TAGGED AS: foreign, Horror, movies
(Photo by Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection)
The Best French Horror Movies
France has had a long history with horror that dates back to 1896, when Georges Meilies directed the original horror movie, The Haunted Castle. It had bats, and spooky skeletons! Jean Epstein’s The Fall of the House of Usher is one of the early horror masterpieces from the 1920s. And in the 1950s, France produced two of what many consider the greatest horror movies ever: Diabolique and Eyes Without a Face. Not to be outdone by the past, the aughts-bred New French Extremity movement set the new standard in brutality with the likes of Martyrs and Inside, continuing into Julia Ducournau’s 2016 Raw.
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#1
Adjusted Score: 104508%
Critics Consensus: A horrific tale of guilt and obsession, Eyes Without a Face is just as chilling and poetic today as it was when it was first released.
Synopsis: Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur) is riddled with guilt after an accident that he caused disfigures the face of his daughter,...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 97930%
Critics Consensus: Smart, dynamic, and fast-paced, Saloum mixes tones and genres into a tart, smoothly blended treat.
Synopsis: Shot down after fleeing a coup and extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau, the legendary mercenaries known as the Bangui...
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#3
Adjusted Score: 105821%
Critics Consensus: Cruel, dark, but undeniably effective, Diabolique is a suspense thriller as effective as Hitchcock's best work and with a brilliant twist ending.
Synopsis: In this classic of French suspense, the cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle (Paul Meurisse), becomes...
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#4
Adjusted Score: 102378%
Critics Consensus: Raw's lurid violence and sexuality live up to its title, but they're anchored with an immersive atmosphere and deep symbolism that linger long after the provocative visuals fade.
Synopsis: Stringent vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier) encounters a decadent, merciless and dangerously seductive world during her first week at veterinary school....
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#5
Adjusted Score: 98780%
Critics Consensus: Revenge slices and dices genre tropes, working within an exploitation framework while adding a timely -- yet never less than viscerally thrilling -- feminist spin.
Synopsis: Jen is enjoying a romantic getaway with her wealthy boyfriend -- until his two sleazy friends arrive for an unannounced...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 102835%
Critics Consensus: Thrillingly provocative and original, Titane reaffirms writer-director Julia Ducournau's delightfully disturbing vision.
Synopsis: Titane: A metal highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with high tensile strength alloys, often used in medical prostheses due...
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#7
Adjusted Score: 88708%
Critics Consensus: The Night Eats the World finds a few unexplored corners in the crowded zombie genre, with a refreshing emphasis on atmosphere and character development.
Synopsis: After waking up in an apartment the night after a raging party, Sam comes face to face with his new...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 85421%
Critics Consensus: Creepy, provocative, and aesthetically absorbing, Evolution marks a satisfying step forward for director/co-writer Lucile Hadzihalilovic.
#9
Adjusted Score: 84886%
Critics Consensus: Knife + Heart wrings giallo-inspired thrills out of a boldly challenging story that defiantly succeeds on its own stylish merits.
Synopsis: In the summer of 1979, Paris-based filmmaker Anne is a producer of third-rate gay porn. After her editor and lover...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 101463%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A man obsesses over his fear that his wife will die and be buried alive....
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#11
Adjusted Score: 70700%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Paris, the Eighties. Three students decide to celebrate their graduation with a visit of Paris catacombs. When they discover the...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 90023%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A bull terrier observes the behavior of an old lady, a young couple and a troubled boy and adapts his...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 35788%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Lucie (Chloé Coulloud), Ben (Jérémy Kapone) and William (Félix Moati) search an old woman's home for a hidden treasure and...
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#14
Adjusted Score: 88945%
Critics Consensus: Uncommonly restrained for a movie about a flesh-eating menace, Ravenous offers a satisfyingly nuanced entry in the crowded zombie apocalypse subgenre.
Synopsis: A village in Quebec is terrorized by a flesh-eating plague....
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#15
Adjusted Score: 58733%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A scissor-wielding psychopath (Béatrice Dalle) terrorizes a pregnant widow (Alysson Paradis) on Christmas Eve....
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#16
Adjusted Score: 88218%
Critics Consensus: A rough-edged thriller that lacks the precision of Polanski's best work, but makes up for it with its skillful mounting of paranoia, dread, and dark themes.
Synopsis: In Paris, isolated Eastern European émigré Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) rents an apartment in a spooky old building whose inhabitants regard...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 25802%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Teen troublemakers break into an abandoned film lot and witness a masked figure dragging a woman into an underground lair....
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#18
Adjusted Score: 68495%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Virginie lives on a farm with her children Laura (15) and Gaston (7) and raises locusts as a high-protein crop....
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#19
Adjusted Score: 79304%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Ana's carnal desires define her life....
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#20
Adjusted Score: 74601%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: After getting a car ride from an unknown man, Lisa wakes up in a tube. On her arm is strapped...
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#21
Adjusted Score: 22890%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Dead people emerge from their graves and reunite with loved ones in a provincial city....
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#22
Adjusted Score: 70344%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Deep below the surface of a seemingly tranquil remote lake lies a perfectly preserved family home. When a young influencer...
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#23
Adjusted Score: 78890%
Critics Consensus: Challenging and rewarding in equal measure, Climax captures writer-director Gaspar Noé working near his technically brilliant and visually distinctive peak.
Synopsis: When members of a dance troupe are lured to an empty school, drug-laced sangria causes their jubilant rehearsal to descend...
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#24
Adjusted Score: 69780%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A wealthy woman finds her fiancé dead after dreaming of an erotic encounter with a strange creature....
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#25
Adjusted Score: 65684%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A Parisian marketing professional, Esther (Marina de Van) has a gruesome secret. She's been obsessed with the damage she can...
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#26
Adjusted Score: 64753%
Critics Consensus: A real polarising movie, this Gallic torture-porn is graphic, brutal, nasty and gruesome and not to everyone's taste.
Synopsis: A young woman's quest for revenge leads her down a path of depravity....
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#27
Adjusted Score: 58596%
Critics Consensus: Perhaps slapdash with its aspirations toward message-making, this ultra-gory horror flick nonetheless delivers the bloody goods.
Synopsis: A thief (Karina Testa) and her gang encounter a family of sadistic neo-Nazis....
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#28
Adjusted Score: 64356%
Critics Consensus: Suspenseful and tense from start to finish, the French horror film Them proves that a lack of gore doesn't mean a dearth of scares.
Synopsis: Lucas (Michaël Cohen) and Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) live in an isolated house near Bucharest. On one rainy night in their...
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#29
Adjusted Score: 13434%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Seasoned outdoorsman Fred (Nicolas Giraud) leads his girlfriend, Karine (Maud Wyler), and three other vacationing acquaintances up a treacherous mountain...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 57586%
Critics Consensus: An erotic thriller dulled by a messy narrative.
Synopsis: Scientist Shane Brown (Vincent Gallo) neglects his new bride (Tricia Vessey), instead spending their honeymoon searching for an old colleague...
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#31
Adjusted Score: 47221%
Critics Consensus: Calvaire (The Ordeal) has a certain amount of grim potential, but loses effectiveness by too often mistaking disturbing gore for genuine horror.
Synopsis: A stranded singer falls victim to a dangerously unhinged innkeeper who is determined to keep him captive....
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#32
Adjusted Score: -1%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Upon their return from vacation, Paul and his family find their home occupied by squatters. Gradually consumed by anger, Paul...
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#33
Adjusted Score: 40602%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Gangsters, cops, and zombies battle at the end of the world....
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#34
Adjusted Score: 44249%
Critics Consensus: There is indeed a good amount of tension in this French slasher, but the dubbing is bad and the end twist unbelievable.
Synopsis: A beautiful young Frenchwoman, Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travels out to the country to visit her family and brings along...
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