So This post is all about 25 isolation horror movies that will make you glad to share the couch with your spouse!
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Hello to all my Ripley and Jack lovelies out here. Welcome to Booked and Bewitched where we talk about all things horror, mystery, gothic, spooky, and scary.
This week we taking a stroll through 25 isolation horror movies to help you feel a little less alone this weekend. Isolation horror or closed-environment horror movies are some of my favorites because it’s you versus “the thing” and neither of you has anywhere to run.
So I’ll quit running my gabber and let’s get into these 25 horror isolation movies. Oh and if you’d like some other recommendations, go check out.
Supernatural Books To Keep You Company
Epic Isolation Horror Movies
1. Harrowing Science Fiction Isolation Horror
A classic isolation horror movie, Alien is a masterclass in science fiction horror. I’ve no doubt that Alien created my love of the genre, and is still one of my favorite films to this day. I won’t venture beyond the original here, but if you’re looking for a movie to test your stress and anxiety levels, Alien won’t disappoint.
RELEASE DATE: 1979
The original classic! The frightening, intense story of the discovery of a vicious alien species by blue-collar space crew has become a sci-fi landmark. Oscar-winner for Best Visual Effects.
2. Terrifying Isolation Horror
If you love a good group isolation horror movie Grave Encounters is an epic choice. Grave Encounters takes the ghost-hunting found footage TV show to an entirely new level of terror. I’ll keep my opinion of the second one to myself, but the first one is a must-watch.
RELEASE DATE: 2011
Reality TV ghost hunters find more than they ever hoped in an abandoned psychiatric hospital.
3. Eerie Suspense Isolation Horror
So love it or hate it House On Haunted Hill took a Hollywood classic horror and made it even more terrifying. Considering I was a teenager when this came out, the visuals and characters in this horror movie about being trapped in a house still vividly take up space in my head. If you love isolation horror where the asylum strikes back at those who tortured them, this is your winner.
RELEASE DATE: 1999
In this thriller, five people agree to spend the night in a haunted house in exchange for one million dollars but they must live through the night to receive it.
4. Frightening Closed Environment Horror
So if you love a good cave monster mixed with a horror film about isolation The Decent is your next watch. The Decent is a heavy hitter in the emotions department and how far the human psyche can be pushed before it cracks.
RELEASE DATE: 2006
Cave explorers (Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid) encounter underground predators.
5. Ominous Isolation Horror Drama
While it’s no secret that I prefer the book over the film, The Shining is one of the greatest horror movies of all time, from the iconic carpet to Redrum I think it’s safe to say The Shining is a must-watch if you love isolation horror movies.
RELEASE DATE: 1980
All work and no play makes Academy Award® winner Jack Nicholson, the caretaker of an isolated resort, go way off the deep end, terrorizing his young son and wife Shelley Duvall.
6. Eerie Science Fiction Isolation Horror
For the life of me I don’t understand why The Thing isn’t more people’s best closed environment horror movie favorite. I love The Thing, I do not appreciate what happens to the huskies, but as a mom of three, if you’ve seen it you’ll know why. Regardless being trapped in the Arctic with a mimicking creature is pure terror you need to see.
RELEASE DATE: 1982
John Carpenter delivers the ultimate in alien terror in this chilling story about an Antarctic research team that discovers a form-changing alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years.
7. Frightening Suspense Isolation Science Fiction
Ok, I’m probably going to get canceled but I’ve read The Mist, and own the film. And while they are high on everyone’s isolation horror movies list as a favorite, I am not a fan of either. If you are a Lovecraft fan or religious fever horror fan, The Mist will probably be right up your alley.
RELEASE DATE: 2007
When a mysterious mist, and the supernatural creatures within, falls across their town in the wake of a violent storm, a group of local citizens must fend for themselves while trapped inside a local supermarket.
8. Intense Science Fiction Isolation Horror
Hands down the birth of escape room and isolation puzzle horror movies. I haven’t watched the Cube in twenty-plus years and I still remember chewing on the button to stay hydrated. If you’ve never seen the Cube go watch it, it’s worth the time.
RELEASE DATE: 1997
Seven complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in an endless maze containing deadly traps.
9. Haunting Cerebral Isolation Horror
So this was my favorite movie for most of junior high, and still one of my go-to faves. Having recently gone back and watched The Cell again I can see how it influenced me. This is one of the best isolation horror movies because we are isolated in the mind of a serial killer.
RELEASE DATE: 2000
When Stargher, a serial killer who drowns his victims in torture cells and performs bizarre rituals with their bodies, falls into a coma, the FBI asks Deane to enter the his mind.
10. Frightening Suspense Isolation Horror
OK I know this wasn’t a huge fan favorite, but 30 Days of Night was actually an interesting new take on the vampire. It pushed not only isolation horror due to the Alaskan environment, but also the darkness that overtakes the mind because of the lack of sunlight.
RELEASE DATE: 2007
After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.
11. Thrilling Isolation Suspense Horror
The Relic is one of those monster isolation movies that I feel doesn’t get enough attention. I’m pretty sure it’s lost on people why the archeologist is turned into a creature by the jungle people. Throw in the creepy museum at night storyline and Relic is a great watch.
RELEASE DATE: 1997
When a South American lizard-like god goes on a people-eating rampage at the Chicago Natural History museum, it’s up to homicide detective Vincent and biologist Margo to track down the creature before the museum’s gala opening.
12. Eerie Cerebral Isolation Horror
So The Lodge was great in terms of movies about isolation and loneliness, originality, and twists. And while I can understand why the children would seek vengeance I struggled to wrap my head around just how cruel they actually become. It was a decent watch, but not one I’d go back to.
RELEASE DATE: 2023
A woman with a dark past and her two soon-to-be stepchildren are menaced by an occult terror while stranded inside a remote cabin.
13. Mysterious Isolation Horror
So I had the pleasure of watching Gojanum Haunted Asylum while home on medical and it has awakened a new love of asian horror films for me. I love this type of isolation horror movie, because it’s not cheap jumpscares or music scares, it’s straight anxiety and situation horror.
RELEASE DATE: 2018
The crew of a horror web show plan to stream live from inside an asylum. To attract more viewers, the show’s host arranges fake scares, but as they move deeper into the building, they find much more than expected.
14. Ominous Isolation Drama Horror
So if you’re like me and have a strange obsession with the so-called medical practices of asylums, and the epic isolation horror movies they create, then Session 9 is a great watch. This one will have you guessing until the end and questioning if you truly understood the ending or not.
RELEASE DATE: 2001
Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past.
15. Spooky Cerebral Isolation Horror
This is one of those isolation horror movies about being trapped in a house that I passed over fifty times because I thought it would be awful. Let me tell you, Hell House LLC is one of the creepiest movies I’ve seen. And if you have a phobia of clowns or haunted house attractions, stay far far away from this one.
RELEASE DATE: 2016
On October 8th, 2009 a haunted house attraction opened its doors to the public in upstate New York. The entire crew was found dead, except for one. Five years later a documentary crew found her and the video footage from inside the house.
16. Frightening Isolation Science Fiction Horror
Who doesn’t love a good cave monster or isolation horror? The Cave is a group isolation horror movie that I watch at least a couple of times a year. It’s a great creature flick, but it’s also a religious monster plot and I love it.
RELEASE DATE: 2005
Blood-thirsty creatures await a pack of divers who become trapped in an underwater cave network.
17. Strange Isolation Horror
If you love Doom you need to watch Super Deep. Is it the best closed environment horror movies I’ve ever seen, no. But neither was Doom but I still enjoy it. The story questions just how far are we willing to go to be the first.
RELEASE DATE: 2020
In 1984 a Russian research team go below the surface to find out what secret the world’s deepest borehole was hiding.
18. Thrilling Suspense Isolation Horror
So I don’t know how I missed Below until a month ago but it’s horror films about isolation must-see. It’s a haunting on a submarine. Set in the 1950’s it’s a great isolation horror movie and a must-watch for all the haunted ship lovers out there.
RELEASE DATE: 2002
During World War II, a Navy submarine’s rescue mission becomes a hallucinatory journey into fear: the captain dies, Nazi warships prowl above them, and psychologically strange events rattle the crew.
19. Eerie Suspense Isolation Horror
Hands down as cheesy as it is great, and we all know it. Ghost Ship is an isolation horror movie that pushes us to question how far we’ll let greed push us. If you love a good haunted cruise ship, and over-the-top gore at times, Ghost Ship is a great watch.
RELEASE DATE: 2002
The crew of a salvage boat discovers that an abandoned ocean liner they’ve found is actually a floating house of horrors.
20. Atmospheric Suspense Isolation Horror
If you are terrified of flying like me, do not watch Flight 7500. This takes isolation horror movies to a new place by countering us against supernatural forces on a plane.
RELEASE DATE: 2016
From the director of The Grudge comes this spine-chilling journey into fear. On a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo, a plane is shaken by severe weather. When the turbulence subsides, a passenger suddenly dies-and a supernatural force is unleashed, overtaking the passengers as they desperately fight to figure out what it is and how to stop it.
21. Downbeat Science Fiction Isolation Horror
So Underwater is this deep sea movie about isolation and loneliness also diving into the lengths corporate moguls will go to to keep money in their pockets. I won’t lie and say this is the greatest movie ever. But as far as deep sea creature flicks go, not too shabby.
RELEASE DATE: 202
A drilling crew stranded on the ocean floor encounters a monstrous deep-sea terror in this terrifying thriller.
22. Mysterious Sci-Fi Isolation Horror
One of the greatest horror movies of all time, Sphere is in my top ten. If you enjoy deep sea isolation horror movies, you have to watch Sphere. It may be older, but it’s still a must-see.
RELEASE DATE: 1998
Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson star as a group of scientists recruited by the Navy to conduct a secret underwater mission to explore an alien spaceship.
23. Scary Deep Space Isolation Horror
If you love Pinhead, you must see Event Horizon. So deep space isolation horror is scary on its own, throw in time travel and the gates of hell and it’s a whole new level of terror.
RELEASE DATE: 1997
Set in the year 2046, a rescue team investigates a spaceship that has been missing for seven years when it suddenly reappears through a black hole with its entire crew missing and inhabited by a strange new presence.
24. Anxious Isolation Suspense Horror
For the life of me I can’t get through this isolation horror movie. So as Above So Below has some really great ideas as far as putting a new spin on the haunted location trope. But in the end, I’m really struggling to finish watching it, and not just fast-forwarding to the end.
RELEASE DATE: 2014
When a team of explorers ventures into the miles of twisting catacombs beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.
25. Ominous Isolation Horror Suspense
Best twist of all time, I thought I knew for sure all the way through who the villain was in Devil. Nope, totally wrong. Devil took one of my worst fears and turned it into an isolation horror movie.
RELEASE DATE: 2010
Detective Bowden must save five people trapped in an elevator: a mechanic, a young woman, an old woman, a guard, and a salesman.
This post was all about 25 isolation horror movies that will make you glad to share the couch with your spouse!
Now, go on, go watch something!
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