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10 of the Scariest Movies that Aren't Horror Movies

Sometimes, what's really terrifying isn't a boogeyman. The scariest movies that aren't horror movies are proof of this concept.

By Ossiana TepfenhartPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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We all may shrink in terror when we get a good jump scare or feel a certain chill when we seriously creepy movie villains in action, but there's a limit to how scary something fake can be. The terror you get from traditional horror movies are often limited by special effects or by the knowledge that it's just a guy in a costume.

Sometimes, though, you'll find a movie that makes your skin crawl without it actually being a legit horror movie.

Real horror doesn't come in the form of a ghost story or a zombie movie like Evil Dead. Sometimes, there's a lot more scariness in truth or what is revealed to us than there is in a costume. Other times, it's just the unsettling way characters in a flick move.

If you're looking for a terrifying Halloween movie outside of the horror genre, you might want to check out this list of the scariest movies that aren't horror movies.

Threads was a straight-to-TV documentary aired on the BBC in 1984. For such humble beginnings, it managed to leave an impressively indelible mark on pop culture as a whole.

Regularly cited as one of the most disturbing documentaries of all time, Threads follows what would happen to people in Britain if nuclear war erupted. It has everything from nuclear explosions to radiation sicknesses, to civil unrest, to rape, to pets melting during an explosion, to giving birth to deformed children.

Every single minor detail of a nuclear war is explored in grotesque levels. It's horrifying and makes you realize that civilization is always just hanging by a thread. There are no other words for it, except for terrifying.

Hate has a certain deeply unsettling trait to it that makes it stomach turning. American History X follows two neo-Nazi brothers who wear it on their sleeves like a serious badge of honor as they commit some seriously horrible atrocities.

One brother goes to jail after curb-stomping someone and somehow people actually evolve. Even so, it's regularly called one of the scariest movies that aren't horror movies ever made.

Schindler's List is a pretty obvious choice among the scariest movies that aren't horror movies. Steven Spielberg's smash hit delivered serious drama about the horrors of the Holocaust and the decision of one businessman to try to save innocent lives from extermination.

This movie makes no qualms about showing the horrors of the Holocaust. It also has no issue with reminding viewers of the unsettling amount of evil that humanity is capable of. It's even more unsettling when you realize that, yes, people really are this cruel—and yes, the events in this movie happened.

Technically, this is not a horror movie. Buried is a drama-documentary that follows a US contractor by the name of Paul Conroy working in Iraq as he's kidnapped by rebel forces and buried alive. That alone is a terrifying concept, isn't it?

For a grueling hour or so, audiences are left feeling like they are right next to Conroy as he struggles helplessly to try to get out of his coffin. Rescue may not happen, or it might. Either way, you'll feel the air get sucked out of you.

Claustrophobic people aren't the only ones who will find this to be one of the scariest movies that aren't horror movies. Anyone who fears being buried alive or getting kidnapped will wince watching this.

Like many of the scariest movies that aren't horror movie, 127 Hours is a documentary based on true events. This terrifying movie follows the true story of a hiker who gets his arm pinned in a boulder and then has to choose between dying of exposure and sawing off his own arm.

This movie puts you in the mindset that helps you understand how someone could do this to themselves. What's scarier is realizing that this actually happened to someone and could happen to any hiker out there.

Documentaries definitely take the lead when it comes to being the scariest movies that aren't horror movies outright—especially when they're serial killer documentaries. One of the most chilling serial killer documentaries in recent years is My Friend Dahmer.

Most people wonder what it's like to have a friend who's a serial killer in the making. A writer known only Derf Backderf, who wrote the comic that this movie was based on, could tell you what it's like to find out that your friend is a killer.

My Friend Dahmer shows what it's like to have a guy like Jeffrey Dahmer as a childhood friend. Hint: it's horrifying.

Though this is a list about the scariest movies that aren't horror movies, Happiness isn't really scary, per se. Instead of a full "doomsday scare" like others on this list, what makes Happiness so terrifying is the fact that it's so relatable while being completely and utterly disturbing.

The movie follows Bill—a standup suburban dad, loving husband, and great father. The scenery is the perfectly idyllic portrait of what most people in the US have grown up with as kids. However, that all turns upside down when it's revealed that Bill is a pedophile.

Happiness doesn't stop there; it's a film that makes you want to sympathize with the pedophile in there. All of the characters are pretty awful people, and yet, you'll sympathize with each one of them.

Sundance actually banned this film from their festival because it was so disturbing. That should tell you plenty.

Most teachers have, at one point or another, had a student that gave them the creeps. Some might have even met kids who they were totally certain would end up behind bars. It only makes sense that some of the scariest movies that aren't horror movies explore the inner workings of kids who just aren't good people.

We Need to Talk About Kevin follows a woman who gives up her freedom and artsy lifestyle once her son Kevin is born. Kevin turns from a very demanding toddler into a sociopathic teenager—and she has to face the facts about what this means for her life as well.

The Act of Killing is one of those movies that shakes you to your core and makes you want to bathe for hours just to get the feeling of grime off your body. This documentary-drama follows the survivors of Indonesian death squads after a genocide they enacted which resulted in the deaths of millions of communists.

What makes this film so eerie is knowing that it happened, and the way that the killers are celebrated in Indonesian society.

Documentary makers actually took the killers and the victims' families and asked them what life was life—and at one point has the killers get confronted during a re-enactment. You won't feel safe about humanity after this.

Titicut Follies is one of the very few movies that slowly walks the line between soft gore and documentary. This harrowing documentary shows real footage of patient abuse in mental hospitals, including naked prisoners being tied up and force fed—or just humiliated by staff members.

When this film was released, it created a shockwave of awareness involving the deplorable conditions the mentally ill had to deal with during the 60s and 70s. It remains one of the scariest movies that aren't horror movies on this list.

However, there is a happy ending to this documentary's story. Titicut Follies sparked huge reforms in mental hospitals and helped remove stigma from mental illness.

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About the Creator

Ossiana Tepfenhart

Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer based out of New Jersey. This is her work account. She loves gifts and tips, so if you like something, tip her!

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