Haunting detective reflection in mirror, crime investigation posters on wall, suspenseful scene from The Scariest Things. — Matt Dillon is Jack in *The House that Jack Built* (2018), a seriously mean movie.

Great Horror movies can often be a bummer. Vicious, unrelenting, and cruel films that deny us the happy ending and the victorious fist pump. Many horror fans, and a couple of the podcasters for The Scariest Things in particular, seek these films out. We are crossing bridges too far. No punch pulling. Beware and behold Episode 205: Mean Horror.

The caveats associated with the “recommendations” presented in this episode have caveats of their own. These are the films that may make you regret your movie selection decisions. Grim. Brutal. Emotionally taxing. These movies have merit, but these aren’t movies meant to be enjoyed. Quite the opposite, actually. These movies strip your soul and make you ponder the darkness in society. Often, these movies are human-on-human horror, delivering cruelty that only we can inflict on ourselves.

Just know we will be following up soon with the salve for the emotional wounds that come with our “Feel Good” episode to help you recover.

Here are the criteria we used in picking our movies. The movie does not require compliance with all the listed criteria, but if the movie contains many of these themes, then it would qualify for our selections.

Bad things happen to innocent people. Repeatedly.
The protagonists often don’t survive the movie.
Evil wins.
The ending is a bummer.
There is little humor in the movie.
Typically, people would not describe this movie as “fun.”
The movie may be pervasively depressing and nihilistic.
There is little hope in the movie.
The movie has an emotional impact.

Note that this is not a reflection of the quality of the movies. Many of them are very good and critically appreciated. They also don’t need to be gory to be mean, though they often are.

The Podcast: Episode 205: Mean Horror

With those caveats and warnings: brace yourselves. It’s time for MEAN HORROR. For similar content, check our Bridge Too Far Infographics. Consider yourselves warned.

Suspenseful scene from The Scariest Things with tense characters under low light. — Benny’s Video (1992)