Repulsion(1965)
1965 · Roman Polanski · 105 min
Beautiful young manicurist Carole suffers from androphobia (the pathological fear of interaction with men). When her sister and roommate, Helen, leaves their London flat to go on an Italian holiday with her married boyfriend, Carole withdraws into her apartment. She begins to experience frightful hallucinations, her fear gradually mutating into madness.
Drama · Thriller · Horror
7.41.1k votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
5/5
Stays with you
How Repulsion scares
There's a suffocating, closed-in feeling to this one, like the walls of the apartment are slowly pressing in on you as the main character's grip on reality slips away. The pace is patient and quiet, with dread building through silence, strange sounds, and unsettling images rather than sudden shocks or loud jolts. Nothing supernatural is going on here; the horror comes entirely from watching a mind unravel, which makes it feel more sad and disturbing than thrilling. It's a heavy, art-house kind of scary, best for someone who wants a slow, deeply uncomfortable character study rather than a fun scare.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Repulsion rates psychological 5/5, visceral 2/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 5/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 5 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 8 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 90 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 85 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, quiet unraveling that creeps almost imperceptibly before building into a sustained, harrowing final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4.
How scary is Repulsion?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Repulsion 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 moderately gory and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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