Horror movies are not always the prettiest movies. Many of the best horror movies in history were shot cheap, and the money didn't go on set design or production aesthetics. However, there are those movies in the horror genre that went a step beyond what many fans were used to and created something breathtakingly beautiful to contrast the horrific stories.
Some of these movies were shot in ways that beefed up the set design to create a visually dynamic gothic atmosphere. Some directors went the other direction and created a film that was all about the pop synthetic of the '80s or even the golden era of television, to make something that looked like nothing else.
THE OTHERS (2001)
Released in 2001, create his Gothic horror movie, including the Lime Walk at Penshurst Place in Kent in Britain.
The film told the story of a woman who believed a presence had moved into her country home and sought to protect her children at all costs. The film won several Goya Awards, including Best Production Design.
AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000)
If The Others was a movie that lived within a gothic atmosphere, Mary Harron's American Psycho stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a successful yuppie who might also be a serial killer.
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)
Based on the 2004 horror novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, beautiful Scandinavian horror movie, both with production design and the horrific appearances of Eli throughout the film.
BLACK SWAN (2010)
When Darren Aronofsky creates a film, it is bound to be a visual spectacle. He had previously made one of the most visually captivating films in science fiction in the 2000s with The Fountain; he was back at it again with his 2010 horror movie, Black Swan.
The movie starred Natalie Portman as a ballerina who is competing for the role of the White Swan for the Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake. However, when she realizes she is competing with a rival ballerina who fits the part of the Black Swan, she starts to lose her mind in this psychological thriller. Forty different ballet costumes were designed for the dancers.
THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017)
Guillermo Del Toro is on this list twice, both films based on his gothic sensibilities concerning fairy tale stories. In falls in love with a sea monster held at a government laboratory.
When she decides to break the creature out to free it, both woman and creature find their lives in danger. Del Toro initially created The Shape of Water as a loose remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon, and the film picked up 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and winning for Best Production Design.
SWEENEY TODD (2007)
Some critics blast Tim Burton for making all his films look similar, using his gothic sensibilities. However, looking at his past films, they are almost all universally beautiful, from Edward Scissorhands to Batman to Alice in Wonderland. In 2007, Burton made the horror movie dark stage musical of the same name, and brought the Victorian story to life as only he could. The film picked up three Oscar nominations, winning one for Best Art Direction.
PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)
In 2006, Guillermo Del Toro made his masterpiece with the Spanish-language film Pan's Labyrinth. There were two worlds in this horror movie. The first featured the real-world horrors of Franco's Spanish Civil War. Here, Dep Toro made it as ugly and horrific as it was.
However, the second world in del Toro movies feature some of the most horrifically beautiful creatures in cinema and that was on display in this film. The movie won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup.
THE CELL (2000)
Tarsem Singh's first two films were visual masterpieces, and his last three movies, while not as beloved, were still visually dynamic. His debut film was the horror movie The Cell and proved from the start that Tarsem brought something new to horror cinema.
The story is about a scientist named Deane (Jennifer Lopez) entering the mind of a comatose serial killer named Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio). She needs to find his latest victim, and most of the film takes place in his mind, as the dominant killer captures the scientist within his mind.
THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019)
In 2019, Robert Eggers released a movie that was not like anything Hollywood has released into theaters in years. lightkeepers in The Lighthouse begin to lose their sanity when they are strange on a remote island as a storm rages on. The film picked up several award nominations, including one for Best Cinematography at the Oscars.
FIDO (2007)
Fido is a Canadian horror movie released in 2006 that all fans of zombie movies need to see. The film takes place after humans won the war on zombies and have created collars that allow them to control the zombies. The cast is excellent, with Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2) as a man with traumatic memories of the zombie apocalypse.
Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) is his wife, who brings in a new zombie (Billy Connolly) to work as their servant. The movie has a distinctive look, shot in the idyllic '50s style of Leave it to Beaver, and this low-budget film might be one of the best zombie films of the last 20 years.
