10 More Toxic Friendships in Horror RANKED

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Last week it was all about Valentine’s Day as we put together a few lists focused on love, relationships gone bad and murderous couples going wild. This week, we have been focusing on a different kind of relationship. That between the strangers we meet in life who eventually become friends. But what happens when that friendship turns toxic?

We kicked things off with our list of 10 Toxic Friendships in Horror Movies Ranked and promised you a follow up. Today we are making good on that promise with 10 More Toxic Friendships in Horror Movies Ranked.

What happens when friendships go wrong? What happens when love turns to hate and those friends become bitter enemies? In the movies we are looking at today, the characters featured are involved in toxic friendships that will inevitably lead them to wreck and ruin. Be it through jealousy and rage or simply through being guilty by association.

The vast majority of these movies are legitimately great. It is worth me pointing out, however, that they aren’t all strictly horror. It is tough to run a horror movie website without taking a step into the thriller genre here and there so some of these movies do fall more into that category that horror. They all have horror themes, however, and all should be fairly satisfying to any horror fan. Before we get going.

If you are looking for something all together more positive that these toxic friendships, why not check out our list of the 10 Best Friendships in Horror Movies RANKED. Without further ado, on with the list.

Gah, I really dislike this movie and it almost pains me to put it on the list but it definitely qualifies. There’s Something Wrong With the Children follows a family who take a weekend vacation with a pair of friends. Only for the kids to go missing one night before returning, seemingly, changed. Directed by Roxanne Benjamin; this movie just didn’t do it for me at all.

The characters are awkward and embarrassing depictions of millennials, the interactions feel fake, the events are dull and the thrills limited. Still, it fits the theme of our list perfectly as Ben is consistently doubted by his friends, prompting them to turn on him which escalates the situation massively. Not a great movie, we awarded There’s Something Wrong With the Children 1.2/5 in our review.

Olivia wants to spend her summer building houses for humanity but her passive, eager to please, nature betrays her. Agreeing to go to Mexico on vacation with her friends, the group unwittingly play a supernatural game of Truth or Dare. Each of the participants now has to play along with the game or face the consequences. Forcing them to reveal deep hidden secrets about each other that threaten to expose the toxic nature of their friendships and fracture the group forever in 2018’s Truth or Dare.

There’s a few movies like this doing the rounds. The whole “supernatural board game” trope is fairly common, as alluded to in our previous list with Game of Death. Truth or Dare is more of the same and, to be completely honest, it’s not a very good movie, either. These movies are always pretty predictable but it is fun to watch a toxic friend group tear each other apart, right?

We are going back to the early 2000’s for this next entry with Nick Hamm’s British psychological horror, thriller, The Hole. This one seems to have fallen under the radar a bit but features prolific actors Thora Birch and Desmond Harrington, British toff twat Laurence Fox, and a 15 year old Keira Knightley (who, worryingly, gets her baps out in a scene filmed with the consent of her parents.. Could we not have scratched that part from the script?).

It follows a group of friends who head into an underground bunker to spend a few days partying rather than going on a school trip. Little do they realise that getting out may be a lot more difficult than getting in.

Naturally this is a fantastic example of toxic friendships as the group begins to turn on each other pretty quickly in a situation that goes in a direction you may not expect. The Hole is, also, a very watchable movie that manages to create a lot of tension with a very limited location and budget. Claustrophobia mingles nicely with themes of sociopathy to keep you pretty engaged throughout. Check out our review of The Hole right here for more.

We have a bit of a different one next with Brandon Cronenberg’s 2023 movie Infinity Pool. Jaded author James Foster heads to an island for a vacation with his wife Em. While there they meet a woman who claims to be a fan. Agreeing to spend some time with the woman and her partner, a horrifying accident reveals a darker side to paradise. As James’s life of sex, violence, drugs and debauchery with his new friends proves to be more than just a little toxic.

You know that having a Cronenberg name attached to this movie means it is going to be weird. And that is exactly what Infinity Pool is. It is a strange movie full of sexual imagery, perverse hedonism and bizarre visuals. It’s also quite enjoyable and a perfect example of the extremes of toxic friendship. Mia Goth is fantastic here and makes the movie worth the price of entry alone. We awarded Infinity Pool 3/5 in our review.

Three friends head in to the woods to document a local legend of a witch. Only to find themselves completely lost and surrounded by bizarre goings on in this found footage classic from 1999. The Blair Witch Project might be one of the most hyped horror movies of all time. With the bespoke viral marketing campaign using websites and “lost person” posters to convince viewers that the events were real and that three people actually disappeared in the woods.

It seems a bit ridiculous now but, back in the day, people were actually genuinely convinced that this movie was real. Filmed on a micro budget and with a skeleton crew. The Blair Witch Project would never really live up to the impossible levels of hype but it is still a fantastic movie.

It can still be quite scary if you just allow yourself to buy into the fear experienced by the friends. Fear that, at the time, was very real due to the fatigue, dehydration and hunger placed upon the actors and the menacing way the crew would torment them throughout the night. Friendships fray and blame is placed in this modern horror classic that is still worth a watch. We awarded The Blair Witch Project 4/5 in our review.

This is a movie that is always sure to cause a stir and is also a perfect example of being careful who you trust. Speak No Evil is a Danish psychological horror movie directed by Christian Tafdrup. It follows the story of a Danish couple and their child meeting a Dutch couple and their child while on vacation. After receiving an invite to visit the family in the Netherlands. The couple, not wanting to be rude, head out there. What starts as an awkward weekend away quickly begins to go awry as the pairs’ new friends seem to be not quite what they seem.

The ending of this one pisses people off to no end. It is very much by design, however, as director Christian Tafdrup wanted to over emphasise how far out of their way middle class Danish people will go to not upset people. Despite being brutal and uncompromising, this is an enjoyable movie with some bewildering plot points that are sure to cause frustration. Speak No Evil is a perfect example of toxic friendships and why you shouldn’t trust everybody you meet. We awarded Speak No Evil 3.5/5 in our review.

Definitely one of my favourite movies on this list but one that seems to divide people a bit. Better Watch Out is a tough one to talk about without spoilers so I am not going to go into it too much. Suffice to say that it is a great example of a toxic friend leading the people around them into an absolutely horrible situation. The story follows babysitter Ashley who is forced to defend the child she is looking after from potential home invaders threatening their lives.

Better Watch Out is set over the Christmas holiday so makes for a perfect Xmas example of toxic friendship. It’s funny, shocking, and incredibly mean spirited in parts. It’s also a whole lot of fun purely for its plot which goes out of its way to subvert expectation. We awarded Better Watch Out 4/5 in our review. Not everyone will agree with that score as, like I said, it divides viewers but I think it is a legitimately great horror movie.

This is one of a couple of movies in this list that really don’t qualify as horror. Chronicle is more of a sci-fi thriller but it has enough elements there to make it enjoyable for horror fans too. Much like The Innocents, which we covered in our last toxic friendships list, it follows a group of friends who discover a strange object that gives them super powers. The friends bond over their shared powers but a history of bullying and abuse makes one of them head towards the dark side.

Chronicle does a nice job of using its Found Footage trappings to create a more realistic, more believable, presentation of the events taking place. Combined with decent acting, especially from Dane DeHaan, and a great script, Chronicle is a genuinely enjoyable exploration into what would happen if real people developed incredible abilities. The breakdown of the friendships at play here comes by way of jealousy and feelings of rejection. Creating a realistic narrative that feels like it makes a lot of sense. Chronicle is light on horror but has a decent amount of thrills.

Another movie that isn’t really horror beyond the themes at play. I simply had to feature this film because I really don’t think enough people actually talk about it. The Dirties is a crime, drama, thriller that follows a pair of bullied friends, Matt and Owen, who attempt to deal with the challenges of high school life. Owen tries to improve himself and work on his social skills while Matt finds himself leaning towards an altogether darker solution. A solution which could lead to the destruction of them both.

The Dirties is a less art house, more realistic, version of Gus Van Sant’s well regarded school shooting drama movie Elephant from 2003. Filmed in a found footage style as if documented by the friends themselves. The Dirties feels far more authentic and far closer to what we have seen in cases like the Columbine killings. With the characters presenting as conflicted, wanting to fit in, and, ultimately, bitter due to the vicious bullying.

Writer, Director and star Matt Johnson is fantastic and the friendship between the pair feels completely genuine. The ending is shocking and leaves you thinking about the movie way after it is done. Not just an example of Toxic Friendship in movies but also a very important movie in itself. The Dirties deserves far more attention. Check out our review of The Dirties right here.

A surprise hit from 2022. Influencer follows the story of a social media influencer heading out for a holiday alone to Thailand where she meets care free traveller CW. In awe of her easy going way of life, the pair become fast friends but CW may not turn out to be all she says she is. Influencer is a genuinely enjoyable horror, thriller, that puts a spotlight on the danger of becoming close friends with people who you don’t really know.

Constantly subverting expectations, Influencer never really lets up on the thrills and constantly keeps you guessing. It plays heavily on themes of vapid social media obsessed people, the falseness of influencers, and the dangers of identity theft. As well as the problems that can come along when traveling alone to foreign countries and accepting help from toxic people who you know nothing about. Cassandra Naud, as CW, is utterly fantastic and steals every scene she is in. Influencer is just a ton of fun and well worth checking our. We awarded it 3.8 our of 5 in our review.

Thanks for Reading!

So that’s 10 More Toxic Friendships in Horror Movies Ranked. If you haven’t checked out our previous list on 10 Toxic Friendships in Horror Movies then you should go do that. I suppose we should try to be a bit more positive really? That’s why our next list will focus on some of the best friendships in horror movie history. You can take a look at that here – 10 Best Friendships in Horror Movies RANKED.

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