20 Parenthood Themed Horror Movies That Tap Into Familial Fears - Little Monsters!
Welcome to Knockout Horror. If you are new here, we review horror movies, explain horror movie endings, and put out horror movie ranking lists. We just got done reviewing the recent science fiction (kinda) horror movie Descendent. It’s all about the anxieties associated with being a new parent (and being probed by aliens) so that got me thinking. Why not explore this topic in a little more depth? Today, we are checking out 20 Parenthood Themed Horror Movies That Tap Into Familial Fears.
Everyone tells you that becoming a parent is a joyous, life changing journey. Guess what? They are lying. It is, actually a frankly terrifying experience that brings along with it a whole bunch of horror that you may never have expected.
The sleepless nights, the constant worry, the profound responsibility for another human’s life, the never ending crying that seems to echo through your brain when you just want to sleep. To be honest, I am surprised anyone even bothers.
This does mean, however, that parenthood is fertile ground for some serious horror scares. Filmmakers have long used the genre to explore these deep seated anxieties. From the terror of pregnancy to the chilling fear of the child you’ve raised turning into a complete asshole, here are 20 horror movies that prey on the fears of parenthood.
I have tried to throw in a few wildcard suggestions so a few movies you may expect to see might not be here. Enjoy!
20. Little Joe (2019)
IMDb Score: 5.4/10
Before I start, Little Joe is one of those movies that probably would have worked great as a short but struggles as a feature length horror. I love the concept, though. This sci-fi horror explores the anxiety that comes from the thought that your child might eventually change into someone you don’t recognise and may even end up fearing.
A single mother and plant breeder designs a new species of crimson flower engineered to make people happy. She brings one home for her son and names it after him but, as the plant grows, she begins to notice subtle, unsettling changes in him. Little Joe is very slow and that annoying high pitched sound throughout might drive you crazy. It’s a great concept though and a refreshing take on The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
19. Grace (2009)
IMDb Score: 5.2/10
Grace is a fairly obscure body horror film about the lengths a mother will go to to protect her, well, demon child. After her unborn baby dies in the womb, a grieving mother decides to carry the child to term. Miraculously, the baby is born, but, obviously, it’s not a normal child. It craves blood.
Look, Grace isn’t going to blow you away. It has a b-movie silliness that makes it weirdly enjoyable but it is, frankly completely ridiculous, in parts. Something that stands in stark contrast to how seriously it takes itself. Still, if you are looking for pregnancy scares, it is worth a go. Check out our review of Grace right here.
18. It’s Alive (1974)
IMDb Score: 5.6/10
Come on, we needed a 70s B-Movie in this list, right? It’s Alive taps directly into the fear of childbirth itself. The Davies’ are a happy couple expecting their second child. However, their joy turns to terror when their baby turns out to be a monstrous mutant that immediately goes on a killing spree.
I love movies like this. I mean, let’s be real, they have that very specific type of cheesy horror charm. Don’t expect a ton of quality and serious scares. You have to go into this with your expectations set. It’s Alive is a campy but hugely enjoyable look at the anxieties surrounding pregnancy, giving birth, and the monstrous unknown.
17. The Hole in the Ground (2019)
IMDb Score: 5.7/10
I am going to hold my hands up and say that I was kind of disappointed at this movie. I feel like I had heard a ton about it in the run up, amped myself up, and then ended up with my expectations crushed. Maybe I need to go back and give it another watch. The Hole In The Ground is an Irish folk horror focused on the story of “changelings”.
After moving to a remote house, a young mother begins to suspect her son is not her son at all after he returns from a brief disappearance in the woods. His increasingly strange behaviour coincides with a giant sinkhole near their home, leading to a terrifying conclusion. The concept is fantastic, the execution, not so much but some people still absolutely love The Hole In The Ground so give it a try for some parenthood related folk horror thrills.
16. Vivarium (2019)
IMDb Score: 5.8/10
Vivarium is a bit of a surreal sci-fi horror about the suffocating nature of suburban parenthood. A young couple hoping to buy their first home find themselves trapped in a bizarre and identical suburban neighbourhood where they are forced to raise a strange, otherworldly child.
The setup for this reminded me a little of Lorcan Finnegan’s horror short Foxes. Though that story is more focused on the mundane nature of everyday work life and the desire to escape and be free. Vivarium is more of a chilling allegory for losing your identity in the monotonous and repetitive cycle of family life. Imagine being the child of the person who wrote these movies complaining about parenthood. Cheers, dad!
15. The Dark (2018)
IMDb Score: 5.9/10
I almost didn’t include this movie in the list because I had kind of forgotten about it. I am glad I remembered, though, because this fairly obscure and haunting Austrian and Canadian collaboration is well worth a watch. It’s focused on the fierce, protective bonds of parenthood, even in the most monstrous of circumstances. Something positive, for a change, rather than most of these movies reflecting the writer’s regrets at ever having kids.
The story follows a flesh eating, undead, girl who haunts the woods where she was murdered. When she stumbles upon an abused, blind boy, her long dormant humanity begins to reawaken as she becomes his fierce protector against the evils of the world. The relationship between the two characters here acts as an allegory for the protective feelings that come along with being a parent. It’s quite a sad film, in parts, as well.
14. Anything for Jackson (2020)
IMDb Score: 6.3/10
I remember being so amped for the release of Anything for Jackson back in 2020. Then the whole world went mad and I forgot all about it. I ended up stumbling on it a few years later and really enjoying it. As a bit of a flip to the typical parenthood horror theme, this movie is focused more on the Grandparent subgenre. No, not as in Rabid Grannies; more like The Visit or something like that.
Anything for Jackson is a pretty chilling and unexpectedly dark tale. It follows a wealthy, Satanist couple, who, while grieving the death of their grandson Jackson, kidnap a pregnant woman. Their plan is to perform a “reverse exorcism” but they accidentally summon far more than they bargained for. This ones a lot of fun and feels quite original, to be honest.
13. Pet Sematary (1989)
IMDb Score: 6.5/10
We had to fit a few Stephen King classics in here, right? Pet Sematary deals with the most profound of parental fears: the loss of a child. After a family moves to a new home near a mysterious burial ground, a tragic accident leads a grieving father to make a terrible decision in an attempt to defy death.
This is a classic Monkey’s Paw tale that poses the terrifying question of how far would you go to get your child back? Pet Sematary is good, old fashioned, slightly camp, 80’s horror fun. It was remade recently and people hated it so there’s that. You can check out our review right here.
12. His House (2020)
IMDb Score: 6.5/10
Only the crappest parts of the UK could make war-torn Sudan seem like a better option as a place to live. “Experienced a life of trauma? Send them to Jaywick, or Blackpool, or somewhere like that. That will cheer them up!”. I suppose that’s undermining what is, at its heart, a very powerful horror film that does a nice job of intertwining the refugee experience with parental grief.
A couple who have fled war torn South Sudan struggle to adjust to their new life in a small English town. Little realising that they will soon find themselves haunted by a malevolent spirit within their new home.
Apparently, Remi Weekes wanted to highlight that the UK isn’t the home of Dickens, Austen, and the Royal Family that it’s advertised as to potential immigrants. It’s actually mostly grey housing estates, blocks of flats, and a lot deprivation.. And bird poo, obviously. He nailed that aesthetic in His House so well done, there.
11. A Quiet Place (2018)
IMDb Score: 7.5/10
For the most part, I am trying to rank these movies with some degree of logic. A little balance between my subjective rating and what the general horror fanbase thinks. I can’t do that with A Quiet Place because I really didn’t enjoy it very much so I am going to slot it in at number 11 on this list. I was hugely excited for it but I remember being enormously disappointed. The film does pose the question of what is more terrifying than trying to keep your children safe? Trying to keep them silent in a world where noise means certain death. So it fits this list like a speedo.
In a post-apocalyptic world infested by creatures that hunt by sound, a family must live in near-total silence to survive. See where the problem is, with that concept? I’m sorry, but how am I supposed to get around the utter silliness of these morons bumping uglies and conceiving a child in a world where noise equals being eaten by a monster? Could they really not avoid shagging in that situation? It’s just a bit ridiculous.
10. The Brood (1979)
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
A sci-fi body horror from David Cronenberg who has touched on just about every theme possible in horror. A man tries to uncover the unconventional and disturbing psychotherapeutic techniques being used on his mentally unstable wife, who is giving birth to a brood of vicious, childlike creatures. The Brood is a, predictably, grotesque and shocking exploration of the horrors of a toxic separation and weaponised motherhood.
Cronenberg brings all of his usual stomach turning talents to this movie that, perhaps, reflects just a little of some of the deep held baggage he had against the opposite sex as a young man. He had recently split from his wife and was going through a difficult child custody battle which you can, very much, see in this film. A great journey into early Cronenberg.
9. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
Remember, I am recommending the Austrian original of Goodnight Mommy. Not the recent American remake that I do love Naomi Watts. The original is way superior. This psychological horror flips the narrative on parenthood and plays on the fear of not recognising your own family. For the most part, we see things from a child’s point of view as the mystery here unfolds.
After their mother returns home from extensive cosmetic surgery, her face wrapped in bandages, twin brothers begin to suspect that the woman beneath them is not their mother at all. Goodnight Mommy is a super tense film that actually manages to be quite disturbing, in parts. Particularly towards the end. It became notorious for its twist plot but the horror holds up well and makes for a fantastic watch. Check out our review of Goodnight Mommy right here.
8. The Babadook (2014)
IMDb Score: 6.8/10
You knew this one was going to be on the list somewhere, right? This Australian horror mega-hit explores maternal grief and exhaustion. It, also, kind of redefined the way allegorical horror should work. I sort of hate this movie for the way in which it inspired legions of copycats. It is still happening to this day over a decade later.
The story follows a widowed mother who, while struggling to raise her troubled son, finds their lives spiralling out of control after a disturbing children’s book, “Mister Babadook,” appears in their home. Inviting in something truly evil.
The film is a powerful metaphor for depression, confronting grief, and the monster that unresolved trauma can become. I actually found one scene in this movie particularly creepy when I first watched. It didn’t hold up as well a second time but it’s hard to deny the movie’s importance to the genre. Check out our review of The Babadook right here.
7. Inside (2007)
IMDb Score: 6.8/10
This brutal New French Extremity film is one of the most intense pregnancy horrors ever made. Some of the scenes are legitimately tough to watch; especially when you consider the context. The story follows a pregnant widow who, while still grieving from the car crash that killed her husband, is stalked in her home on Christmas Eve by a mysterious woman.
Béatrice Dalle is fantastic as the strange, and frankly utterly terrifying, La Femme, here. Inside goes a bit crazy in a few scenes, throwing logic completely out of the window in favour of introducing a few new characters to add to the blood shed. It can be wince inducing on a couple of occasions, too. It’s a great film, though, and an extremely gory way to explore the trauma of pregnancy and new parenthood. Check out our review of Inside right here.
6. Eraserhead (1977)
IMDb Score: 7.3/10
David Lynch’s surrealist nightmare, Eraserhead, is a heady fever dream of parental anxiety that absolutely had to find a place on this list. A man living in a bleak industrial landscape is left to cope with the complaining of his miserable girlfriend while caring for his hideously deformed and constantly wailing premature baby in this film that is, frankly, completely nuts.
Eraserhead is a pretty unsettling and rather visceral depiction of the fears surrounding new fatherhood, responsibility, and the terrifying fragility of a new born child. All presented in a chaotic, darkly comedic, and often extremely weird package. Like most of Lynch’s stuff, this movie goes against what you might expect from a conventional narrative but Eraserhead is far better than a lot of his other stuff that eventually leaned far too much into almost self parody. Well worth checking out.
5. Hereditary (2018)
IMDb Score: 7.3/10
Did you expect to see Ari Aster’s modern horror classic on this list? Well, in my opinion, Hereditary entirely fits the theme of parenthood horror. After all, the clue is in the name. This is a film that delves into the terrifying, often damning, inheritance we pass on to our children. After the family matriarch dies, her daughter’s family begins to unravel as they are haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
Hereditary is a harrowing look at generational trauma and the horrifying fear that madness may be lurking in our very DNA. Look, when you have grown up with something like bipolar disorder, like myself. You quickly start to look at your parents and often find yourself realising that the apple really doesn’t fall all that far from the tree. Hereditary takes that idea to a shocking horror extreme. Check out our review right here.
4. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
IMDb Score: 7.5/10
Who would have thought that the sociopathic kid from We Need to Talk About Kevin would actually be played by a real life sociopath? Shout out to Ezra Miller. My one solid memory from this movie was telling my fiancée that I am fairly sure that Miller isn’t actually playing a character here and is probably a few bananas short of a bunch in real life. To be honest, We Need to Talk About Kevin is, perhaps, the most grounded, realistic, and disturbing film on this list.
Tilda Swinton gives a powerful performance as the mother of a deeply troubled son, as she looks back on his childhood to try and understand the unspeakable act he committed. It’s a bleak and unflinching look at the ultimate parental nightmare: what if you don’t love your child, and what if they are a monster you cannot control? That closeup scene of him eating noisily still, as a misophoniac, haunts me in my dreams.
3. Train to Busan (2016)
IMDb Score: 7.6/10
South Korea can, pretty much, turn their hand to any kind of horror genre and absolutely knock it out of the park. While I think they excel more at thrillers, their horror industry is constantly on the up and up. This zombie epic actually features a surprisingly powerful parental core that you really might not see coming. Particularly if you are just expecting a bunch of undead monsters giving people overly intimate love-bites.
A cynical, work obsessed father must protect his young daughter on a high speed train during a zombie apocalypse. His journey from selfish neglect to selfless protection is the emotional heart of this relentless and action packed horror film. Taking what should be, at its core, a fairly mindless zombie flick and turning into a touching and, let’s be honest, kinda sad emotional rollercoaster. Train to Busan is a bit of a horror triumph.
2. The Others (2001)
IMDb Score: 7.6/10
I remember this movie coming right out of the blue back in 2001 and becoming a massive surprise horror hit. In fact, people wouldn’t shut the hell up about it, at the time. Especially given the “horror movies with a twist ending” kick that people were on thanks to The Sixth Sense. What’s even more surprising is that it is receiving a bit of a renewed interest in recent times.
A mother’s relentless desire to protect her children from the perils of the outside world is the driving force of this gothic ghost story. A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her home is haunted, little realising the terrifying truth behind the matter. The Others does a very nice job of exploring the suffocating nature of overprotective parenting.
1. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
IMDb Score: 8.0/10
The ultimate pregnancy horror. You must have known that Rosemary’s Baby would be on this list, right? Afterall, it does it all when it comes to highlighting the anxieties of pregnancy and new parenthood. A young woman and her actor husband move into a new apartment. What seems like an exciting new start quickly turns sour as she becomes increasingly isolated and paranoid after getting pregnant. She begins to suspect that her overly friendly neighbours and even her own husband have sinister intentions for her and her unborn child.
Rosemary’s Baby perfectly captures the vulnerability and fear of losing control over your own body during pregnancy. It was also quite progressive at the time for highlighting the lack of autonomy young women had and the patriarchal nature of society in the 60s. Shame that Polanski is such a horrible, despicable, piece of shit but if you can separate art from artist, this is a legendary horror movie. Check out our review of Rosemary’s Baby right here.
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