The best horror movies about superheroes

Key conclusions

• Superhero movies tend to be exciting without instilling a sense of dread, but some, like Priest, explore darker themes.
• Constantine creates a dark atmosphere and deviates from the happy ending, a departure from the typical superhero movies.
• The Blade features a unique vampire anti-hero that departs from the usual gothic horror or romantic images of vampires.

Superhero movies are basically a separate genre that consists of brave people who use their abilities to save the world from super villains, causing millions in material damage in the process. These movies bring excitement and adrenaline, watching heroes and villains go toe-to-toe, rushing to one side or the other.

What they usually don't do is tap into the forbidden feelings of fear or anxiety through gruesome visuals in the form of characters, locations, or themes explored. While no superhero movie will have viewers hiding behind their pillows for safety, there are still a few that verge on the dark side.

6 Priest

A trained warrior must face dangerous vampires

• Release date: May 13, 2011
• Director: Scott Stewart
• Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes

Vampires and humans have been at war for centuries, ravaging the world and leading to the establishment of a theocracy and a group of warriors trained by the elite to give humanity a fighting chance called the Priests. As the war ends, the priests try to reintegrate into society, but one priest is called out of retirement to rescue his niece, who has been kidnapped by a vampire who has torn her family apart. The priest acts outside the authority of the Church, which forces them to send other priests after him.

His journey will span multiple locations, featuring an alternate Earth ravaged by war, creating a rather dystopian and dark-dark world to match the monsters that inhabit it. With startling revelations about Lucy's parentage and the Church's refusal to acknowledge the evidence thrown at their feet, the story Priest it's one that's really exciting, taking a lot of twists and turns, which sets it apart from other superhero movies that tend to be more cut and dry.

5 Brightburn

A dark look at Superman's history

• Release date: May 24, 2019
• Director: Davyd Yarovevski
• Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Everyone is familiar with the story of Superman from DC. He falls to the ground like a baby and is taken in by a good couple. He uses his powers for the good of the world, being one of the most noble superheroes of all time. But what if Superman wasn't the benevolent alien that most media makes him out to be? Brightburn explores this idea as Brendan, a child found at the bottom of a crater by Tori and Kyle Breyer, who take him in and raise him as their own.

As his abilities begin to emerge, so does the dark side of his nature. He becomes increasingly aggressive, which makes for a terrifying combination with his ability to fly and unnatural strength. As is usually the case in superhero movies, Brandon seems to defeat all of his enemies, including his family. The film ends on an ominous note that this could only be the beginning of trouble in their world as there is no one who can be strong enough to stand up to him.

4 Constantine

An occult expert who fights demons

• Release date: February 18, 2005
• Director: Francis Lawrence
• Duration: 2 hours 1 minute

In the world Constantinethe pact that banned demons from entering Earth is broken, as demons seek to reach the mortal level through their human victims, and John Constantine is one of the few willing to do the menial work of driving them out of humans and back into hell. fought lung cancer all the time. He knows he is on the clock, but instead of living life to the fullest, he continues his work, much to the chagrin of the angel Gabriel.

Constantine throughout the film there is a very dark feeling associated with the dying hero and the demon-infested world. Even though he eventually outwits the devil and is brought back to life and spared the flames of hell, at this point it still doesn't feel like the happy ending that superhero movies usually provide. ​​​​​​​Although he wins, it doesn't feel like a complete victory for Constantine, and the audience decides if he won Lucifer's gambit or if he eventually got his soul.

3 Blade

Diary of a vampire hunter

• Release date: August 21, 1998
• Director: Stephen Norrington
• Duration: 2 hours

One of the most forgotten and overlooked Marvel movies, but still a great classic, Blade certainly deserves more time in the sun, metaphorically speaking. This super hero with stupid fangs doesn't owe his special powers to being an alien or being bitten by a radioactive spider, but to being a bloodthirsty creature of the night.

More anti-hero than conventional hero, he uses his nature to do good rather than harm, ridding the world of the scourge of his vampire brethren, particularly a vampire named Deacon Frost, who revels in his nature by taking the iconic blood-rave in to his club in Los Angeles. Vampires are most commonly used in gothic horror or romance films such as Let the right one in or Only the lovers survivedrespectively. Starring a superhero movie, Being a Vampire is definitely a new and unique movie that has paid off as this movie is nothing short of great.

2 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The multiverse leads to strange and terrifying places

Going from dimension to dimension is bound to lead to weird and crazy places, and that's exactly what happened in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Marvel's first stab at a surreal horror film involved the Scarlet Witch, who would do anything and sacrifice anyone to be reunited with the two children born in her spin-off series. She travels through different universes in search of the power she needs, while Strange tries to stop her machinations.

Marvel movies always boast beautiful and impressive visuals thanks to the efforts of their SFX team, as well as a significant budget and Multiverse of madness approaches surrealist horror with scenes of twisted insanity and character distortion in a way that the likes of John Carpenter could only dream of. For anyone looking for a truly terrifying superhero movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness should already be on their radar if they haven't seen this movie yet.

1 Crow

An epic tale of love and revenge

• Release date: May 13, 1994
• Director: Aleksey Proyas
• Duration: 1 hour 42 minutes

On the night before Halloween, the day they were supposed to get married, Eric Draven and Shelly Webster were brutally murdered. A year later, a crow flies to Eric's grave and raises him from the dead to right the wrong done to him the year before. He relives the memories of tragic events, so he knows exactly who to go after.

In the film, Eric works on his murderous to-do list, taking out dangerous, rowdy and crazy gang members, often in extremely brutal and creative ways. After his work is done, his body returns to rest and his spirit departs with Shelly's. It's a bittersweet ending where the two lovers are reunited, but Sarah is left alone, once again bereft of friends. Crow maintains a melancholic and gothic feel throughout the film, which is not usually the theme of conventional superhero films.