Non gory Horror/psychological thriller

L31mr0d

The OH was looking to watch a horror the other day that is more about tension and scares than gore. What would you recommend?

Like a tale of 2 sisters, it effectively makes your skin crawl and builds tension without their having any saw-esque gore scenes. So I guess Zombie movies are out.

Any ideas? Would prefer asian horrors, but I'm open to western ones if they are good.

Nichololas

King of this genre is Audition.

Makaveli

The Thing

I suppose there's gory elements but it's not gratuitous, it's also CGI free which makes the some of the scenes even more impressive. If you're looking for tension you'll find it in bucket loads, the petri dish scene in particular. This is an absolute cracker of a film and it's fairly well known so you're probably familiar with it already but I think it fits what you're looking for nicely apart from not being Asian.

L31mr0d

Enlil_Nick wrote: »

King of this genre is Audition.

Is it not gory? I always got the impression this was a fairly gory movie (have never seen it though, it's been on the "must watch" list for a while )

Makaveli wrote: »

The Thing

"The thing" is gory though, I mean the scene when

they are all tied to the chairs

... although it fits in the bracket of being so old it's lost a lot of it's impact now imo.

mike65

The Innocents, Don't Look Now, Repulsion, Session 9,

L31mr0d

mike65 wrote: »

The Innocents, Don't Look Now, Repulsion, Session 9,

Wasn't "don't look now" on TV recently?

Also, I'm assuming by the "The Innocents" you mean the 1961 movie and not the 2000 movie of the same name (although the 2000 one looks very good also)

mike65

Yep! 1961 Deborah Kerr version.

godspal

The 1976 The Omen, only one gruesome death. But its done too gorily.

Karl Hungus

L31mr0d wrote: »

Is it not gory? I always got the impression this was a fairly gory movie (have never seen it though, it's been on the "must watch" list for a while )

It is indeed one of the best psychological horror films, but it certainly does have quite a bit of gore towards the end.

uncleoswald

Ringu is pretty gore free and scared me more then any horrow movie since I was a kid. But maybe she has already seen the american version so the impact would be lessened.

The Orphanage is very like a tale of two sisters and is top notch. As someone mentioned an oldie with The Innocents I'll mention The Haunting(don't judge it by god awful remake.)

And Rosemary's Baby of course.

Galvasean

Enlil_Nick wrote: »

King of this genre is Audition.

Well it does have one VERY gory bit.

Sir Gallagher

Good shout on Rosemary's Baby, brilliant film. Avoid Audition like the plague, definitely not what you're after.

My suggestion would be "Don't look now" starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christy, very creepy horror set in Venice, where the two main characters search for their missing daughter. I know it's a overused term but they really don't make them like that anymore.

Auvers

aye good shout on Rosemarys Baby

maybe try The Desent a decent enough flick that caught me by suprise

of course I couldnt leave out one of my all time favourite horror movies The Changeling

Sir Gallagher

The Devils Backbone by Guillermo del Toro is another brilliant ghost story just like The Orphanage which he produced, low on gore but full of suspense and genuine scares. Check them both out if you can as long as you don't mind the aul subtitles.

My girlfriend isn't the biggest fan of horrors but she really enjoyed these two so i reckon your OH could handle them.

L31mr0d

Seen The Desent, Ringu (and the US version) and The Orphanage... never seen Rosemary's Baby though. Will give that a watch.

Haven't seen The Changeling either, added that to the list.

godspal

Dead man's shoes is another one you should consider.

seamus

Auvers wrote: »

of course I couldnt leave out one of my all time favourite horror movies The Changeling

Guy in Laser recommended this to us. It was fncking awesome.

Don't look now was odd. Very odd.

Rosemary's baby is also worth a look.

Outlawnoob

Das Experiment was a good thriller. Some gory-esque moments but not too bad.

If you like Hitchcock, "Rope" was one of my favorites by him. Not gory at all.

Just for the hell of it i suggest Identity (which was probably gory,) Rear Window, and Memento.

Joycey

1. Eraserhead (other thread reminded me)

2. The Others (just saw it the other night, good film)

3. Psycho (Hitchcock's one)

4. The Innocents

Thats all I can think of now that I hit the "post reply" button, im sure there was 1 more I meant to mention

niallon

The broken record returns here but you won't go wrong with most of John Carpenter's horror films, The Thing being the goriest but even still packing more tension than most.

Halloween, The Fog and Prince of Darkness are all slow burners with minimum gore.

The much lauded (in another thread) The Mist aswell, has gore alright but it's sparse enough. Extremely character driven movie that just keeps ramping up the tension.

liah

Two decent Korean ones are Epitaph and Gin Gwai. They're not particularly scary but Epitaph is absolutely stunning to watch.

Mind, I haven't seen either in quite some time.

uncleoswald

niallon wrote: »

The broken record returns here but you won't go wrong with most of John Carpenter's horror films, The Thing being the goriest but even still packing more tension than most.

Halloween, The Fog and Prince of Darkness are all slow burners with minimum gore.

The much lauded (in another thread) The Mist aswell, has gore alright but it's sparse enough. Extremely character driven movie that just keeps ramping up the tension.

You can't beat John Carpenter in terms of building tension. In The Mouth Of Madness is largly gore free and very underappreciated even by Carpenter fans.

JP Liz

try maybe -

The Sixth Sense
The Others
The Night of the Hunter
What Lies Beneath
Stir of Echoes

Creature

Try Jacob's Ladder. I can't think of a better mind**** and it's light on the gore too as far as I remember.

Galvasean

Anyone mentioned Misery yet?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100157/

deadhead13

The Blair Witch Project - gore free.

aligator_am

As others have said, The Thing is excellent, there is some gore but an amazing sense of tension through the film, and it's such a quotable film you'll love it

Stir of echoes is also great, surprisingly creepy for a modern Hollywood movie.

One that definately deserves a mention is The Woman in Black, pretty difficult to find on DVD I think but if the play is on then go see it, very little gore but it will creep the hell out of you

L31mr0d

Plenty of good suggestions so far. Watched Audition actually with the OH last night. I wouldn't really call it gory. I mean there are flashes, but it's more implied than shown tbh. Definitely no Saw or Hostel.

Will probably watch Rosemary's Baby tonight.

godspal

The Changeling is awesome! Watched it last night. Terrifying

Henry: Portrait of a serial killer is something you should consider watching. Gory in places (sorry) but none of its gratuitous. Its so unashamedly about a serial killer. Its truly chilling.

Auvers

godspal wrote: »

Henry: Portrait of a serial killer is something you should consider watching. Its truly chilling.

aye the highly underrated Micheal Rooker is fantastic in it

and to think he had to do an episode of CSI

*shudder*

bigeasyeah

Maybe The Others or The Village.I liked them:)

Overblood

Check out Tesis.

unreggd

wolf creek