Psycho taught us that ordinary places hide the worst stuff. These eight took notes. Some took better notes than others.
Number 1 got a D+ from audiences. It's still the closest thing to Psycho.
- 8
Psycho's mother problem, told from mom's side this time.
A mother and son stuck in a house that gets meaner every night. Critics gave it 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its audience score beats just 61% of movies.
- 7
The best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never got to make.
Paranoia, a woman nobody believes, and empty rooms that feel occupied. Leigh Whannell turned a reported $7M budget into $144.5M worldwide. Pure misdirection on a shoestring.
- 6
The quietest horror movie ever made, and that's the point.
Snowy suburb, lonely kid, a neighbor with a secret. Like Psycho, the scariest character is also the one you feel for. 98% on Rotten Tomatoes off a reported $4.5M.
- 5
Bong Joon Ho's best movie. Parasite fans, fight me.
Detectives in rural Korea chasing a killer with more guesswork than evidence. Same dread of evil hiding somewhere ordinary. Audience score beats 97% of movies, yet it made $15,357 domestic.
- 4
The scariest movie here has zero monsters.
Jack Nicholson pulls one thread and the whole city unravels. Psycho's real lesson, that the respectable folks are the problem, at a 9.6 movie.guru score and a 92 Metacritic.
- 3
Psycho's true sibling: a nice apartment hiding something rotten.
Mia Farrow moves into a dream building with very friendly neighbors. Slow, sly, paranoid, and Ruth Gordon steals it. Metacritic 96. You will distrust every casserole afterward.
- 2
Better than Psycho. Same director, so nobody's feelings get hurt.
Hitchcock again, with James Stewart stuck in a wheelchair spying on neighbors. Metacritic 100, movie.guru score 9.8. Made on a reported $1M, it pulled $37.6M domestic.
- 1
The truest heir to Psycho, and audiences gave it a D+.
Toni Collette anchors a family horror where grief curdles into something worse. Critics rank it above 92% of movies, audiences 50%. CinemaScore: D+. Angering people by scaring them too well is extremely Psycho.
Change my mind. Rank these from most to least likely to ruin your sleep. Wrong answers welcome.
$246.83 says you check behind the shower curtain before #1 is over.
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Current mood: ready to fight about it