恐怖電影（horror film），又名恐怖片，這一類型的電影透過影像或故事使觀眾感受到恐怖的刺激。最早的恐怖電影深受文學與戲劇的影響。隨著時代與地域的不同，恐怖電影呈現出來的面貌也有差異。
恐怖電影是「一種氣氛陰森、題材恐怖、通常包含一些暴力事件並立意使觀眾毛骨悚然的影片 [1]」， 或以令人感到恐懼的元素作為影片主要的組成成分 [2]。
以內容論，恐怖電影的兩個基本特徵是：
- 內容包含令人感到驚嚇或害怕的因素。
- 營造懸疑、詭異或緊張的氣氛令人毛骨悚然[3]。
以對象論，恐怖電影包含三種類型的對象，分別是：
- 對現代科學的恐懼；
- 對超自然力量的恐懼；
- 對現實中富威脅性的異己力量的恐懼[4]。
恐懼與恐怖不同，恐懼是心理學上的刺激反應行為，促使個體產生保全自我的本能。恐怖則是一種認知形式，其上承載著社會意義 [5]。
西方文化中，恐怖電影包含許多次類型主題，例如殺人、吸血鬼、喪屍、惡魔、外星人、邪惡的孩童、狼人、食人動物、鬼屋、騷靈現象、幽靈船和死亡等主題。恐怖電影常與其它類型電影摻雜，特別是科幻電影。恐怖電影通常關連到較低的成本與開發費用，但具知名度的電影公司及導演偶爾會拍攝這類型的影片[2]。在東方文化，恐怖電影通常是比較單一化的傾向，[5]由於這種差異，東方恐怖片的故事中，鬼魂及心靈上的恐懼最為常見
Horror film, also known as horror film, this type of film makes the audience feel the thrill of horror through images or stories. The earliest horror movies were deeply influenced by literature and drama. With the times and regions, the appearance of horror movies is also different.
A horror film is "a film with a gloomy atmosphere, a horror theme, usually containing some violent incidents and intended to make the audience creepy [1]", or a fearful element as the main component of the film [2].
According to content theory, the two basic characteristics of a horror movie are:
The content contains factors that are frightening or scary.Creating an atmosphere of suspense, surprise or tension is horrifying [3].Object theory, horror movies contain three types of objects, namely:
Fear of modern science;Fear of supernatural powers;Fear of the threatening alien power in reality [4].Fear is different from horror. Fear is a psychologically stimulating reaction that encourages individuals to instinct to preserve themselves. Terror is a form of cognition that carries social meaning [5].
In Western culture, horror movies contain many types of themes, such as murder, vampires, zombies, demons, aliens, evil children, werewolves, cannibals, haunted houses, souls, ghost ships, and death. Horror movies are often mixed with other types of movies, especially science fiction movies. Horror movies are often associated with lower costs and development costs, but well-known film companies and directors occasionally shoot this type of film [2]. In Eastern culture, horror movies are usually more singular, [5] because of this difference, ghosts and spiritual fears are most common in the story of oriental horror movies.
