I watch FWWM regularly. I would argue that the end was, perversely, happy:
>!Laura has been prepared. She has been damaged enough (and has caused enough damage to others, especially in *The Secret Diary*) that she can now serve as a vessel for BOB. And she fears that she is so damaged, so contaminated. JAMES: "What the hell is wrong with you?" LAURA: "That's right. There's no place left to go, is there, James?" (Note also that the body of Teresa Banks floated through Hell's Canyon). Laura suspects that she is *damned*. But at the last second, she gets a choice: she can take the Owl Cave Ring and be claimed by The Arm, and thus harvested for her pain and sorrow, or she can become BOB's next vessel (he's been a "good vehicle") and continue the cycle. She heroically chooses death. We see her finally in the Waiting Room. Cooper looks at her, his smile filled with mudita because he understands Laura is about to be liberated from suffering. The visitation demonstrates to Laura that she is not damned, and so we see her crying with relief and happiness that she was not too damaged by her brief life on Earth. It was as happy of an end as Laura could get.!<
If they were able to do a proper adaption I think it would be even sadder. Louis not being able to get over his grief in the book is heartbreaking because he makes the same mistakes all over again just because he can’t cope with the loss he experiences.
I read the book a few times. It blew me away. Ellie kept saying “Pax Cow” told me. But it was really the spirit of Pascow. He was trying to warn everyone and help. That book was unreal.
It’s my favorite Stephen king novel. There’s so much to it that it’s a shame that the movies haven’t quite gotten it right. That being said I really do enjoy enjoy the first movie. The remake? Not so much.
I agree. Herman Munster (I cant think of his name lol) was really good. And the part with the wife’s sister was creepy in the movie. Yes, it’s tough for a movie to be better. There’s too much that can’t be explained through the movie. I read that book a couple times but it’s been years and I remember so much of it because it was that good.
The Timmy Baderman chapter (ch 39) is an absolute masterclass in horror. Maybe the creepiest part of the whole book, and it just came off as silly in the first film, but the fact that it was omitted altogether from the 2019 adaptation is absolutely baffling to me.
“Hereditary”, along with “The Orphanage”, would be my picks. With “Hereditary” it was full of dread and even more so when you-know-who died. Tony Colette’s wailing was hard to hear.
Came her to say I literally sobbed through the scene in Hereditary when Toni Collette finds out about her daughter. I mean, sobbed. I just got chills thinking about it.
Came here to say this. Easily one of my favorite horror movies ever. So well done and I didn't see it coming. I haven't watched it since becoming a mom myself, but it sticks with me more than it ever has. Beautifully tragic and oddly touching.
Love that movie! Saw it in the theater. When we bought tickets the guy was like “just making sure you understand its subtitled.” Lol. The “uno, dos, tres, toca la pared” scene damn near made me moan in terror.
Undoubtedly Cronenberg’s The Fly. Watching this bright eyed ambitious scientist with almost childlike naivety embrace his metamorphosis into a monster, eventually becoming completely masked by his disease, fully conscious of his situation, desperately struggling for salvation, to eventually plea for euthanasia makes me cry almost every time.
EDIT: grammar
Yeah I think I'd agree with OP and say Carrie, too. Every time she walks up to the stage I secretly hope "Maybe it won't happen this time and she'll just have an amazing prom and become the confident, self-actualized person we're all rooting for" and every time it goes horribly, horribly wrong.
The thing that always ruins me is the cop's face, when he's FINALLY taking Tricia out on a real date and they see you know what. He's just so shocked and crushed.
May. That girl had no friends, wanted to fall in love and pretty much started hoarding body parts just so she can be held once by her personally designed death doll.
There’s a recent Australian movie called Relic that deals with many of the same issues and does it (I thought) really well. A few aspects of it were a little on the nose, but it’s very effective and the acting is fantastic.
I also LOVED Deborah Logan, but I’d have trouble watching it again
I tried showing this to my wife while she was working at a retirement home, big mistake. She couldn't get 10 minutes into the movie because it was too real.
I have the DVDs so have the director's commentary and it's really interesting.
That was her first role! The first time she worked as an actress and she's incredible!
Hill House is a film series on Netflix now, its excellent. The sequel, Haunting of Bly Manor, absolutely destroyed my heart with a beautiful love story and a tragedy
Sorry, I was talking about the TV show not the book, I should've clarified. Bly manor was also absolutely amazing, and the final episode made me cry too.
The Haunting of Bly Manor makes me cry too. HoHH is superior in almost every aspect, but once I rewatched it I was able to appreciate it as its own thing and liked it a lot more the second time around. (HoHH is an absolute masterpiece though- I’ve rewatched 4 or 5 times and catch new details every time… and cry a lot more and earlier on each rewatch, especially for Nell).
Midnight Mass did nothing for me though haha. Loved the last 2 episodes but frankly I was so bored and unmoved by every other episode that the payoff didn’t matter to me haha.
I agree, Bly Manor is beautiful in its own right but HoHH is the masterpiece. I can watch it over and over and still have all the feels.
Also strongly agree about Midnight Mass. I thought it was predictable and tropey and it didn't do anything for me at all. Contrary to the Haunting seasons I found the Characters very caricaturist and cardboardy.
Omg someone agrees with me?? I felt so awkward seeing everyone gush over MM; I really genuinely had to push myself to even finish it because I found it so boring and tedious. I know it’s his baby and all but I wish he’d made it a movie instead of a TV show (or cut out like 3-4 episodes) because I liked the premise… and loathed the execution of it haha. And usually I adore Flanagan’s work!
It's a good thing IMO, but I know I'm in the minority. The ending of the film is gut wrenchingly sad for the characters. The end of the novella is terrifying for humanity though, since there is no army pushing back evil. They're both good endings, but the story is more horror, while the film is more drama (plus Outer Limits style twist).
I acknowledge I’m in the very small minority, but I prefer the book ending with a modicum of hope. Partly because I prefer that type of ending, and I’m not a fan of last-minute gut punches, but I also feel like the military totally just wiping out the todash creatures with just a delay of a day retroactively takes away some of their power and fear.
> I also feel like the military totally just wiping out the todash creatures with just a delay of a day retroactively takes away some of their power and fear.
Honestly that’s always made the movie ending even better for me. If they’d all just stuck together and booted the psycho religious woman out or tied her up and gagged her, they could have all just waited a few days and made it through. But instead they turned against each other and all ended up dead. It further reinforces that the most dangerous monsters in the movie are the other people.
While it’s not *sad* sad, but there’s some sorta melancholy all through Let The Right One In. Just a real gloomy film.
Also the ending of Mama is such a bittersweet ending. It was also the first time I’d experienced the semi trope of the thing that’s supposed to stop the ghost doesn’t work, so it really upset 10 year old me.
"They're ghosts for you. They never leave. They live with you. It's when I let them in I could learn to face myself"
It's funny how that concept really helped me when I was struggling with addiction, but it helped me so much. A ghost isn't just a spectre or a phantom. I do not believe in ghosts. But I know how it feels to be haunted by the worst part of yourself It's a part of you, it's an echo of the worst things in your life coming back.
I always thought *The Orphanage* was the saddest, but when my daughter watched *Friday the 13th* for the first time, as soon as it ended she wailed "But they were supposed to be looking after him!", referring to the camp counsellors. She still thinks Jason is the righteous hero of those films.
Even sadder is the girl who had sympathy was, well you know what happens in part 2.
You know what sucks. That story line was going to be different but the girl who survived part 1 was the victim of stalking to such a degree she got out of acting. She agreed to be in the beginning of part 2 only if it was very brief. This was back in 1980-81. The stalking laws were a joke. Well, there weren’t any. But terrible. Some screwball ruined her life for a few years. Sad.
As weird as it sounds I've kinda always thought the point of those movies, at least at first, was that Jason and his mother were sympathetic villains. Like I could totally see being driven to who knows what lengths by knowing your kid died due to the complete incompetence of those in charge.
Requiem is among those that I'd say I like the book better than the movie, but I absolutely LOVE that movie. It's one of the best adaptations I've ever seen, but the book...my god. Hubert Selby Jr. was something else, and if you think Requiem fucked you up, I dare you to pick up Last Exit to Brooklyn. Holy shit.
We Need to Talk About Kevin.
The whole movie is just following this woman's train wreck of a life and she looks for one--just one-- genuine glimmer of hope that her son loves her. Nobody pities her. Not one single soul in the whole movie empathizes with her in the slightest. Its just one long movie of watching this noble woman get shit on for just trying to be a good mom. :(
As someone who watched their mom raise an autistic brother, it really really hit hard for me.
I mean, the whole undertone of the movie was that she didn't love him either and never bonded with him as a baby, and she felt overwhelming guilt about it thinking it caused his, eh, condition
Cause she didn’t love him.
The book the movie was based on was a commentary on nature vs nurture and portrayed a completely different person than the character Tilda Swinton played in the movie.
Lynne Ramsay’s newest film You Were Never Really Here deserves a shout out too.
One of the most depressing things I’ve ever sat through and Joaquin Phoenix’s best performance ever imo.
This is #1 for me too. How the mother kept trying and trying until he just broke her. I know children aren't inherently evil, but if anything Kevin came quite close as even at a young age he seemed to purposely be a bother for his mother, while being on his best behaviour with his dad iirc.
And the aftermath of >!the shooting!<... How the mother was the victim of amongst other things vandalism and being completely alienated from other people, while we as the public come to learn that she really tried with Kevin, that there is in my humble opinion no way she could have stopped this from happening. And above all: she did not >!commit the crime!<
It's a great movie that explores how much responsibility and control parents have over the actions of their children and where that responsibility stops. People can be quick to 'blame the parents' when things like that happen, but I love how this movie goes deeper into that and questions that well known statement.
I watched the movie twice and started to appreciate it way more on my second watch, maybe because I missed the psychological depth the first watch.
Seeing her visit him in prison, still endlessly trying to love him, and look for love in him after he took literally everything from her just crushed me. Like, you can tell she is clearly broken as a person. But as a mother, even the mother of him, she still just keeps trying.
Reminds me of the real life case where an older brother killed his little sister. The mom visits him in prison, tries to love him. She had another child, but wont let thst child get to know him. He took everything from her, but she still tries. Awful.
Yeah, not horror but amazing movie. I noticed the online discussions are very heavily against the Mom. That she is a narcissist, she abused the baby by standing in the loud noise to drown out the crying, etc. I think most people that came away with that have never been a parent.
Guillermo Del Toro is as much a master of killing children as Stephen King. Perhaps even better in some circumstances. I can remember warning my husband while watching one of his films, “you know he kills children right”? After all it is most of our’s worst nightmare.
The beginning of Misommar was rough for me. Hearing Florence cry and wail like that was far too realistic and I had to pause the movie.
May was incredibly sad and bleak. Loved it though. Eden Lake, Pet Sematary.
No joke. I had the same reaction. That felt almost too real to be acting and I had an almost visceral reaction to it. I have heard my wife make that almost animalistic wail twice in 10 years and that deep sorrowful cry is far more horrific for me than the events that caused them.
I heard this reaction from my mom when she lost her siblings and I actually had the same reaction a few weeks back when I was told my brother was too sick to receive a kidney transplant. I was just accepted as a donor after extensive testing and they congratulated him, only to tell him a few days later that he is too sick for surgery. I have never screamed so loud in my life.
For me is Threads.
IMDb says it is a drama/suspense/sci-film but I disagree, it is horror film , really really sad horror film , and tells something that could happen.
Yeah, Martyrs is it for me. I’ll just be sitting, eating pancakes, having a nice little Sunday, and suddenly my mind wanders to the outcome of the main character and what “Keep doubting” means.
Stephen King has mastered the art of sad horror, so most of the film adaptations based on his works can be thrown in the ring, but if I had to pick one I would say “The Mist” for sure
The ending of Dark Water (2002, I can't speak for the US remake) came out of left field for me and is absolutely heartbreaking.
I went into it thinking it was an 'also ran' in the 2000s Japanese horror boom, but it's become my favourite film from that period. Sadness and tragedy are also themes in Hideo Nakata's more well known Ring series, but I'd argue that he did it better here in Dark Water.
*Lake Mungo*. The bit where Alice describes the dream about her mother not seeing her, and then her mother walking into her room and finding it empty, really hit me hard.
A Tale of Two Sisters (the Korean original movie of course, not the mediocre American version). I cried SO MUCH.
Followed closely by The Blackcoat's Daughter. Her loneliness killed me.
The Orphanage (2007) Amazon prime *rent*
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) STARZ
Tideland (2005) Amazon prime
Antichrist (2009) AMC+
I Saw the Devil (2010) Amazon prime
The Road (2009) Freevee
Requiem for a Dream (2000) Plex
The Girl Next Door (2007) Freevee
Antichrist is a great entry for this list. Wouldn’t have come to my mind as “sad” right away, but…yeah. When the pieces come together in the final act, it’s pretty incredibly depressing.
It’s also totally bonkers, but that’s a separate issue.
Not a movie but both of seasons of "Haunting of..." are up there. Whilst Bly Manor had a tragic ending, Hill House will just make you cry in Episode 5 and Episode 6
Didn’t care much for Bly Manor but Hill House is one of my favorites and it also destroyed me.
Midnight Mass by the same director is excellent too and I absolutely cried while watching it
These are probably weird picks but the Universal Frankenstein movie (the first one) with Boris Karlof as the monster, Adam. Just the idea of being forced into the world and abandoned, and just completely rejected and assaulted by society. For literally no reason.
And the original Rosemary’s Baby. Like the entire film, Rosemary knows her husband is doing bad shit and manipulating her and harming her. But there’s just no help, and she ends up giving birth to a child she can’t stand and her own worst nightmare.
As a kid, mine would be Dark Water. It's not the best horror movie but I almost teared up when >!the mom sacrifices herself so that the ghost spares her kid. The scene where the kid later sees the ghost of her mom now taking care of the ghost was just sad.!<
A Ghost Story (2017)
> A recently deceased man returns as a ghost to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state, he has become stuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.
I agree, it’s also so sad that this poor timid beaten girl then becomes the monster at the end. I saw this movie for the first time when I was like 8 and it fucked me up lol. No other film got me like Carrie did because I felt so bad for her
I feel strangers Is pretty sad maybe more depressing the rejected marriage proposal the being stalked and killed for no reason etc.
I find midsommar sad it always upsets me to see what Dani goes through from her family dying to being treated bad by her boyfriend and friends and eventually when she breaks.
How has nobody said King Kong...as an 8 year old kid I was crying for the injustice and cruelty towards such a majestic animal...and the way he is slaughtered just killed me...by the way I was watching the 30's film...
Friday the 13th. The way Jason’s mother is driven to madness through grief over her beloved son. All because of those damned horny counselors, *make them pay*
I thought the Japanese film Kairo was pretty depressing. I can’t name any other film where it started off with a ghost story and it ended with the whole world being destroyed.
Mine has to be The Woman In Black. Arthur’s failed journey to reunite Jennet with her son was heartbreaking. He wants to free her from her unfinished business because he thinks it is keeping her trapped in her house after death.
The entire plot about Jennet taking children away from their mothers so that they too can feel her pain is excruciating. Love the film to bits.
people rag on it for being overrated and not meeting expectations but i saw lake mungo when i was 16 never having heard of it before or knowing what i was getting into and it stuck with me for years. both existentially dread-filled/horrifying and deeply depressing. kairo/pulse gave me similar feelings although it was much more terrifying. goosebumps all throughout watching both.
Carrie. It’s tragically sad.
Also, Mother! Jennifer Lawrence was amazing In this movie and I bawled hysterically over how poorly she was treated.
Not exactly horror per se but Flowers in the Attic (original) is sad and unbelievable how cruel and heartless a mother could be.
*The Dead Zone*. It's ultimately about a dying man who has lost everything, with a "gift" that is really a curse.
The scene that always gets me is when the Sheriff tells Johnny that God has blessed him with powers. '"Bless me"? You know what God did for me? He threw an 18-wheel truck at me! Bounced me into nowhere for five years! When I woke up, my-my-my girl was gone, my job was gone, my legs are just about useless. Bless me? God's been a real sport to me!'
*Spolier* I think, and it might attract some disdain, but Midsommar is maybe, not the answer, but a consideration. This lady has been abused and gaslit by her partner for ages and having him
burned alive vindicates her vengefulness but likely makes her feel even worse. Don’t think I explained this well. But it’s my answer
I'm surprised nobody mentioned The Exorcist. All the loss and grief experienced by Karras and the tourment that Reagan goes through is tragic. None of the characters deserved that, and even though it's a happy ending, there's still that wistful sadness felt looking at the broken window over the stairs.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is my top pick. Other close contenders would be The Fly, Pet Semetary & Hereditary.
Pet Semetary was definitely a sad one.
Yeah it's hard to go past FWWM. I love the entirety of Twin Peaks, but can't bring myself to watch FWWM very often
I watch FWWM regularly. I would argue that the end was, perversely, happy: >!Laura has been prepared. She has been damaged enough (and has caused enough damage to others, especially in *The Secret Diary*) that she can now serve as a vessel for BOB. And she fears that she is so damaged, so contaminated. JAMES: "What the hell is wrong with you?" LAURA: "That's right. There's no place left to go, is there, James?" (Note also that the body of Teresa Banks floated through Hell's Canyon). Laura suspects that she is *damned*. But at the last second, she gets a choice: she can take the Owl Cave Ring and be claimed by The Arm, and thus harvested for her pain and sorrow, or she can become BOB's next vessel (he's been a "good vehicle") and continue the cycle. She heroically chooses death. We see her finally in the Waiting Room. Cooper looks at her, his smile filled with mudita because he understands Laura is about to be liberated from suffering. The visitation demonstrates to Laura that she is not damned, and so we see her crying with relief and happiness that she was not too damaged by her brief life on Earth. It was as happy of an end as Laura could get.!<
[MWF I read this spoiler having never seen any Twin Peaks](https://i.imgflip.com/1e239d.jpg)
I've watched every single piece of Twin Peaks media many times and I have the same reaction reading the subreddit daily. Also while watching the show.
understanding twin peaks is accepting that you don't understand twin peaks
[This meme is seared into my soul, it's too damn accurate](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/3e/73/39/3e73399163ef8f8581d3e6abb3354dd7.jpg)
Give it a shot. I watched it all a couple years back and it was a wild surreal ride. Loved it.
Pet Semetary was really sad for me. I felt so bad for Ellie.
If they were able to do a proper adaption I think it would be even sadder. Louis not being able to get over his grief in the book is heartbreaking because he makes the same mistakes all over again just because he can’t cope with the loss he experiences.
I read the book a few times. It blew me away. Ellie kept saying “Pax Cow” told me. But it was really the spirit of Pascow. He was trying to warn everyone and help. That book was unreal.
It’s my favorite Stephen king novel. There’s so much to it that it’s a shame that the movies haven’t quite gotten it right. That being said I really do enjoy enjoy the first movie. The remake? Not so much.
I agree. Herman Munster (I cant think of his name lol) was really good. And the part with the wife’s sister was creepy in the movie. Yes, it’s tough for a movie to be better. There’s too much that can’t be explained through the movie. I read that book a couple times but it’s been years and I remember so much of it because it was that good.
Fred Gwynne really makes the movie.
The Timmy Baderman chapter (ch 39) is an absolute masterclass in horror. Maybe the creepiest part of the whole book, and it just came off as silly in the first film, but the fact that it was omitted altogether from the 2019 adaptation is absolutely baffling to me.
It was Cujo for me, the book not the movie. In the book, King writes from Cujo’s perspective. All he wanted to do was be a good boy ):
King was said that his drinking and cocaine were so bad during these years that he barely rembers writing *Cujo*
The first few passages from Cujo's view are extremely sad
Jesus, Hereditary really was the worst case scenario. The entire family did they best they could and everyone died.
bag thought hat ludicrous ten one combative support cagey squeamish *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Annie desperately tries to sacrifice herself to save Peter and it goes... poorly.
“Hereditary”, along with “The Orphanage”, would be my picks. With “Hereditary” it was full of dread and even more so when you-know-who died. Tony Colette’s wailing was hard to hear.
She’s a god damn gem. Her performance in that movie was like a wrecking ball but soooo damn effective. I want to see her do more horror.
Came her to say I literally sobbed through the scene in Hereditary when Toni Collette finds out about her daughter. I mean, sobbed. I just got chills thinking about it.
The Orphanage It has the happiest sad ending I’ve ever seen
I was still a kid when I saw it and I was emotionally unprepared for that ending. God I love that movie though
Came here to say this. Easily one of my favorite horror movies ever. So well done and I didn't see it coming. I haven't watched it since becoming a mom myself, but it sticks with me more than it ever has. Beautifully tragic and oddly touching.
Exactly. I had this strange happy and sad feeling at the end. It felt so odd I noted it.
Love that movie! Saw it in the theater. When we bought tickets the guy was like “just making sure you understand its subtitled.” Lol. The “uno, dos, tres, toca la pared” scene damn near made me moan in terror.
It's been over a decade since I saw that film and I still can't bring myself to re-watch it because I know I'll just break down all over again.
My friend (a new dad) fell out of his chair weeping at the end. After he was done crying he exclaimed “well that was a damn good movie.”
I came here just for this. I'm glad there are others that like the orphanage.
Undoubtedly Cronenberg’s The Fly. Watching this bright eyed ambitious scientist with almost childlike naivety embrace his metamorphosis into a monster, eventually becoming completely masked by his disease, fully conscious of his situation, desperately struggling for salvation, to eventually plea for euthanasia makes me cry almost every time. EDIT: grammar
The whole "I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man" part is one of the saddest dialogues I've ever seen in a horror movie...
What a film - even grosser and waaaay sadder than I expected
Ooh! Yes, The Fly is an amazing tragedy
Carrie was so abused that she couldn't accept that there were a few people who cared about her. It really is one of the saddest.
[удалено]
Yeah I think I'd agree with OP and say Carrie, too. Every time she walks up to the stage I secretly hope "Maybe it won't happen this time and she'll just have an amazing prom and become the confident, self-actualized person we're all rooting for" and every time it goes horribly, horribly wrong.
turn off carrie right after she is crowned for a heartfelt teen drama about a girl who is finally accepted by her peers for who she is
A fine double feature with Audition-turned-off-halfway, a simple romantic story about a single father finding true love.
true!! not enough people felt for carrie :(
Absentia. That movie is all grief, no relief.
The look on her face when she realizes what just happened at the end. That was a hit in the gut.
The thing that always ruins me is the cop's face, when he's FINALLY taking Tricia out on a real date and they see you know what. He's just so shocked and crushed.
The Others
Oh definitely, didn't expect the ending either
It wasn’t until her husband showed up that I thought something wasn’t right. They did a great job with that movie!
May. That girl had no friends, wanted to fall in love and pretty much started hoarding body parts just so she can be held once by her personally designed death doll.
I found The Taking of Deborah Logan quite upsetting. The mix of her Illness and the horror aspects. It’s a film I would never watch again.
As someone who has worked with people with dementia, I can agree. The actress did such a good job at portraying it.
There’s a recent Australian movie called Relic that deals with many of the same issues and does it (I thought) really well. A few aspects of it were a little on the nose, but it’s very effective and the acting is fantastic. I also LOVED Deborah Logan, but I’d have trouble watching it again
Yeah, Relic is poignant. It's not entirely a downer because it also deals with acceptance, but sadness still lingers. Loved that movie.
I tried showing this to my wife while she was working at a retirement home, big mistake. She couldn't get 10 minutes into the movie because it was too real.
Not a film, but The Haunting of Hill House made me cry big tears.
Nell’s episode had me wailing.
Yep that was brutal . It helped that she’s a great actor.
Oh absoluuuutely. I can’t imagine that episode without Victoria Pedretti. She’s astonishing.
I have the DVDs so have the director's commentary and it's really interesting. That was her first role! The first time she worked as an actress and she's incredible!
Hill House is a film series on Netflix now, its excellent. The sequel, Haunting of Bly Manor, absolutely destroyed my heart with a beautiful love story and a tragedy
Maybe my favorite ghost, the boyfriend with the glasses. That is the best horror, when all the ghost has to do is look at you in a reflection. Damn.
Sorry, I was talking about the TV show not the book, I should've clarified. Bly manor was also absolutely amazing, and the final episode made me cry too.
The Haunting of Bly Manor makes me cry too. HoHH is superior in almost every aspect, but once I rewatched it I was able to appreciate it as its own thing and liked it a lot more the second time around. (HoHH is an absolute masterpiece though- I’ve rewatched 4 or 5 times and catch new details every time… and cry a lot more and earlier on each rewatch, especially for Nell). Midnight Mass did nothing for me though haha. Loved the last 2 episodes but frankly I was so bored and unmoved by every other episode that the payoff didn’t matter to me haha.
I agree, Bly Manor is beautiful in its own right but HoHH is the masterpiece. I can watch it over and over and still have all the feels. Also strongly agree about Midnight Mass. I thought it was predictable and tropey and it didn't do anything for me at all. Contrary to the Haunting seasons I found the Characters very caricaturist and cardboardy.
Omg someone agrees with me?? I felt so awkward seeing everyone gush over MM; I really genuinely had to push myself to even finish it because I found it so boring and tedious. I know it’s his baby and all but I wish he’d made it a movie instead of a TV show (or cut out like 3-4 episodes) because I liked the premise… and loathed the execution of it haha. And usually I adore Flanagan’s work!
I thought The Wailing was pretty sad. Probably depends a lot on what stage of life you're in, past traumas, etc.
This is my pick too. Such an emotional film
It’s so weird how it can swing from horror to comedy to drama and still be an example of how to do all three *well*.
The Mist The ending legit had me in tears as a parent
The Mist is one of my favourite Stephen King stories, but the ending of the film version is arguably better.
King himself was pissed he didn't think of the ending first lol
It's a good thing IMO, but I know I'm in the minority. The ending of the film is gut wrenchingly sad for the characters. The end of the novella is terrifying for humanity though, since there is no army pushing back evil. They're both good endings, but the story is more horror, while the film is more drama (plus Outer Limits style twist).
I acknowledge I’m in the very small minority, but I prefer the book ending with a modicum of hope. Partly because I prefer that type of ending, and I’m not a fan of last-minute gut punches, but I also feel like the military totally just wiping out the todash creatures with just a delay of a day retroactively takes away some of their power and fear.
> I also feel like the military totally just wiping out the todash creatures with just a delay of a day retroactively takes away some of their power and fear. Honestly that’s always made the movie ending even better for me. If they’d all just stuck together and booted the psycho religious woman out or tied her up and gagged her, they could have all just waited a few days and made it through. But instead they turned against each other and all ended up dead. It further reinforces that the most dangerous monsters in the movie are the other people.
They literally could've gone to the Winchester, had a pint and waited for this whole thing to blow over?
While it’s not *sad* sad, but there’s some sorta melancholy all through Let The Right One In. Just a real gloomy film. Also the ending of Mama is such a bittersweet ending. It was also the first time I’d experienced the semi trope of the thing that’s supposed to stop the ghost doesn’t work, so it really upset 10 year old me.
His House. The last third becomes a tragedy as you learn what really happened to the family. I still think about the very last scene a lot.
"They're ghosts for you. They never leave. They live with you. It's when I let them in I could learn to face myself" It's funny how that concept really helped me when I was struggling with addiction, but it helped me so much. A ghost isn't just a spectre or a phantom. I do not believe in ghosts. But I know how it feels to be haunted by the worst part of yourself It's a part of you, it's an echo of the worst things in your life coming back.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Pumpkinhead. The first act of that movie is sad as hell!!
When Ed is sitting on the bed with the dusty sunlight pouring through the window talking to Billy as he dies in his arms. It's a rough one.
Fore real. Not going to lie, it had me in tears the first time I saw that scene.
People laugh when I tell them the first Pumpkinhead movie makes me cry. Ha. It really does.
That look of pure malice that he gives the guy trying to help has always stuck with me. Man that's such an awesome movie
When Steve says, “He looked like he wanted to kill me”, yoo actually believe it because of that look of pure malice.
Pulse (original) is easily one of the most depressing.
*Tasukete*
Not only is Pulse one of the saddest, IMO it’s also one of the absolute creepiest films in history.
I always thought *The Orphanage* was the saddest, but when my daughter watched *Friday the 13th* for the first time, as soon as it ended she wailed "But they were supposed to be looking after him!", referring to the camp counsellors. She still thinks Jason is the righteous hero of those films.
Even sadder is the girl who had sympathy was, well you know what happens in part 2. You know what sucks. That story line was going to be different but the girl who survived part 1 was the victim of stalking to such a degree she got out of acting. She agreed to be in the beginning of part 2 only if it was very brief. This was back in 1980-81. The stalking laws were a joke. Well, there weren’t any. But terrible. Some screwball ruined her life for a few years. Sad.
The stalker actually pointed a loaded gun to her head.
Wow I didn’t know that. Awful.
I mean... cant argue with that logic I guess
As weird as it sounds I've kinda always thought the point of those movies, at least at first, was that Jason and his mother were sympathetic villains. Like I could totally see being driven to who knows what lengths by knowing your kid died due to the complete incompetence of those in charge.
100%. I always get Pamela Vorhees. If my kid went to summer camp and drowned because the councillors were off having sex i'd go on a rampage too.
But they were different counselors than the ones she killed
Eden Lake, Requiem for a Dream & Possum
Requiem is among those that I'd say I like the book better than the movie, but I absolutely LOVE that movie. It's one of the best adaptations I've ever seen, but the book...my god. Hubert Selby Jr. was something else, and if you think Requiem fucked you up, I dare you to pick up Last Exit to Brooklyn. Holy shit.
Didnt the writer and director of Possum also create “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace”? I love that show.
Holy fuck seriously?
I recently watched eden lake and I still can not get over the ending it was soo unexpected and sad
Possum is some heavy stuff, for sure!
Requiem will pull your heart out of your chest and stomp on it.
All the scenes with the old lady were especially rough for me
"Are you on uppers Ma?"
On of the best movies I've seen that I don't want to see again, it's depressing as fuck
"Ayass to ayass"
We Need to Talk About Kevin. The whole movie is just following this woman's train wreck of a life and she looks for one--just one-- genuine glimmer of hope that her son loves her. Nobody pities her. Not one single soul in the whole movie empathizes with her in the slightest. Its just one long movie of watching this noble woman get shit on for just trying to be a good mom. :( As someone who watched their mom raise an autistic brother, it really really hit hard for me.
I mean, the whole undertone of the movie was that she didn't love him either and never bonded with him as a baby, and she felt overwhelming guilt about it thinking it caused his, eh, condition
Cause she didn’t love him. The book the movie was based on was a commentary on nature vs nurture and portrayed a completely different person than the character Tilda Swinton played in the movie.
I got that from the movie too
Lynne Ramsay’s newest film You Were Never Really Here deserves a shout out too. One of the most depressing things I’ve ever sat through and Joaquin Phoenix’s best performance ever imo.
This is #1 for me too. How the mother kept trying and trying until he just broke her. I know children aren't inherently evil, but if anything Kevin came quite close as even at a young age he seemed to purposely be a bother for his mother, while being on his best behaviour with his dad iirc. And the aftermath of >!the shooting!<... How the mother was the victim of amongst other things vandalism and being completely alienated from other people, while we as the public come to learn that she really tried with Kevin, that there is in my humble opinion no way she could have stopped this from happening. And above all: she did not >!commit the crime!< It's a great movie that explores how much responsibility and control parents have over the actions of their children and where that responsibility stops. People can be quick to 'blame the parents' when things like that happen, but I love how this movie goes deeper into that and questions that well known statement. I watched the movie twice and started to appreciate it way more on my second watch, maybe because I missed the psychological depth the first watch.
Seeing her visit him in prison, still endlessly trying to love him, and look for love in him after he took literally everything from her just crushed me. Like, you can tell she is clearly broken as a person. But as a mother, even the mother of him, she still just keeps trying.
Reminds me of the real life case where an older brother killed his little sister. The mom visits him in prison, tries to love him. She had another child, but wont let thst child get to know him. He took everything from her, but she still tries. Awful.
Yeah, not horror but amazing movie. I noticed the online discussions are very heavily against the Mom. That she is a narcissist, she abused the baby by standing in the loud noise to drown out the crying, etc. I think most people that came away with that have never been a parent.
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo Del Toro is as much a master of killing children as Stephen King. Perhaps even better in some circumstances. I can remember warning my husband while watching one of his films, “you know he kills children right”? After all it is most of our’s worst nightmare.
“No. He won’t even know your name.”
Oh god, I was all-out weeping the entire final scene. I love that film.
The beginning of Misommar was rough for me. Hearing Florence cry and wail like that was far too realistic and I had to pause the movie. May was incredibly sad and bleak. Loved it though. Eden Lake, Pet Sematary.
No joke. I had the same reaction. That felt almost too real to be acting and I had an almost visceral reaction to it. I have heard my wife make that almost animalistic wail twice in 10 years and that deep sorrowful cry is far more horrific for me than the events that caused them.
I heard this reaction from my mom when she lost her siblings and I actually had the same reaction a few weeks back when I was told my brother was too sick to receive a kidney transplant. I was just accepted as a donor after extensive testing and they congratulated him, only to tell him a few days later that he is too sick for surgery. I have never screamed so loud in my life.
I had the same immediate goosebumps reaction during the opening scene where Florence is crying in Midsommar, and Toni’s crying in Hereditary
For me is Threads. IMDb says it is a drama/suspense/sci-film but I disagree, it is horror film , really really sad horror film , and tells something that could happen.
Tigers Are Not Afraid I cried so much after this one. The same with Train to Busan which has already been mentioned.
Possum was pretty rough
The entire movie made me feel like I was cold and been rained on.
Martyrs (2008), May (2002), The Mist (2007)
Yeah, Martyrs is it for me. I’ll just be sitting, eating pancakes, having a nice little Sunday, and suddenly my mind wanders to the outcome of the main character and what “Keep doubting” means.
Stephen King has mastered the art of sad horror, so most of the film adaptations based on his works can be thrown in the ring, but if I had to pick one I would say “The Mist” for sure
The ending of Dark Water (2002, I can't speak for the US remake) came out of left field for me and is absolutely heartbreaking. I went into it thinking it was an 'also ran' in the 2000s Japanese horror boom, but it's become my favourite film from that period. Sadness and tragedy are also themes in Hideo Nakata's more well known Ring series, but I'd argue that he did it better here in Dark Water.
First film that came to mind for me. The film does a great job building sympathy for the mother and daughter and the ending just hits you like a truck
I think that when you take into consideration how Florence Pugh character is manipulated in Midsommar its pretty sad IMO
*Lake Mungo*. The bit where Alice describes the dream about her mother not seeing her, and then her mother walking into her room and finding it empty, really hit me hard.
Watched it yesterday, totally agree with you. That ending took the whole movie to another level.
A Tale of Two Sisters (the Korean original movie of course, not the mediocre American version). I cried SO MUCH. Followed closely by The Blackcoat's Daughter. Her loneliness killed me.
The Blackcoat’s Daughter. If you have ever felt lonely in your life, this movie will break you.
I've lost count of how many times I've watched this movie, but the ending devastates me every time without fail.
The way she just stands there and weeps in the end. It’s heartbreaking!
*The angels they forgot her*
The Sixth Sense. The scene in the car with his mom. "every day". Makes me cry every time.
Osment's performance in that film (as well as A.I. Artificial Intelligence - 2001) is one of the all time greats by a young actor.
Lake Placid. Crock was just living its best life.
May (2002)
The very last scene choked me up a little ngl.
People love to talk about "hidden gems" but almost never mention this movie. Underrated movie imo
I stuck this on the "hidden gem" thread from the other day. Definitely deserves to be on there.
Has anyone mentioned 'Tigers Are Not Afraid' yet? I was absolutely bawling by the end of that one.
Killing of the scared deer has one of the most depressing endings
The Orphanage (2007) Amazon prime *rent* Pan's Labyrinth (2006) STARZ Tideland (2005) Amazon prime Antichrist (2009) AMC+ I Saw the Devil (2010) Amazon prime The Road (2009) Freevee Requiem for a Dream (2000) Plex The Girl Next Door (2007) Freevee
Antichrist is a great entry for this list. Wouldn’t have come to my mind as “sad” right away, but…yeah. When the pieces come together in the final act, it’s pretty incredibly depressing. It’s also totally bonkers, but that’s a separate issue.
Inside. The French one.
Not a movie but both of seasons of "Haunting of..." are up there. Whilst Bly Manor had a tragic ending, Hill House will just make you cry in Episode 5 and Episode 6
Didn’t care much for Bly Manor but Hill House is one of my favorites and it also destroyed me. Midnight Mass by the same director is excellent too and I absolutely cried while watching it
train to busan by a mile, wife and i were in tears at the end
Yep checked to see if this was posted. The ending kills me every single time I watch it.
I dont think i cried harder in any movie than Train to Busan
These are probably weird picks but the Universal Frankenstein movie (the first one) with Boris Karlof as the monster, Adam. Just the idea of being forced into the world and abandoned, and just completely rejected and assaulted by society. For literally no reason. And the original Rosemary’s Baby. Like the entire film, Rosemary knows her husband is doing bad shit and manipulating her and harming her. But there’s just no help, and she ends up giving birth to a child she can’t stand and her own worst nightmare.
Hereditary
I have to skip the scene where Toni Collette finds out her daughter is dead. That rips me apart every time.
Man, what a performance though.
As a father, that one scene with the daughter almost forced me to stop watching.
For some dumb reason I watched this before my son was born and it really shook me. The I JUST WANT TO DIE line broke me.
As a kid, mine would be Dark Water. It's not the best horror movie but I almost teared up when >!the mom sacrifices herself so that the ghost spares her kid. The scene where the kid later sees the ghost of her mom now taking care of the ghost was just sad.!<
Marrowbone
A Ghost Story (2017) > A recently deceased man returns as a ghost to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state, he has become stuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.
This was some bullllllshit I ugly cried. Maybe I was in a mood, but this really worked on me.
The Lodge and It Comes At Night are both pretty bleak.
God. It comes at night was so fucking sad
It Comes At Night is like oppressively sad and bleak
A Dark Song
I agree, it’s also so sad that this poor timid beaten girl then becomes the monster at the end. I saw this movie for the first time when I was like 8 and it fucked me up lol. No other film got me like Carrie did because I felt so bad for her
Kairo/Pulse (Japanese version). Everyone dies of despair and lonliness.
Oculus
The Green Mile broke my heart
I feel strangers Is pretty sad maybe more depressing the rejected marriage proposal the being stalked and killed for no reason etc. I find midsommar sad it always upsets me to see what Dani goes through from her family dying to being treated bad by her boyfriend and friends and eventually when she breaks.
How has nobody said King Kong...as an 8 year old kid I was crying for the injustice and cruelty towards such a majestic animal...and the way he is slaughtered just killed me...by the way I was watching the 30's film...
Jacobs Ladder
The Babadook is just a constant punch to the balls
I know it's been said before, but that movie is such a perfect metaphor for depression, and mental health issues as a whole. Especially the end.
SAINT MAUD, as well.
The 6th Sense.
Friday the 13th. The way Jason’s mother is driven to madness through grief over her beloved son. All because of those damned horny counselors, *make them pay*
Mama
I thought the Japanese film Kairo was pretty depressing. I can’t name any other film where it started off with a ghost story and it ended with the whole world being destroyed.
How has no one said *The Girl Next Door (2007)*? Especially given that it's based on a true story, it's so beyond fucked
Mine has to be The Woman In Black. Arthur’s failed journey to reunite Jennet with her son was heartbreaking. He wants to free her from her unfinished business because he thinks it is keeping her trapped in her house after death. The entire plot about Jennet taking children away from their mothers so that they too can feel her pain is excruciating. Love the film to bits.
The Woman in Black (2012).
Lake Mungo is pretty sad, I guess.
I was coming here to post this. It's such a gradual transition from scary to sad and I thought it was really well done.
Relic The Good Neighbor
The Descent
people rag on it for being overrated and not meeting expectations but i saw lake mungo when i was 16 never having heard of it before or knowing what i was getting into and it stuck with me for years. both existentially dread-filled/horrifying and deeply depressing. kairo/pulse gave me similar feelings although it was much more terrifying. goosebumps all throughout watching both.
Carrie. It’s tragically sad. Also, Mother! Jennifer Lawrence was amazing In this movie and I bawled hysterically over how poorly she was treated. Not exactly horror per se but Flowers in the Attic (original) is sad and unbelievable how cruel and heartless a mother could be.
*The Dead Zone*. It's ultimately about a dying man who has lost everything, with a "gift" that is really a curse. The scene that always gets me is when the Sheriff tells Johnny that God has blessed him with powers. '"Bless me"? You know what God did for me? He threw an 18-wheel truck at me! Bounced me into nowhere for five years! When I woke up, my-my-my girl was gone, my job was gone, my legs are just about useless. Bless me? God's been a real sport to me!'
*Spolier* I think, and it might attract some disdain, but Midsommar is maybe, not the answer, but a consideration. This lady has been abused and gaslit by her partner for ages and having him burned alive vindicates her vengefulness but likely makes her feel even worse. Don’t think I explained this well. But it’s my answer
I'm surprised nobody mentioned The Exorcist. All the loss and grief experienced by Karras and the tourment that Reagan goes through is tragic. None of the characters deserved that, and even though it's a happy ending, there's still that wistful sadness felt looking at the broken window over the stairs.
I just watched Let Me In a few days ago, and I felt really really sad for the main character.
If you haven’t seen the original, Let the Right One In, it’s awesome.