Bad Samaritan(2018)
2018 · Dean Devlin · 111 min
A thief makes a disturbing discovery in the house where he breaks in. Later, when he returns to the same house with his partner in crime, things are no longer how he expected.
Thriller · Crime · Horror · Drama
6.7793 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
2/5
Stays with you
How Bad Samaritan scares
It starts small, almost like a heist movie, before slowly twisting into something much darker and more personal as the main character realizes what he's stumbled into. The pace keeps ratcheting up as a smart, sadistic villain turns the tables and starts hunting him down using every modern tool available, from phones to social media. There are no ghosts or monsters here, just a very real, very controlling human threat, which makes the dread feel more grounded and uncomfortable than supernatural horror usually does. It's tense and unsettling rather than gross, better for people who like a cat-and-mouse thriller with real teeth than for gore fans.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Bad Samaritan rates psychological 4/5, visceral 3/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 2/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 2 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 20 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 95 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 55 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
Starts as a tense break-in thriller that quickly ramps up into sustained cat-and-mouse dread, with escalating scares through the middle and a hard-charging final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5.
How scary is Bad Samaritan?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Bad Samaritan rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. It works on both fronts, unsettling the mind while going for the body. Expect it to be moderately gory and scary but not punishing. Some of it will follow you to bed, but it lets go within a day or so.
Watched it? Sign in to confirm whether this profile fits.
