Ranking the 7 Best Romance Horror Movies, From ‘Bones & All’ to ‘Nosferatu’

With references to 1960s horror and technicolor films, The Love Witch is a visually pleasing tribute. Definitely not as disturbing as plenty of others in the genre, The Love Witch is graphic in other ways. Dying for men to fall at her feet, Elaine Parks (Samantha Robinson) creates potions to make her conquests enthralled by her.

Leaving a trail of missing dead men, Elaine isn’t too bothered by being linked to the crimes. After all, she is a witch, and her coven will have her back, right? There are plenty of silly segments making The Love Witch an enjoyable watch. Elaine is craving love in a desperate way, using it to feed her ego, and never truly seeing the men as standalone individuals. (What in the world could this be a critique of?)

As long as the viewer goes into the movie knowing they love an indie endeavor, you’ll be enchanted by The Love Witch.

I know what you’re thinking: Warm Bodies isn’t really a horror movie. You’re technically right, but it includes zombies, and for that reason alone it can be included.

More on the rom-com spectrum, Warm Bodies showcases the power of love. Because, spoiler alert, Julie’s (Teresa Palmer) love turns zombie R (Nicholas Hoult) back into a human. Talk about swoonworthy.

Not as fully fleshed out as some other entries, Warm Bodies is the best movie for newcomers to horror who aren’t quite ready to haunt their nightmares with scary tales. Although an often-referenced flick, I’d dare to say that it’s underrated.

When Vampire in Brooklyn first hit theaters, critics and audiences alike were a bit confused by the horror movie with comedic touches. Over time, it has become a cult classic. Those yellowish eyes Eddie Murphy sports in the film are possibly one of the creepiest bits in its hour and 42-minute run, but it truly is worth the watch.

Directed by horror icon Wes Craven, Vampire in Brooklyn totally falls in the same realm as the Scream franchise. High notes of Vampire in Brooklyn include the absurdist humor, Murphy playing not one, not two but three characters, and the FX makeup. Yet, the best part of the movie is the chemistry between Murphy and lead Angela Bassett, making it one of the best romances on this list!

With themes that tackle important topics like sexual assault, feminism, and queer theory, all within the space of an absurdist horror, Jennifer’s Body is a much more refined movie than critics and the audience initially gave it credit for when it was released in 2009.

Although not as deeply romantic as others, Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) and Anita “Needy” Lesnicki’s (Amanda Seyfried) friendship is definitely somewhere between a crush and an innate obsession. Certain elements of sensuality are crossing the boundaries of the once-upon-a-time pals. Jennifer is inhabited by a demon after Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody) and his band members forcibly unleash it upon her. She goes on a hunt to eat the flesh of all the boys in their high school. This disturbs Needy, whose boyfriend Chip Dove (Johnny Simmons), is also one of her potential prey.

Going back and forth, the two enter an interesting power play. Who will win? That sense of intense connection is definitely a form of romance. And, hey, they do share a kiss.

A collaboration between Timothée Chalamet and Luca Guadagnino is always bound to be a hit. I mean, does anyone remember their little indie flick Call Me By Your Name? Although Bones and All isn’t quite on that level, it’s still great!

The horror film was also the breakthrough moment for Taylor Russell, and for that, we’ll always be grateful! Despite the graphic and unsettling the nature of “eaters” aka cannibals, the relationship between Maren Yearly (Russell) and Lee (Chalamet) is quite touching — and they aren’t heartless. Why else would they be so disturbed by Brad (David Gordon Green), who is a paraphilic cannibal?

Maren and Lee find each other in a maze of craziness, knowing that their connection will never be able to be fully fulfilled. Bones and All was one of the most underrated films of 2022.

Sure, the remake of Nosferatu doesn’t have the type of romance we modern souls have come to love, but it dabbles in the realm of gothic romance. Unlike so many other depictions of it, this kind of love emphasizes death, all things dark, and an almost unsettling version of obsession. It’s exactly that type of physiological despair, which is in abundance throughout Nosferatu’s visually pleasing Victorian-era display of horror.

With plenty of allegories linking Ellen’s (Lily-Rose Depp) fixation on Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) to addiction, it poses the question of whether that metaphor has transcended into the current era of romance. Nosferatu is not the best pick if you’re looking for a mild scare factor with an emphasis on a bone-chilling love connection. If you are looking for a physiological horror-drama that takes you back in time to when people needed to find mythological creatures to blame for human disasters, then this is the one for you!

The only non-English speaking entry on this list is, of course, Audition. Adapted from Ryu Murakami’s novel of the same name, this 1999 movie follows the same postmodernist throughlines as much of Murakami’s work. More of a physiological horror, there’s still quite a lot of gore to go around.

Centered around Shigeharu Aoyama’s (Ryo Ishibashi) quest for a renewed sense of love after his wife died, he stumbles into a horrific tale that would scare anyone. Trying to get a date through a non-kosher way, Shigeharu meets Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina). While bordering a deeply feministic take on getting revenge on the men who couldn’t give Asami what she wants, there’s also a lot of misogyny that plays a part in this stellar film. Although the ideology is conflicting and not perfect, that’s an accurate representation of society. With an ever-important impact on pop culture for the decades that followed, Audition is definitely the best movie in this subgenre of romance horror. But, be warned, you might want to take a break from dating after watching Audition in full.