Modern dating and relationships in general can be very complicated and messy at times. Depending on where a couple is in a relationship, any preexisting issues, past problems, or toxic traits present in one or both partners can make for tricky situations. They can also create underlying psychological dynamics that emotional triggers can bring to the surface in a myriad of disturbing ways.
On the other hand, horror movies have become a hugely popular activity for couples to enjoy together. But as much as they can be fun in scary ways that help foster closeness and intimacy, they can also highlight some very dark and disturbing nuances in how we think and behave.
If it’s a new date with someone you don’t know well yet, or an established relationship where there are underlying feelings of betrayal, mistrust, or even subtle forms of control or possessiveness at play, watching the wrong movie together can turn a fun night into an awkward, uncomfortable or bad experience. Either way, even if a horror movie date night may seem like an ideal solution to bring closeness to a troubled relationship, it’s probably a good idea to keep these 10 movies off the list.
Article contains mild spoilers
10 Gerald’s Game
A dark and highly disturbing psychological horror, Gerald’s Game starred Carla Cugino and Bruce Greenwood as Jessie and Gerald, a couple who take a trip to an isolated cabin to try and rekindle their relationship.
While there, they decide to get a little kinky, and Gerald handcuffs her to the bedpost so that they can role-play a scenario where he’s a stranger who forces himself on her. She begins feeling uncomfortable and wants to stop, but then Gerald suffers a heart attack and dies on top of her. Trapped under his dead body, her real nightmare begins.
Two Masters of Psychological Horror
Based on a Stephen King book and directed by Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Fall of the House of Usher), the minds of these two horror masters combine to make this a chilling film. While trapped, Jessie begins to hallucinate macabre delusions of Gerald’s body coming back to life.
Their conversations draw out horrific trauma she suffered in the past and paint a disturbing psychological portrait of how much she’s repressed, and how it affected her relationship choices. To anyone carrying around trauma from their past, Gerald’s Game can easily creep under the skin and cause one to question why they’re really with their partner or if that person is really the best choice for them.
Stream Gerald’s Game on Netflix
9 Hellraiser (2022)
Continuing Clive Barker’s horrifying franchise, 2022’s Hellraiser was a modern reboot that took it to newer and more disturbing heights. It follows a young woman named Riley, who’s a recovering addict.
She starts a relationship with another addict named Trevor, who convinces her to help him break into an abandoned warehouse. There, they find a strange puzzle box and become wrapped up in a hedonistic billionaire’s twisted schemes, as the terrifying Cenobites are released.
Bad Choices
The dynamic between Riley and Trevor is disturbing, to say the least. First, it smacks of bad choices, since two addicts being together is never a smart move. Secondly, it’s later revealed that Trevor was only using her, since he was hired by the film’s antagonist to lure souls to the box.
At its core, the Hellraiser franchise is an allegory for the price of living a life based solely on seeking the pleasures of the flesh. With themes of addiction running through it, it paints a dark picture that can bring underlying relationship betrayals, feelings of being used, and pleasure seeking firmly to the surface.
After all, it engenders us to question the choices we make in a modern world defined by shallow relationships and hook-up culture. Causing a great degree of discomfort, the brilliance of the film lies in forcing us to confront how much our relationship choices are based on real human connection, and how much are simply just byproducts of trauma and a need to sate our physical desires — awkward things to be confronted by on date night.
Stream Hellraiser on Hulu
8 What Keeps You Alive
Trust is a major component of healthy relationships, and when there’s any underlying distrust between partners, anything that speaks to it can become a psychological trigger. In What Keeps You Alive, married couple Jackie and Jules go to a family cabin in the woods to celebrate their first anniversary. However, once there, Jackie’s dark past emerges, and she tries to murder Jules.
Built on Deception
Jules survives but is now faced with the shocking truth that her own wife is trying to kill her. When Jackie learns Jules is still alive, she tries to act like she’s sorry and begs for her forgiveness. The layers of deception and horrific lies in their relationship is enough to make anyone who’s faced, or suspects, dishonesty to feel even more insecure after watching this one.
Stream What Keeps You Alive on Tubi
7 What Lies Beneath
The previous movie is a terrifying exposé on the horrors of relationships built on dishonesty, and What Lies Beneath similarly takes that concept to even more frightening heights. It stars Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a married couple, Claire and Dr. Norman Spencer. After Claire’s daughter leaves for college, her isolation causes her mind to unravel as she’s haunted by a mysterious young woman.
The Reality of Partners Like Norman
Claire’s haunting takes her down a dark path that confronts her with terrifying memories. While Norman subtly goads her growing fear and paranoia that she may be losing her mind, she soon begins discovering the truth about his past.
Harrison Ford is especially terrifying in an atypical role for him, as he actively tries to keep his wife believing she’s delusional. The film’s plot and how it unravels can easily cause discomfort to anyone who has ever faced manipulation, being controlled, or experienced living with a narcissistic partner. For any couple going through tension and difficulty, this is bound to be an uncomfortable watch.
Stream What Lies Beneath on Paramount+
6 Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Roman Polanski’s classic religious horror Rosemary’s Baby was based on a novel of the same name. It tells the story of a married couple named Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, who live in a New York apartment complex. Guy pushes Rosemary to have a baby, but after she becomes pregnant, she begins suspecting sinister forces are after her unborn child.
Triggering Themes
The film features some harrowing scenes, and a twist that involves Rosemary finding herself becoming a human incubator to birth the Antichrist. Deeply disturbing, Guy’s behavior and deceitful control over Rosemary take us through some truly twisted moments, like when he admits to having sex with her while she was unconscious. Although a brilliant movie, again, for anyone struggling to cope with present or past trauma from abusive relationships, it can be a very triggering film.
Stream Rosemary’s Baby on Paramount+
5 Scream (2022)
Reigniting the franchise, 2022’s Scream introduced a fresh cast that included Jenna Ortega, while retaining old favorites from the slasher dynasty like Neve Campbell. Taking place 25 years after the original killings after they start up again, the killers are refreshingly new.
Twisted Reality
Like the couple in the film, it isn’t impossible to imagine real life couples learning sick ideas from movies. After all, Tinder and Peacock conducted a survey that found horror movies are one of the most commonly named interests between couples, so much so that it added ‘Horror Movies’ to its list of interests people could select when seeking compatibility.
In an article from the UK’s Independent, two relationship experts encouraged people dating to avoid watching horror movies until about the third date or so:
…feelings of adrenaline are heightened when seeing a scary movie. Because of that, how you feel during the date — whether it’s the first or sixth — could ultimately shape your perspective on the growing relationship. “Regardless of if we’re scared or we’re excited, we actually have the same exact visceral symptoms that happen in our body,” she [Jacqui Pugh] said. “So when the adrenaline gets pumped, our brain can decipher it as this is a really exciting moment with my partner, and that can lead to feeling a deeper connection.”
They argue that heightened feelings between two people should be more genuine, and such feelings generated from horror flicks can make a relationship feel more exciting than it really is.
Stream Scream on Paramount+
4 The Trip
A Norwegian horror comedy, The Trip follows Lars and Lisa, a disgruntled married couple who both have murderous intentions. After taking a trip to a cabin together, they try killing each other, only to both be confronted with a new threat.
Stranger Than Fiction
Although very much a movie made for entertainment, this one can weirdly expose underlying cracks in a relationship. Relationships that grow sour don’t always end immediately. Instead, it’s common for partners to grow apart and let resentment build.
At its worst, couples who have built up extreme animosity to each other may even see it as a blueprint for an unspeakable way out. You may think that’s an overblown idea. However, if it’s so unlikely, ask yourself why homicide documentaries so often deal with real couples who went down that exact path.
Stream The Trip on Netflix
3 The Devil’s Advocate
A classic from the ’90s with a star-studded cast that included Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Charlize Theron, The Devil’s Advocate was a mind-bending film. Reeves played Kevin, a hotshot southern corporate lawyer who takes a high-paying job at a New York firm. As his shady boss John Milton (Pacino) begins seducing him with a flashy lifestyle, his wife Mary Ann (Theron) slowly unravels as their new life grows darker and more twisted.
Outside Influences
Another film featuring themes of a religious plot to give rise to the Antichrist, this one makes for a very uncomfortable watch from Mary Ann’s point of view. Her slow unraveling, feelings of isolation, being cast as a delusional wife while being manipulated, used, and even forcibly assaulted, make for some disturbing scenes. Rated R for a reason, it contains some very explicit scenes and themes that serve as a dark example of how third party influences can affect a relationship.
Rent The Devil’s Advocate on Apple TV+
2 Bride of Chucky
A 1998 installment of the iconic Child’s Play franchise, Bride of Chucky united the infamous doll with his female counterpart, Tiffany. When Tiffany is also turned into a doll, the pair indulge their worst traits together and embark on a murderous rampage.
Pop Culture’s Fascination With Toxic Couples
Ever notice how often social media posts or fan art depict couples like The Joker and Harley Quinn as merely misunderstood? Their glorification often also comes with themes of being each other’s kind of crazy. Movies like Bride of Chucky exploit our fascination with twisted couples in a similar way.
No matter how cool the idea may seem, the truth is those couples are really walking red flags. By enjoying films that celebrate bad relationships, most couples don’t realize they’re simply defending and glorifying toxic behavior. On closer inspection, you might really come to see that characters like Harley and Tiffany often end up resenting their violent partners, feeling used, unappreciated, and cast aside.
Here are some of Tiffany and Chuck’s wildest moments together in the film that illustrate how a toxic couple can bring out the worst in each other.
Stream Bride of Chucky on DIRECTV
1 The Shining
Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece film The Shining is brilliantly heightened by Jack Nicholson’s timeless performance as Jack Torrance, and the product of Stephen King’s twisted mind to make it a true horror classic. Following a married couple and their young son as they move inTO an isolated hotel for the winter, the Overlook’s other inhabitants soon send Jack on a murderous path.
Brilliant and Horrifying
Nicholson’s unbelievable portrayal of Jack Torrance’s slow descent into madness was terrifying. The way he slowly grows to resent and hate his own wife and son paints a disturbing picture that can feel all too real to domestic abuse survivors. If you’ve ever encountered a relationship characterized by abuse or violence, the film will undoubtedly dredge up the kind of pain and anxiety associated with such unfortunate experiences.
Stream The Shining on Netflix
