Horror is one of cinema’s most compelling and versatile genres, even if it’s often dismissed or underestimated. While some filmmakers lean into gore and jump scares, others are way more psychological about what they decide to show and the stories they tell, burrowing under the skin and favoring unease over bloody splatter. It turns out that many directors aren’t content just to make audiences scream; they aim to leave us shattered, reaching for the tissues more often than we cover our eyes.
To celebrate all the moving stories that genre has offered, we revisit a few horror films that are more sad than scary, examining what makes these stories haunt the heart as much as the imagination. From the unflinching body horrors of Martyrs to examinations of PTSD in Jacob’s Ladder, these are some of the most heart-wrenching horror movies that prove the genre can be as devastating as it is terrifying.
10
‘Martyrs’ (2015)
Although it’s a pretty violent picture, Martyrs also stands out for how undeniably bleak and heartbreaking it is. The story follows Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï), a young woman seeking revenge against people who tortured her as a child, joined by her friend Anna (Morjana Alaoui). The two uncover an organization that inflicts brutal torture on victims to create “martyrs” who can glimpse the afterlife.
Don’t get us wrong — Martyrs is undeniably terrifying. Its disturbing imagery alone is enough to fuel a week’s worth of nightmares. That said, it’s impossible to remain indifferent not just to its merciless brutality but to the story’s heartbreaking undertones, with a strong focus on psychological suffering, trauma, and despair. According to an exclusive interview with Eye For Film, director Pascal Laugier crafted the film in a particularly painful period of his life. The result is a 2008 body horror that feels punishing, intimate, and ultimately unforgettable.
9
‘Carrie’ (1976)
At its core, Carrie functions primarily as a tragedy, focusing on the extreme bullying and isolation that Sissy Spacek’s iconic protagonist — a shy, outcast teen harassed by peers and controlled by her religious fanatic mother (Piper Laurie) — undergoes. After discovering she has telekinetic powers, Carrie is pushed to the breaking point by a cruel prom prank, resulting in a violent rampage.
This supernatural horror went on to cement itself as one of the most iconic films of the 1970s, thanks to its stylized filmmaking and its genre-defining blend of religious dread (not to mention that now-legendary, blood-soaked prom scene). Yet for all its spectacle, Spacek’s tragic performance arguably remains its most haunting element, helping shape what would become the “final girl” archetype in horror cinema. Carrie may not terrify through graphic imagery or jumpscares, but its emotionally devastating moments transform teenage isolation into something deeply unsettling.
8
‘Possum’ (2018)
Matthew Holness‘ psychological horror feature debut centers on a disgraced children’s puppeteer (Sean Harris) who returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront the trauma he endured there. The story is based on Holness’ short story of the same name, which, in turn, is partially inspired by Sigmund Freud‘s theories on the uncanny.
Possum operates as a disturbing, atmospheric slow-burn — a character study that turns trauma itself into the story’s driving force. At its center is the weight of a fractured mind, examined with unnerving intimacy. Yes, it’s undeniably creepy; there’s a particularly unsettling atmosphere that sticks to your skin. But the true horror lies in its twisted psychology. Rather than just jolting audiences with scares, Possum drains viewers slowly with its harrowing portrait of the unraveling of the mind.
7
‘Midsommar’ (2019)
Ari Aster‘s folk horror Midsommar, starring the talented Florence Pugh, follows a couple who travel to Northern Europe to visit a rural Swedish hometown’s midsummer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly descends into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition led by a pagan cult.
Much like Aster’s previous directorial effort, Hereditary, Midsommar is as emotionally charged as it can get — though in terms of pure horror, it’s arguably a shade less nerve-wracking and suffocating. Where Hereditary goes straight for your jugular, Midsommar lets its horror bloom slowly, steeping it in grief, heartbreak, and trauma. Set almost entirely in broad daylight, Aster’s film trades shadows for sunlit landscapes, resulting in a movie both ethereal in its breathtaking folk imagery and oddly unnerving. At its core, though, it’s a moving story about isolation, emotional gaslighting, and loss.
6
‘Let the Right One In’ (2008)
Not quite your usual vampire tale, Let the Right One In sidesteps the usual narratives and delivers something stranger and a bit more unsettling instead: this unconventional coming-of-age story centers around a bullied boy (Kåre Hedebrant) who forms a unique friendship with his neighbor (Lina Leandersson), a peculiar girl with a dark secret.
For anyone fascinated by dark coming-of-age stories, Let the Right One In might very well be your next obsession. Through Tomas Alfredson’s vision, horror turns poetic — but it’s also exquisitely sad, steeped in tenderness and loneliness, and fueled by a desperate need for connection in a seemingly bleak world. Despite being labeled as horror, it rarely frightens in the conventional sense. Instead, it envelops viewers in a wintry, immersive atmosphere and offers characters so vulnerable you can’t help but root for them.
5
‘The Fly’ (1986)
Classic literature lovers will recognize a Kafkaesque undercurrent to The Fly, and that alone explains a lot. The Jeff Goldblum-led picture, loosely based on George Langelaan‘s short story of the same name, follows an eccentric scientist named Seth Brundle who, after one of his experiments goes wrong, slowly turns into a fly-hybrid creature.
Although labeled a sci-fi body horror, David Cronenberg‘s movie is widely regarded as a tragic tale rather than a mere scare-fest; its existential dread lands harder than any jumpscares ever could. Combine that with practical effects that hold up four decades later, and the result is nothing short of memorable. At its heart, The Fly is fundamentally sad — not just for the tragic love story and the consequences of Seth’s physical and mental deterioration, but also for what the film conveys through a character who remains noble, sympathetic, and human until the very end.
4
‘The Babadook’ (2014)
It’s practically impossible not to absorb Amelie’s pain in The Babadook; that’s why the film sticks. Directed by Jennifer Kent, this folk horror essential follows a single mother (Essie Davis) and her child (Noah Wiseman) as they fall into a deep well of paranoia when a children’s book — namely, a very symbolic monster — manifests in their home.
“The more you deny me, the stronger I’ll get,” warns The Babadook. This, of course, is less about monsters and more about the emotions we push aside, insisting they are temporary until they inevitably erupt. Kent’s film captures this internal struggle with precision, resorting to external symbolism to highlight how ignoring traumatic and painful feelings can quickly spiral into something far more consuming. Yes, The Babadook can get genuinely frightening, but its real power comes from its heartbreaking emotional core: a mother desperately trying to navigate a turbulent relationship with her child while confronting the darkness within herself.
3
‘Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990)
Vietnam vet Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is at the center of Adrian Lyne‘s Jacob’s Ladder, a psychological horror following a man attempting to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. In order to do it, though, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Jacob’s unresolved grief over the death of his son is pretty much the center of the surrealist Jacob’s Ladder, which also dives into the invisible scars that the Vietnam War left on veterans. What makes this a compelling watch — and undeniably a devastating one — is precisely how it sheds light on PTSD and the loss of a happier life, with a twist ending that ultimately recontextualizes and emphasizes a hard-won lesson: sometimes you really have to let go.
2
‘Don’t Look Now’ (1973)
Based on a Daphne Du Maurier story and starring the late Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, Don’t Look Now centers on a married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter. While in Venice, they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a message from beyond.
Rather than leaning on the usual jump scares and cheap frights, Don’t Look Now plants its stakes firmly in the heart. The movie captures how trauma lodges itself in one’s brain and refuses to leave, never shying away from the indescribable pain that comes with grief. Through its jagged, almost disorienting edits, it turns psychological pain into its own kind of horror: the inescapable, unfair weight of losing a child.
1
‘Lake Mungo’ (2008)
This Joel Anderson low-budget horror, styled as a pseudo-documentary with found footage elements, follows a family trying to cope with the loss of their 16-year-old daughter Alice (Talia Zucker) after she drowns and the unsettling supernatural disturbances that trail their grief.
Although richly atmospheric and undeniably chilling, Lake Mungo is, above all, widely regarded as a deeply sorrowful watch, arguably a bit more melancholic than frightening because of the themes it tackles: grief, loneliness, and the unflinching reminder of mortality. It has the chills down pat, yet what stays with viewers is not the fear but the quiet sorrow. Ultimately, it’s a slow-burning meditation on loss and the almost impossible work of moving on, leading to an ending so bleak and haunting that viewers can’t help but carry a bit of that melancholy with them.