The best horror movies to watch while high range from absurd horror-comedies like Evil Dead II to visually hypnotic films like Suspiria and Mandy. For something stranger, try The Lighthouse; for serious scares, choose Hereditary or The Thing. The right pick depends mainly on whether you want laughs, visuals, weirdness or genuine terror.
Best Horror Movies to Watch While High at a Glance
If you do not want to scroll through every recommendation, choose according to the kind of night you want.
Recommended Strains
Cookies & Cream
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THC | 17% - 22% (Medium) |
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Lineage | Girl Scout Cookies x Starfighter |
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Type | Feminized |
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Height | 4.92 ft | 1.5 m |
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Yield | High |
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Yield Indoor | 1.31 - 1.64 oz/ft² | 400 - 500 g/m² |
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Flowering Time | 8 - 10 weeks |
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Phenotype | 50% Indica / 50% Sativa |
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Effects | Creative, Energetic, Uplifted |
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Flavors | Fruity, Sweet, Woody |
Glitter Bomb
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THC | 25% - 29% (High) |
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Lineage | MAC x Grape Gasoline |
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Type | Feminized |
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Height | 4.92 ft | 1.5 m |
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Yield | High |
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Yield Indoor | 1.64 - 1.97 oz/ft² | 500 - 600 g/m² |
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Flowering Time | 9 - 10 weeks |
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Phenotype | 50% Indica / 50% Sativa |
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Effects | Euphoric, Happy, Relaxed |
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Flavors | Berry, Earthy, Fruity, Sweet |
| Movie | Best for | Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Evil Dead II | Gore + comedy | Medium |
| The Cabin in the Woods | Clever, unpredictable fun | Medium |
| What We Do in the Shadows | Mostly laughs | Low |
| Shaun of the Dead | Zombies + comedy | Low–Medium |
| Suspiria (1977) | Color and atmosphere | Medium |
| Mandy | Psychedelic visuals | High |
| The Substance | Wild body horror | Very high |
| Late Night with the Devil | Retro supernatural horror | Medium |
| The Lighthouse | Strange psychological horror | High |
| Midsommar | Beautiful but disturbing | High |
| Get Out | Suspense + social satire | Medium |
| The Shining | Slow psychological dread | High |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street | Dreamlike slasher horror | Medium–High |
| The Thing | Paranoia and practical effects | Very high |
| Hereditary | Maximum psychological intensity | Very high |
1. Evil Dead II — Best Horror-Comedy to Watch High
If you want horror without spending two hours genuinely uncomfortable, Evil Dead II is probably the strongest starting point.
Sam Raimi’s 1987 film mixes demonic possession, exaggerated gore, physical comedy and increasingly ridiculous situations. Bruce Campbell’s performance as Ash is deliberately larger than life, and the film rarely stays serious for very long.
That combination makes it particularly suited to someone looking for both horror and laughs rather than sustained psychological tension. Rotten Tomatoes currently classifies it as both horror and comedy, which captures the film far better than treating it as a straightforward scary movie.
Pick it if: you want something chaotic, funny and bloody.
2. The Cabin in the Woods — Best for an Unpredictable Movie Night
The Cabin in the Woods initially looks like one of the most generic horror setups possible: young people travel to an isolated cabin and things go badly.
That familiarity is deliberate.
The movie spends the rest of its runtime dismantling horror conventions, escalating into something considerably stranger than its opening suggests. It works especially well if you already know common slasher tropes because much of the fun comes from realizing how the film is playing with them.
Pick it if: you want twists, monsters and meta-horror rather than pure terror.
3. What We Do in the Shadows — Best If You Mostly Want to Laugh
Not every horror movie night needs to be frightening.
What We Do in the Shadows follows vampires sharing a house and dealing with mundane problems such as chores, nightlife and disagreements between roommates. The mockumentary format makes supernatural characters feel hilariously ordinary.
It is one of the safest choices on this list if you like horror imagery but do not actually want an anxiety-heavy experience.
Pick it if: you want vampires and absurd comedy with very little genuine fear.
4. Shaun of the Dead — Best Zombie Comedy
Shaun of the Dead manages to work simultaneously as a zombie movie, comedy and surprisingly effective character story.
The humor comes from ordinary people responding badly to an increasingly obvious apocalypse, while the second half still delivers enough zombie horror to keep it within the genre.
Unlike more demanding psychological horror, its straightforward plot also makes it an easy group watch.
Pick it if: your ideal horror night involves considerably more laughing than screaming.
5. Suspiria (1977) — Best for Color and Sound
Dario Argento’s original Suspiria is one of the strongest choices if visual style matters more to you than a tightly realistic plot.
Its intense color palette, elaborate sets and aggressive Goblin score create a dreamlike atmosphere that still looks distinctive decades later. Rotten Tomatoes describes the 1977 film as a particularly glossy and visually extravagant example of giallo horror.
This is a movie to experience as much through its lighting and sound as through its story.
Pick it if: you want psychedelic color, strange atmosphere and old-school horror.
6. Mandy — Best Psychedelic Horror Movie
Mandy takes the visual excess several steps further.
The Nicolas Cage revenge film combines saturated reds, hazy lighting, surreal imagery, heavy-metal aesthetics and increasingly bizarre violence. Its relatively simple underlying story means you can focus on the audiovisual experience without keeping track of an extremely complicated plot.
It is far darker and more violent than Suspiria, though, so “psychedelic” should not be confused with relaxed.
Pick it if: you want the most visually hallucinatory movie on the list.
7. The Substance — Best Modern Body-Horror Spectacle
For something newer and considerably more extreme, The Substance is an easy addition.
Coralie Fargeat’s 2024 body-horror film stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley and gradually transforms its premise about youth and physical perfection into increasingly grotesque spectacle. It runs for 2 hours 21 minutes and carries an R rating for graphic nudity, gore and strong violent content.
The appeal here is not subtlety. It is color, production design, increasingly absurd transformations and an intentionally outrageous final act.
Pick it if: you want modern, stylish and extremely graphic body horror.
8. Late Night with the Devil — Best Retro Horror
Late Night with the Devil is built around a clever concept: a 1977 late-night television Halloween special that gradually becomes something much darker.
The presentation mimics period television, giving the movie a visual identity completely different from conventional supernatural horror. At around 93 minutes, it is also one of the more manageable choices for a casual movie night.
The film received particularly strong critical reception, with Rotten Tomatoes currently listing a 97% Tomatometer score from more than 200 reviews.
Pick it if: you like possession horror but want an unusual format.
9. The Lighthouse — Best Weird Psychological Horror
Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse is where this list becomes stranger.
Shot in black and white with an almost square aspect ratio, the film traps Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe together on a remote island while reality becomes increasingly difficult to separate from hallucination, mythology and madness.
It is deliberately ambiguous and does not explain everything neatly.
That makes it a strong choice for viewers who enjoy finishing a movie and immediately arguing about what actually happened.
Pick it if: you want weird, atmospheric and interpretive horror.
10. Midsommar — Best Daylight Horror
Midsommar removes one of horror cinema’s most familiar tools: darkness.
Much of Ari Aster’s film takes place in bright Scandinavian daylight among flowers, white clothing and picturesque countryside. That visual beauty contrasts sharply with what is actually happening.
The movie is long, slow and increasingly disturbing rather than built around conventional jump scares.
Pick it if: you want gorgeous cinematography combined with deeply uncomfortable horror.
11. Get Out — Best Mix of Horror, Mystery and Satire
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is one of the most accessible psychological horror choices here.
The central mystery develops gradually, but the movie has enough comedy and recognizable social awkwardness to stop the tension from becoming relentlessly oppressive.
It also rewards attention. Details introduced casually early in the movie take on different meanings once the larger situation becomes clear.
Pick it if: you want a smart story with suspense rather than nonstop gore.
12. The Shining — Best Slow-Burn Classic
Few horror locations are as memorable as the Overlook Hotel.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining uses symmetrical compositions, long corridors, strange imagery and an increasingly unstable Jack Nicholson to create dread without depending on constant action.
Its deliberate pace will not work for everyone. But if you like getting absorbed in atmosphere and noticing visual details, it remains one of the strongest classics for that kind of experience.
Pick it if: you want slow, surreal psychological horror.
13. A Nightmare on Elm Street — Best Dreamlike Slasher
Freddy Krueger makes A Nightmare on Elm Street particularly suitable for viewers who want something visually stranger than a conventional slasher.
Because attacks occur inside dreams, the film can abandon ordinary rules whenever it wants. Bedrooms, hallways and familiar objects suddenly become threatening in ways that would make little sense in a realistic horror movie.
The original 1984 effects also give it a tactile quality that modern CGI-heavy horror rarely reproduces.
Pick it if: you want classic slasher horror with surreal imagery.
14. The Thing — Best for Paranoia
John Carpenter’s The Thing combines an isolated Antarctic research station with a creature capable of imitating other organisms.
That creates a simple but extremely effective problem: nobody knows who is still human.
The resulting paranoia is as important as the monster itself, while Rob Bottin’s elaborate practical creature effects remain the movie’s visual centerpiece.
This is considerably more intense than the horror-comedies at the top of this list.
Pick it if: you want suspicion, body horror and spectacular practical effects.
15. Hereditary — Best If You Actually Want to Be Scared
Hereditary is the recommendation for viewers who do not want the easier option.
Ari Aster’s family horror film spends a long time establishing grief, uncomfortable relationships and a sense that something is fundamentally wrong before the supernatural elements become clearer.
It is bleak, emotionally heavy and substantially less playful than almost everything else on this list.
If cannabis sometimes makes you anxious or paranoid, this is probably not the movie I would start with.
Pick it if: your goal is genuinely disturbing psychological horror.
Does Being High Make Horror Movies Scarier?
It can for some people, but the effect is not predictable.
THC can alter aspects of sensory experience and time perception. Controlled research has found changes in time estimation after THC administration, although responses also differ according to factors such as previous cannabis use.
Cannabis can also produce very different emotional responses. Some people report relaxation or enjoyment, while THC can produce anxiety, panic or paranoia in others, particularly depending on dose and individual susceptibility.
That means a slow scene in The Shining might feel unusually immersive to one viewer and simply uncomfortable to another.
Choose based on your normal reaction rather than assuming horror and cannabis are automatically a good combination.
Which Horror Movie Should You Pick?
If you are unsure, start at the lighter end.
Choose Evil Dead II, Shaun of the Dead or What We Do in the Shadows for comedy. Pick Suspiria or Mandy if visuals are the priority. Try The Cabin in the Woods or Get Out when you want a clever plot.
Move toward The Shining, The Thing, Midsommar or Hereditary only if you actively want more psychological tension.
And if horror suddenly sounds like a terrible idea, visually imaginative animated movies to watch while high offer a considerably lighter alternative.
A Note on Anxiety and an Uncomfortable High
If you already feel anxious, paranoid or uncomfortable, turning on the most disturbing film available is unlikely to improve the situation.
Switching to familiar or lighter entertainment and moving to a calm environment may be a better choice. Growlantis also has a guide to recognizing and dealing with a bad cannabis trip if the issue is the cannabis experience rather than the movie itself.
For a less terrifying part of the movie-night equation, you can also sort out the best food to eat while high before the opening credits.
FAQs
What are the best horror movies to watch while high?
Evil Dead II, The Cabin in the Woods, Suspiria, Mandy, Get Out and The Shining are strong starting points because they offer very different combinations of comedy, visual style, suspense and weirdness. If you want something much more intense, The Thing, The Substance and Hereditary move firmly into disturbing territory.
What is a funny scary movie to watch while high?
Evil Dead II is one of the strongest combinations of comedy and horror, using exaggerated gore, slapstick and Bruce Campbell’s deliberately over-the-top performance. Shaun of the Dead, What We Do in the Shadows and The Cabin in the Woods are other good choices when you want horror without sustained psychological tension.
What are the best trippy horror movies to watch high?
Suspiria (1977), Mandy, The Lighthouse and Midsommar are particularly strong visual choices. Suspiria uses saturated colors and an aggressive soundtrack, Mandy embraces psychedelic imagery, The Lighthouse creates a surreal monochrome world, and Midsommar uses bright daylight to make disturbing events feel unusually strange.
Can weed make a scary movie feel scarier?
It can, but individual responses vary significantly. THC can alter time perception and subjective experience, and it can also cause anxiety or paranoia in some people. That may make suspense feel more intense for certain viewers, while others may find the same experience unpleasant rather than entertaining.
What horror movie should I avoid if I get paranoid when high?
Start by avoiding the most psychologically oppressive choices, particularly Hereditary, The Thing, Midsommar and The Shining. A horror-comedy such as What We Do in the Shadows, Shaun of the Dead or Evil Dead II provides horror themes without relying as heavily on prolonged dread and paranoia.
