The supernatural horror scene has some huge titles everyone knows: The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Conjuring, The Witch, Paranormal Activity, Hereditary, and more — and it’s easy to get stuck on those. On the other hand, not everyone’s into the “traditional” stuff, or some people just want something different in the same genre. There are quieter, underrated films that deliver just as much (or even more) tension and psychological impact, without the big marketing or massive audiences. They don’t rely on screaming monsters or over-the-top effects. In fact, the movies we’re talking about lean on the fear you feel and imagine.
In this list, we’ve lined up 3 totally underrated supernatural movies. You might’ve heard of them, or maybe you haven’t. But one thing’s for sure: if you haven’t checked them out yet, now’s the time, because the experience is going to feel completely different from what you’re used to in the genre.
3) Saint Maud
image courtesy of studiocanal
Why is Saint Maud so underrated? Mainly because it doesn’t deliver what most people expect from a supernatural horror movie. Instead of obvious jump scares or a fully explained universe, the film follows Maud (Morfydd Clark), a lonely nurse who obsessively turns to religion after a personal trauma and comes to believe she’s been chosen by God to save the soul of her terminally ill patient. The story unfolds almost entirely inside her head, which makes everything even more unsettling, because you’re never sure if you’re witnessing a legitimate divine experience or someone on the verge of a total breakdown.
There are already some films that toy with what’s real versus delusion, but here it’s all about refusing to make the experience easy for the audience, which can understandably put some people off. Saint Maud is small, intimate, and brutal, more concerned with the consequences of blind faith than creating a traditional supernatural villain. The horror comes from Maud herself, not some external force attacking her. And that’s exactly the point: few movies use the supernatural so intensely to explore repression and self-destruction without leaning on over-the-top symbolism or didactic explanations. On top of that, Clark’s performance is, without exaggeration, one of the most disturbing in the genre in the past decade.
2) The Blackcoat’s Daughter
image courtesy of a24
This is an Osgood Perkins kind of movie that immediately makes you uncomfortable, signaling that it’s not going to offer easy relief and that you need to fully commit to get the most out of it. The Blackcoat’s Daughter follows two students, Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton), left alone at a Catholic boarding school during winter, while a third young woman, Joan (Emma Roberts), shows up later — three stories that seem separate at first, but slowly reveal their connections. The premise might sound simple, but the film knows exactly how to turn the idea into something oppressive, using silence, empty spaces, and a fragmented structure that forces the audience to piece together the puzzle.
The main reason this movie is underrated is that not everyone is ready for a story that doesn’t explain itself and doesn’t rush. The Blackcoat’s Daughter trusts its audience to pay attention and go along with its approach. Sinister events and a malevolent force appear in the story, but nothing is treated as a spectacle (as you often see in more mainstream productions); instead, it’s presented as something sad and inevitable, which is much more disturbing. So when the pieces finally come together, the impact doesn’t come from a jump scare, but from realizing what actually happened. It’s a cold, patient kind of horror that’s far more effective, and anyone who appreciates a slow-burning supernatural story will love it.
1) Lake Mungo
image courtesy of arclight films
Not everyone is going to like Lake Mungo, and that’s because it challenges the expectations of the average horror audience. It’s perfect for anyone who enjoys stories that make you think, build atmosphere, and use the supernatural as an extension of emotion. Basically, what happens here is a film that aims to scare without looking like it’s trying to scare you. It’s presented as a documentary and follows a family dealing with the death of their teenage daughter, Alice (Talia Zucker), after a drowning. Then, photos, videos, and testimonies start suggesting that something unexplained is happening. Sounds like a paranormal investigation, right? But the film makes it clear that the focus isn’t on proving ghosts exist — it’s about exploring the emptiness left behind by someone who’s gone.
What makes Lake Mungo so easy to overlook (but also so hard to forget if you commit to the experience) is its incredibly restrained approach. There are no big reveals or traditional shocking scenes; the horror builds slowly, in almost mundane details that gain emotional weight as the story progresses. The supernatural is treated as an extension of grief, not the main attraction — and that makes all the difference. It’s the kind of movie that sneaks into your head without warning, precisely because it feels eerily real.
Have you heard of any of these movies before? Seen them yet, or planning to? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!