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Horror movies can have various settings, from a dark forest to a spaceship. However, some of the scariest settings are those that many people encounter on regular basis in their everyday lives - hotels. In horror movies, using a hotel as the setting makes it easier to create a movie that takes place in a single location and is all the more intense for it.
With a surprisingly large number of horror movies that take place in hotels, it's easy to overlook the best ones that no fan of the genre should miss out on watching. Even though it might make them reconsider checking into a hotel anytime soon.
5 Psycho (1960)
Technically, the movie takes place in a motel but since it's one of the greatest classics, it deserves a mention. Alfred Hitchcock is best known for directing horror movies despite the fact that most of his directorial work comprises thrillers. Psycho is one of his most iconic movies that won Hitchcock the reputation as a horror director. The story is notoriously known. Young Marion Crane steals her boss' money and on her run, decides to stop for the night in the Bates Motel. That proves to be her fateful mistake.
The movie is best known for its infamous shower scene, but it's more complicated than that and mixes crime thriller and horror, as Marion's sister and boyfriend go on to investigate what happened to Marion. Anthony Perkins gives an iconic performance as Norman Bates, a character that later got a spin-off TV series Bates Motel focused on Norman's younger years and the complicated relationship with his mother Norma.
4 The Shining (1980)
Even though the author of the original book, Stephen King, wasn't so happy with the finished movie, many horror fans consider The Shining one of the best horror movies of all time. The movie takes place in the mostly abandoned hotel Overlook and its immediate surroundings. It's in the hotel where Jack Nicholson's writer Jack Torrance is spending the winter with his wife and a young son, but things go south very fast when Jack seems to succumb to madness and the hotel reveals there's something dark hiding in it.
The movie builds a strong atmosphere and contains more than one scary scene that will keep the viewers at the edges of their seats. It recently got a sequel Doctor Sleep (2019) focused on the now-adult Danny (played by Ewan McGregor), but unlike its successor, The Shining makes do with the hotel and doesn't need many more locations.
3 The Witches (1990)
Horror movies are usually oriented toward the adult audience, not children. Yet those who wish to introduce their children to the concept of horror movies primarily set in hotels should pay attention to the 1990 classic. Based on Roald Dahl's book, the movie focuses on a young boy Luke and his grandma. When they go to a hotel together, Luke discovers that witches reside in the hotel and are planning to turn all children into mice. It's up to Luke to thwart their plan and save everyone.
Even though The Witches aren't as scary as other hotel horror movies, it still creates more than one intense scene, especially when Luke is hiding from the witches, and they're close to discovering him and getting rid of him. Anjelica Huston gave a memorable performance as the lead witch and there's no doubt that children will find her scary. The story recently got a 2020 version with Anne Hathaway playing the leading witch. However, those who want to watch the original movie can currently stream it on Netflix.
2 1408 (2007)
Without Stephen King and movie adaptations of his work, fans of scary hotels wouldn't have as many movies to enjoy as they do. In this case, John Cusack stars in mostly a one-man-show about a man whose job is to debunk myths about scary places. When he decides to spend the night in a supposedly haunted hotel room, he doesn't know that this time, the scare could be very real. Other than John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson in a supporting part as the hotel's manager also gives a strong performance.
Those unfamiliar with King's story that the movie is based on will be surprised by the many twists that await the main hero in room 1408. An interesting fact that even King fans or those who have already seen the movie might not know is that the story was based on the real experiences of the parapsychologist Christopher Chacon who investigated a scary room in the Del Coronado hotel.
1 Bad Times At The El Royale (2018)
One of the newer movies set in a hotel successfully combines thriller and horror elements. The El Royale Hotel hides many secrets its five current guests discover over the course of the night. The movie has the power to surprise the audience with its many plot twists and turns. It stars multiple known names such as Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, and Chris Hemsworth, who all give solid performances.
Bad Times at the El Royale is one of the movies that the viewers enjoy the more, the less they know about the story. Some fans compared it to James Mangold's 2003 horror movie Identity which takes place in a motel or the 2012 horror movie The Cabin in the Woods since the director Drew Goddard worked on both El Royale and The Cabin.