The Ritual

Yes, I love this one. Very creepy.

Might not be the suggestion you would expect, and it is not a movie either, but I think how *Chernobyl* (HBO miniseries) has been filmed really nails Lovecraftian horror and perfectly fits what you are looking for. It only makes the feeling worse that these events really happened, and things could have gone awry in a thousand different ways.

the scene where the two engineers look directly at the virulent, obliterated core is one nobody will ever forget.

That made me want to vomit. I’m getting the ick just thinking about it — such an eldritch, unknowable moment.

I should probably bite the bullet and actually watch this show.

Me too!

I’ve watched it 5 times through now. 10/10. Will watch again.

I've watched it several times too

There are certain scenes in the series that I look forward to every time I rewatch it. I go in with the intention of just watching those particular scenes and I end up watching the whole series all the way through.

I’ve seen the red & blue tiles explanation scene a dozen times, easily.

That shit was stressful as hell. I watched it again several years after the first run through and it still packed a punch cuz you kinda already knew what was going on even in the first watch through so it’s not like there’s spoilers. I’ve been on the hunt for something similar since

Fantastic series

That first episode or Chernobyl was one of the most hopeless things I've seen. Incredibly well done.

I agree. Everyone should watch Chernobyl to see just how close the world came to annihilation. For real.

World annihilation is a little overblown for a nuclear plant meltdown. It poisoned a significant part of the Ukraine for a long long time, but it was hardly a world ending scenario.

The series explains how this containment was achieved, it really opened my eyes.

One of the best shows. Excellent suspense.

Old film, Don't Look Now (1973). No other horror film does dread like this.

I watched it recently. Not really horror, but a sense of doom is undeniable

RIP Donald :( essential film

The Descent. My favorite horror movie ever. Very unsettling.

I saw a tweet once. "My 11 year old kept complaining that none of the scary movies she watched were scary. So I let her watch the Descent. Listen, you don't always know when you've messed up as a parent. But it was very clear here."

Lol. I can’t even get my grown ass husband to re-watch it with me (he doesn’t like small spaces/feeling trapped)

you will never catch me in a cave after this 😭

As Above So Below is of the same feel, and I rate it slightly higher than the descent. Some trippy story lines and suffocating claustrophobia at times

As above so below was… not scary… Cool idea but… It wasn’t scary.

There’s no way that cast is as good as the girls from The Descent. Those women acted their asses off in that cave. And the Descent’s plot line is a lot more realistic.

I was just about to comment this! I definitely yelped a few times 😂

*Let the Right One In* (2008) That movie made my skin crawl. Palpable sense of dread throughout.

One of my favorites. The pool scene is *chef's kiss

the end feels nice but once you think about it for a minute its very troubling

Yeah.. The ending shows that the girls still cared about Oskar In the end, though. She never stopped.

The Strangers might be the most unsettling movie I’ve ever watched. I didn’t sleep after that one, and My husband slept with a baseball bat in his hands that night. Event Horizon and Grave Encounters are both honorable mentions.

try funny games 2007

Eraserhead

Yes! I've actually watched that movie several times to see if it's as horrific as it was the first time, during my acid days. It is.

The original exorcist, I know its a corny thing to say, but watch it and really pay attention to everything. The little details are what make it terrifying.

The purge movies and series because the freaking NFFA is getting far too realistic.

I loved green room. It’s so good, keeps you on the edge of your seat and the fact that it could actually happen honestly makes it even more unsettling to watch

Possession (1981) Martyrs (2008) Tetsuo: The iron man (1989)

Gonna second Funny Games. Director is sick af.

Midsommer

This. Nice sunny daytime imagery but constant eerie atmosphere. Brilliant.

For some reason I didn’t like this movie at all. But the scene dancing really makes you feel like “this shit is insane”

So I saw it when it first came out in cinemas and thought it was shit. I rewatched it about 2 weeks ago alone on my big tv, it’s now one of my favorite movies.

I hated it in theatres.

I felt dread from the on set. The very beginning really horrified me.

Event Horizon Prince of Darkness

💯 Prince of Darkness creeped the ish out of me and left me questioning a lot of things in the same way The Matrix did. Event Horizon stayed with me for a long, long time.

1st movie since watching the Exorcist that gave me nightmares and a need to sleep with a light on - for almost a week.

I nearly had a panic attack the first time I watched Prince of Darkness. My favorite Carpenter.

Prince of Darkness messed me up for years with the dread feeling.

Two of the best, ever.

Hereditary, Midsommar, The VVitch

A good trifecta. I'd add in Alien, The Shining, The Birds

The next US presidential election J/k Alien

I'd recommend Lawnmower Man, Jacobs Ladder, or The Cell.

The Cell is absolutely unsettling. But visually stunning.

The Cell! God, the visuals were stunning and horrific.

You wanna feel uneasy? Funny Games or The Killing Of A Sacred Deer

Sacred deer is haunting.

It's a hard watch as a parent of two 🤢

I’m so bothered I couldn’t get into sacred deer!

The bear in “annihilation” got to me pretty good.

That movie is the stuff of my nightmares. From that bear, to the end scene with the woman floating, captured by the… whatever it is. I wish I never saw it, it scared me so badly.

Creep.

Alien is perhaps the only movie that’s genuinely instilled those feelings and repeatedly does so.

Not a movie, but Baby Reindeer gave me such a sense of dread that I wanted to turn the TV off and I’ve seen my fair share of fucked up.

Yeah, this. Hit "that" episode last night. The warning in the beginning didn't prepare me for that whole sequence. It dark, it's satirical at times, well written, draws on all the emotions of any number of films...and then you realize it's taking you down a rabbit hole of nightmarish situations.

That episode made me not watch the rest of the show. I felt gross after watching it, even worse that it's a true story.

It Follows

I scrolled too far for this. Genuinely creepy movie.

Thanks! Not sure why someone would down vote me… it definitely fits OP’s request.

Me neither, it was creepy and one of my favorites.

dread is the right word ti describe this one

Requiem For A Dream A Clockwork Orange Eden Lake Funny Games The Platform Buried

Omg The Platform! That movie still lives in my head rent free

Happy Cake Day 🎂 (hope you're on one of the first floors 😁)

[Baskin](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/334394-baskin-karabasan) (2015) >A squad of unsuspecting cops go through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building.

I remember seeing that years ago, definitely deserves a rewatch, very surreal!

The mist, the void, these final hours, miracle mile. While not the best horror ever, they all have very bleak endings

Delighted seeing Miracle Mile and especially These Final Hours getting some love.

Phantasm, Poltergiest, House.

The Changeling was another.

Agree with Phantasm

Idk if The Platform can really be called "horror" in the typical sense but fuck, it messed me up. The ending was a bit weak for me and I had to look away at certain gruesome parts, but the themes lingered with me. I hated being shown how horrible people can be to one another...especially while knowing that in their place I'd probably do the same. It offers very interesting social commentary that will most certainly fill you with a unique feeling of dread.

hereditary

Hereditary

Hereditary. The most dread-filled I’ve ever felt from watching a movie, especially the middle sequence where the “thing” happens😵‍💫

Se7en Exorcist 3

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1971). Based on a true story. There is also a film released in 2014. I have not seen the latest one, but it’s supposed to more of a “fictional Sequel” to the original. The methods of killing the victims can still make me uneasy.

OMG the trombone!!! 😖 I haven't thought of that movie (original) in years.

Exactly!

Babadook The Woman in Black

10 cloverfield lane

Rosemary’s Baby….u will never catch me pregnant after watching this also Fire Walk With Me

Suspiria (1977) made me feel quite anxious/uneasy when I first saw it.. that was a long time ago though!

Eden Lake Don't Breathe Green Room The Skeleton Key The Others

sinister

The Ring

'Saw' gives me that sense of dread and feeling unsettled. So much so that I won't watch it again and I don't want to see the sequels.

Cube Zero, Cube, Cube 2: Hypercube

I was looking for this comment!

The thing. I have only watched it once ever due to giving me nightmares for ages. I refuse to ever watch it again.

Ewww yes, I’ll never watch it again. I have a phobia of the main premise of that movie, and I wish I hadn’t watched it.

There are only 3 films i will never watch again in my lifetime: The Thing The Blob Island of terror. Last year there was a advert for pot noodle. The main character was slurping the food and OMG! It triggered my misophobia and brought back a long hidden fear of Island of terror: In the film scientist were making the cure for cancer, but unleashed creatures that suck your bones out with a long tentacle which makes a slurping sound! Those 3 films i avoid like the plague (*Shudder*).

Omg that sounds terrifying, I will definitely never watch that 😰

Alien

Event Horizon.

The Vanishing (1988)

Train to Busan

Original Wickerman

Two movies I think of when I think of well done dread are The Autopsy of Jane Doe and A Dark Song. A movie that left me in a state of dread for weeks was Skinnamarink. But that one is a very specific taste. 

Skinnamarink is one of those movies that some people it terrifies beyond description. Others ask, "Why was that a movie at all?"

It Follows

30 Days of Night

Speak no Evil. Wouldn’t really call it a horror or a thriller. Something weird in between. But the growin sense of genuine unease was somethin else

I just watched it last night and I blame it for my bad sleep after.

Yes , the uneasiness and the guilty type feeling that comes after watching this movie is something else . Definitely a must watch movie.

Saw it when it came out and legit still think about it semi-regularly. Definitely sticks with you

Dead Silence

Incantation

It's not Horror but it's Horrific. Flight 93.

The original Wicker Man (1973.) I watch it about once a year, but end up tossing and turning the whole night.

Session 9

Thank you! An underappreciated movie. It totally redeemed David Caruso in my eyes. The final scene with the phone... my jaw dropped. Thank you again.

“Get out” was a new take. Very good movie. Possibly more of a thriller. But still great.

The Blair Witch Project

Paranormal Activity 1 - gave me a strange feeling deep in my stomach. More of a what you don't see horror

Alien. It’s a perfect movie.

Seven

Alien is the biggest dread movie for me

The Thing

Videodrome

It follows

Perhaps, it was my age at which I saw it but Poltergeist, scared the Beejesus out of me. Then the o e where the single angle and the kids who got lost in the woods. That said, I DO NOT watch any horror movies but I do check out slapped ham and others. Once the goose bumps start? I’M OUT!!!!

Every disney movie

The Ring Hereditary

Burnt Offerings

Threads Exorcist III Pulse Cure Invasion of The Body Snatchers Messiah of Evil Kidnapped When Evil Lurks Kill List The Borderlands Climax Possession Deathdream (Dead of Night) Next of Kin mother! Killing Ground Incubus The Wailing Don't Go In The House The Living And The Dead Prince of Darkness Angst Dead And Buried

Aniara. It’s not a horror film but it definitely gave me a sense of dread.

The Mist

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). Creepy af.

Gigli

You have to watch The Thing from the 80s. It's such a good horror film.

The low budget Blair Witch Project was superb for building dread without having to do one single horror stunt.

The Decent. It's dark from the first few minutes, and gets darker from there.

Fast & Furious 15. The one where Bin Weasel smokes a bin bag and steals a unicycle.

Rec (The skeletal thing in the attic ☠️)

The Blair Witch Project

The Shining, from the first second.

Paranormal Activity

Relic (2020), The Lodge (2019), Men (2022), Climax (2018), The Hole In The Ground (2019), The Strange Colour Of Your Body's Tears (2013), Honeymoon (2014), In Fear (2013). There are a lot of younger serious, unsettling, disturbing well made movies.

The Others

Dread (2009)

Midsommar. There's a feeling of danger, of unease, but it's not clear how or why until nearly the end. Then it goes off the rails. I sat there during the end credits going "what the fuck did I just watch?".

Yes. I remember shortly after it released, the director (Ari Aster) did an AMA. Someone asked “Dude… you all right?” to which he responded simply “Nope!”. Dude uses his films to vent some GRIM emotions.

Both it, and Hereditary had moments that were so subtle but had me saying nope out loud.

Lake Mungo. When it hits, it hits hard.

The US election debate? World news?

Tonight’s presidential debate

Monster. It's a 2024 movie on Netflix with 99% no dialog.

The Empty Man.

Fear footage trilogy

Watch The Last Shift. Crazy movie and not a lot of my friends have heard of it before i tell them for some reason

Banshee Chapter

Vacancy The idea of ending up in a motel that films snuff movies, add in that they have tapes of the previous victims that they watch and that being just another way to torture them

The ritual

The original IT with Tim Curry. Not only was it scary but Pennywise comes back in their adult lives.

Any Rob Zombie directed moved! Scary and unsettling as hell. House of 1,000 Corpses(2003) and The Lords of Salem (2012) were the best ones I think.

I couldn't tell you where it originated, but I have a soft spot for Zombie and his films.

Eden lake(2008), to be left feeling full of dread when it’s over. Terrified (2017), to shit your pants.

The Devils Rejects

Contagion. Midsommar, because of that damn off chord music playing all the time.

Oculus

Triumph of the Will

Funny Games I found the original to be much more disturbing than the remake. But it's tough to say if that's just because I saw it first. Haneke did the English remake himself after all. Presumably it would have been the same. But whatever, I guess I'm recommending the original German version. Curious to know if anyone else has any thoughts on this movie and how the two versions compare.

Don’t Look Up Idiocracy

First Snow

The Vanishing

The shining

mother!

Shutter 2004

How were they able to look at the burning Core and keep their eyesight?

Oculus The woman in Black Sinister  The Terror S1 The North Water TV mini series

Barbarian (2022) - From the beginning you don’t know which characters are safe/trustworthy which ads to the dread.

clockwork orange, mother!, and funny games

"Nowhere" was pretty fucked up. Unexpected and kinda realistic.

Horror In The High Desert. Dread at its fullest.

The Ring, the grudge

Thanksgiving. The opening scenes had me incredibly anxious. I've never felt that watching a horror movie before.

May

I always say Cube. It's unsettling, very well executed, it haunts me...

Funny Games (1997)

Scared? CONJURING 2 (alone, in the dark, headphones on) Unsettled? MIDSOMMAR

The Descent

Under the skin Hereditary MidSommar

The Ring series - in retrospect, it might not be very scary to me NOW. But I watched it as a kid because we had the set of CDs and the sense of dread it created with its atmosphere was so fascinating to young me. I've grown to have a fondness for it actually 😂😂 it also made my love for horror movies peak