Horror is an art form that transcends culture, language, and geography to tap into our most primal fears. While Hollywood usually dominates the conversation, the international horror scene is responsible for some of the most chilling and innovative films in cinema history. From European Gothic nightmares to folk horror from Latin America, foreign horror has continually reinvented how audiences experience terror and dread. These stories explore shared human fears by filtering them through the cultural and social lenses of their respective countries, resonating while broadening our perspective.
While there are countless international horror films that have captivated audiences throughout the decades, there’s a select number that stand out as true masterpieces. The following list explores 10 such works of art. Each pushes boundaries in storytelling, cinematography, and emotion, proving that horror can be beautiful and horrifying in equal measure.
10
‘Eyes Without a Face’ (1960)
Over six decades later, Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face remains one of the most haunting and elegant horror films ever made. Based on the novel of the same name by Jean Redon, the tale echoes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in many ways. It revolves around Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur), a brilliant but disturbed surgeon, who abducts young women in an attempt to transplant their faces onto his once-beautiful daughter, Christiane (Édith Scob), who was disfigured in a car accident he caused.
Franju’s approach is remarkably restrained, painting a tragic, poetic horror. The film features a now-iconic surgery sequence that was ahead of its time, but mostly Franju prioritizes a surreal atmosphere over gore. Cold, dreamlike black-and-white visuals and an eerie quietness lend it a hypnotic power. Christiane, with her porcelain mask and silent sorrow, lingers in the minds of viewers, along with the questions of identity, isolation, vanity, obsession, and guilt. Eyes Without a Face will forever remain a timeless study in both horror and heartbreak.
9
‘Suspiria’ (1977)
Drawing inspiration from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and other Disney movies, Dario Argento set out to make a gothic fairy tale with Suspiria. His efforts resulted in one of the most visually striking movies ever made. Set in a prestigious German dance academy that serves as a front for a coven of witches, it follows Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), an American student who, after a series of murders, quickly uncovers the school’s sinister secrets.
The Italian horror movie owes its masterpiece status to a surreal, dreamlike quality that makes its beauty inseparable from its brutality. Argento transforms breathtakingly vibrant colors into the stuff of nightmares. Combined with an Art Nouveau set design, the visual language is both hypnotic and unsettling. Goblin’s otherworldly score amplifies the sense of dread that permeates every scene. This kaleidoscope descent into madness continues to mesmerize audiences almost 50 years later.
8
‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ (1979)
Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre isn’t merely a remake of F.W. Murnau’s silent classic — it’s a reinvention. Going back to the roots of Bram Stoker’s novel, Count Orlok is pushed aside for Count Dracula, who is brought to life in a stunning portrayal by Klaus Kinski. The story follows as Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) travels from Germany to Transylvania to sell the Count a property in Wismar. After becoming captivated by Harker’s wife, Lucy (Isabelle Adjani), the vampire settles in the town, plaguing it with death and misfortune.
Nosferatu the Vampyre is one of the most beautiful entries in Gothic horror. The movie hypnotizes viewers with a haunting atmosphere of deep melancholy, all the while remaining persistently unsettling. Herzog masterfully evokes dread through stillness, mood, and slow pacing. Sorrow and desolation pervade every frame. Here, the vampire’s pathos is explored, turning his myth into something more poignantly existential — a tragedy of immortality and longing.
7
‘Possession’ (1981)
Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession is an unsettling, visceral exploration of the breakdown of a marriage and the madness that ensues. Set in a divided Berlin, it follows Mark and Anna (Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani), a married couple who descend into a spiral of destruction when Anna declares that she wants a divorce. What starts out as an intense domestic drama of separation and extramarital lovers quickly spirals into a tale of dead bodies and Lovecraftian terror.
Adjani’s performance is nothing short of legendary, especially during the iconic subway scene, where her hysterics are both horrifying and mesmerizing. Żuławski’s camerawork mirrors the instability of the characters, often restless and dizzying, and employing canted angles, distorted lenses, and symbolic framing. Possession isn’t an easy film to watch, but its raw, emotional horror is as electric as it is uncomfortable. Combined with its allegorical depth and complexity, this international horror more than earns its masterpiece title.
6
‘Audition’ (1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike and based on a novel by Ryū Murakami, Audition follows a lonely widower named Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) who attempts to find a new and “perfect” wife by screening potential candidates through fake casting auditions. When the beautiful and seemingly demure Asami Yamasaki (Eihi Shiina) shows up, Shigeharu is instantly smitten. As their relationship progresses, her dark past and secrets are slowly uncovered, and the story takes a tragic turn to the grotesque.
Like in most of his films, the brutality and gore of Audition serve as a critique of Japanese society. Here, Miike explores the oppressive nature of patriarchy, delving into the objectification, mistreatment, repression, and systematic abuse of women. Shiina’s performance as Asami is unforgettable — a chilling embodiment of both vulnerability and vengeance. The film is one of Japan’s greatest contributions to horror — one that deserves every shiver.
5
‘The Devil’s Backbone’ (2001)
Guillermo del Toro has created some of the greatest movies in history, but The Devil’s Backbone remains his masterpiece. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the story follows a young boy named Carlos (Fernando Tielve) who goes to live at a remote orphanage. As he tries to settle into his new home and life without his father, he discovers that the school is haunted by the ghost of a recently deceased kid named Santi (Eduardo Noriega). And like all ghosts, this one has unfinished business.
What makes The Devil’s Backbone so unforgettable is its emotional core. Santi’s ghost is a reflection of collective grief and trauma, as well as a stand-in for innocent victims of violence during war. The stunning cinematography captures the oppressive atmosphere of the orphanage. Del Toro’s visual storytelling, with its rich amber tones and haunting symbolism, is gothic horror at its most soulful. Like most of his stories, this one is a reminder that the most terrifying ghosts (or monsters) are often born from human cruelty.
4
‘Let the Right One In’ (2008)
Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In is a quiet, melancholic vampire film that subverts the typical bloodsucker tropes. The story, which takes place in 1982, focuses on a troubled, bullied, and lonely 12-year-old boy named Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant). When a mysterious girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves in next door, the two spark a connection. But soon, Oskar learns that Eli harbors disturbing secrets, and that they’re connected to a string of brutal murders that have plagued their town.
Beautifully Acted and Exquisitely Shot Set against the bleak snowscapes of suburban Stockholm and employing a cold, muted color palette, the film exudes a deep melancholy and stillness. When the violence comes, it’s both startling and intimate. The young actors beautifully capture the nuances of a tender but dark friendship. Let the Right One is a tragic, beautiful meditation on yearning for connection in a cold world and how love can be both salvation and destruction.
3
‘Raw’ (2016)
Written and directed by French filmmaker Julia Ducournau, Raw reigns supreme in coming-of-age horror, body horror, and cannibal horror. The movie follows Justine (Garance Marillier), a young veterinary student and lifelong vegetarian. During a university hazing ritual, Justine is forced to eat raw meat. After the experience, she develops an insatiable hunger for human flesh, leading her to a dark, gruesome journey of self-discovery.
Ducournau’s direction is fearless, blending grotesque imagery with emotional realism and depth. Taking a look at the taboo subject with an unflinching gaze, she uses cannibalism as a metaphor for both being a woman in a patriarchal world and the terror of discovering who you really are. Beneath all the gore also lies a celebration of female sexual desire, pleasure, and power.
2
‘Huesera: The Bone Woman’ (2022)
Mexican filmmaker Michelle Garza Cervantez’s feature directorial debut delivers a masterpiece rooted in folklore, body horror, and feminism. Natalia Solián stars as Valeria Hernandez, a woodworker who begins to experience severe doubts about her life and marriage to her husband Raúl (Alfonso Dosal) when she discovers she’s pregnant and reconnects with her ex-girlfriend (Mayra Batalla). Soon, she’s haunted by visions of a monstrous figure with loudly cracking bones, and her world spirals into chaos.
The titular entity isn’t merely a monster, but a manifestation of Valeria’s inner torment and the societal pressures she faces. Valeria is a woman forced to repress her bisexuality and live a heteronormative life, caving into cultural and familial norms. As she struggles more with the idea of motherhood and tradition vs. personal freedom, the Bone Woman becomes more vicious. Deeply symbolic and unnervingly personal, Huesera stands as a modern Mexican masterpiece of feminist horror.
1
‘Red Rooms’ (2023)
The French-language Canadian film Red Rooms makes history as one of the best crime horror stories ever brought to the screen. Written and directed by Pascal Plante, it stars Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne, a Montreal-based model fixated on the trial of a notorious serial killer accused of broadcasting his crimes on the dark web. As she searches for a snuff video that was never recovered by the police, her fascination blurs the lines between obsession and complicity.
Plante crafts a film that is as stylish as it is suffocating. The icy cinematography and detached tone mirror Kelly-Anne’s emotional isolation. In the tale lies a thought-provoking exploration of the modern appetite for sensationalism and the moral decay behind true crime fascination. Red Rooms doesn’t rely on blood or spectacle, but on psychological disquiet. It unnervingly confronts the viewer with their complicity, forcing them to meditate on how and why voyeurism and violence are deeply intertwined in our era.