10 Gothic Horror Movies That Should Be At The Top Of Everyones List – Screen Rant

Gothic horror is its own special universe of romance and fear - and these are some of the best iconic gothic horror movies of all time.

Gothic horror has dominated cinema and literature for a long time. Pioneered by Horace Walpole back in 1764 with his classic A Gothic Story, many other iconic names like Mary Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe have invested their creativity into creating gothic masterpieces. While many of these stories have made their way into cinema in later years, a lot of original ideas, brilliant southern gothic movies, as well as re-imagination of classic gothic horror stories/movies have helped reignite the spark in this genre in recent years.

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Gothic horror usually intermixes the ideas of romance, horror, and fiction to create something ethereal and scary. While there are monsters in some gothic horror movies, the more common plot point involves a female protagonist, exquisite production design, a dangerous estate, themes involving sexual repression, and the presence of romance mingled with supernatural tragedy. While there are many brilliant gothic horror romancesand gothic horror movies to count from, some movies are more essential and should be at the top of every cinephiles list.

Edgar Allen Poe is considered by many to be the undisputed king of gothic horror. Exploring the horrors that inflict the soul, this master storyteller had created a nightmarish world in The Masque Of The Red Death, which isdictated by a wicked tyrant who terrorizes his subjects in the daylight and languishes in palatial luxury during the night. However, karma soon comes knocking at his door as a mysterious person with vengeance attends his narcissistic masquerade ball in a dreaded red-cloak.

Roger Corman does justice to this story by building the perfect cinematic world for the ghastly tale to unfold, and by casting the iconic Vincent Price in the role of the dastardly prince.

Roger Corman went on to adapt many of Edgar Allen Poes stories during the 1960s in what came to be known as the directors Poe cycle. However, House of Usher has to be the movie that set the tone for the rest of the Poe adaptations that followed.

Starring Vincent Price as Roderick Usher, Mark Damon as Phillip Winthrop, and Myrna Fahey as Madeline Usher, the movie immortalizes on the screen one of the best gothic horror stories that Poe has ever written. Robust cinematography and screenplay that solidify the feelings of passive acceptance and psychosexual dread make this movie an absolute classic.

It is hard to make a list of horror movies, whichever genre it might be, without including a contribution from Tim Burton. While there have been many unrealized Tim Burton projects, viewers should be glad that Washington Irvings The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was adapted by Tim for movie screens in the form of the 1999 horror/mystery-fest Sleepy Hollow.

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Creating a dreamy world based in the small town of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane, a New York City policeman faces romance and fantasy in this eerily gothic moving picture. Starring Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, and Christina Ricci among others, Sleepy Hollow is a treat for the lover of gothic horror.

While not the most frightening by any means, Francis Ford Coppolas Dracula is extremely gothic owing to its incredible production design and costumes, an aspect that won Eiko Ishioka an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Reimagining Bram Stokers classic tale of Vlad Tepes in liberal strokes, Coppola brings out the subtext of Stoker'simplications ofsexual repression during the Victorian era with overt starkness. Starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Gary Oldman, the movie also offers a stellar cast that is hard to ignore.

One of the best movies of Brad Pitts career, Interview with the Vampire co-stars the charming Tom Cruise and a brilliant Kirsten Dunst, portraying two love affairs, one between Pitts character and that of Cruises, and the other between the former and the character of Dunst; as well as the plight of immortality.

Shot in New Orleans, director Neil Jordan makes use of all the instruments a gothic horror should have, including tight corsets, decaying corpses, and plenty of coagulated blood. It keeps intact the sensibility and tone that istypical of a gothic horror while proving to be a great adaptation of Anne Rices modern horror classic.

While many viewers would prefer to watch southern gothic movies like The Devil All The Time, or others, there is something about the traditional gothic horror genre that attracts larger audiences. Peter Medaks 1980 classic The Changeling is one such movie that takes into account every single gothic trapping and arrests the viewing audience with a sense of the supernatural and an eerie creeping sensation of dread.

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Starring George C. Scott as the protagonist John Russell, The Changeling includes tricky staircases, haunted wheelchairs, mysterious noises, eerie childrens toys, sances, and of course, a spooky and empty manor; all making up for the perfect recipe of an enjoyable gothic horror movie.

A movie that takes unease and discomfort to another level is the masterpiece by Jack Clayton, The Innocents. This gothic movie makes use of black and white cinematography, courtesy of the wonderful Freddie Francis, to an eerie level where viewers are left wondering about what lurks in the shadows.

Adapted from the Henry James novella named The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents is co-written by the amazing Truman Capote, best known for his non-fiction true-crime novel In Cold Blood. Dealing with themes of repressed sexuality, perverseness, and the past infringing with the present, The Innocents plays with the power of suggestion rather than blatantly stating things, thereby successfully keeping the audience guessing at all times.

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, and Jessica Chastain, Crimson Peak tells the story of Edith who finds love in the charming and alluring Sir Thomas Sharpe and relocates with him to his gothic and archaic mansionsituated in a remote locality within the hills and moors of England. There she meets the mysterious sister of Thomas, Lady Lucille, who seems to be protecting the dark secrets of the Sharpe Manor.

Being a medium who hascommunications with the dead, Edith tries to unearth the mysteries that surround the house but soon realizes that it is the living who should be dreaded more. Director Guillermo Del Toro paints an eerily beautiful worldin this astounding gothic romance, with set pieces, visual effects, background score, and costumes that are both enchanting and bone-chilling.

Throughout his career Robert Wise has dabbled with many different genres, so it does not come as a surprise that he also has a gothic horror movie under his belt, that too a splendidly good one. The Haunting has been adapted from the novel The Haunting of Hill House written by Shirley Jackson and narrates the story of an evil house, a paranormal researcher, a clairvoyant, an emotionally damaged female lead, and the heir of the manor.

This gothic masterpiece involves the obvious plotlines of an emotionally vulnerable female character and the themes of repressed sexuality; but never aims to question the existence of the supernatural, with the very opening narration making it clear that the house is evil. Cinematographer David Boulton makes sure that the scare-quotient is kept to a maximum high with the use of long tracking shots, low/high angle shots, as well as the use of distorted and flawed lenses. No wonderMartin Scorsese named this movie as the scariest he has ever seen.

Alfred Hitchcock is known as the Master of Suspense and his movies have inspired many thrillers in later years. However, his first venture in Hollywood was one that dabbled with horror. Adapted from Daphne Du Mauriers eponymous book, Rebecca is a movie that displays subtle gothic horror elements, while tantalizing the audience with the psychological unrest that the protagonist, 'the second' Mrs. de Winter, played by Joan Fontaine, goes through.

While other movies in Hitchcocks repertoire, like Vertigo, The Birds,and Jamaica Inn have strong gothic-horror elements in them, it is Rebecca that proves to be the most prominent. Special mention should be given to the chilling on-screen personification of Mrs. Danvers, played exceptionally by Judith Anderson.

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Arnab Rakshit is an avid reader, writer, movie-buff, and comics fanatic residing in Kolkata, India. He is a graduate of Asutosh College, Calcutta University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Having worked in the field of content development for myriad clients for the last three years, he is confident about creating meticulous and informative content for ScreenRant readers, He also enjoys a competitive game of Table Tennis once in a while.

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10 Gothic Horror Movies That Should Be At The Top Of Everyones List - Screen Rant