The horror genre is one of the most diversified when it comes to genre-crossing and bending the limits between what a film genre can explore. The way horror films effortlessly integrate romantic drama with terrifying exploration exemplifies this. There is something about romance and horror that works well together, whether it is because of their fragility or intensity. While some horror films exploit romance only as a plot device, others skillfully blend romantic drama with the terrifying world of horror. These are rare films that can be both terrifying and romantic.
In the horror genre, it is not all about murder, gore, and fatalities. Romance has always been an important part of gothic horror stories, dating back to the earliest appearances of heroines. One of the first stories to combine romance and dread was Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, which was published in 1764. The Castle of Otranto is a drama and a love story about a peasant lad who saves a Lady from a greedy Lord’s marriage and becomes a prince in the process. Other gothic books, such as The Vampyre and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, have a stronger horror element because they include men and women falling in love with and becoming lovers with terrible paranormal beings. In Carmilla, a female vampire falls in love with a young lady.
Today, we have compiled a list of the best 10 romantic horror films that have hot chemistry between the leads and also pack a punch when it comes to scaring the living daylights out of us! Let us get right to work!
Shutter (2008)
The shutter is a supernatural horror film directed by Masayuki Ochiai and distributed by 20th Century Fox that was released in 2008. It is a remake of the 2004 Thai film of the same name, written by Luke Dawson. It follows Ben and Jane, a newlywed couple who have recently relocated to Japan for a potential career opportunity. Following a fatal vehicle accident in which a young girl is murdered, Ben begins to notice unusual blurs in many of his fashion shoot images, which Jane believes are the ghost of the girl they killed. Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, and Megumi Okina feature in the film.
The horror film in and of itself is largely told through cameras and pictures but what is quite haunting about this movie is the feeling of a perpetual third wheel that will ruin the couple’s relationship. Only this time, it isn’t a jealous ex or a best friend that is head over heels in love with one of them, it is the ghost of a girl that seems to have latched onto them and follows them around
It turns out that Ben and Megumi were once romantically linked, but after her father died, she became obsessive and needy, and he eventually dumped her with the help of his two friends. Jane finds out that Ben and his friends had tried forcing themselves on Megumi and Jane abandons him. The film closes on a tragically romantic note with Megumi clinging to Ben indefinitely, even when he tries to electrocute himself to get rid of her, which only paralyzes him, keeping him and Megumi together forever.
There are a number of jump-inducing sequences and some wonderful touches. Especially when Ben is confined in a dark studio with the ghost and only the occasional flashing of camera lights to let him see what’s going on, making this a visually interesting horror movie which is also a melancholy romantic tale.
After Midnight (2019)
After Midnight, formerly titled ‘Something Else’ is a romantic monster film directed by Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella and starring Jeremy Gardner and Brea Grant. On April 26, 2019, Under the title, Something Else, After Midnight premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. On February 14, 2020, Cranked Up Films released it in limited theatres and on VOD platforms in the United States.
After Midnight follows Hank, a 30-year-old man who finds himself unmarried and alone after his girlfriend of ten years Abby unexpectedly leaves him. He pines for Abby, and via a sequence of romantic flashbacks, he reminisces about their love. Hank’s memories of Abby are bright and cheery, portraying her as a kind, witty partner—all the more distressing considering her current disappearance.
However, Abby’s leaving soon becomes the least of Hank’s concerns as an invisible creature emerges from the woods and terrorizes Hank’s home. Hank tries to approach the beast while remembering a failed love and trying to figure out what went wrong. She comes back about halfway through the film and there are some tough conversations to be had between the two.
After Midnight combines a thrilling monster narrative with a study of a relationship between two people who have settled into a comfortable living and begin to understand that their aspirations and desires do not correspond. The delicate balance that “After Midnight” achieves between a two-hander and a monster narrative is worth a look.
Spring (2014)
Spring is a 2014 American romantic body horror film starring Lou Taylor Pucci and Nadia Hilker and directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. The story follows Evan, a young guy who travels to Italy in search of a woman named Louise, who, unbeknownst to Evan, is hiding a hazardous secret.
Evan Russell, a young American guy, loses both his mother and his job as a result of cancer. His friend suggests that he travel to clear his head. Evan takes a trip to Italy. He meets a flirty girl named Louise, who he initially distrusts but eventually grows intrigued with. He obtains a job at a local farm and moves to a tiny village in southern Italy to pursue his love with Louise.
All throughout the film, we keep catching glimpses of Louise transforming into hideous monstrous forms as she kills humans and animals alike before she finally reveals to Evan, her true identity. Louise is a mutant who has lived for almost 2,000 years.
She is the subject of all the photographs of ladies with dual eye color, including the one on the book’s cover that Evan kept seeing all around the city. She becomes pregnant every 20 years in the spring, and her body uses cells from the embryo she carries to rebuild her, changing into various species in the process, granting her an obscure form of immortality.
What we see is a tale of love as Evan holds on to his love for Louise and stays with her until the very end, literally risking his life for love. The film is beautiful, haunting, romantic, and tragic and is definitely worth a watch!
Audition (1999)
Audition is a Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Miike and based on Ryu Murakami’s 1997 novel. The film stars Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina as Shigeharu Aoyama, a widower who creates a phony audition to meet a prospective new romantic partner. Aoyama becomes interested in Asami after interviewing various women, and their relationship is affected by her tragic past.
She agrees to join him at a coastal hotel where Aoyama intends to propose marriage after several dates. Asami exposes burn scars on her body in the motel. Asami insists on Aoyama pledging his love to her and no one else before they have intercourse. Aoyama agrees, deeply moved. Asami is nowhere to be seen in the morning. Aoyama uses her résumé to find her down, but as Yoshikawa predicted, all of the leads are dead ends.
Turns out that due to her tragic past she is unable to accept Aoyama’s love for anyone but her and thus, she decides to torture and kill both Aoyama and his young son. The movie ends with Asami getting killed after she heavily injures both father and son, drawing a conclusion to this tragically romantic tale.
Western film critics praised the picture upon its premiere, praising both Ishibashi and Shiina’s performances, as well as the film’s final torture sequence, which many compared to the non-horrific sequences before it. It has influenced other horror films and has been on various lists of the best horror films ever made.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Count Dracula, still grieving centuries after his wife’s suicide and hell-bent on vengeance against God and mankind, journeys to England, where he suspects he has found his wife reborn in the body of another lady, in Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of the renowned Bram Stoker novel. Jonathan Harker is played by Keanu Reeves, while Mina Harker is played by Winona Ryder, Count Dracula is played by Gary Oldman, and Professor Van Helsing is played by Anthony Hopkins.
“The vampire shakes his fist at heaven and pledges to wait forever for the return of the woman he loves,” Roger Ebert summarises the film’s central conundrum. He hasn’t considered that after the first two or three centuries, he might not be as appealing to her.”
In one of the most well-known vampire stories, the ruthless Dracula would go to any length to reclaim his lost love. In addition to Dracula’s cruelty and manipulation, the film tells the story of an eternal love that lasts a lifetime. The film is a gorgeously cinematic, romantic version of Bram Stoker’s landmark horror novel, and it is the legendary director’s final big work.
Dracula’s first trip in London appears to be a visit to the city’s new cinema viewing room, which seems eerily appropriate given that movies would become the medium through which the Count’s image and deeds would be perpetuated for the next hundred years. This film perfectly embodies the crossover between romance and horror.
Beyond the Darkness (1979)
Beyond the Darkness is a horror film directed by Joe D’Amato that was released in 1979 in Italy. Kieran Canter, Cinzia Monreale, Franca Stoppi, and Sam Modesto feature in the film. Beyond the Darkness is a remake of the 1966 film The Third Eye, which was shot in two weeks in Italy. It was released in Italy to the dismal box office, according to Italian film historian Roberto Curti, and was re-issued in 1987 as In Quella casa Buio omega to associate it with the La casa film series.
Francesco, an orphan who inherits a house in the woods and lives with his housekeeper Iris, who is desperate to become the new owner, is the protagonist of Beyond the Darkness. Iris kills Francesco’s wife with a voodoo curse because she is in love with Francesco herself and wanted his love and attention.
However, he loses his mind and steals her body from the local graveyard when she dies. He embalms her and confines her to his room while he seeks someone to love as much as he loved her, but unsuccessful relationships and nosy neighbors result in bloodshed and destruction.
This one combines an unorthodox love tale with an Italian slasher thriller like House by the Cemetery in its plot. You never know where the story is going to take you. The picture starts out as a Frankenstein-style film, but quickly turns bloodier and runs almost like a slasher, with the exception that we know who is committing the killing. It was entertaining and provided the audience with a great deal of suspense. Even the most ardent gorehounds will enjoy this film’s gore. The bright red blood bothers, but the effects are breathtaking. The kills are gruesome, and the gore is excellent.
Thelma (2017)
In the supernatural horror film from Norway in 2017, Thelma follows the title character as she relocates to Oslo to pursue her education. As she comes to know fellow student Anja, she begins to break out from her secluded upbringing. As Thelma develops a strong affinity to Anja, a series of bizarre and tragic incidents occur all around her.
Both her overpowering desire for Anja and the sudden powers she can’t control thrust Thelma into unfamiliar ground. Thelma is discovering herself as well as a world of deadly supernatural talents which she chances upon. Her feelings for Anja cause her to develop extreme psychokinetic abilities. Thelma feels terrible about her feelings for Anja and wishes she hadn’t fallen in love with her.
However, she realizes through a series of flashbacks that she always had these abilities and it had resulted in chaos for her little brother and the rest of her family. It turns out that she has the capacity to produce whatever she truly desires, and that she got this strange gift from her grandmother, who blamed herself for Thelma’s grandfather’s disappearance and was incarcerated in a psychiatric facility by Trond. Thelma believes that her parents are planning a similar fate for her.
However, this movie does have a happy ending as Thelma realizes that she not only has the power of destruction, she can also heal living beings. She heals her mother and brings back Anja and they return to school as a happy couple.
Get Out (2017)
This horror/thriller movie is widely known and acclaimed for the screenplay, plot, and the overall use of a popular social commentary of our times and turns it into an entertaining and scary thriller. Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, is a 2017 American horror film written and directed by him. Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, and Catherine Keener are among the central cast members.
Get Out features Chris Washington, a young black guy who meets the family of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage, and discovers horrifying secrets. Peele’s hybrid creation, which delves deep into the broiling undercurrents of “post-racial” America, begins as a modern reworking of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner before drifting into the more brutal territories of Kevin Smith’s Red State or Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, via the eerie mysteries of Charles Burnett’s To Sleep With Anger.
Get Out reveals the still grinning ghoulish skull of age-old enslavement and exploitation beneath the beatific smile of 21st-century liberalism on a rollercoaster ride into a very American nightmare.
While Chris and Rose’s romance looks like everything young people want and swoon over on social media, things lurk beneath the surface. As a romance movie, the themes of love and betrayal are heavily present and this movie also does a terrific job of being scary and making the viewer root for Chris as he tries to save his life and ‘get out.
Warm Bodies (2013)
Warm Bodies is a 2013 American romantic zombie comedy film written and directed by Jonathan Levine, based on Isaac Marion’s 2010 novel of the same name, which was inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Lio Tipton, and John Malkovich feature in the film.
The film follows the growth of Julie’s connection with “R,” a zombie, and how their eventual romance grows, leading to R’s gradual return to human form. The film is notable for showcasing human traits in zombie characters and for being told from the perspective of a zombie.
R terrifies Julie, and she is wary of his motives. She begins to trust him after he saves her following a failed escape attempt and provides her with food. R demands that Julie stay with him for a few days until he determines that she is safe to go. R begins to come to life as the two bonds, listening to LP records and playing games to pass the time. His heart begins to beat, and he gradually gains the ability to communicate with more words. Julie becomes restless after a few days and attempts to return home, but is attacked by swarms of zombies. R decides to return her to the human enclave after battling off a party led by M, who is perplexed by R’s actions.
The film however ends on a positive note as R and Julie kiss. Humans and zombies join forces to murder the majority of the Boneys, while the rest starve to death as the zombies slowly resurrect and merge into human civilization. Later, a completely human R and Julie witness the destruction of the city’s perimeter wall, signaling the end of the apocalypse and a beginning of their happy and once again human life together as R completes his transformation back into a human.
The Shape of Water (2017)
Guillermo del Toro’s Academy Award-winning film, The Shape of Water is a 2017 American romantic fantasy film directed and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer feature in the film. The plot follows a mute cleaner in a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captive humanoid amphibian creature in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962. Between August and November 2016, filming took place on location in Ontario, Canada.
This creature feature follows the bizarre yet beautiful romance that blooms between a mute female worker in a government facility and a blue, amphibian-like creature that also cannot speak and is kept captive in the same facility. This movie has a positive ending where the creature is freed by the efforts of Elisa who otherwise is a shy woman but resolves to set her lover free.
Del Toro has created a swooning love melodrama that reshapes the fabled concepts of Beauty and the Beast with wonderfully bestial bite, a boundary-crossing hybrid that is as adventurously personal as it is universal. What follows is a strange and wonderful romantic thriller that draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, including 1950s monster films like Creature From the Black Lagoon and Ron Howard’s 1980s mermaid rom-com Splash, as well as Persian poet Hakim Sanai’s writings from the 12th century. It is “a fairytale for turbulent times,” says Del Toro.
With this, we come to the end of our list of romantic horror and thriller movies. Do you guys have any favorites from this genre? Tell us in the comments below!