10 Longest Horror Movies, Ranked By Runtime | ScreenRant
Most movies that are considered to be particularly lengthy are often sweeping epics or historical dramas that require this extra duration to fit all the key moments in. However, one such genre that typically relies on much more condensed storytelling is horror.
Horror needs to fill its audiences with unknowing dread and to build tension that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats, and these elements are hard to maintain over a longer period. However, there are several horror movies out there that have managed to expand their runtimes beyond what's expected in the telling of their unique and scary tales.
10 Rosemary’s Baby - 137 min
Though not incredibly lengthy, Rosemary’s Baby still ranks as one of the longest horror movies ever created. Made more than 50 years ago, the movie follows a young couple who begin to experience strange things when they move into their new apartment. Rosemary (played by Mia Farrow) begins to grow paranoid that her neighbors are members of a Satanic cult intent on using her unborn child as a ritualistic sacrifice. The movie is based on the book of the same name by famed author Ira Levin.
9 A Cure For Wellness (2017) - 146 min
Filmmaker Gore Verbinski, better known for his directorial efforts on the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, takes the helm of the 2016 psychological horror A Cure for Wellness. It clocks in just shy of two and a half hours, but the runtime is crucial for all the intended audience intrigue and slow-burning mystery that ensues.
Dane DeHaan stars as Lockhart, an NYC financial executive sent to a wellness center located in the Swiss Alps to help retrieve his company's CEO. As he leaves, he gets hurt in a car crash which leaves him having to recuperate at the wellness center. During his stay, he learns about the history and the mysterious goings-on at the center, but he is left questioning his own sanity as the secrets unravel.
8 The Shining (1980) - 146 min
The Shining is often hailed as one of the scariest horror movies of all time, and this Stanley Kubrick classic has become a seminal stpale in the world of horror since its release back in 1980. Based on the novel by Stephen King, director Kubrick took plenty of artistic license when making the movie, which deviated in many ways from that of the source material.
Nevertheless, it's a movie filled with fantastic performances and terrifying imagery that stays with the viewer. It was a meticulously crafted film from the legendary filmmaker, and it's one that is often copied—but never trumped.
7 Suspiria (2018) - 153 min
The original 1977 Suspiria was a visually stylish Giallo horror from famed Italian horror director Dario Argento. In 2018, it was Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino who took the helm of the supernatural horror remake that had been "inspired" by the 1977 original.
Though it was met with a polarizing critical response, the movie still managed to bring a suitably stylistic and dark tone to the proceedings, making it a solid redo. The new version starred Dakota Johnson and award-winning British actress Tilda Swinton.
6 The Wailing (2016) - 156 min
The Wailing was a well-received South Korean horror from director Na Hong-jin, and, as such, its imposing 156-minute runtime is made all that more bearable by its fascinating storytelling. The movie manages to merge a whole host of popular horror tropes into an impressive and coherent narrative.
Police officer Jong-goo investigates a mysterious outbreak and murders that are taking place in a remote village in South Korea in an attempt to uncover secrets and help find his missing daughter.
5 Sssshhh... (2003) - 163 min
There aren't many well-known Indian slasher movies around, but, with a runtime of 163 minutes, Pawan S. Kaul's Sssshhh... makes it on to the list. The 2003 Bollywood slasher is about a maniacal serial killer who creates havoc around an Indian college campus as he picks off victims one by one.
The film, which is an obvious nod to Wes Craven's classic Scream movie, manages to imitate many common American slasher movie clichés fans have come to be so familiar with.
4 It Chapter Two (2019) - 170 min
Director Andy Muschietti's 2017 version of It, based on Stephen King's novel, became an unexpected horror hit, breaking all sorts of box office records. Much like its 1990 made-for-TV predecessor, which has gained a huge cult following over the years, producers of It had very much envisioned the movie playing out over two separate installments, mostly due to the lengthy novel it was based on and the varying timeline and flashbacks needed to tell the story.
It Chapter Two arrived in theatres in 2019 and was just shy of a 3-hour runtime. It introduced audiences to the grown-up version of the Losers Club who must head back to Derry to once more face the terrifying Pennywise.
3 Kwaidan (1964) - 183 min
The second anthology film of notable lengthy, Kwaidan, from director Masaki Kobayashi, deals with four different stories based upon various tales taken from writer Lafcadio Hearn's "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things."
Unlike many modern horror anthologies that typically have a connecting wraparound story, each of the four ghostly tales featured in Kwaidan is unrelated. The four segments featured in the creepy compendium are "The Black Hair," "The Woman of the Snow," "Hoichi the Earless," and "In a Cup of Tea."
2 4bia (2008) - 240 min
Thai anthology horror 4bia's (aka Phobia) runtime clocks in at a massive 240 minutes. The lengthy runtime isn't so surprising when dealing with four separate horror shorts bought to fans by a quartet of Thai directing talent.
This impressive anthology features four tales revolving around a lonely woman, a cursed manuscript, a camping ghost story, and a flight attendant who must accompany a dead body on a flight.
1 Philosophy of a Knife (2008) - 249 min
Often when a movie has such a long runtime, the subject matter isn't overly light-hearted. That can certainly be said of writer/director Andrey Iskanov's Russian-American horror drama Philosophy of a Knife. Clocking in at just over four hours, it’s quite an epic undertaking to watch in one sitting, particularly due to its violent and arguably sickening content.
As per Daily Mail, the movie features actual archive footage from World War II that featured the real-life human experimentation carried out by Unit 731, part of the Japanese Army. The footage is mixed in with a variety of interviews, voice-overs, and gruesome re-enactments of some of the experiments that would have been carried out.