Gothic Thrillers and Period Horror Films to Watch After ‘Victorian Psycho’

‘Victorian Psycho’ opens exclusively in theaters on November 13, and it adapts Virginia Feito’s novel with Feito herself writing the screenplay under director Zachary Wigon. The film has been rated R for strong bloody violence and brief sexual material.

Set in 1858, the story sends an unusual governess named Winifred Notty to the gothic manor known as Ensor House. One reviewer describes it as more satire than full horror, while another notes that it is aware of its debts to Brian De Palma and ‘American Psycho’. That blend of period dread and dark comedy points toward a deep shelf of gothic thrillers, haunted houses and unreliable heroines worth watching next.

‘American Psycho’

Little White Lies points out that the new film owes a significant debt to Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 novel and Mary Harron’s 2000 adaptation, which has become a cult classic. The title alone invites the comparison, so it makes sense to start here.

A review of Feito’s book observes that Notty, much like Patrick Bateman, is a fascinating unreliable narrator. Seeing the original screen version first makes it easier to spot what the Victorian take borrows and what it changes.

‘The Innocents’

Jack Clayton’s 1961 film is based on Henry James’ novella and follows a governess who comes to fear that her house is haunted and that the two children in her care are being possessed. The setup shares obvious DNA with a story about a governess arriving at a remote estate.

Watershed notes that the film keeps the ambiguity over whether the ghosts are real or products of the governess’s fevered imagination. That uncertainty pairs well with a heroine whose version of events cannot be fully trusted.

‘Crimson Peak’

Guillermo del Toro’s film is set in Victorian era England and follows an aspiring author who settles in a remote gothic mansion in Cumberland with her new husband and his sister. She soon tries to decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions that haunt her new home.

Ranker’s list of follow up watches says its lavish period design and dark family drama complement the old houses and hidden corruption of ‘Victorian Psycho’. Expect more romance and ghosts than murderous comedy.

‘Rebecca’

In Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’, a young bride moves into the imposing estate of her new husband, Max de Winter, played by Laurence Olivier. She has to contend with the haunting presence of his deceased first wife.

Ranker’s fan voted list calls the film the blueprint for the genre. Anyone interested in where manor house menace began should treat it as essential viewing.

‘The Handmaiden’

Rotten Tomatoes critics note that the film uses a Victorian crime novel as loose inspiration, and they praise director Park Chan-wook’s sumptuous art direction and black humor. One viewer adds that it transposes a 19th century London setting to 1930s Japanese occupied Korea.

Ranker describes it as a blend of gothic atmosphere, psychological manipulation and elaborate twists, with a strong focus on power, identity and deception. The class tension at its center echoes the household politics of Ensor House.

‘The Beguiled’

Sofia Coppola’s film unfolds at a secluded girls’ boarding school in Civil War era Virginia, where a wounded soldier is taken in. As the women tend to his wounds, the house fills with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries.

Ranker says it explores power, manipulation and social expectations within a confined historical setting. The film also earned Coppola the best director award at Cannes.

‘Black Narcissus’

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 drama is a psychological study of jealousy and lust within a convent of nuns in an isolated Himalayan valley. The British Film Institute notes that despite its lush location it was filmed at Pinewood, and its cinematography and sets both won Oscars.

Ranker calls it a visually stunning exploration of repression, desire and emotional instability. Those themes of confinement and unraveling restraint fit neatly beside Winifred’s story.

‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’

The Daily Dot describes Peter Weir’s film as a mix of demented teachers, a remote boarding school and hints of the occult. It adds that the film never gives too much away and blends weird fiction with gothic horror.

It closes out a run of films that treat isolated houses and schools as pressure cookers for secrets. As Winifred Notty makes her way through Ensor House, which of these gothic predecessors do you think deserves a place on a double bill with ‘Victorian Psycho’?