Love hurts! Horror films about love

Love is multifaceted. Sometimes it spins out of control, and it gets ugly. Really ugly.

'The things you do for love' are not just roses and cuddling. Sometimes they include psychological terror, violence, panic and death.

The Horror Rookie Academy has made a wee list of horror films where love is key. Enjoy! 💛💔👄

Tittel	År	IMDb
Requiem for a dream	2000	8.4
Slipp den rette inn	2008	8
Bram Stokers Dracula	1992	7.5
Re-animator	1985	7.3
Warm Bodies	2013	7
Sightseers	2012	6.5
Society	1989	6.5
Rammbock	2010	6.4
Mary Shelley`s Frankenstein	1994	6.4
My Bloody Valentine	1981	6.1
Mutants	2009	5.6
My Bloody Valentine	2009	5.5
The perfect marriage	2011	4.6
Teeth	2007	5.4
The Hunger (serie)	97 - 2000	6.2
Only lovers left alive	2013	7.2
The Gorge	2025	6.8
The last of us S01E03 "Long, long time"	2023	8.1
Spring	2014	6.7
AHS S02E07 "Necro"	2022	6.4
Nekromantik	1998	4.8
Haute Tension	2003	6.7

Others are checking out:

Blood and shock factor with... depth?

A horror nerd from the shores of Lake Mjøsen who felt burdened by a stupid body, a stupid life and a stupid cat asked the following slightly dramatic questions at the Horror Nerd School the other day: I want blood. Shock factor. Human suffering. Mutilation. With depth... I feel sorry for myself tonight with a body that is stupid and a life that is stupid and a cat that is stupid. You catch my drift 🤣 (photo: the AI-generated demon/cryptid Loab, which evolved from a command to create an image of the opposite of Marlon Brando. 4realz.) Say no more: The rookies got her back, and the following tips emerged from the twisted (but also kind and cool) minds of the rookies. Tittel År IMDb Grotesque aka Guroteskuo 2009 4,7 Pet Sematery: bloodlines 2023 4,7 Tetsuo 1989 6,9 Eraserhead 1977 7,3 I saw the devil 2010 7,8 Martyrs 2008 7,0 Men behind the sun 1988 6,1 Hellraiser 1987 6,9 Inside 2007 6,7 Haute tension 2003 6,7 La Mesita del comedor 2023 7,4 When evil lurks 2023 7,0 A Serbian film 2...

15 years of Academy headers!

A good header is a great thing ! Since 2011, the Horror Rookie Academy has focused quite a bit on page headers. The header constitutes the graphic profile of the Academy. It is what first meets the eye, what gives the first impression, and it sets the tone. Design- wise, we have kept the headers simple and symmetric -and a bit classy. We present to you: 15 years of Academy headers! (Laget av skrekkrutt Sørbø.) (Artwork: Kim Holm)

32 Liminal horror movies

Let's begin with the beginning: what in the world is "liminal" - and "liminal horror"? The word liminal itself is defined quite differently by different sources, but the essence is as follows: - a state/position at or on both sides of a threshold/border - a transition between states or the initial phase of a process of change As far as I understand, Liminal horror points to both this and at the same time to what is called liminal spaces , which are: - areas and architecture that lead you from something to something else, and which are not intended as anything more/other. Corridors, underpasses, aqueducts, airports, queues, waiting rooms... 'Non - destinational places', as my husband called it when I tried to explain it. Apt term! 😍 - Emotionally, liminal spaces are, for example, grief and growing up - Psychologically and socially, it's is 'nothing' between different feelings or states: the state of post partum and detox are two examp...

Iä! Iä! Lovecraftian horrors

H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) was an American author best known for his influential contributions to the genre of "weird fiction," especially cosmic horror. His work is characterized by a unique blend of science fiction, horror, and the supernatural, often exploring themes such as forbidden knowledge, humanity's insignificance in the universe, and the fragility of reason. Lovecraft created a mythos—a loosely connected universe populated by ancient, powerful beings such as Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, and Azathoth. This "Cthulhu mythos" became central to his legacy, and was later expanded upon by other writers. So, to the eternal question: what does this almost etherial term "Lovecraftian" actually mean? I think Wikipedia says it well: "Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy, and weird fiction that emphasizes the terror of the unknown and incomprehensible more than gore or other shock elements....

Lunar horror!

An unholy lunar trinity occured september 7th 2025: a full moon, a blood moon and a lunar eclipse. The rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy looked forward to experiencing a lycantropic transformation the likes of which this world has never seen: knuckles cracking, hair protruding, teeth and claws developing... Alas. We all remained in our frail human form. No lycantropic wave across the globe. No shiny teeth chomping on human flesh. No claws ripping faces to shreds. Maybe next time! Filled with moderate disappointment, the rookies decided to put their heads together to conjure movie tips on lunar horror films: films orbiting (pun intended) the topic of the moon in horror. For your viewing convenience. Enjoy! 😁 Title Year IMDb Moon 2009 7,8 Sinners 2025 7,6 Silver Bullet 1985 6,4 The Company of Wolves 1984 6,6 An American Werewolf in London 1981 7,5 A Trip to the Moon 1902 8,1 Iron Sky 2012 5,9 The Dark side of the Moon 1990 4,9 Moonfall 2022 5,2 When Animals Dream 201...

Dental Horror!

Teeth are hard, calcified structures in the mouth that are essential for breaking down food through chewing, forming words for speech, and maintaining overall oral health. They are also dreadful sources of pain, an object for torture and things that can get smashed out of your skull in a bloody instant. One starry friday night, a night of icy gusts of wind and of gerenal unrest in the populus, the Rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy decided to dive into the topic of dental horror: the portrayal of teeth in horror films. We decided to limit the topic to mainly human teeth, but since the sphere of horror is a transcendant and messy one, we of course welcomed other types of teeth in horror as well. Tusks, for example. Or simply messed up tooth-related stuff. The films listed below either centers around the topic of teeth or has predominant scenes portraying teeth in them. It is a creepy collection of films, this. Films that make your molars ice and throb just by th...

Top notch horror and sci-fi!

Certain horror and sci-fi movies live rent free in your head from the day that you first see them. for me, it's movies like Frankenstein (1931), Night of the Creeps, Apolllo 18 and A cure for Wellness. And Slither. And The Conjuring: last rites. (All of The Conjuring - movies, really.) One evening I asked the rookies what is top notch horror to them, the very best of the very best. Such questions are typically difficult to answer, since one tend to like different movies in different ways. It's almost like asking such questions are an offense to the mind. The response from the rookies was swift and strong, resulting in the list of top notch horror and sci-fi films below. Enjoy! 💀 1 Psycho (1960) 8,6 2 Alien (1979) 8,5 3 Jaws (1975) 8,2 4 The Thing (1982) 8,2 5 The Exorcist (1973) 8,1 6 Rosemarys baby (1968) 8 7 The birds (1963) 7,9 8 I saw the Devil (2010) 7,8 9 The Wicker Man (1973) 7,7 10 The Omen (1976) 7,6 11 The dead zone (1983) 7,3 12 Cure (1997) 7,3 13 T...

Masks in horror!

Masks are widely seen in horror films. But of course. Hidden identities and a visage without any visible emotions are the stuff nightmares are made of. Or masks made of the skin of a human head... Eeew! Leatherface, Jason Vorhees, Ghostface and Michael Myers were pioneers in the mask game. Those iconic roles have since been followed by a wide array of masked killers in horror. Increasingly cheezy, some might feel -myserlf being among them. The home invasion subgenre has in particular taken masks to its heart. The rookies at The Horror Rookie Academy recently endulged themselves in a Mask Saturday, shining a powerful mental light on masks in horror. Below is the list of 28 movie recommendations that followed. Enjoy! Nr Title Year IMDb 1 Scream 1996 7,4 2 StageFright 1987 6,6 3 Christmas Cruelty 2013 4,4 4 The Collector 2009 6,3 5 My Bloody Valentine 1981 6,3 6 My Bloody Valentine 2009 5,4 7 Onibaba 1964 7,8 8 The Orphanage 2007 7,4 9 Alice, Sweet Alice 1976 ...

Queer roles in horror

At the Horror Rookie Academy , a very interesting exchange of opinions emerged in the spring of 2022 on the topic of queer roles in horror . In the following, I will explain why I think it is both okay and important to lift queer roles in horror films. The text represents the author's opinion. In the wake of a really interesting analysis done by Dread Central (a must-read!), it was suggested that queer roles may take the focus away from the horror in horror films. This got me thinking. Thinking real good. Could it be that queer roles, roles protraying people like me, among the majority may be perceived as unnecessary to the plot in horror films? As something forced? Queer people are very used to seeing a different type of love than our own being central to the films we watch. One of the things that makes me love films in general, and horror in particular, is that you get to enter situations where you are sort of exempt from constantly having to connect your own situat...

Escapism in horror, sci-fi and absurd film

Quite a reality we live in, huh? 🥴 It's kinda messed up. Kamikaze-trained harp seals with GoPros on their heads swim around our oceans while geopolitical toxic masculinity literally spills out across all continents. On top of it all: AI. There seems to be no end to it all. That's why the Horror Rookie Academy offered a whole week of escapism in early February 2025. ...but what exactly is escapism in horror, sci-fi and absurdist film? It's not a genre, is it? We introduced the topic like this: - SUBJECTIVE: For some, _all_ films can actually be an escape from reality. Here we are looking for tips on which films/series (horror/sci-fi/absurd) are an escape from reality for you. There are no right or wrong answers here. 😁 - HUMOR: Humor strikes me like a joker in this game. For example, I laughed my way through The Human Centipede; for me it was a very unrealistic comedy - and then I know that my mother would perceive the film a little differently. (I accidentally saw David...

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