow manage to catch you off guard.
Se7en
Creating a movie that’s built on a dark thriller format using very in-your-face religious and “good vs evil” themes is so difficult to pull off. It’s been tried hundreds of times, but nothing comes close to how chilling the David Fincher movie with a very sublime Brad Pitt will leave you. Despite not shying away from gruesome imagery, the movie leaves most of the horror to the audience’s imagination – which is exactly what makes it such a horrendous experience.
Saw
The first Saw movie cemented James Wan as a horror director, and there’s a very good reason for that. While on the surface, Saw is nothing more than just some gore-heavy horror movie, it deals with very real psychological themes and human nature. And let’s not forget, the first Saw movie is nowhere near as gore-heavy as the more recent ones (who, sadly, are also less story-heavy).
The Silence of the Lambs
One of the movies that probably did “making the audience feel uncomfortable” best, with an amazing Anthony Hopkins that barely got 10 minutes of screentime but still absolutely elevated the movie several levels. The audience is constantly made aware of how uncomfortable a situation Jodie Foster must be in to have to rely on one sadistic mass murderer to track down another one. There’s a reason this movie is still considered one of the best despite being over 30 years old.
Get Out
Jordan Peele is slowly but surely becoming the new hot thing in horror movies, and if you watch Get Out, you’ll instantly see why. The movie deals with very real themes, like racism in a way that perfectly keeps the audience engaged. It’s a very clever and unique movie that will definitely leave you wanting to talk about it after the movie is done.
Last Night in Soho
Starring the always amazing Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith, this movie manages to deal with things like a girl getting transported back to the 1960s without falling into the deep, dark hole that is movie shlock. It serves a purpose and pushes the story forward, and while the movie does have a bit of a slow burn at the beginning, it goes out in a huge, satisfying flash that’ll make following the main character’s entire journey worth it.
Donnie Darko
If you’re into more surrealistic stuff, Donnie Darko is the mystery horror movie you need to watch. Even if you’re not, I’d argue it’s one of the few must-watch movies on this list, but you’ll definitely have a lot of questions, and not every one of them will get a satisfying answer at the end of the movie. Considering the entire movie is based around the idea of having you question what is real and what isn’t, I’d say director Richard Kelly managed to do that very effectively.
