Thehorrorgenre provides a strange thrill to its viewers by tapping into an emotion that is deeply entrenched in us – fear. Ever since campfire tales were spun in the middle of the night, the genre has relied on darkness, isolation, and muffled whispers to create an atmosphere of paranoia and suspense. As for films, we’ve seen horror awakened in dim-lit corridors and twilight forests.
On the contrary, light represents safety and clarity and things that make sense. In fact, it’s even considered as a force that chases away ghosts. So traditionally speaking, themovies that have terrified audiencesfor decades are mostly set in the night or after dusk.
And yet, some of the scariest films have turned this idea on its head by making us witness unmatched horror out in the blistering light of day. Featuring a new brand of isolation and threat, these movies unnerve us to the point where it is irrational. These movies are the true masterpieces because they churn horror from the most harmless settings. So, let’s take a look at 10 scary movies that are set in broad daylight.
10The Birds (1963)
It is probably best that this barbarous classic is set in broad daylight otherwise the scares and the uncharted darkness of it all would’ve sent us screaming like crazy.The Birdsis anatural horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is loosely based on a short story of the same name written by Daphne du Maurier. In the beginning of the film itself, we’re taken to Bodega Bay with the main protagonist Melanie, a rich socialite who follows a lawyer around to make him look like a fool.
However, the village reveals a descent in its surroundings when large flocks of birds begin to flock in the area and attack people. It may seem harmless, but the way Hitchcock uses the peaceful beach setting and sunny environment to alter the mood with deranged, maniacal birds out for blood makes you really anxious.
Available to rent on Apple TV
9The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Sally and Franklin Hardesty have three friends in two as they drive to their grandfather’s house for a road trip through the area. After visiting the man’s grave, they realize that they’re out of gas and there’s no fuel available at the gas station. Soon, they are attacked by a masked man wielding a gas-powered chainsaw and his equally terrifying, psychopathic family.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacredoes have one popular scene in the middle of the night, but otherwise, the kids’ encounters with the bloodthirsty family and their meaty machines occurs during the day. Under the scorching heat of Texas sun, we experience the brutal kills, the big reveal of Leatherface (who goes on to become the scariest, most atrocious villain of the franchise), as well as the iconic final sequence.
Available to stream on Peacock
8Jaws (1975)
Director Steven Spielbergruled ’70s horror– a time when we had films likeCarrie,Halloween, andAlien– by displaying a bright summer weather and infusing it with the deadliest villain ever.Jawswas a pioneer to many aspects of cinema. It brought natural horrors (read: sharks) to the big screen, it made monster mayhem look satisfying, and it kickstarted the trend for summer blockbusters.
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Following the brutal attacks carried out by a man-eating shark on the beach community of Cape Cod, we see police chief Brody teaming up with a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt and kill him for once. An achievement in tension building and bringing scares out of nowhere, the movie proves that even sunshine cannot shelter one from nature’s beast.
Available to stream on Netflix
7The Wicker Man (1974)
Filmed against the backdrop of an estranged Scottish island of Summerisle,The Wicker Manunfolds as a horrific and strange movie. It follows Sergeant Howie arriving at the location in order to probe a young girl’s disappearance despite the townspeople claiming she never existed. Howie himself is a conservative Christian but he watches closely as those around him indulge in pagan rituals and beastly faiths and how it all leads to the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle. As a cult suspense classic, the film uses its lighting in order to display the overwhelming nature of superstitions over society. While the ultimate goal is to find this missing girl, it is director Robin Hardy’s use of bright and disturbing visuals that makes it achieve cult status.
Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Deadis directorGeorge R. Romero’s another classicthat proves that the effect of zombies on the horror genre will never diminish. The movie is a sequel to Night of the Living Dead, and as the title suggests, the former had high stakes because of being set in a secluded, barricaded farmhouse in the quiet of the night. This one, however, is pretty self-explanatory. We follow a radio-station employee named Stephen, his girlfriend Francine, and two other renegade SWAT members, Roger and Pete, taking refuge in an enclosed mall in the outskirts of Pennsylvania because nowhere else is safe.
As more people begin to horde the place, so do zombies. The film sure has less social commentary compared to the former. Sure, there are clever critiques on consumerism. But mainly, it dials up the wit and bounce and scares.
5Predator (1987)
1987’sPredatoris directed by John McTiernan and it is the first film in a remarkable franchise. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Dutch, who leads a team of commandos on a mission to rescue a group of hostages from a Central American jungle and bring them home safely. Despite being trained for this very purpose, the men end up finding their match when they encounter an extraterrestrial hunter bent on decimating their ranks.
The titular predator hunts under the tropic sun and we witness the use of technicolor bloodbaths to their very extreme. One would imagine that this setting would work better if it was shot in the dark, but the truth is, the creature design, the close-ups, and the nail-biting camouflages actually look better in broad daylight.
Available to stream on Max
4The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Horror remakes have been around for decades. While some miss the mark, othersrevamp an already-excellent classicand make a name for themselves. Alexandre Aja’s remake of Wes Craven’s cannibal classic falls in the second category. You know how children are advised to never stop at a stranger’s house? Well, the film puts a sinister spin to the idea and explains just why.
The Carter family is on a cross-country move and their destination is California. However, they break down in a Nevada atomic test zone only to find that the city has turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland after an experiment left the inhabitants mutated into cannibals. Hungry for human flesh, these people hunt for the thrill of it.The Hills Have Eyeschronicles the gorefest that occurs under the desert sun when the cannibal family unleashes its horrors upon the Carters.
Available to stream on Hulu
328 Days Later (2002)
28 Days Later
Another first in a series of films, Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic zombie thriller displayed chaos and mayhem occurring on the streets of London. Few films have captured the grim nuance of light in the horror genre the way28 Days Laterdoes. Cillian Murphy plays Jim, a bike courier, who wakes up from a coma and finds himself alone in the entire hospital.
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Unaware of what had plagued the city, he emerges to find the once bustling London deserted because of a contagious ‘Rage’ virus that was turning humans into bloodthirsty, flesh-eating monsters. This kickstars a cat-and-mouse game as Jim encounters another band of survivors and together, they navigate the eerily empty landmarks in broad sunshine.
2It (2017)
British actor Tim Curry first brought the creepy clown to the big screen in 1990. Almost twenty years later, director Andrés Muschietti introduced a brand new audience to cinema’s most iconic monster by giving the wig and nose to Bill Skarsgård, who is inarguably the best Pennywise. But Pennywise is no average clown – he emerges from hibernation every 27 years, right when the autumn leaves are beginning to fall, and preys on innocent children of the town.
InIt, there are seven helpless and bullied children that become victims of his evil. It’s interesting that the clown taps into childhood terrors and deep-seated fears of the children because that way, the film becomes a blend of coming-of-age and horror, which is truly rare.
1Midsommar (2019)
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Ari Aster has been the talk of the town recently. The director has film’s likeHereditaryandBeau is Afraidunder his name, and it is clear that he likes to craft dread out of situations one can barely imagine would contain such intense fright. Same’s the case withMidsommar. Under the sweltering Swedish sun, this stunning yet unsettling folk horror unfolds. At the center of it all is Dani and Mark, a couple who travel to a remote Hårga village for its fabled midsummer festival.
While Dani expects naive celebrations to help heal her trauma, he’s confronted witha series of rituals that are far more psychedelicthan possible. Soon, she finds herself trapped in ceremonial games that have scary consequences. Overall,Midsommaris a haunting allegory for confronting one’s darkest shadows while still being adorned in flowers and crowns.
If you’re a fan of unusual horror movies, check out this video list of our favorite films which start out seemingly ‘normal’ but slowly becoming terrifying horror classics along the way:
