Lovecraft may have argued that the strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown, but there’s no denying the intellectual thrills of unraveling a good old-fashioned mystery. After all, some answers can serve to make a story even scarier, and I have a personal soft spot for horror yarns about grizzled investigators attempting to piece together a morbid puzzle.
This is precisely why I’ve been a fan of the Saw franchise from the very beginning, with the detective angle behind all the blood and guts making this gruesome franchise stand out amongst other so-called “torture-porn” movies.
And with the long-anticipated Saw X on the horizon this week, we’ve decided to come up with a list recommending six of the best investigative horror films ahead of Jigsaw’s latest killing spree. After all, sometimes it’s fun to figure out exactly why our protagonists are going through these horrific ordeals even if their demise is a forgone conclusion.
As usual, this list is based on personal opinion, but don’t forget to comment below with your own investigative horror favorites if you think we missed a particularly intriguing one.
With that out of the way, cue “Hello Zepp” and onto the list…
6. Untraceable (2008)
It seems like every other horror film from the 2000s was trying to shoehorn some form of “modern” technology into the script in an attempt to appear hip. While this usually resulted in bizarre movies like Hellraiser: Hellworld and the divisive Cry Wolf (which I actually happen to enjoy), one of the better examples of properly incorporating tech into genre thrills happened to be Gregory Hoblit’s underrated psychological thriller Untraceable.
Following an FBI special agent (Diane Lane) as she tracks down a high-tech serial killer who streams his sadistic murders online, the film ends up touching on some prescient issues regarding cybersecurity and humanity’s fascination with the morbid side of the internet. While there’s nothing here quite as disturbing as Jigsaw’s infamous traps, Untraceable still boasts plenty of gruesome moments that are likely to leave you squealing just as much as the victims featured on KillWithMe.Com.
5. I See You (2019)
To dive too deeply into the plot of Adam Randall’s underrated I See You would be a disservice to both the viewer and the filmmakers, but suffice to say that this mind-bending thriller follows a police detective (Jon Tenney) attempting to solve a child abduction case while he and his wife (Helen Hunt) deal with strange happenings inside their own home.
While it may take a while for you to settle into the film’s numerous twists and turns, I See You is the best kind of mystery flick in that it invites the viewer to make sense of the story alongside our lead investigator. In fact, I’d argue that this one is even better on repeat viewings once you finally know how all the pieces fit together and can appreciate the narrative craftsmanship behind the experience.
4. The Empty Man (2020)
Lost in the shuffle of 20th Century Fox’s acquisition by Disney (not to mention a certain worldwide pandemic that utterly annihilated theatrical releases), David Prior’s The Empty Man has become something of a modern cult classic as its popularity has spread through online world-of-mouth. Telling the story of former detective looking into a secretive cult, The Empty Man is a chilling mash-up of cosmic horror and the very best Creepypastas.
While the movie certainly has its flaws, with the director claiming that the theatrical release was more of a rushed rough draft than a proper final cut, there’s still plenty to love here if you’re a fan of Lovecraftian investigations and slow-burning terror – so long as you can stomach the bloated runtime.
It may not be for everyone, but The Empty Man is slowly but surely finding its audience.
3. Lord of Illusions (1995)
The final theatrical release directed by Clive Barker, Lord of Illusions is a strange little film that likely baffled audiences that were expecting something more along the lines of Hellraiser than a supernatural Chinatown. Loosely based on the final story of the Books of Blood anthology, the film follows Scott Bakula as paranormal detective Harry D’Amour as he investigates a cult based in the Mojave Desert.
Cannibalizing disturbing moments from Barker’s other stories (with a creepy finale lifted straight from The Skins of Our Fathers), Lord of Illusions is a great time for horror fans who enjoy their otherworldly terror accompanied by a side of neo-noir intrigue – just make sure that you watch the director’s cut for extra scares.
2. Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
The Hellraiser sequels are notorious for repurposing scripts that had nothing to do with the franchise and forcefully inserting the Cenobites into them, but this wasn’t the case for all of the franchise’s straight-to-video follow-ups. Despite rumors of the contrary, Scott Derrickson’s Hellraiser: Inferno was originally pitched as a standalone Cenobite yarn that only tangentially related to the events of previous films.
Following a corrupt police detective as he searches for a killer dubbed “The Engineer”, the film plays fast and loose with the Hellraiser mythos by preferring to tell a surreal standalone story about a broken man atoning for his sins – with the end result being a surprisingly fresh take on Barker’s original premise.
1. The Resurrected (1991)
Also known as Ancestor and Shatterbrain in other territories, Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected is one of the most criminally underseen Lovecraft adaptations out there. A modernized retelling of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, this neo-noir thriller tells the story of a private investigator (John Terry) hired to look into the affairs of the eccentric chemist, Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon). Naturally, otherworldly horror ensues as the detective realizes that Ward’s family has been involved in necromancy for generations.
An atmospheric treat for fans of moody noir ambience and cosmic horror alike, The Resurrected is my favorite film on this list despite having been re-edited by the studio against O’Bannon’s wishes. While it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a proper director’s cut, it is possible to track down a workprint version of the film with all the original scenes intact.
However, no matter what version you watch, prepare for some legitimately thrilling investigative terror.
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