The 13 Greatest Love Scenes In Horror Movies
Horror movies tend to center on the absolute worst possible moment a person could endure, with families, relationships, and lives torn apart by monsters and mayhem. It's not often that horror melds with romance, but when it does, it can deliver some truly memorable moments. After all, horror is supposed to make the viewer feel something, and while that feeling is usually unbridled terror ... sometimes it can be love.
To celebrate some of horror's most endearing moments, we've assembled 13 of the genre's very best romantic scenes. (Sorry for fans of Frankenstein's monster and the Bride, but this list is focusing on couples that actually like each other.)
An American Werewolf in London
Known more for its brilliant practical werewolf effects transformation, which garnered the very first Academy Award for best makeup, John Landis' "An American Werewolf in London" is also home to one of the most passionate love stories in horror history. After David Kessler (David Naughton) and his best friend Jack (Griffin Dunne) are attacked by a werewolf, David awakens in a hospital and meets nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter). She and David fall in love almost immediately, sharing intimate moments throughout the film that makes it almost seem believable that these two strangers could develop such passion for one another in such a short amount of time.
Their strongest moment exists at the end of the film, when Alex fights her way through a group of police to make her way to David. She tells David she loves him, and the camera shows a closeup of his wolf face as his brows unfurl and, for a moment, we can see the humanity behind his eyes. He's shot by the police, and transforms back into his human form in front of her eyes.
David thought that love could "kill the beast" by using logic learned from "The Wolf Man," but unfortunately, it could not. Alex absolutely loved David, and if love could reverse the spell, it would have already. It's a tragic end for the two, but showed that Alex's love for David defied all physical and lycanthropic limitations.
The Addams Family
Morticia and Gomez Addams are arguably the healthiest relationship not only in a horror movie, but ever put to screen. The two have been portrayed in a multitude of ways, but their 1990s cinematic run from Raúl Juliá and Anjelica Huston is perhaps their most memorable.
The duo have a supercharged passion for one another that never fades, even in the simplest moments. Gomez absolutely worships his wife, and Morticia never takes advantage of her husband's love, instead embracing it and reciprocating his desire. There are endless moments to choose from to highlight their love for one another, but there's a specific moment in "The Addams Family" film from 1991 that truly captures their essence.
We see Gomez admiring Morticia as she sleeps, and he waxes poetic over his wife's existence. "Look at her. I would die for her. I would kill for her. Either way, what bliss!" Gomez declares. Even when Morticia is not awake to appreciate her husband's affections, their love is undying.
Cat People
Val Lewton's "Cat People" was a groundbreaking film for a multitude of reasons — like popularizing the jump scare as we know it today, and serving as the first major supernatural horror film set in a contemporary, urban setting as opposed to a haunted house on the outskirts of town.
The film also boasts a groundbreaking love triangle between Irena (Simone Simon), Oliver (Kent Smith), and Oliver's assistant, Alice (Jane Randolph). Irena is terrified that she is like the Cat People of her homeland's folklore and that if she is ever aroused, she will transform into a dangerous feline and kill the object of her affection. This surely puts a damper on her marriage, and pushes Oliver to pursue his assistant.
Irena's love for Oliver is as powerful as her cat transformation is dangerous, and despite her increasing jealousy toward Alice, she never allows herself to make a tasty cat snack out of the other woman. When Irena finally does transform and kill someone, she sacrifices herself to panthers at the zoo, wanting to never harm someone again. As Oliver inspects Irena's deceased body, he speaks the film's final words: "She never lied to us." Irena was unwilling to live a life where everyone she loved was in danger, making this a somber end to a woman who valued love above all else.
The Conjuring 2
James Wan has created a number of horror franchises, but "The Conjuring" boasts his greatest love story yet. Utilizing a dramatized (and glorified) version of real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), the heart of the films has always been the love of this husband and wife team.
In "The Conjuring 2," their love is most evident when Ed Warren picks up an acoustic guitar and performs a stunning rendition of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love." In a series that spends so much of its time crafting scares and terrorizing audiences, this moment of levity is a sweet reminder of why audiences keep tuning in film after film. The moment was Ed's way to bring a semblance of comfort to the Hodgson family, who have spent the film enduring a disturbing haunting, but it's clear that he's singing the song to his Lorraine.
These two face off against danger constantly, and knowing how much they love one another only raises the stakes even higher. When audiences root for their survival, they're also rooting for their love.
Daughters of Darkness
Love comes in many forms, and not everyone expresses the emotion through wholesome and heartfelt moments. Delphine Seyrig's performance in "Daughters of Darkness" is one of love, expressed through temptation, eroticism, and domination. As Countess Elizabeth Báthory, she appears to manipulate or control her suitors, but the reality is that she deeply cares for them. "One must never be afraid to look deep down into the darkest depths of oneself, where the light never reaches," Báthory says, as Valerie inches closer and closer to temptation.
Báthory knows the truth: Valerie is unhappy in her marriage, and she can show her a better way to live. In a film filled with sex and seduction, choosing one moment feels like an impossible task. But Elizabeth Báthory's version of expressing love is most evident after she and her suitor Valerie have killed Valerie's husband Stefan. They honor each other by sharing the blood dripping from his wounds before disposing of his body. It's the ultimate act of intimacy, and one that would bond them forever. Well, at least until the sun comes up.
Dellamorte Dellamore
In the Italian zombie comedy "Dellamorte Dellamore," Rupert Everett plays a cemetery caretaker named Francesco Dellamorte who spends his days preparing ceremonies for those in mourning, and his nights keeping reanimated corpses at bay. Dellamorte falls in love with a mysterious young widow known only as "She" (Anna Falchi) during her husband's funeral. She is obsessed with death, and after Dellamorte tells her about the ossuary on the cemetery's grounds, she reciprocates his love.
The two decide to consummate their relationship, with She choosing the perfect location: her husband's grave. "I've never kept anything from him," She says. "We trusted each other implicitly. He would have liked to know." The two then have sex in what is largely accepted to be one of the steamiest sex scenes in a horror movie, with the stone wings of a statue giving She an angelic appearance as she writhes on top of him.
Unfortunately for the two, her undead husband rises from the grave and bites her. Dellamorte's love for her means that he stays by her corpse awaiting her inevitable return, and putting her out of misery when it finally happens.
The Fly
Love comes in many forms, and for David Cronenberg's "The Fly," that form comes with buckets of corn syrup, drops of flesh, and gallons of goopy humanoid insect vomit. After gifted scientist Dr. Seth Brundle inadvertently splices his genetics with a house fly, his relationship with science journalist Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife is tested unlike any relationship before.
As their love continues to blossom, Dr. Brundle's transformation grows increasingly grotesque, leaving Ronnie helpless to stop it. When she discovers that she's pregnant with his child, she is haunted by visions of birthing maggots, but her love for him never falters. As Dr. Brundle's mind deteriorates into something unrecognizable, Ronnie offers him the ultimate gift of love: an end to his suffering. Ronnie shoots Dr. Brundle, releasing him from the agony of transforming into a monster.
Let The Right One In
The 2008 Swedish vampire movie "Let the Right One In" is considered to be one of the greatest horror films ever made — and with good reason. The story centers on a bullied boy named Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a vampire named Eli (Lina Leandersson). The two quickly become codependent, with Oskar developing a romantic interest in Eli.
In the middle of the film, a bloodied and snow-covered Eli flies up to Oskar's window. He invites Eli in, they strip naked, and they lay next to him in bed. Nothing about the scene is sexual, but Oskar asks Eli if they want to go steady with him. Eli is confused by what he means, so he rephrases the question and asks if Eli wants to be his girlfriend. Eli responds by saying, "Oskar ... I'm not a girl."
Without any acknowledgement of what Eli's statement could possibly mean, Oskar retorts, "Oh ... but do you want to go steady or not?" The moment is a beautiful way of capturing a pre-teen's first love, and proof that stigma toward sexuality is taught. Oskar's affection defies all labels. He doesn't care what it says about him to love Eli; he just wants Eli to love him back.
Return of the Living Dead III
"Return of the Living Dead III" centers on Curt (J. Trevor Edmond) and his girlfriend, Julie (Melinda Clarke). Curt's father is involved in secret government research on reanimating corpses, which Curt takes advantage of after Julie is killed in a motorcycle accident. He successfully brings her back, but when Julie wakes up, she has an uncontrollable appetite for brains.
Curt and Julie try their hardest to work together to keep her alive and fed without having to murder innocent victims for zombie meat, and after Julie discovers pain keeps the urges away, she begins treating her body as a pin cushion — all in the name of keeping her and Curt together.
Their most romantic moment ends in true "Romeo & Juliet" style, with Curt now infected, and the two dying by fire. This way they will never hurt an innocent person ever again, and will also never have to know a life apart from one another. "Return of the Living Dead III" is a touching exploration of unconditional love, and proof that sequels can still have a substantial story to tell.
Spontaneous
Brian Duffield's brilliant "Spontaneous" was released in the early stages of the pandemic to minimal fanfare, which is a shame considering it was one of the best horror movies of 2020. The film is about a high school where students begin spontaneously combusting, with no apparent means of predicting when it will happen or who it will affect. Knowing that any moment could be her last, Mara (Katherine Langford) begins living life as she sees fit, which includes starting a romance with the adorable Dylan (Charlie Plummer).
The duo embody the phrase "finding love in a hopeless place," whether they're re-enacting scenes from "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" when they're separated by plastic barriers in quarantine, or expressing awkward delight before having sex for the first time. In the film's most beautiful moment, Mara dresses up a barn with twinkly lights and '80s music for Dylan's birthday. The two slow dance, giggle, kiss, and — for a brief moment — forget they're in a movie about teenagers exploding into nothing but blood spatter. "Spontaneous" shows that as bleak as things can appear, there's always hope to be found, even if you have to create it for yourself.
Spring
Tale as old as time: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl is secretly a Cthulhu-esque ancient monster. Before Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead brought their talents to "Moon Knight," the duo made waves with some of the most impressive independent horror releases of the 2010s — and the romantic body horror film "Spring" is among their best.
In it, a man named Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci) falls in love with a beautiful woman named Louise (Nadia Hilker) who is actually a 2,000-year-old being. Louise deliberately gets pregnant every 20 years so that her body can use the embryo's cells to regenerate her form. Through this process she can potentially live forever ... as long as she doesn't fall in love.
Instead of running, Evan asks Louise to spend her last 24 hours before regeneration with him, and she obliges. Their love is confirmed in the film's final moments, when echoes of Louise's family's transformations are heard in the distance, but Evan looks down to see Louise laying in his lap. She's still human, which means that she really was in love with him, and has opted to give up her immortality to be with him.
Thirst
Park Chan-wook may be most known for his Vengeance Trilogy — "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," "Oldboy," and "Lady Vengeance" — but his sleek and sexy vampire thriller "Thirst" is one of his most fascinating works yet. So much of "Thirst" centers on longing: a pursuit of love and sex that horror films frequently dismiss in favor of cheap thrills.
Song Kang-ho stars in the movie as Sang-hyun, a Catholic priest who turns into a vampire as a result of a failed medical experiment. In one of the most stunning moments in "Thirst," Sang-hyun takes Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin), the wife of his childhood friend, and carries her as he jumps from building to building. The moment focuses almost exclusively on Tae-ju, prioritizing her joy and the pleasure of finally experiencing some excitement in her life. Their affair is not just sexual; it's life-fulfilling.
Us
Black joy is not expressed often in horror, but creatives like Jordan Peele are doing their best to remedy the genre's less-than-stellar history. In Peele's second feature film, "Us," we are introduced to Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o), and her husband Gabriel "Gabe" Wilson (Winston Duke) as they visit their vacation home with their children. Though the film ultimately becomes a horror show in which the family is forced to battle their own "tethered" doppelgangers, the early moments of "Us" showcase a loving couple with a healthy relationship.
Gabe playfully teases his wife. They reminisce about what a banger "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz is. And when Adelaide is open with her husband about a traumatic moment of her childhood, Gabe is a receptive listener — even if what she's saying sounds beyond the realm of possibility. He does his best to lighten the mood when it's clear that Adelaide is sincerely terrified, and apologizes sincerely when the joke backfires. Relationships aren't perfect 100% of the time, and without giving too much away, the ending of "Us" casts Nyong'o's character in a whole new light. But Gabe and Adelaide are a wonderful example of a loving horror movie couple you can root for — even during the imperfect moments.