Tainted Love- The 15 Best Horror Movies For Valentine’s Day 2024

Love hurts. Love bleeds, especially when at least one person in the relationship is a sicko. It’s a thin line between love and hate and obsession and madness. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, there is no better time than to start compiling the perfect list of horror movies that feature truly toxic partnerships. Some of these relationships are tainted love gone very wrong, and others were love affairs that never should have been or never actually were.

Gaslight

One of the original psychological horror films and the one that coined the term gaslighting, this is a classic. Ingrid Berman stars as a wife who is relentlessly gaslit by her husband. He tries to drive her insane and has motives that only become apparent when it is almost too late. This is quintessential viewing.

Midsommar

Ari Aster’s shocking freakout is a wild ride through a picturesque Swedish countryside during a summer festival. The colors are bright and cheerful, but the kills are extreme. It all culminates in one nasty final sequence and a showdown between a gaslit young woman and her toxic boyfriend.

The Loved Ones

Sometimes, those we are in love with don’t love us back. That’s usually enough for most of us to look elsewhere. When Lola, a seriously unhinged teenager, sets her sights on Brent, and he rejects her, she decides she won’t take no for an answer. The result is one messed up courtship.

Spring

One of my favorite filmmaking duos, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, deliver a superb body horror sci-fi horror movie that is stunning. A young man fleeing from America meets a beautiful young woman and begins a passionate affair. However, she is more than she seems and is hiding a primordial secret.

Bones And All

Before Timothée Chalamet was Wonka, he was a road-tripping cannibal. Taylor Russell is the other half of the dangerous pair. They have urges that horrifies one of them and is embraced by the other. Are they monsters? The final act forces them to ask hard questions and determine if love can conquer all.

Crimson Peak

Guillermo del Torro’s sumptuous gothic horror is a feast for the eyes and one guaranteed to make you feel really icky about your sibling. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, an author marries a mysterious man and moves with him into his crumbling, isolated mansion. The decaying mansion breathes and bleeds and remembers everything, though. Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Mia Wasikowska are all great.

Honeymoon

Leah Janiak crafts a chilling, bizarre horror fantasy about a newlywed couple that is as ambiguous as it is odd. Shortly after arriving at an isolated cabin in the woods, Rose Leslie’s Bea begins acting strangely. The more bizarre her behavior gets, the more worried her husband, Paul, suspects that there is something more than sleepwalking going on. The final act is tremendous and worth the slow burn.

May

Angela Bettis plays a socially awkward young woman who becomes obsessed with a young man she believes has perfect hands. Her obsession descends into depravity in this Frankenstein reimagining. It’s a sick little gross-out film that is unnerving and creepy. I love black comedies, and this is one of the best.

The Invisible Man

There have been many versions of this film. Kevin Bacon’s Hollow Man is good, but the 2020 version starring Elisabeth Moss is the best. When Moss’ abusive ex commits suicide, she thinks she has finally got away from him. She begins to believe that his death was a hoax, though, and someone she can’t see begins terrorizing her.

mother!

Another mind melter from Darren Aronofsky is a profoundly allegorical story about God, creation, and sin. A husband and wife’s relationship is tested when strangers arrive at the house and upend their peaceful life. Unexpectedly weird with plot beats and casting, this film features the mother of all bad marriages.

Gerald’s Game

Horror maestro’s Netflix film starring the incomparable Carla Gugina in a nearly one-person show is a masterclass in slippery sinister behavior. The film from the story by Stephen King features a seemingly loving couple trying to reconnect at an isolated cabin in the woods. Things quickly turn dangerous when Jessie finds herself handcuffed to the bed and no way out.

AntiChrist

Sometimes, people are so damaged they deserve each other. Lars von Triar’s infamous movie features some scenes you can never unsee, so be forewarned. A grieving couple heads into the woods following a terrible loss, and the isolation doesn’t make their grief better. The result is the most brutal and surreal dismantling of a relationship you will ever see.

Rosemary’s Baby

No list of twisted love stories would be complete without Mia Farrow’s harrowing tale of pregnancy and feminine vulnerability. This was one of the first movies to introduce the haunted apartment building tropes; the imagery is spectacular. As problematic as Roman Polanski may be, this is an enduring masterpiece.

Swallow

The psychological horror film is more body horror than traditionally scary but it is impactful. A young wife struggles with the rigid confinement of her new life. When she becomes pregnant, her insecurities and dangerous eating habits become unbearable until she is forced to decide who she loves more.

Bug

I saw this movie in the theater years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. The film began as a play about what happens when two damaged, down-on-their-luck people find love and validation in each other. The problem is they needed someone to pull them back to reality. There are all kinds of weird body horror elements and a closing moment that will haunt you forever.

There are plenty of great Valentine’s movies to watch, like Pontypool, Bride Of Chucky, Picnic At Hanging Rock, Valentine, and My Bloody Valentines. All of them are set on or around Valentine’s Day, and all are excellent, but if you are looking for something a little more warped, give any of these great love stories a try.