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 their review, the London Evening Standard wrote 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.”įeaturing one of the greatest plot twists in modern-day cinema, the 2001 gothic psychological horror picture The 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. 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.ĭark Water’s ending is absolutely devastating and features Yoshimi making the ultimate sacrifice in order to save her child’s life, giving herself up to the spirit. 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 2002 Japanese horror film Dark 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.
Watching Brundle fall apart and the despair he and Quaife (a wonderful Geena Davis) feel is truly heartbreaking. 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. Wen a housefly mistakenly finds its way into the machine, Brundle begins to swiftly deteriorate and become a ghastly monster. Related: Best Modern Remakes of Classic Movies, Ranked The ‘80s staple is a loose remake of the original 1956 picture with 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. These are some of the saddest and most emotional horror movies.ĭavid Cronenberg’s 1986 sci-fi horror classic The 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.
Like The 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. Danielle Radcliffe broke away from his Harry Potter persona by taking on the lead role in the spooky gothic horror picture The Woman in Black, just like Nicole Kidman served up a distressing performance as an overprotective mother in the ghostly film The Others. 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-mill traditional slasher movie, and can sometimes be incredibly cathartic. 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 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.
This article contains spoilers.Most horror movies set out to terrify and unsettle audiences, doing so through sudden jump scares, ominous atmospheres, and stomach-churning violence.