Terrifying horror movies about Hell feature the worst possible horror imagery and concepts that the human brain can imagine. Nearly every system of spiritual belief from around the world has its own version of Hell. While the term itself originates from Old English, Hell is a universal concept that designates a specific place or dimension for the dead, typically for the purpose of punishing, atoning for, or processing human depravity, morality, and disconnection from divine forces.
The scariest depictions of Hell in the movies are approximations of not just what Hell would look like, but also the experiences of the damned. Filmmakers don’t always make it clear that they’re showing viewers a version of the underworld, but more often than not, saying it outright isn’t necessary. Most audiences know when they’re looking at Hell, which is a testament to how much the universal concept cuts across social, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Naturally, terrifying movies about Hell also boast some of the best and most imaginative production, animation, and visual effects work in film. Not limited to horror or fantasy, any genre can venture into Hell.
10 Mad God (2021)
A technical masterwork of stop-motion animation, Phil Tippett’s Mad God unveils a dystopian and hellish landscape that is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying. A man known only as the assassin ventures deep into an underground city of damned souls, following a map and carrying a suitcase. Along the way, viewers are treated to various scenes of the damned working and getting tortured or killed, and monstrous creatures consuming each other in different ways — through an imaginative combination of stop-motion and live-action photography. While it draws from classic sci-fi, dystopian, and horror-fantasy tropes, Mad God’s Hell explores reincarnation and evokes dharmic interpretations of the afterlife.
9 The Sentinel (1977)
Michael Winner’s The Sentinel is all about shock value and could be offensive to modern viewers. After fashion model Alison Parker moves into a historic New York City building in Brooklyn Heights, she experiences a number of bizarre encounters with several of her fellow residents, including a blind Catholic priest named Father Halliran. Alison soon finds out that Halliran is the only living resident of the building beside her. He is the designated sentinel tasked with keeping the resident demons inside the building, which is the gateway to Hell. While The Sentinel is an unapologetically derivative supernatural thriller, both its plot and imagery are genuinely terrifying.
8 Jigoku (1960)
Known in some circles as the Alfred Hitchcock of Japan, Nakagawa Nobuo crafted Jigoku as a sordid tale of morality that culminates in the Buddhist conception of the afterlife. In gorgeous and horrific cinematography, humanity atones for its sins through various stages of punishment. This includes people getting boiled and cooked in a giant pot, repeatedly eviscerated by humanoid demons, or buried alive. While this depiction of Hell is only shown in the last 20 minutes of Jigoku, the movie has earned cult status for its nightmarish vision and is largely considered to be among the best and most terrifying movies about hell.
7 Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Jacob Singer is a soldier deployed in Vietnam, and when he gets stabbed by an unknown attacker, he wakes up in a hellish version of New York City. In Adrian Lyne’s Jacob’s Ladder, the title character sees faceless vibrating figures around the city, a tentacle seemingly coming out of a person in the street, and various other visions and events that make him question whether he is alive or dead. As the ending of Jacob’s Ladder explains, the horrifying things Jacob witnesses are his mind’s interpretation of demons and Hell. Notably, Jacob’s Ladder actually has a forgiving conception of the afterlife, though this doesn’t make it any less terrifying.
6 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
The prequel movie to Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me covers the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer, whose death triggers the events in the original TV series. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me features several scenes that happen in the Black Lodge, an extradimensional space that’s home to the show’s demonic characters. As explained in the series, the Black Lodge is where the courage of spirits is tested on their way to the afterlife. Unlike most movie depictions of Hell, the lodge is much less epic, but its red curtains, simple furnishings, and labyrinthian qualities make for highly effective nightmare fuel.
5 Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds (2017)
After a firefighter dies while saving a young girl from a burning building, he is subjected to seven trials in the afterlife. Accompanied by three guardians, the firefighter’s actions on Earth are judged in each new trial, and the outcome will determine whether he will be tortured like the other souls or allowed to be reincarnated. This includes glorious scenes of the damned burning in a river of lava, and a humongous stone rolling machine crushing trapped sinners. Directed by Kim Yong-hwa, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds is a Korean fantasy action movie that combines CGI and epic set pieces to take viewers on a whimsical, frightful ride.
4 As Above, So Below (2014)
In the catacombs beneath Paris, a team of treasure hunters search for an ancient relic that can not only grant immortality but also transmute any common metals into gold. As the As Above, So Below twist ending explains, the group descends so deeply into the catacombs that they literally stumble into Hell. With each new section in the increasingly claustrophobic settings, the members of the group are confronted by their own personal demons and challenges to their morality. Cleverly, As Above, So Below‘s plot and terrors are completely based on Inferno from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, translated through the strange events and harrowing visions that the treasure hunters encounter.
3 L’Inferno (1911)
A loose adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Francesco Bertolini’s L’Inferno is also the very first Italian feature film. Guided by the poet Virgil, Dante journeys through the Nine Circles of Hell, and they encounter Satan, harpies, and other demons feasting on the corpses of humans. Other scenes of extreme gore include a man carrying his own head and the damned getting thrown into an ocean of fire. While the special effects are outdated, this only adds to the film’s eerie and dark atmosphere and makes it distinct from other terrifying horror movies about Hell. For those familiar with the source material, L’Inferno is more nightmare-inducing than most modern horror movies.
2 What Dreams May Come (1998)
After Chris dies from an accident, he awakens in Heaven, a serene place that looks exactly like his wife’s beautiful landscape paintings. Grieving for Chris, his wife Annie goes to Hell after killing herself. Unwilling to accept his wife’s fate, Chris journeys through the afterlife to find Annie in Hell. What Dreams May Come is a drama fantasy where both Heaven and Hell are shaped by the human imagination, with the fantastical setting being based on iconic paintings about the afterlife. While Heaven in What Dreams May Come is breathtaking, the sheer bleakness of its Hell features imagery and dramatic themes rarely touched on by terrifying horror movies about Hell.
1 Constantine (2005)
Based on the beloved DC Comics character, Francis Lawrence’s Constantine is about John Constantine, an exorcist who hopes to delay his damned soul’s inevitable descent into Hell. When Constantine goes to Hell, he finds that it’s much like the real world — except it appears to have just been in the radius of a nuclear bomb, and is populated by twisted creatures and cruel visions of the beholder’s life. Moreover, Constantine also features one of the most chilling live-action versions of Lucifer, played by Peter Stormare. Keanu Reeves will be reprising his role as the titular exorcist and taking viewers back to Hell in the sequel Constantine 2.
