Haunting Horror backdrop

Haunting Horror movies

Ghosts and haunted places, with escalating manifestations and a backstory revealed through the location.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Comedy Fantasy Horror Dark Comedy Supernatural Fantasy
6.6

20241h 45min

United States

Director: Tim Burton

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Betelgeuse, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Themes

Deception and betrayal, Loyalty under pressure, Generational tension, Family legacy and loss, Afterlife bureaucracy, Paranormal boundary crossing

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
HBO Max
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Conjuring 2

2. The Conjuring 2

Horror Haunting Horror
7.3

20162h 14min

United States

Director: James Wan

Lorraine and Ed Warren travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.

Themes

Skepticism vs belief, Family safety under threat, Possession and agency, Intergenerational protective bonds, Naming the threat, Investigator intuition vs evidence

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
HBO Max
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

3. Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Horror Mystery Haunting Horror
6.5

20181h 35min

South Korea

Director: Jung Bum-shik

The crew of a horror web series travels to an abandoned asylum for a live broadcast, but they encounter much more than expected as they move deeper inside the nightmarish old building.

Themes

Deception and reality, Performative risk, Audience-driven fear economy, Group dynamics under danger, Ethical boundaries in exploration, Haunted institutional atmosphere

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Housebound

4. Housebound

Horror Comedy Thriller Haunting Horror Parody
6.7

20141h 51min

New Zealand

Director: Gerard Johnstone

When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she's forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.

Themes

Family strain under stress, Unreliable perception, Authority versus autonomy, Home confinement and surveillance, Investigation and deception, Haunted house dynamics

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Orphanage

5. The Orphanage

Horror Drama Thriller Haunting Horror Family Drama
7.4

20071h 45min

Spain

Director: J. A. Bayona

A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.

Themes

Orphanage legacy, Missing child anxiety, Haunted house pressures, Medium presence, Cave memory, Séance influence

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Insidious: Chapter 2

6. Insidious: Chapter 2

Horror Thriller Haunting Horror Investigation Suspense
6.6

20131h 46min

United States

Director: James Wan

The haunted Lambert family seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

Themes

Memory manipulation, Possession and control, Family under siege, Haunted space, Unseen threats, Paranormal investigation

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
HBO Max
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Others

7. The Others

Horror Mystery Thriller Haunting Horror Investigation Mystery
7.6

20011h 41min

Spain, United States

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Deeply religious Grace lives in an old house and raises her two children alone, who suffer from a rare condition — extreme sensitivity to direct daylight. When new servants are hired at the house, very strange things begin to happen.

Themes

Memory and trauma, Appearance vs reality, Faith under pressure, Light as vulnerability, Caregiver role tension, Isolation and secrecy

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Devil's Backbone

8. The Devil's Backbone

Fantasy Drama Horror Thriller Supernatural Fantasy
7.4

20011h 48min

Spain, Mexico

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucía orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge.

Themes

Trauma and memory, Political repression, Institutional vulnerability, Isolation and danger, Survival within wartime, Loyalty under stress

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Shutter

9. Shutter

Horror Mystery Thriller Haunting Horror Investigation Mystery
7.0

20041h 36min

Thailand

Director: Parkpoom Wongpoom

When Jane and Tun run over a girl in a car accident, they speed away immediately from the crime scene. However, Tun, a photographer, soon discovers strange shadows in his photos, which unsettles them.

Themes

Peer pressure and complicity, Secret relationship consequences, Revenge beyond the grave, Haunting memories and guilt, Bystander accountability and shame, Obsession with photographs

Available on

Kanopy
Hoopla
Fandango At Home
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Ju-on: The Grudge

10. Ju-on: The Grudge

Horror Haunting Horror
6.7

20021h 32min

Japan

Director: Takashi Shimizu

When a social worker is sent to check on a traumatized elderly woman whose family have moved in at the site of a notorious murder case, she unwittingly unleashes a cycle of terror that transmits via its victims.

Themes

Caregiver burden, Intergenerational trauma, Cycles of violence, Investigation vs superstition, Haunting of a house, Vengeful spirits

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.