Horror films make viewers feel many things. Discomfort, fear, anxiety, and a bunch of negative connotations for sure. For many people, these connotations are more than enough reason to avoid the style of film altogether. Yet, the horror genre can bring intriguing things to the table psychologically speaking. Comfort, for one thing.
Feeling comfort while watching a group of teens getting chopped up does indeed sound quite twisted. However, in the natural world, human beings are in a constant state of stress or discomfort of some sort. Many fans of the horror genre gravitate to it because it helps with the alleviation of personal stressors. It could be as simple as saying, "hey, life is hard, but at least I'm not that guy." Which is honestly quite healthy. Not all horror movies can hit the comfort spot apart from obvious slasher genres or Cabin in the Woods for obvious reasons.
9 The Innocents (1961)
Based on Thomas James' famous novel The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents' depressing story doesn't seem to strike the idea of comfort. It is a Victorian horror film, after all. What makes this a great addition to horrific comfort is the overall film aesthetic that it presents, as it takes place in a beautiful mansion in the English countryside.
Yes, the building is obviously haunted, but it is not filled with ghostly jump scares that make it memorable. Jump scares are indeed good fun, but in this case, it was nice not to have them. Instead, this film relies on innovative camera angles (especially for the time) and scene set-ups to implement the creepiness of the ghosts haunting the mansion. Using dramatic pacing for creepy aesthetic shots and reveals rather than setting up the pace to reveal a jump scare was quite brilliant.
8 From Dusk Til Dawn (1996)
Quentin Tarantino did his take on the vampire and zombie film genres by writing this gem for Robert Rodriguez. It is ridiculous and hugely entertaining. A father and his two children find themselves hostages for two fugitive bank robber brothers who need to use them to get over the Mexican border. The group goes to make a stop at a club in the middle of the desert in order to meet a contact of the brothers before they hit the border.
Needless to say, the whole place is swarming with vampires who can turn people just from a bite. The group must fight vampires off until the sun comes up. This film is comforting to the grandiose gore and fight scenes that serve to be more entertaining than stressful.
7 The Babysitter (2017)
In The Babysitter, a boy finds out that his babysitter is the leader of a satanic cult who just sacrificed an innocent in his living room in order to obtain various personal favors from the devil. The boy discovers the plot, and shenanigans ensue.
The kills and scenarios in this film are so over the top that it is funny. Watching a young nerd triumph over psychopathic and sociopathic teens is oddly very satisfying and calming. After all, it's a few less corrupt adults for the world later on.
6 The People Under The Stairs (1991)
A Wes Craven classic, this film is pretty intense in the setup. A boy, Poindexter (Fool), from the projects, needs money to help his family avoid eviction. He is talked into helping out a thief to rob a nasty couple who are actually brother and sister, who are supposedly hoarding a fortune. Eventually, the boy finds himself alone and fighting for his life after learning the siblings are incestuous killers. Go figure.
Not only that, they have been kidnapping children and abusing them. Once a child fights back, they wind up locked in the basement with the other children who didn't obey their impossible rules. Many of them have resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. The sibling couple has managed to have their clutches on a new young girl who they regularly abuse. Although the film has a lot of intense things about it, it is great watching Fool one up the crazy couple.
5 Scream (1996)
Another Wes Craven classic. Apart from the humor and the iconic scenes in this film, it is always a comforting watch. It cuts apart typical horror tropes in the best ways. The screenplay especially is always a joy to watch for its campiness. Not only does it point out the tropes, but it also parodies them in the best ways.
The death scenes have become so iconic it has become one of those films where people just mouth the words to. If that just isn't the pure definition of something that helps with deeply internalized anxiety.
4 Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun is one of the least bothered horror protagonists. At least at the start of the film, the zombie apocalypse has occurred, and his idea of a great place to hide and ride it out is at his local pub. The humor of this film can put any film watcher at ease despite the stressful events that are befalling these mostly lovable characters.
Not just that, but Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg lovingly composed a love letter to George A. Romaro and zombie films as a whole. It is now a film that people will happily watch after a hard day of work. The hilarity of the situations and the aesthetic jokes from the overdramatic edits are just things that can only bring pure joy.
3 Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (2010)
Speaking of horror parodies, what makes 2010's Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil so brilliant is how it turned the horror genre on its head by completely swapping the character roles in what has to be one of the funniest horror films ever conceived. Its simplicity is ingenious and definitely keeps the laughs coming after surprisingly horrible deaths. And laughter helps ease anxiety very well.
The characters of Tucker and Dale are both down-to-earth rednecks staying at a cabin in the middle of the woods for a buddy fishing trip. Meanwhile, a group of typical horror genre teens are out on a camping trip. After a girl from the group has an accident in the presence of Tucker and Dale, they take her back to their cabin to nurse her back to health. The teens believe that they have kidnapped their friend and set out to rescue her and pretty much knock themselves off one by one. This is quite a simple twist on a genre that was absolutely pleasurable.
2 The Wicker Man (1973)
One of the best. Comforting? It is, for several reasons. Apart from being a horror film, it is a pretty enjoyable musical. Sure, it can put others on edge in a creepy way, but fans of the film often find themselves agreeing it has some pretty catchy folk shanties.
Edward Woodward's Sgt. Howie does have a terrible fate, though there's no doubt about that. His journey throughout the village and how he reaches that point is incredibly enjoyable to watch. His character is so naive in many ways, to the point of it being humorous and almost an inside joke between the village and the audience. The only one not in on the joke is Sgt. Howie. Plus, once the viewers find out that both Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee had a great deal of fun shooting this film, it only adds to the joy and dark humor.
1 The Frighteners (1996)
One of the best and most forgotten projects by Peter Jackson. The story follows Frank Bannister, a man who can see dead people after having his own near-death experience. He soon starts to notice people in his town appearing with numbers in their foreheads, who wind up dead shortly after. The story of this film is absolute perfection, even though it is, in essence, a cheesy ghost story. It can be creepy, funny, and incredibly over the top. Sure it is lacking in gore, but that doesn't seem to take away from the film. After all, Peter Jackson gave audiences plenty of gore in his film Dead Alive prior to this.
Even though the CGI struggles to hold up to today's standards, the spectacle of the film is still one to behold and enjoy. It is stress-reducing simply because these stressful scenes can be so over the top to where it shoots beyond nervous laughter and orbits the planet with the best kind of comforting campiness that a film fan could ask for. The funny moments are subtle yet hysterical. And the characters are all memorable and well written. It even has a nice ending, which isn't always a very welcome horror gimmick, but it completely worked for this film. So after the trauma, the viewer at least gets a nice sense of relief and closure.