Dream Horror
Some of my favorite horror films that I find to be stylish, surreal and/or dream-like. Mostly going by atmosphere and colors, though there are a few black and white films here as well.
Not too many recent films fit the specific mood/feel so a lot have been excluded.
There are a few non-horror films included as well, since they had horror elements or just an eerie atmosphere to them.
Not too many recent films fit the specific mood/feel so a lot have been excluded.
There are a few non-horror films included as well, since they had horror elements or just an eerie atmosphere to them.
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- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsJulian WestMaurice SchutzRena MandelA drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.Classic. Lush, vivid colors. Dreamy atmosphere.
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsPierre BriceScilla GabelWolfgang PreissIn 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor"s ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art.In wonderful eerie technicolor. The final scene still gives me the creeps.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.A classic. and has probably one of the creepiest scenes set in full daylight.
- DirectorHerk HarveyStarsCandace HilligossFrances FeistSidney BergerAfter a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.Because an abandoned carnival is the perfect setting for surreal horror.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.One of Polanski's best. Eerie to the very end.
- DirectorNarciso Ibáñez SerradorStarsLilli PalmerCristina GalbóJohn Moulder-BrownA strict headmistress runs a secluded school for wayward girls in 19th century France, whose students are disappearing under mysterious circumstances.Has one of my favorite beautifully shot death scenes in a movie.
- DirectorJohn D. HancockStarsZohra LampertBarton HeymanKevin O'ConnorA recently institutionalized woman has bizarre experiences after moving into a supposedly haunted country farmhouse and fears she may be losing her sanity once again.Atmospheric and creepy with a great unnerving score and that damn whispering that gives you the shivers.
- DirectorAldo LadoStarsIngrid ThulinJean SorelMario AdorfAn American journalist temporarily stationed in Central Europe searches for his new girlfriend, who has suddenly disappeared.Intriguing Italian giallo with similarities to Eyes Wide Shut. The very final scene at the hospital was absolutely chilling.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsSusannah YorkRene AuberjonoisMarcel BozzuffiWhilst writing a children"s book, a woman interrupted by images unsure if they may, or may not be realAmazing dreamlike and surreal imagery and a most fantastic unsettling minimalistic score by John Williams.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJulie ChristieDonald SutherlandHilary MasonA married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.Beautifully-shot film. So many memorable scenes.
- DirectorJean RollinStarsFrançoise PascalHugues QuesterNatalie PerreyA young couple out for a walk decide to take a stroll through a large cemetery. As darkness begins to fall they realize they can"t find their way out, and soon their fears begin to overtake them.Gorgeous atmosphere, beautiful cemetery shots, fantastic soundtrack.
- DirectorBob ClarkStarsJohn MarleyLynn CarlinRichard BackusA young soldier killed in the Vietnam War inexplicably shows up at his family home on the night of his death.Quiet and a bit slow-moving, but still eerie.
- DirectorJorge GrauStarsCristina GalbóRay LovelockArthur KennedyA cop chases two hippies suspected of a series of Manson family-like murders; unbeknownst to him, the real culprits are the living dead, brought to life with a hunger for human flesh by ultrasonic radiation being used for pest control.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls" school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.A well-known favorite of many. Very dreamy and unsettling.
- DirectorsLuigi BazzoniMario FanelliStarsFlorinda BolkanPeter McEneryNicoletta ElmiAfter being tormented by dreams about astronauts on the moon, a translator visits a deserted seaside town whose inhabitants know her, although she does not know them.
- DirectorDan CurtisStarsKaren BlackOliver ReedBurgess MeredithA family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.One of the better haunted house films I've seen.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.Another cult favorite. Great use of color and a pretty shocking opening scene (at least it was unexpected for me).
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt"s country home, which turns out to be haunted.Wasn't sure whether to classify this as comedy or horror. It's just one big surreal (but fun) mess.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newborn mutant child.Strange cult favorite with a superb ambient soundtrack mixed with industrial noise.
- DirectorJean RollinStarsFranca MaïBrigitte LahaieJean-Marie LemaireA runaway criminal breaks into an eerie chateau, taking its two frightened chambermaids hostage. As night falls, a group of mysterious aristocratic women arrive and the criminal begins to realize the women are hiding a sinister secret.Fantastic colors and soundtrack, and so many memorable scenes. A wonderful surreal horror dream.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter, where a sinister presence influences the father into violence. At the same time, his psychic son sees horrifying forebodings from both the past and the future.One of my all-time favorites (not even in horror, just in movies in general). Just perfect horror that gets under your skin and stays with you.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAdrienne BarbeauJamie Lee CurtisJanet LeighLocal legend tells of a ship lured on to the rocks of Antonio Bay being enveloped by a supernatural cloud as it sank; the myth says that when this mysterious fog returns, the victims will rise up from the depths seeking vengeance.
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.
