Psychological Horror Trivia Quiz: Only Experts Will Pass This Ultimate Challenge!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Test your expertise in psychological horror with this fiendish 20-question quiz, spanning timeless classics like Psycho and modern mind-benders like Hereditary. Questions range from easy warm-ups to devilishly tricky details that only true cinephiles will nail. Grab some paper, no googling, and see if you can conquer the psyche!

20 Trivia Questions on Psychological Horror

Question 1: Who directed the 1960 psychological horror masterpiece Psycho?

A. Roman Polanski
B. Stanley Kubrick
C. Alfred Hitchcock
D. Brian De Palma

Question 2: What is the name of the isolated hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980)?

A. Stanley Hotel
B. Timberline Lodge
C. Overlook Hotel
D. Outlook Inn

Question 3: In Rosemary’s Baby (1968), who plays the titular character Rosemary Woodhouse?

A. Jane Fonda
B. Sharon Tate
C. Faye Dunaway
D. Mia Farrow

Question 4: Catherine Deneuve stars as a woman descending into madness in which Roman Polanski film?

A. The Tenant
B. Rosemary’s Baby
C. Repulsion
D. Cul-de-Sac

Question 5: Who directed the 2010 psychological horror Black Swan starring Natalie Portman?

A. Ari Aster
B. Darren Aronofsky
C. David Fincher
D. Jordan Peele

Question 6: In Black Swan, what is the name of the ballet that drives Nina’s obsession and breakdown?

A. The Nutcracker
B. Giselle
C. Swan Lake
D. Sleeping Beauty

Question 7: Which director helmed the 2018 family trauma horror Hereditary?

A. Robert Eggers
B. Mike Flanagan
C. Ari Aster
D. Jordan Peele

Question 8: In Hereditary, what is the first name of the Graham family matriarch who leads the cult?

A. Charlie
B. Annie
C. Ellen
D. Joan

Question 9: Midsommar (2019), the daylight horror about a Swedish cult, was directed by whom?

A. Jordan Peele
B. Robert Eggers
C. Ari Aster
D. Ti West

Question 10: In Midsommar, the film’s primary cult setting is located in which country?

A. Norway
B. Denmark
C. Finland
D. Sweden

Question 11: Who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning psychological horror Get Out (2017)?

A. Ari Aster
B. John Krasinski
C. Jordan Peele
D. Fede Alvarez

Question 12: In Get Out, who plays the hypnotist mother Missy Armitage?

A. Allison Williams
B. Betty Gabriel
C. Catherine Keener
D. Bradley Whitford

Question 13: Martin Scorsese directed which 2010 psychological thriller set in a remote asylum?

A. Inception
B. Shutter Island
C. The Departed
D. Gone Girl

Question 14: In Shutter Island, what is the name of the supposedly missing patient U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates?

A. Andrew Laeddis
B. Dolores Chanal
C. Rachel Solando
D. Claire Naehring

Question 15: Who wrote and directed the 2014 Australian psychological horror The Babadook?

A. Karyn Kusama
B. Jennifer Kent
C. Sarah Blasko
D. Natalie Erika James

Question 16: In Jacob’s Ladder (1990), what war serves as the traumatic backdrop for Jacob Singer’s hallucinations?

A. Korean War
B. World War II
C. Vietnam War
D. Gulf War

Question 17: Who directed the 1991 Best Picture winner The Silence of the Lambs?

A. Ridley Scott
B. David Lynch
C. Jonathan Demme
D. Oliver Stone

Question 18: In M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense (1999), who plays child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe?

A. Tom Cruise
B. Harrison Ford
C. Bruce Willis
D. Kevin Spacey

Question 19: Darren Aronofsky’s allegorical psychological horror mother! (2017) stars Jennifer Lawrence as which character?

A. The Poet’s wife
B. The mother
C. Him
D. The Son

Question 20: Which director made the controversial 2009 psychological horror Antichrist starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg?

A. Gaspar Noé
B. Michael Haneke
C. Lars von Trier
D. Park Chan-wook

Answers

  1. C. Alfred Hitchcock – Psycho was Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 film introducing Norman Bates. Polanski directed Repulsion, Kubrick The Shining, and De Palma remade Psycho in 1998.
  2. C. Overlook Hotel – The fictional Overlook is central to Jack Torrance’s madness in Kubrick’s adaptation. The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King’s novel, while Timberline was used for exteriors.
  3. D. Mia Farrow – Farrow’s vulnerable performance as pregnant Rosemary earned an Oscar nod in Polanski’s film. The others starred in contemporaneous thrillers but not this one.
  4. C. Repulsion – Deneuve plays Carol, isolated and hallucinating in Polanski’s 1965 debut English film. The Tenant is also Polanski but stars De Palma regular.
  5. B. Darren Aronofsky – Aronofsky’s ballet obsession tale won Portman an Oscar. Aster directs folk horror, Fincher thrillers like Gone Girl, Peele social horror.
  6. C. Swan Lake – Nina dual-roles Odette/Odile in Tchaikovsky’s ballet, mirroring her psyche split. The others are different New York City Ballet staples.
  7. C. Ari Aster – Aster’s directorial debut explores grief and possession. Eggers made The Witch, Flanagan The Haunting of Hill House, Peele Get Out.
  8. C. Ellen – Ellen Leigh is Annie’s mother and Paimon cult leader. Annie is her daughter (Toni Collette), Charlie her granddaughter.
  9. C. Ari Aster – Aster followed Hereditary with this breakup cult nightmare. Peele does race horror, Eggers period pieces.
  10. D. Sweden – The Härga commune is in rural Sweden. The others are Scandinavian but not the film’s location.
  11. C. Jordan Peele – Peele’s debut blended horror and satire, winning an Oscar for screenplay. The others directed later horrors but not this.
  12. C. Catherine Keener – Keener’s Missy uses hypnosis teacups to trap victims. Williams plays daughter Rose, Gabriel Georgina the maid.
  13. B. Shutter Island – Scorsese’s adaptation of Lehane’s novel features DiCaprio as a troubled marshal. The others are his or similar directors’ works.
  14. C. Rachel Solando – Rachel is the fabricated missing patient in the twist. Laeddis is DiCaprio’s true identity.
  15. B. Jennifer Kent – Kent’s feature debut stars Essie Davis as a widow facing grief manifestation. Kusama directed The Invitation.
  16. C. Vietnam War – Jacob’s Gulf War-era hallucinations stem from Vietnam service. The film blends real trauma with demonic visions.
  17. C. Jonathan Demme – Demme’s film swept Oscars including Best Director. Scott did Alien, Lynch Blue Velvet.
  18. C. Bruce Willis – Willis plays the twist-revealed psychologist to Haley Joel Osment’s Cole. The others starred in 1990s thrillers but not here.
  19. B. The mother – Lawrence plays the beleaguered poet’s wife/mother in Aronofsky’s biblical allegory. Javier Bardem is Him the poet.
  20. C. Lars von Trier – Von Trier’s Cannes-shocking film follows a couple’s grief retreat turning nightmarish. Noé did Enter the Void.

How did you score? Drop your results in the comments and challenge fellow horror fans to top your expert-level run!