Isolated settings: 10 terrifying horror movies, from Event Horizon to Wolf Creek, very brave viewers watch alone

Horror Depends on the Viewer

Horror has entertained and unsettled audiences for decades, spanning ghosts, folklore and fears rooted in reality. Releases including Hokum, Scream 7 and Other Mommy have made 2026 a notable year for the genre.

Recommendations can be difficult because viewers respond to different subjects. The Exorcist is widely regarded as a great horror film, but possession stories may not work for every audience; clowns, serial killers and jump scares also affect people differently.

Trouble Aboard Event Horizon

Event Horizon was poorly received by critics when it premiered in the 90s, but it has since developed cult-classic status. Captain Miller, played by Lawrence Fishburne, leads the Lewis & Clark crew on a classified mission with Dr. Weir, played by Sam Neill.

They investigate the Event Horizon, a spaceship built with experimental faster-than-light technology that vanished for seven years before reappearing. The crew becomes stranded aboard, where disturbing visions intensify and the ship seems to respond to their presence.

A Mystery in the Autopsy Room

In The Autopsy of Jane Doe, father and son Tommy and Austin, played by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch, begin examining a woman's body during a storm. The body, portrayed by Olwen Kelly, was found at a house where a massacre took place.

The examiners find that her condition does not fit the reported scene, and further discoveries deepen the mystery. The film's unsettling effect depends in part on going in without knowing much about Jane Doe.

Fear in Isolated Places

Wolf Creek shifts from paranormal scares to a more grounded threat. Three hikers in the Australian Outback suffer a car breakdown in a secluded area, and a local who offers them a lift has a sinister motive. Mick, played by John Jarratt, becomes a brutal and frightening antagonist.

Searching Beneath Sydney

The Tunnel is a found-footage horror film set in abandoned train tunnels beneath Sydney. Journalist Natasha, played by Bel Deliá, enters with her crew to investigate missing homeless people and her suspicion that authorities are concealing something.

The story places the crew in a hidden, confined setting as they pursue a major report. The article's description ends before explaining what they encounter in the tunnels.