This list was updated February 11 2022.
It's hard to find great horror movies that are also great love stories, because for the most part, those things are polar opposites. Many of the greatest and scariest horror movies ever made are all about ripping people who care about each other apart, literally and figuratively. The Shining may be terrifying but it's hardly a comforting date movie, if you catch the drift.
But that doesn't mean that horror movies can't also be romantic; it's just that they sometimes have to be romantic in unexpected ways. Tales of ghosts and demons who fall for mortal men and women have a tragic undercurrent but they're often very sincere, and many of the most horrifying monsters ever conceived have a heart if you know where to look for it (and aren't trying to shove a wooden stake in there).
Many films are perfect for an unconventional Valentine's Day. So sit back and get ready to believe in love at first fright!
Name a more iconic horror couple than Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren. At least in the past decade. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga portray nun-fearing spouses who wage wars against unholy evils, and their care for one another is always paramount. The Conjuring 2 ships the Warrens to London’s Enfield borough, but their blissful attraction doesn’t suffer any jet lag. Wilson does a tremendous job conveying Ed’s panicked faith whenever Lorraine pushes her abilities to the brink of harm, much like how Lorraine is always willing to sacrifice for Ed. Theirs is a modern romance for the haunted house crowd, and no crooked men nor upside-down crucifixes can sour their connection.
Can a movie about teenagers who spontaneously combust be romantic? Against all odds, Brian Duffield’s Spontaneous tugs on audience heartstrings while splattering the ones inside squishy character bodies. Katherine Langford and Charlie Plummer play doomed lovers finding romantic shelter while their classmates explode at random — no identifiable reason, just blood squirts — with advanced chemistry. Their highs make us believe love can survive even the most dreadful circumstances, and their lows convey a bond that lives on beyond death. It’s a timeless adaptation of Aaron Starmer’s young adult novel that succeeds in confronting life’s paralyzing unpredictability, which becomes a sweetly sincere watch thanks to the core loveliness of Langford and Plummer’s duo.
The concept that love is a monster isn’t groundbreaking thematic stuff. That doesn’t stop Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson from expertly championing a bulletproof romance between Lovecraftian entity and lonesome vacationer in Spring. Lou Taylor Pucci plays an American in Italy who’s clearing his head of current depressive funks when he catches the eye of a local played by Nadia Hilker. Pucci’s visitor immediately becomes smitten with Hilker, who we learn is playing a 2,000-year-old, shape-shifting mutant. There’s tons more backstory delicately woven through a love story about unlikely mates, ultimately boiling down to a decision: will Hilker’s man-eater forgo her immortality to spend a mortal life with Pucci’s loverboy? It’s the ultimate choice, which helps shape Spring into the perfect date night movie for horror fans.
There’s nothing common about the creature feature After Midnight. What starts with a Floridian recluse barricading himself from a beast bashing down his front door becomes a magnificently heartfelt relationship study. Jeremy Gardner writes, co-directs, and stars alongside Brea Grant as partners at a crossroads. Creature effects are an essential part of midnight attack sequences, but otherwise, Gardner and Grant retrace the steps of their lustful courtship from cheap red wine smiles to the current crossroads. Gardner’s screenplay confronts fears of abandonment, and the boundlessness of romantic gestures in the form of anything from a Lisa Loeb karaoke spot to shotguns pointed at strange lifeforms. It’s the warmest embrace, but don’t ignore the fangs.
This horror classic stars Boris Karloff as an ancient mummy who comes back to life to find the reincarnated version of his forbidden lover, played by Zita Johann. The catch is that, in order to be together forever, he must first mummify and resurrect her as well. This tragic tale of immortal love features a rare romantic leading performance for Karloff, and like many of the original Universal Monster movies, it still holds up impressively well.
Tim Burton’s kooky horror comedy may not seem particularly romantic at a glance, since the protagonists are already married and they die early on, but after that grisly demise they are given a gift: an actual eternity to live together, in wedded bliss. It sucks to be dead but unlike many ghosts, who linger because they were unhappy in life, the Maitlands (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) get to become a romantic ideal of domesticity. They are the ultimate happily ever after… even after they die.
They may not be in “horror movies,” but the Addams Family exist in a world where torture, grave robbing, cannibalism and murder are amusing everyday realities, so they are at least “horror adjacent.” Either way you would be hard-pressed to find a happier married couple than Gomez and Morticia Addams, whose passion for one another has never waned for a single, solitary moment.
Stephen Sommers’ blockbuster remake of The Mummy takes the romanticism of the original and adds witty banter and derring-do. Arnold Vosloo plays an alluring new version of the monster, who wants to resurrect his true love by sacrificing a librarian (Rachel Weisz), who only just starting falling for a handsome, Indiana Jones-ish rogue (Brendan Fraser). The tone is brighter, and the chemistry between Weisz and Fraser is first-rate.
Edgar Wright’s spot-on satire of the apocalyptic zombie genre is a non-stop cavalcade of gags, but it’s also a heartfelt story about growing up and becoming a better person, and a better romantic partner. Shaun (Simon Pegg) has to earn the respect of his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), but it’s only when flesh-eating zombies attack that he actually makes it happen in just one horrifying, hilarious day.
Cloverfield gets a lot of attention for its gimmick - a found-footage kaiju movie - but not enough for being a solid horror movie about a young person who discovers what really matters to him in the wake of a terrible tragedy. A giant monster is attacking New York City, but Rob (Michael Stahl-David) is the only one running towards the danger, to save his ex-girlfriend Beth (Odette Yustman) at all costs. Harrowing, clever, and bittersweetly romantic.
It comes as no surprise that independent filmmaking icon Jim Jarmusch wouldn’t make your typical vampire movie. But it was a little surprising that he made one of the most romantic horror movies ever. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton star as immortal vampires who have been together for centuries, and still find new things to talk about, from the many celebrities they’ve met over the years to the finer points of fungus. We should all be so lucky as to find someone we could so easily love hundreds of years after we met.
A zombie falls in love with a human, and it’s about to get awkward. Jonathan Levine’s spry horror comedy turns both the rom-com and zombie genres on their heads, adding gruesome consequence to the former and genuine optimism to the latter. Maybe there really is hope after the world falls apart, and maybe love - even the weirdest kind of love - really can save us. Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are delightful together, and the film is equal parts funny and touching.
Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice doesn’t need zombies to make it captivating, but they do add a bit of novelty to Burr Steers’ oddball horror comedy, in which Elizabeth Bennett (Lily James) and Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) wage war with the undead when they’re not trading barbs - and punches - with each other. The zombie stuff is fun, but the cast is so good that after a while you’ll probably find yourself wishing the movie would focus on the romance even more than the kung fu undead violence.
A slasher version of Groundhog Day wouldn’t be complete without a love story too, and Happy Death Day provides. This smart horror comedy stars Jessica Rothe as a self-involved college student who gets murdered by a masked maniac and wakes up at the beginning of the day, reliving the same events over and over… including her (seemingly inevitable) death, until she gets it right. Rothe is an impressively charismatic star, and her chemistry with Israel Broussard, as the one person who might be able to help her out of her torment, makes the movie perfect for date night.
Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-nominated monster romance finally gives the Creature from the Black Lagoon the romantic subplot he always deserved when a mysterious fish monster (Doug Jones) finds true love with a mute cleaning lady (Sally Hawkins). It’s as much a fairy tale as it is a horror story, but then again they are often one and the same, and del Toro is a master at wringing both sweetness and grimness out of this kind of fantastic, and fantastical, material.
Don Mancini’s ode to The Bride of Frankenstein jolts alive in 1998’s Bride of Chucky, in which Chucky — as the tagline states — gets lucky. Jennifer Tilly’s fan-favorite Tiffany Valentine is introduced as Charles Lee Ray’s ex-fling, whose bloodlust and psychopathic tendencies make the two a perfect match. Although Chucky’s a killer doll and Tiff is human — the anatomy doesn’t mesh. That’s why Chucky murders Tiff during a bubble bath only to resurrect his partner as how Rob Zombie’s song describes, a “living dead girl.” Tiff and Chucky slay together Natural Born Killers style and have their spats, but also make hanky-panky by a crime scene water bed and prove that even slasher villains deserve love in their lives.
Sometimes, love is complicated. Perhaps you're plagued by an ex-lover's bittersweet memories that prevent you from moving onward. Maybe those thoughts summon your undead girlfriend from between the sheets when you're with your new sweetie. Those are the issues in Nina Forever, a lovestruck horror-comedy about three souls connected by a single relationship. Rob loses Nina, Rob starts dating Holly, Nina's corpse starts joining their sexy times, and the trio must untangle their feelings before someone gets hurt — er, more hurt. Cinematography is sensational as a bloodied Nina slathers redness all over her living counterparts, becoming even messier once Holly starts eyeing Nina on the side. It's not all eroticism and Halloween Penthouse material either, as Nina Forever wrestles with grief and expectations in the name of undying love.
Out of Ireland comes this oddball romantic comedy that’s part Paranormal Activity, part Ghostbusters, and all parts adorable. Extra Ordinary follows ghost whisperer Rose as she partners with her crush Martin to save his satanically possessed daughter while they help local townsfolk with their supernatural issues. Maybe someone’s dead husband inhabits a waste bin, or electrical appliances operate independently. It’s all an excuse for Rose to spend time with Martin, flirting like kindergarteners and sharing genuine smiles while Martin spews ectoplasmic goo (it’s all part of the process). Throw in Will Forte as a lounge-y one-hit wonder with his hit track “Cosmic Woman,” real baby makin’ sci-fi music, and you’ve got one of the purest rom-coms with supporting ghouls worth any horror fan’s Valentine's watchlist.
Continue reading...
It's hard to find great horror movies that are also great love stories, because for the most part, those things are polar opposites. Many of the greatest and scariest horror movies ever made are all about ripping people who care about each other apart, literally and figuratively. The Shining may be terrifying but it's hardly a comforting date movie, if you catch the drift.
But that doesn't mean that horror movies can't also be romantic; it's just that they sometimes have to be romantic in unexpected ways. Tales of ghosts and demons who fall for mortal men and women have a tragic undercurrent but they're often very sincere, and many of the most horrifying monsters ever conceived have a heart if you know where to look for it (and aren't trying to shove a wooden stake in there).
Many films are perfect for an unconventional Valentine's Day. So sit back and get ready to believe in love at first fright!
The Conjuring 2
Name a more iconic horror couple than Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren. At least in the past decade. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga portray nun-fearing spouses who wage wars against unholy evils, and their care for one another is always paramount. The Conjuring 2 ships the Warrens to London’s Enfield borough, but their blissful attraction doesn’t suffer any jet lag. Wilson does a tremendous job conveying Ed’s panicked faith whenever Lorraine pushes her abilities to the brink of harm, much like how Lorraine is always willing to sacrifice for Ed. Theirs is a modern romance for the haunted house crowd, and no crooked men nor upside-down crucifixes can sour their connection.
Spontaneous
Can a movie about teenagers who spontaneously combust be romantic? Against all odds, Brian Duffield’s Spontaneous tugs on audience heartstrings while splattering the ones inside squishy character bodies. Katherine Langford and Charlie Plummer play doomed lovers finding romantic shelter while their classmates explode at random — no identifiable reason, just blood squirts — with advanced chemistry. Their highs make us believe love can survive even the most dreadful circumstances, and their lows convey a bond that lives on beyond death. It’s a timeless adaptation of Aaron Starmer’s young adult novel that succeeds in confronting life’s paralyzing unpredictability, which becomes a sweetly sincere watch thanks to the core loveliness of Langford and Plummer’s duo.
Spring
The concept that love is a monster isn’t groundbreaking thematic stuff. That doesn’t stop Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson from expertly championing a bulletproof romance between Lovecraftian entity and lonesome vacationer in Spring. Lou Taylor Pucci plays an American in Italy who’s clearing his head of current depressive funks when he catches the eye of a local played by Nadia Hilker. Pucci’s visitor immediately becomes smitten with Hilker, who we learn is playing a 2,000-year-old, shape-shifting mutant. There’s tons more backstory delicately woven through a love story about unlikely mates, ultimately boiling down to a decision: will Hilker’s man-eater forgo her immortality to spend a mortal life with Pucci’s loverboy? It’s the ultimate choice, which helps shape Spring into the perfect date night movie for horror fans.
After Midnight
There’s nothing common about the creature feature After Midnight. What starts with a Floridian recluse barricading himself from a beast bashing down his front door becomes a magnificently heartfelt relationship study. Jeremy Gardner writes, co-directs, and stars alongside Brea Grant as partners at a crossroads. Creature effects are an essential part of midnight attack sequences, but otherwise, Gardner and Grant retrace the steps of their lustful courtship from cheap red wine smiles to the current crossroads. Gardner’s screenplay confronts fears of abandonment, and the boundlessness of romantic gestures in the form of anything from a Lisa Loeb karaoke spot to shotguns pointed at strange lifeforms. It’s the warmest embrace, but don’t ignore the fangs.
The Mummy (1932)
This horror classic stars Boris Karloff as an ancient mummy who comes back to life to find the reincarnated version of his forbidden lover, played by Zita Johann. The catch is that, in order to be together forever, he must first mummify and resurrect her as well. This tragic tale of immortal love features a rare romantic leading performance for Karloff, and like many of the original Universal Monster movies, it still holds up impressively well.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Tim Burton’s kooky horror comedy may not seem particularly romantic at a glance, since the protagonists are already married and they die early on, but after that grisly demise they are given a gift: an actual eternity to live together, in wedded bliss. It sucks to be dead but unlike many ghosts, who linger because they were unhappy in life, the Maitlands (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) get to become a romantic ideal of domesticity. They are the ultimate happily ever after… even after they die.
The Addams Family (1991)
They may not be in “horror movies,” but the Addams Family exist in a world where torture, grave robbing, cannibalism and murder are amusing everyday realities, so they are at least “horror adjacent.” Either way you would be hard-pressed to find a happier married couple than Gomez and Morticia Addams, whose passion for one another has never waned for a single, solitary moment.
The Mummy (1999)
Stephen Sommers’ blockbuster remake of The Mummy takes the romanticism of the original and adds witty banter and derring-do. Arnold Vosloo plays an alluring new version of the monster, who wants to resurrect his true love by sacrificing a librarian (Rachel Weisz), who only just starting falling for a handsome, Indiana Jones-ish rogue (Brendan Fraser). The tone is brighter, and the chemistry between Weisz and Fraser is first-rate.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Edgar Wright’s spot-on satire of the apocalyptic zombie genre is a non-stop cavalcade of gags, but it’s also a heartfelt story about growing up and becoming a better person, and a better romantic partner. Shaun (Simon Pegg) has to earn the respect of his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), but it’s only when flesh-eating zombies attack that he actually makes it happen in just one horrifying, hilarious day.
Cloverfield (2008)
Cloverfield gets a lot of attention for its gimmick - a found-footage kaiju movie - but not enough for being a solid horror movie about a young person who discovers what really matters to him in the wake of a terrible tragedy. A giant monster is attacking New York City, but Rob (Michael Stahl-David) is the only one running towards the danger, to save his ex-girlfriend Beth (Odette Yustman) at all costs. Harrowing, clever, and bittersweetly romantic.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
It comes as no surprise that independent filmmaking icon Jim Jarmusch wouldn’t make your typical vampire movie. But it was a little surprising that he made one of the most romantic horror movies ever. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton star as immortal vampires who have been together for centuries, and still find new things to talk about, from the many celebrities they’ve met over the years to the finer points of fungus. We should all be so lucky as to find someone we could so easily love hundreds of years after we met.
Warm Bodies (2013)
A zombie falls in love with a human, and it’s about to get awkward. Jonathan Levine’s spry horror comedy turns both the rom-com and zombie genres on their heads, adding gruesome consequence to the former and genuine optimism to the latter. Maybe there really is hope after the world falls apart, and maybe love - even the weirdest kind of love - really can save us. Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are delightful together, and the film is equal parts funny and touching.
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (2016)
Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice doesn’t need zombies to make it captivating, but they do add a bit of novelty to Burr Steers’ oddball horror comedy, in which Elizabeth Bennett (Lily James) and Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) wage war with the undead when they’re not trading barbs - and punches - with each other. The zombie stuff is fun, but the cast is so good that after a while you’ll probably find yourself wishing the movie would focus on the romance even more than the kung fu undead violence.
Happy Death Day (2017)
A slasher version of Groundhog Day wouldn’t be complete without a love story too, and Happy Death Day provides. This smart horror comedy stars Jessica Rothe as a self-involved college student who gets murdered by a masked maniac and wakes up at the beginning of the day, reliving the same events over and over… including her (seemingly inevitable) death, until she gets it right. Rothe is an impressively charismatic star, and her chemistry with Israel Broussard, as the one person who might be able to help her out of her torment, makes the movie perfect for date night.
The Shape of Water (2017)
Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-nominated monster romance finally gives the Creature from the Black Lagoon the romantic subplot he always deserved when a mysterious fish monster (Doug Jones) finds true love with a mute cleaning lady (Sally Hawkins). It’s as much a fairy tale as it is a horror story, but then again they are often one and the same, and del Toro is a master at wringing both sweetness and grimness out of this kind of fantastic, and fantastical, material.
Bride Of Chucky
Don Mancini’s ode to The Bride of Frankenstein jolts alive in 1998’s Bride of Chucky, in which Chucky — as the tagline states — gets lucky. Jennifer Tilly’s fan-favorite Tiffany Valentine is introduced as Charles Lee Ray’s ex-fling, whose bloodlust and psychopathic tendencies make the two a perfect match. Although Chucky’s a killer doll and Tiff is human — the anatomy doesn’t mesh. That’s why Chucky murders Tiff during a bubble bath only to resurrect his partner as how Rob Zombie’s song describes, a “living dead girl.” Tiff and Chucky slay together Natural Born Killers style and have their spats, but also make hanky-panky by a crime scene water bed and prove that even slasher villains deserve love in their lives.
Nina Forever
Sometimes, love is complicated. Perhaps you're plagued by an ex-lover's bittersweet memories that prevent you from moving onward. Maybe those thoughts summon your undead girlfriend from between the sheets when you're with your new sweetie. Those are the issues in Nina Forever, a lovestruck horror-comedy about three souls connected by a single relationship. Rob loses Nina, Rob starts dating Holly, Nina's corpse starts joining their sexy times, and the trio must untangle their feelings before someone gets hurt — er, more hurt. Cinematography is sensational as a bloodied Nina slathers redness all over her living counterparts, becoming even messier once Holly starts eyeing Nina on the side. It's not all eroticism and Halloween Penthouse material either, as Nina Forever wrestles with grief and expectations in the name of undying love.
Extra Ordinary
Out of Ireland comes this oddball romantic comedy that’s part Paranormal Activity, part Ghostbusters, and all parts adorable. Extra Ordinary follows ghost whisperer Rose as she partners with her crush Martin to save his satanically possessed daughter while they help local townsfolk with their supernatural issues. Maybe someone’s dead husband inhabits a waste bin, or electrical appliances operate independently. It’s all an excuse for Rose to spend time with Martin, flirting like kindergarteners and sharing genuine smiles while Martin spews ectoplasmic goo (it’s all part of the process). Throw in Will Forte as a lounge-y one-hit wonder with his hit track “Cosmic Woman,” real baby makin’ sci-fi music, and you’ve got one of the purest rom-coms with supporting ghouls worth any horror fan’s Valentine's watchlist.
Continue reading...