Many movies called "thrillers" by the film industry are just horror films with more elegant titles.

Movies like The Black Phone, released in July of 2022, carry the title "psychological thriller" but it's one of the most obvious horror movies released this year. This is a case of identity that happens for many films bearing similar descriptions. Psychological-thrillers, crime-thrillers, suspense-thrillers, etc. are just a more cinematic way of describing a realistic or nonconventional horror movie.

They might be more realistic, dive into the realms of crime, suspense, and mystery, but many movies called "thrillers" by the film industry are just horror films with more elegant titles. That said, the thriller genre has given fans some of the most terrifying experiences on film.

Although Hannibal Lecter is considered one of horror's most iconic villains, he doesn't have all that much screen time in his 1991 debut. That said, the events surrounding Agent Starling's pursuit of Buffalo Bill are absolutely chilling. Even if Dr. Lecter is taken out of the equation, the manhunt for a serial killer who skins his victims is already horror-movie-worthy.

Inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein, who also inspired Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the film and the novel that inspired it are far more gruesome than the average crime drama. The lambs might stop screaming, but certain viewers might not.

Agatha Christie really should be inducted into the horror hall of fame, as many of her iconic murder mysteries could very easily fit into the slasher genre. Case in point is her most famous work, And Then There Were None. Whether it's the book, the play, the various film adaptations, or the miniseries, the setup of the production has far too many qualities shared with something like Friday The 13th.

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So many horror films start with a group of victims in an isolated place, such as a creepy house, and a killer lurking in the shadows, and that's exactly what awaits the characters on Soldier Island. All they're missing is a hockey mask.

On one hand, this is a thriller about how cutthroat some professionals can be in the music industry. On the other hand, this is just J.K. Simmons torturing and verbally abusing his fellow musicians for nearly two hours. If the setting or industry of the film were changed, this would be an intense psychological horror film about a psychotic teacher.

Yes, it won several awards and the performances are golden, but there's something undeniably unhinged about Terence Fletcher's persona from the very beginning. Just as Norman Bates appears to be a mild-mannered motel owner, so does this conductor hide his violent tendencies under a mask of professionalism.

Upgrade might look like an action movie, but it's actually an intense techno-horror film with a cyberpunk approach to a Faustian bargain. After a mechanic is violently mangled in an attack from a group of assailants, he receives a cybernetic upgrade to his spinal cord that implants him with an incredibly advanced A.I. from an enigmatic benefactor.

The A.I. in question, STEM, grants his host a variety of superpowers and reflexes, but things soon turn from superhero movie to body horror, as STEM gets more and more control. It's what would happen if Venom was replaced with HAL 9000.

The original will always be a classic, but the Robert De Niro-led remake from 1991 feels leagues more like a horror movie than the Gregory Peck version, although he does earn himself a cameo. Martin Scorsese will always be known for his mobster and mafia movies, but he might've missed his calling as a horror director.

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An escaped murderer looking for vengeance against the man that put him behind bars is already the stuff nightmares are made of. And with Max Cady's twisted sense of humor, he's already pre-equipped with some lines worthy of Freddy Krueger.

Sometimes, all a horror movie needs is a frightening location and a deadly case of claustrophobia. Buried sees an ambushed American in Iraq taken by terrorists and buried in a wooden crate six feet underground. With only a lighter, a cell phone, and 90 minutes worth of oxygen, it's a race against the clock that wages the matter of life and death.

No masked murderer, no horrifying monsters, no demons from other dimensions, but the fear is absolutely palpable. With so many famous horror stories about being buried alive in popular media, it only makes sense that this film falls into that category.

Black Swan is complicated, and that's putting it lightly. This artistic thriller starring Natalie Portman concerns a lead ballet dancer and her mysterious rival mirroring the transformative nature of the famous ballet, and it is indeed a twisted psychological experience. As the gifted dancer, Nina Sayers, slowly loses herself in the role of the titular Black Swan, she loses her sanity as well.

The themes of transformation and monstrous metamorphosis are rampant in the film as both Nina and the film's reality begin to crack under stress. It's the ambiguous nature of the beast paired with the frightening visuals that turn things truly chilling.

This reimagining of the Clown Prince of Crime is unquestionably a horror movie, despite its obvious Oscar-bait status. It's a character study of a dark and gritty retelling of one of the most colorful and famous comic book villains. However, it's also a descent into madness featuring a killer clown as its protagonist.

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To use a quote from Rod Serling, the film does not end the nightmare, it only explains it, meaning that this is only an attempt to understand the man behind the makeup. All sympathy for Arthur fleck flies out the window when the audience remembers that all the deeds he commits are at the hand of the fiendish Joker.

Although many fans have called this movie out for the clear-and-present monster movie that it is, there's a majority that still rope it into sci-fi and adventure alone. Yes, it was one of the most iconic and successful movies of the '90s, and it's also one of Steven Speilberg's best movies, but it still terrified legions of viewers in 1993.

There are dozens of different avenues a cinephile can explore when discussing this movie. Whether its about how man shouldn't play god with science and DNA, how corporate greed is the real villain, or whatever moral/ethical science-fiction is trying to preach, one thing that cannot be denied is that an angry T. rex is one of the scariest things a group of characters can face.

Thanks to shows like Dexter, Hannibal, and Criminal Minds, subject matter like that seen in Se7en is another day in the crime-thriller office. In 1995, however, this was easily one of the most chilling thrillers released on the big screen. Not only does it contain a spiraling murder plot concerning the seven deadly sins as a framing device, but it features several jump scares and moments worthy of a Saw production.

Anyone who's seen the movie knows "What's in the box?" but it's impossible to forget. At the end of the day, it was clearly a horror movie first and a detective thriller second.

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Zach Gass is a writer from East Tennessee with a love for all things Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel. When not writing for Screen Rant, Zach is an active member of his community theatre, enjoys a variety of authors including Neil Gaiman, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkein, and is a proud and active retro-gamer.