17 Foreign Horror Movies That Will Eff You Up

While the American horror movie is having a renaissance, rarely does the domestic scary movie have the same ability to shock or disturb like chillers from elsewhere. So let's take a bone-rattling trip around the globe for the very best foreign horror movies that will really, really creep you out. After all, terror doesn't need subtitles.

'The Descent' (2005)

A group of female spelunkers descent (see the title!) into a spooky cave in the British countryside and encounter a group of underground monsters. Quite frankly, "The Descent," from genre master Neil Marshall, is one of the more brain-scrambling movies of the last 15 years even without the monsters. He does a brilliant job of dramatizing the physical and psychological terror of being trapped in an impossibly tight space deep under ground that it is almost hard to watch. But when the blood-thirsty creepers show up, well, game over. 

'Let the Right One In' (2008)

You might have seen "Let Me In," the better-than-expected American remake of this killer Swedish vampire film, but the original is still tops. It's your typical story of a lonely little boy who strikes up an unusual friendship when a vampire girl movies into his depressing apartment building. It's a snowy film of unexpected warmth, and scary-good gore.

'I Saw the Devil' (2010)

This South Korean epic concerns a secret service agent whose wife is killed by a brutal serial murderer. Instead of apprehending the murderer like a normal human being, the secret service agent kidnaps the killer and plants a tracking device on him, periodically picking up the killer and then letting him go again. It's insane. 

'Audition' (1999)

A lonely, somewhat creepy widower sets out to audition young girls to be his new wife. He soon falls in love with a lovely girl and for the first half of the movie, it's a pretty straight, starry-eyed romantic drama. And then -- things take a turn. It would be criminal to give away the ending, especially if it hasn't been spoiled for you already, but it is a doozy.   

'Ringu' (1998)

This is the J-horror movie that started it all. While the endless extension of the franchise has robbed the original film of some of its mystery, it's still as startling and spooky as it was back in 1998. Also: what's the 2016 equivalent of passing around a haunted videotape? Clicking on an enchanted YouTube link?

'Inside' (2007)

Just thinking about this gore-soaked French shocker gives us the willies. Ostensibly, it's a home invasion thriller, wherein a mysterious woman breaks into the home of a young mother-to-be. But then things get considerably more twisted, as the invader is looking to take the baby from the mother's womb. If you have nails, be ready to bite them down to the cuticle.

'The Wicker Man' (1973)

Forget the baffling Nic Cage remake, 1973's "The Wicker Man" is a complete and total masterpiece and it will royally screw you up. This British film, which concerns a devoutly religious constable (Edward Woodward) traveling to a remote island to investigate a disappearance of a young girl associated with a hippie-ish cult (led by Christopher Lee), is truly odd. But as the movie moves towards the dread-choked finale, the unease takes over and you realize that, no matter how free-love it might have seemed, this is hardcore horror that will really leave a mark.

'High Tension' (2003)

First, a caveat: the twist ending of the movie, deployed so late in the game that it really does seem like an afterthought (it was actually a suggestion by the usually level-headed Luc Besson), almost ruins the whole thing, especially because of its uneasy connection between homoeroticism and homicidal urges. But if you can handle that disappointment, then you're free to enjoy what is arguably the greatest slasher movie since John Carpenter's "Halloween." 

'The Skin I Live In' (2011)

While Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is known mostly for his big-hearted melodramas, he's also dabbled in De Palma-esque thrillers, but never indulged in a full-on shock horror movie -- until this surreal 2011 entry. It's the story of a brilliant surgeon (Antonio Banderas), who is keeping a beautiful young woman prisoner (a stunning Elena Anaya). You're not really sure what his end game is, but you know, from moment one, that it must be perverse as hell. And guess what? It is. The movie has a big twist so surprising it would make M. Night Shyamalan weep like a newborn baby. 

'The Brood' (1979)

It's hard to choose a single film from Canadian master of the bizarre David Cronenberg. But "The Brood" is definitely his squishiest, gooiest, most WTF-worthy entry. Also: it's scary as hell. It's absolutely insane, but incredibly creepy and, if you can stomach it until the end, it has one of the greatest sequences in modern horror involving an embryonic sac. 

'Kill List' (2011)

This British thriller, by chameleonic filmmaker Ben Wheatley, both powerful and painfully screwed up. Part of the fun is letting the movie evolve. But it's pretty clear from the outset that weirdness will take hold. It follows a pair of low rent hitmen as their latest assignment becomes stranger and stranger. Wheatley is clearly indebted to "The Wicker Man" and has cited everything from "Get Carter" to the work of American author H.P. Lovecraft as influences. Not that you'd be able to tell; this tale is as original and unsettling as they get.

'Suspiria' (1977)

There are a ton of really nifty Italian horror films, but the best is still Dario Argento's swirling, candy-colored "Suspiria." The tale of a young girl (played by Jessica Harper) who attends a ballet school that is secretly run by a coven of murderous witches, "Suspiria" has it all: a tremendously moody score by Goblin, some of the greatest visuals ever put to screen (in a horror movie or otherwise), questionable dubbing, and a trail of imitators a mile long (I'm looking at you, "Black Swan"). It is unlike anything that you've ever experienced, or will ever experience again. 

'The Wailing' (2016)

This South Korean smash from 2016 feels more like a miniseries than a single film, but that's part of the fun, as its protracted running time allows you to really luxuriate in the nastiness. A provincial village is beset by all sorts of possibly supernatural weirdness, including illness, zombies, and murders, and the police are, of course, baffled. Eventually they call for a witch doctor to rid the town of the evil and, of course, the strangeness only increases. 

'Strange Color of Your Body's Tears' (2013)

Quick -– name your favorite psychedelic Belgium horror thriller! Well, maybe it will be this one, after you watch it, at least. This movie is what would happen if one of the "Taken" films was made by circa-"Suspiria" Dario Argento. The skeletal plot involves a man (Klaus Tange) whose wife disappears and he sets out to find her. But the way the movie progresses, and the way that it was filmed (with eroticized close-ups and garish colors), is absolutely captivating. The movie was barely released in America and the critical community was mostly unkind, but this is a certifiable cult favorite in the making. 

'The Loved Ones' (2009)

Australia has a proud tradition of stomach-turning horror masterpieces (like "The Babadook"), but my favorite might be 2009's "The Loved Ones." Lord knows there have been countless daughter-of-"Carrie" prom night horror movies, but "The Loved Ones" is the only film to rival "Carrie" in terms of intensity, black humor, and out-and-out scariness. This is the story of what happens when somebody turns down the awkward girl's invitation to prom. From there things get ... hellish. And just wait until you find out who (or what) the titular "loved ones" are. 

'House' (1977)

Even if you haven't seen "Hausu" (or "House"), chances are you've seen the promotional image of a smiling, stylized cat, against an orange backdrop. This image has become the unofficial logo for foreign art house oddness, and with good reason. This 1977 film takes a turn for the surreal when a young schoolgirl and her young friends get lost, enter a witch's house, and get eaten. And as bonkers as the movie's stylization is, it's also deeply unsettling. This is one of the most thrillingly strange movies of all time. Like many movies on this list, it's kind of got to be seen to be believed.

'The Devil's Backbone' (2001)

While Guillermo del Toro is mostly known for his big budget American productions like "Pacific Rim,"  his Spanish language productions are still his best, most compelling pieces of work. While "Pan's Labyrinth" is universally beloved, his best is probably "The Devil's Backbone," a film that shares "Pan's" fascist-occupied-Spain setting. Set in an impoverished orphanage (an undetonated bomb sits in the middle of the orphanage's dusty courtyard), the film is a ghost story where the ghost is the most sympathetic character. In del Toro's films, the greatest monster is always man. And never is that more clear than in this beautifully told, wonderfully acted chiller.