10 German Horror Movie Gems From The Past 10 Years – Ranked
Welcome to Ranking Horror. This week, I want to kick things off by expanding on our catalogue of European horror. With this in mind, let’s take a look at 10 German Horror Movie Gems From The Past 10 Years – Ranked.
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Germany might be the most important horror nation on earth when it comes to how the genre is viewed today. After all, without 1922’s ground-breaking expressionist vampire movie Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, we might not see anywhere near the massive amount of scary movies that are releasing every year to this day. Nosferatu set the DNA that all modern horror movies can be traced back to in some way.
The impact of German horror movies has waned over the years and they seem to contribute far less to the genre than their neighbours in France and Austria. With that being said, however, there are still plenty of scary films from Germany to check out. You just have to look a little harder to find them and that is what we are doing today. Let’s take a look at some German Horror Gems.
| Rank | Movie Title (Year) | The German Dread |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood Red Sky (2021) | Vampires on a Transatlantic Flight |
| 2 | The Golden Glove (2019) | A Gritty Dive into Serial Killer Depravity |
| 3 | The Bunker (2015) | Underground Bizarreness at its Peak |
| 4 | Hagazussa (2017) | Haunting Period Witchcraft |
| 5 | Luz (2018) | Arthouse Possession and Synth Haze |
10. The Privilege (2022) – Elite School Conspiracies
- Director: Felix Fuchssteiner, Katharina Schöde
- Cast: Max Schimmelpfennig, Lise Risom Olsen
- Runtime: 107 minutes
- IMDb: 4.7/10
Why it Ranked: The Privilege (Das Privileg) feels like a patchwork horror made from the parts of other similar films that came before it. With that being said, the whole elites hiding secrets thing is quite interesting. It’s really a teen horror and may deserve a look from fans of films like The Faculty. I am not sure whether it works all that well, and it is very difficult to shake the feeling that the various disparate elements don’t fit together. I think that with a little sharper direction and some more cohesive storytelling this could have been a very good film, but, as it stands, it is just fairly average with a lot of unrealised potential.
Synopsis: A wealthy teenager and his friends at an elite private school uncover a dark conspiracy involving a supernatural secret. As they dig deeper, they realise that their illustrious upbringing hides a much more sinister purpose than they ever imagined.
Where to Watch: Netflix
9. Haunted Hospital (2018) – Influencer Found Footage
- Director: Michael David Pate
- Cast: Nilam Farooq, Sonja Gerhardt
- Runtime: 89 minutes
- IMDb: 4.1/10
Why it Ranked: Everything about Haunted Hospital (Heilstätten) screams ‘social media influencer flavoured Grave Encounters‘. It is an extremely formulaic “spooky location” horror movie that benefits tremendously from a great setting. It ultimately adds nothing new to the genre but I am sure you know that. It’s a decent enough watch if you’re a fan of the sub-genre and don’t mind the influencer tropes. I just wish they could have done a little more with that brilliant setting.
Synopsis: A group of YouTubers enter a supposedly haunted hospital near Berlin to film a 24-hour challenge. Hoping to gain worldwide fame, they soon discover that the legends are true and that they are most definitely not welcome in the decaying corridors.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Tubi
8. Old People (2022) – Senior Citizen Slasher
- Director: Andy Fetscher
- Cast: Melika Foroutan, Stephan Luca
- Runtime: 101 minutes
- IMDb: 5.1/10
Why it Ranked: Horror movies always seem to fail when attempting to tap into the potential of the elderly as vicious horror antagonists. Andy Fetscher efforts to harness some of that very terror with his 2022 horror movie Old People. arrives with mixed success I have seen a decent number of people complaining about the violence but I am not sure what they were expecting. There are only so many ways you can go with a horror film about elderly people going bananas and none of them were ever going to result in high art. It’s a perfectly fitting film if you are looking for some mindless splatter-horror nastiness.
Synopsis: A woman returns to her hometown with her two children for her sister’s wedding. The celebration turns into a nightmare when a massive storm triggers a violent outbreak among the residents of a local retirement home, who begin a brutal massacre of the town’s younger population.
Where to Watch: Netflix
7. Dawn Breaks Behind The Eyes (2021) – Gothic Psychedelia
- Director: Kevin Kopacka
- Cast: Anna Platen, Jeff Wilbusch
- Runtime: 74 minutes
- IMDb: 5.4/10
Why it Ranked: How about some Gothic Horror? This is one of those movies that you can’t really talk too much about without spoiling it. Suffice to say, Dawn Breaks Behind The Eyes features a non-linear timeline depicting a bunch of sequences that blur the lines between reality and dreams. Kopacka wants to take you on a journey into an atmospheric haze rather than outright scare you, a fact which may leave some viewers wanting. If you are looking for something radically different and absolutely steeped in interesting gothic visuals then this movie is definitely worth checking out.
Synopsis: A couple inherits a dilapidated castle that holds myriad secrets. As they spend the night, the world around them begins to warp, leading to a reality-bending experience that pays homage to 1970s European gothic horror.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Apple TV
6. German Angst (2015) – Brutal Anthology Horror
- Director: Jörg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski, Andreas Marschall
- Cast: Milton Welsh, Gollo Euler
- Runtime: 112 minutes
- IMDb: 4.9/10
Why it Ranked: German Angst tries to capture some of that shocking splatter-horror nastiness that was so indicative of the German horror industry in the 90s. This anthology is teeming with violence, gore, and shocking scenarios designed to make the viewer wince. Horror anthologies are always a little bit of a mixed bag when it comes to quality. When you throw in the splatter-horror nature of the segments here and the torture-porn leanings, it is quite difficult to get too excited, but there is a certain portion of fans who will really enjoy this type of depravity.
Synopsis: Three different directors present three stories of love, sex, and death in Berlin. Each segment explores the darkest corners of human nature, from bloody revenge to disturbing underground cults.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Shudder
5. Luz (2018) – Arthouse Possession
- Director: Tilman Singer
- Cast: Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt
- Runtime: 70 minutes
- IMDb: 5.5/10
Why it Ranked: Luz is an extremely low budget, almost experimental, affair that comes across as both very vague and extremely trippy. The timeline is non-linear and the storytelling is rather haphazard, traits which Singer would carry forward, in part, into his future projects like Cuckoo. I never felt as though the whole thing came together all that well, but it is still a very interesting movie to watch and it is easy to appreciate Singer’s daring approach to storytelling.
Synopsis: A young taxi driver stumbles into a police station to escape a malevolent force. Under hypnosis, she begins to recall the events that led her there, while the demon that has been pursuing her attempts to find a new host among the police officers.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Apple TV
4. Hagazussa (2017) – Period Folk Horror
- Director: Lukas Feigelfeld
- Cast: Aleksandra Cwen, Celina Peter
- Runtime: 102 minutes
- IMDb: 5.8/10
Why it Ranked: Hagazussa is a fantastic option for fans of folk-horror but lumping it in with The Witch, a movie that it can’t hope to compete with, is short changing it tremendously. Lukas Feigelfeld took much of what made Robert Eggers’ horror hit so successful, condensed it and slowed it down to a crawl. The story is interesting, the acting is decent, and the cinematography is stunning, so why not give it a try if you enjoy a slow-burn nightmare?
Synopsis: Set in the 15th century in the Austrian Alps, a young goat herder living in isolation begins to lose her grip on reality as she is haunted by the trauma of her mother’s death and the local community’s superstitions about witchcraft.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Shudder
3. The Bunker (2015) – Underground Absurdity
- Director: Nikias Chryssos
- Cast: Pit Bukowski, Daniel Fripan
- Runtime: 85 minutes
- IMDb: 6.0/10
Why it Ranked: Nikias Chryssos‘ The Bunker (Der Bunker) is a mix of drama and dark comedy with just a hint of psychological horror and a sprinkle of absolute bizarreness… That feels like a bit of a trademark of German horror, doesn’t it? It falls into that very specific class of genre film that almost feels like it isn’t horror at all. There aren’t any obvious scares in this film, more just a sense of strangeness and unease that leaves you feeling a bit unsettled and keeps you thinking about it for days after.
Synopsis: A student looking for a quiet place to study rents a room from a reclusive family in an isolated underground bunker. He is soon coerced into tutoring their adult son, who they treat like a child, pulling the student into their increasingly surreal and disturbing daily lives.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Fandor
2. The Golden Glove (2019) – Serial Killer Grit
- Director: Fatih Akin
- Cast: Jonas Dassler, Margarethe Tiesel
- Runtime: 110 minutes
- IMDb: 6.7/10
Why it Ranked: This is a repugnant horror movie that accurately depicts the morally bankrupt, motiveless, actions of a demented person who kills purely for pleasure. The Golden Glove (Der goldene Handschuh) is violent, brutal, harsh, and rather unflinching in its presentation of a serial killer, but it is hard not to be impressed by its presentation and the recreation of 70s Germany. It’s a stark reminder that the most terrifying horror of all is the kind that reflects the reality of life.
Synopsis: Based on the true story of Fritz Honka, a disfigured serial killer who terrorised Hamburg’s red-light district in the 1970s. The film follows Honka as he picks up lonely women at his local bar, “The Golden Glove,” and subjects them to horrific violence in his attic apartment.
Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Criterion Channel
🇩🇪 German Honourable Mentions
I couldn’t fit everything into the top 10 without making it a novel, but these four definitely deserved a shout-out. If you’ve finished the main list and still have a stomach for more Teutonic terror, give these a go.
Pelican Blood (2019): This is a properly uncomfortable watch. It’s a psychological horror drama that follows a woman who adopts a child with severe emotional trauma. It plays on the “evil kid” trope but grounds it in such a realistic, painful way that it feels less like a movie and more like a warning. Nina Hoss is absolutely magnetic in this.
Cold Hell (2017): Think of this as a German take on a gritty 70s giallo. It’s got a Turkish taxi driver in Vienna witnessing a murder and then being hunted by the killer. It leans heavily into action towards the end, but the initial dread and the bleak urban setting make it a firm favourite for fans of visceral, mean-spirited thrillers.
Cut Off (2018): If you like your horror with a medical, forensic edge, Cut Off (Abgeschnitten) is for you. It involves a coroner finding a capsule with a phone number inside a corpse, leading to a high-stakes scavenger hunt across a storm-lashed island. It’s intense, gruesome, and moves at a breakneck pace.
Cuckoo (2024): Tilman Singer followed up Luz with this weird, wonderful, and slightly confusing creature feature. Set in a resort in the Alps, it captures that “strange things are afoot” vibe perfectly. It’s got a bigger budget and more polish than his earlier work, but it hasn’t lost that specific “what on earth am I watching” charm that makes German indie horror so special.
1. Blood Red Sky (2021) – Action-Horror Heights
- Director: Peter Thorwarth
- Cast: Peri Baumeister, Carl Anton Koch
- Runtime: 121 minutes
- IMDb: 6.1/10
Why it Ranked: Blood Red Sky is an action-horror masterpiece from 2021 that was watched by over 50 million subscribers in its first month. The plot twist is fantastic, the action is captivating, and our heroine is utterly brilliant. Peter Thorwarth has brought us a seriously underrated thrill ride that deserves even more attention than it already gets. Go into the movie completely blind and just enjoy the ride.
Synopsis: A woman with a mysterious illness is on a transatlantic flight with her son. When the plane is hijacked by terrorists, she is forced to unleash a monstrous secret to protect her child, turning the hijackers’ mission into a desperate fight for survival.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Expressionism to Extremism
There we have it: 10 films that prove Germany is still a significant contributor to the world of horror. From the high-altitude thrills of Blood Red Sky to the experimental bizarreness of The Bunker, these movies offer a unique perspective on the genre that is often overlooked in favour of more mainstream offerings.
German horror might not be as dominant as it once was in the days of expressionism, but the creativity and willingness to push boundaries remains very much alive. Hopefully, these entries have given you some new titles to add to your watchlist. If you love European horror, why not check out our list of unsettling UK horror movies? I’ll be back soon with more rankings. Stay spooky.
🇩🇪 Quick Picks: German Horror for Your Vibe
- 🏆 The Must-Watch: Blood Red Sky (2021)
- 🔪 The Gritty Realism: The Golden Glove (2019)
- 🌑 The Weird Cult Choice: The Bunker (2015)
- 🕯️ The Atmospheric Witch Tale: Hagazussa (2017)
- 🌀 The Experimental Trip: Luz (2018)
