Horror experts are picking the films that aren’t categorized as horror but still managed to terrify them.
These desensitized denizens of dread may as well be shaking under the covers as they talk about films that the laymen wouldn’t expect to be scary. Redditor Funny-Ad-7411 began the conversation by listing several non-horror scream-inducers, among which are the documentaries Paradise Lost and Dear Zachary. Although the first film’s subtitle, The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, gives you an idea of the horror, the second’s, A Letter to a Son About His Father, does not, which is probably why it caught so many viewers off guard.
“I put this on thinking I would half watch while I folded laundry,” the OP wrote about Dear Zachary. “Oh no, I was pulled in and sobbed until I couldn’t breathe.” “I was sad for a damn week,” seconded irishbulldog80. “It had the biggest effect on me of anything I’ve ever watched. Powerfully damaging.” Although we—and virtually all other Zachary-stans—don’t want to spoil the film, HeftyPegasus737 offered up an important tidbit: “I rarely hate people I’ve never met, but that one did it.”
Several others added their “Oh, dears” about Dear Zachary:
Particular-Courage77 chose an even more surprising non-horror horror: Return to Oz, the unofficial sequel to The Wizard of Oz. “I’m a child of the 80s,” the Redditor prefaced, “and beyond question many kids from that generation were messed up by the ‘kids film’ Return to Oz.” Many others agreed:
Another non-horror that horrified people, especially those who’ve dealt with addiction, is Requiem for a Dream:
Hundreds of others have been cited:
Check them out if you dare!