A Dark Song(2016)
2016 · Liam Gavin · 100 min
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
Horror · Fantasy · Mystery
6.3593 votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
1/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How A Dark Song scares
It starts almost like a grief drama, with two people locked away in an old house going through a long, grueling ritual, and it stays patient for almost its entire runtime before anything strange really breaks through. Most of the fear comes from isolation, exhaustion, and not knowing if what's happening is real or just the toll of grief and deprivation on the mind. There's very little blood and almost no jump scares here; the dread builds slowly through silence, rules, and small unsettling details. It's a heavy, emotional watch more than a fun scare, better suited for someone who wants to feel unsettled and moved rather than jolted.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, A Dark Song rates psychological 5/5, visceral 2/5, gore 1/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 1 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 8 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 12 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 72 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, patient burn that stays hushed and grim for most of its runtime before tightening into a heavy, intense final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5.
How scary is A Dark Song?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, A Dark Song rates 4/5 — one of the more punishing watches in the catalog, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be restrained with gore and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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