Non-gory films that are genuinely terrifying

[Greensleeves]

I love really scary, suspense-filled movies that make me scared to go upstairs on my own. I'm not a fan of slashers, body horror, bugs etc; I think some horror movies are just gross rather than scary. Anyone want to recommend any films with a real atmosphere, genuine menace etc without lots of blood and guts? I'll start:

The Others
Don't Look Now
Rosemary's Baby

I really like this one though everyone else in the group I watched it with thought it was rubbish. Unique story.

Thank you for these suggestions!

I'm 52 minutes into Possum, it started promising but it's really slow

Does it get good at some point in the final 33 minutes?

Really old but Dead of Night is very creepy, especially the part with the ventriloquist.

Also Oh Whistle Lad and I'll come to you

No blood and guts in either but they freak me out more than a lot of modern films

The Ring, oh my. 😱

Malevolent

Don't go to sleep - TV film 1980s with Valerie Harper.

What lies beneath
Skeleton key
Gothika
Stir of echoes (but also a bit funny too)
The sixth sense

Locke & key series on Netflix

Fall. Had to watch it through fingers. Also, the conjuring, and the one about the couple diving to a sunken haunted house in France.

Turn of the screw - book terrifying too

I found the Buffy the Vampire episode 'Hush' really scary...
The Innocents
The Awakening
Bram Stokers Dracula
Nosferatu scares the bejeebies out of me
Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)
Mark Gattis' Ghost Stories Series was good

Hush was definitely scary @thomasinacat ! Also Killed By Death in the 2nd series (I think).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is relentless, yet not gory and all the violence is out of shot. It scared the life out of me aged around ten, and it's still a good classic watch despite being fifty years old next year 😀

The devil's backbone

The others.

The exorcist isnt actually gory.

Malevolent is on Netflix now

British film

Steers as a brother and sister faking mediumship

Goes bad really really terrifyingly

The Exorcism of Emily Rose of Emily Rose scared the shit out of me.

Yes. Shown to my Dds class at school. She was 14 but is Autistic (& 'selective' mute under stress). It's a pretty scary film & she couldn't sleep for days.

Banshee Chapter

Kill List - doesn't seem it at first but omg. So worth it

The Others was scary. 6th sense (esp when he's trapped in the cupboard & screams). I saw 'White Settlers' (trying to spot locations). Bloody terrifying (a bit gory) & a thoroughly nasty premise.

I saw it at the theatre in London circa 1990. I jumped so hard I cannoned into the back of the seat in front & ripped my tights at the knees. I think it was when they dropped all the house lights to pitch black & the sound of the horse & carriage was SO loud. Terrifying !

The Orphanage. Not gory or bloody, just frightening and desperately sad.

The Invitation (from 2015). Does get bloody towards the end but so sinister it stayed with me.

I first saw this when I was 14 and when I went home I turned my bedroom tv to face the wall so no little girl could come out of it.

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle - haven’t seen it for about 20 years but certainly had the biggest collective jump scare I’ve ever experienced in a cinema!
And another vote for the Innocents @CrossPurposes @thomasinacat - very old but so so clever and terrified me as a child (it’s based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James which is also brilliant, and quite short).
I seem to go for nanny-themed chillers 🤔