01
Manichitrathazhu 1993
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread6 9.1/10
Best Underrated Horror Movies
76 of the 137 score 4 or 5 for dread — this is a corner of horror that works on you slowly rather than making you flinch. 43 score 1 out of 5 for gore, so squeamishness is a weaker reason to skip these than people assume.
Rigor Mortis rates 1.7 higher on Douban than IMDb — Chinese audiences consistently read this kind of horror differently, and the gap is often the most interesting signal on the page. 20 are currently streaming on Shudder.
02
The Phantom Carriage 1921
Jumps2 Gore2 Dread6 8.8/10
03
Faust 1926
Jumps2 Gore2 Dread6 8.7/10
04
Kwaidan 1964
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 8.6/10
05
The Unknown 1927
Jumps2 Gore2 Dread8 8.6/10
06
Dead of Night 1945
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread8 8.6/10
07
08
Onibaba 1964
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread8 8.5/10
09
One Cut of the Dead 2017
Jumps2 Gore4 Dread2 8.5/10
10
Cure 1997
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread10 8.4/10
11
Eyes Without a Face 1960
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread8 8.4/10
12
Black Cat 1968
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread8 8.4/10
13
Santa Sangre 1989
Jumps4 Gore8 Dread8 8.4/10
14
Mr. Vampire 1985
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread2 8.3/10
15
Deep Red 1975
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread6 8.3/10
16
Vampyr 1932
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread8 8.3/10
17
Curse of the Demon 1957
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread8 8.3/10
18
Hour of the Wolf 1968
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread10 8.3/10
19
The Wolf House 2018
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread10 8.3/10
20
Confessions 2010
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread8 8.3/10
21
22
23
Angst 1983
Jumps4 Gore8 Dread10 8.1/10
24
Thesis 1996
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread8 8.1/10
25
The Ugly Stepsister 2025
Jumps4 Gore10 Dread6 8.1/10
26
Save the Green Planet! 2003
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread6 8.1/10
27
The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion 2018
Jumps4 Gore8 Dread4 8.1/10
28
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1945
Jumps2 Gore2 Dread6 8.0/10
29
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane 1976
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread8 8.0/10
30
The Blue Elephant 2014
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread6 8.0/10
31
The Innocents 2021
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread10 8.0/10
32
Bedevilled 2010
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread8 7.9/10
33
House 1977
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread4 7.9/10
34
Detention 2019
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread8 7.9/10
35
Possession 1981
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread10 7.9/10
36
Re-Animator 1985
Jumps4 Gore10 Dread4 7.9/10
37
A Chinese Ghost Story 1987
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread4 7.9/10
38
Sleep Tight 2011
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread8 7.9/10
39
40
41
The Uninvited 1944
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 7.8/10
42
The Body Snatcher 1945
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 7.8/10
43
Theater of Blood 1973
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread2 7.8/10
44
Timecrimes 2007
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread6 7.8/10
45
46
47
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night 2014
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread6 7.7/10
48
Island of Lost Souls 1932
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 7.7/10
49
The Spiral Staircase 1946
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread6 7.7/10
50
Black Sunday 1960
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread8 7.7/10
51
The Pit and the Pendulum 1961
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread6 7.7/10
52
Carnival of Souls 1962
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread8 7.7/10
53
Viy 1967
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 7.7/10
54
The Abominable Dr. Phibes 1971
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread2 7.7/10
55
The Changeling 1980
Jumps8 Gore2 Dread8 7.7/10
56
Opera 1987
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread4 7.7/10
57
Sick of Myself 2022
Jumps2 Gore6 Dread6 7.7/10
58
Red Rooms 2023
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread10 7.7/10
59
Bramayugam 2024
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread10 7.7/10
60
Shrew's Nest 2014
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread6 7.7/10
61
The Most Dangerous Game 1932
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread4 7.6/10
62
Black Sabbath 1963
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread6 7.6/10
63
The Masque of the Red Death 1964
Jumps2 Gore2 Dread6 7.6/10
64
The Devil Rides Out 1968
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 7.6/10
65
66
Don't Torture a Duckling 1972
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread8 7.6/10
67
Martin 1977
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread8 7.6/10
68
Thelma 2017
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread8 7.6/10
69
70
71
72
I Walked with a Zombie 1943
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread6 7.5/10
73
Romancham 2023
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread2 7.5/10
74
Good Manners 2017
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread6 7.5/10
75
The Coffee Table 2022
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread10 7.5/10
76
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum 2018
Jumps8 Gore2 Dread8 7.4/10
77
Tetsuo: The Iron Man 1989
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread8 7.4/10
78
79
Five Million Years to Earth 1967
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread8 7.4/10
80
Cold Fish 2010
Jumps4 Gore10 Dread8 7.4/10
81
Huesera: The Bone Woman 2022
Jumps6 Gore4 Dread8 7.4/10
82
Saloum 2021
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread6 7.4/10
83
84
Sleep 2023
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread8 7.3/10
85
Inside 2007
Jumps8 Gore10 Dread8 7.3/10
86
Blood and Black Lace 1964
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread4 7.3/10
87
The Happiness of the Katakuris 2001
Jumps2 Gore4 Dread2 7.3/10
88
Gozu 2003
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread6 7.3/10
89
90
91
92
Out of the Dark 1995
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread4 7.2/10
93
94
The Beyond 1981
Jumps6 Gore10 Dread8 7.2/10
95
96
The Hidden 1987
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread4 7.2/10
97
Cemetery Man 1994
Jumps4 Gore8 Dread6 7.2/10
98
13B: Fear Has a New Address 2009
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread6 7.2/10
99
Cronos 1992
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread6 7.2/10
100
101
102
The Quiet Family 1998
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread4 7.1/10
103
104
Near Dark 1987
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread4 7.1/10
105
La Llorona 2019
Jumps4 Gore2 Dread10 7.1/10
106
107
108
Goodnight Mommy 2014
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread8 7.0/10
109
Three... Extremes 2004
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread8 7.0/10
110
Virus-32 2022
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread4 7.0/10
111
112
113
114
Hell House LLC 2015
Jumps8 Gore2 Dread8 6.9/10
115
Dumplings 2004
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread8 6.8/10
116
117
Piggy 2022
Jumps4 Gore6 Dread6 6.8/10
118
Monstrum 2018
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread2 6.8/10
119
A Bay of Blood 1971
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread4 6.8/10
120
121
Kill List 2011
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread8 6.7/10
122
123
The House of the Devil 2009
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread8 6.7/10
124
Ravenous 1999
Jumps4 Gore8 Dread6 6.7/10
125
The Cat o' Nine Tails 1971
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread4 6.7/10
126
Rigor Mortis 2013
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread8 6.6/10
127
The Night Eats the World 2018
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread8 6.6/10
128
The Similars 2015
Jumps4 Gore4 Dread6 6.6/10
129
130
Session 9 2001
Jumps6 Gore2 Dread10 6.5/10
131
The Untamed 2016
Jumps2 Gore6 Dread8 6.5/10
132
Ravenous 2017
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread8 6.5/10
133
Seoul Station 2016
Jumps6 Gore6 Dread6 6.5/10
134
135
136
Double Vision 2002
Jumps6 Gore8 Dread8 6.1/10
137
How these are scored
Every film carries three separate 1–5 ratings — jump scares, gore and dread — because they measure different things. A film can be a 5 for dread and a 1 for gore. Scores are editorial, not aggregated from other platforms, which is the point: review aggregates tell you whether a film is good, not what it will do to you.
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