Death Note(2017)
2017 · Adam Wingard · 101 min
Light Turner finds a supernatural notebook and uses it to mete out death, attracting the attention of a detective, a demon and a girl in his class.
Crime · Fantasy · Horror · Thriller
4.34.2k votes
TMDB score
2/5
Intensity
3/5
Gore
1/5
Stays with you
How scary is Death Note?
It moves fast from the start, setting up its supernatural rules quickly before sliding into a string of escalating, increasingly wild death scenes. The scares lean more toward shock and spectacle than slow dread, with a looming demonic presence popping up to unsettle rather than build lasting terror. Blood and strange deaths show up fairly often, but the tone stays closer to a dark, twisty thriller than something that will actually haunt you. It's a good pick if you want moody visuals and a creepy supernatural gimmick without walking away disturbed.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Death Note rates psychological 2/5, visceral 3/5, gore 3/5, lingering effect 1/5, and overall intensity 2/5.
- Psychological: 2 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 3 of 5
- Lingering: 1 of 5
- Intensity: 2 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 45 of 100 — balanced
Supernatural vs Real-world: 10 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 25 of 100 — leans Fun-scary
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A twisted teen thriller that starts with a jolt, settles into uneasy scheming, then ramps into a jittery, escalating back half before a hard final push.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5.
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