The 10 Scariest Gangster Movies of All Time, Ranked
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There aren’t too many gangster movies that go into outright horror territory, but some can be intense enough to feel kind of frightening. It’s like how movies can be horrifying without being horror movies, with Come and See, Requiem for a Dream, and A Clockwork Orange demonstrating that. Regarding the last of those, it’s partly about a gang of criminals, though not really a gangster movie (alongside not really being a horror movie).
The following films, on the other hand, can be considered gangster movies, since they're about organized crime in some regard, or they’ve got a focus on gangsters. Only two cross over into genuine horror movie territory, and the others are frightening or intense in other (admittedly more abstract) ways. Still, as far as gangster movies go, these are probably the scariest and/or most full-on.
10 'The Departed' (2006)
It’s probably going to be a bit of a recurring thing, to label a movie as intense and then argue that such a quality makes it unnerving and thereby somewhat fear-inducing, but what can you do? Again, these are conventionally scary movies, for the most part. The Departed will put you on edge, though, standing out as one of the most effortlessly nerve-wracking movies that deals with organized crime.
There’s an undercover cop and an undercover criminal (the latter being associated with the gangsters, and having to infiltrate the police), and both have to protect their identities while trying to out the other. An honorable mention always has to be given to Infernal Affairs, since The Departed is a remake of that, yet The Departed is just a bit more ferocious and confronting, in the end (it’s probably fair to call it a meaner movie, even if Infernal Affairs might be more cynical).
9 'Gangs of New York' (2002)
The Departed was directed by Martin Scorsese, and so was Gangs of New York just a few years earlier. He went back further in time than he’d done before with his other gangster movies (though he’d gone back further with some of his non-crime movies before), since Gangs of New York largely takes place during the 1860s, depicting a very different sort of New York City to what other Scorsese films have shown/explored.
Bill the Butcher’s the main reason this film’s going here. Daniel Day-Lewis chews scenery in the villainous role while being genuinely intimidating at points, and he also happens to be the best thing about Gangs of New York. Contrary to what you might hear, though, there are other parts of Gangs of New York that are honestly pretty good, or at least kind of over-hated.
8 'Versus' (2000)
Yep, here’s a horror movie. Sort of. Versus is sort of a horror movie, and it’s also sort of a Yakuza film, which makes it fit within the broad category of “gangster movie.” Again, sort of. There are lots of other genres it plays around with, because it’s pretty much about some yakuza members being stuck in a forest, and there are portals opening around them that allow various monsters to emerge, and then fighting ensues.
It feels like a big budget take on what’s going through the average seven-year-old’s mind while he plays with a large number of action figures. That is Versus, and if you can get behind that, it’s awesome. No, it’s not particularly scary in the conventional sense, but it’s definitely gruesome and it’s going for a horror thing, so all that’s enough to have it end up here.
7 'Scarface' (1983)
Scarface is almost a dark comedy, since it pushes things to the limit, just like that song featured in the film, which serves as something of a warning for Scarface’s whole approach to the gangster genre. It goes big enough at times to be funny, and there are also all those parts that have been quoted into oblivion, thanks to pop culture, and that mutes the probably intended intensity a bit.
You get other things alongside the intensity, so it’s not a non-stop horror show or anything, but it’s definitely got its alarming moments.
At the same time, Scarface has some horror movie-esque violence. There’s the chainsaw scene, the part with the helicopter, and then Tony Montana’s overall descent into madness in the final act, with all those moments serving to make Scarface intense. You get other things alongside the intensity, so it’s not a non-stop horror show or anything, but it’s definitely got its alarming moments, and what happens to most of the characters by the end is pretty mortifying.
6 'Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)
It’s hard to explain the ending to Once Upon a Time in America, even if you're okay with having things spoiled, because it’s really uneasy what it says by the end, or what it doesn’t say. There’s a haziness and lack of standard logic to it all that feels unsettling in the way a fair few David Lynch movies are, and you’ve got a few other odd moments before the ending that feel a bit dreamlike (drowning in the car, but then apparently being fine?).
And then there’s also the content of Once Upon a Time in America, with it being about especially ruthless and immoral gangsters, and much of what they do is difficult to watch, even compared to other gangster movies. This epic is harrowing because of how dark it is, and then a little unsettling in more subtle ways owing to a few odd choices it makes as far as the narrative and presentation are concerned.
5 'Sin City' (2005)
There are numerous shady characters in Sin City, and not all of them are involved in organized crime, necessarily, so there’s a bit of stretching involved if you want to get it within the bounds of the gangster genre. Still, it’s a part of the film, and it’s certainly admirable as one of the most striking-looking crime/gangster movies ever made, given how far it goes in recreating the look and feel of the comic book series of the same name.
It’s an anthology film, and the segment “The Big Fat Kill” probably has the most by way of mobsters and organized crime-related things. Sin City lives up to its title by showing a whole lot of crime, and then it’s all heightened and exceedingly violent as well (albeit in an over-the-top way), so intensity and some horrifying moments (especially if you're squeamish) are to be expected.
4 'Casino' (1995)
The situation here is a bit like Scarface, because Casino also pushes its level of violence very far, enough to feel like it’s almost a horror movie at points. Goodfellas was also tense, and had its alarming moments, but Casino (while retaining the same style and feel) pushes things further. And Joe Pesci is in both, sure, but he’s more volatile and frightening in Goodfellas.
Frank Vincent also shows up in both, and is more intimidating and dangerous in Casino. Maybe not so much with Robert De Niro and his two characters, but he’s still ruthless in Casino as well. No one is happy in this movie, everyone acts in particularly violent ways, and there is a generally higher level of despair and discomfort throughout. It’s almost as grim as large-scale gangster movies get, really.
3 'Uncut Gems' (2019)
In Uncut Gems, the main character gets into an undesirable spot with some gangsters. He actually gets into a bad place with most of the people in his life, but it’s getting on the wrong side of some ruthless criminals that places him in a particularly high amount of danger, yet he keeps on pursuing what he sees as the ultimate win, borrowing money and using said money to gamble in increasingly risky ways.
The whole movie is one of the most intense ever made. Sure, 2019 wasn’t all that long ago, so that might sound a bit hyperbolic, but it’s not, when it comes to stress and Uncut Gems. It’s got enough by way of that gangster/crime element to go here, and it’s also one of the most stomach-churning non-horror movies ever made, pushing its thriller elements to uncomfortable new limits for a little over two (absolutely relentless) hours.
2 'Gozu' (2003)
Gozu pairs quite nicely with Versus, because both are over-the-top – and gross-out – Japanese horror movies that deal with the yakuza, too. They pair well together, at least, if you're not exhausted after watching just one of them, and it would be more than understandable if you were, since both prove overwhelming. Gozu might be funnier, and then somehow, at the same time, more visceral with its horror elements.
There are just some really confronting sights here, even with so much of it being absurd and darkly funny. Gozu is about a yakuza-related murder taking place, but then the body disappears, and the murderer starts to seemingly lose his grip on reality. So many strange things happen. It’s a lot. It’s so, so much. Those things can’t be written out here, because even trying to downplay it all would result in the writing equivalent of an R-rated movie (or something higher).
1 'Eastern Promises' (2007)
David Cronenberg is best known for directing horror movies, and Eastern Promises isn't one of them… at least not technically. Cronenberg does things with some sequences, though, that feel in line with some of his horror films, and the approach works, because the story Eastern Promises tells is a particularly dark and downbeat one involving the Russian mob and the death of a teenage girl.
It all feels a little more visceral than you might expect if you, say, read a synopsis and then didn’t also read that David Cronenberg was the director behind it. Knowing his involvement, it makes sense. It’s not a full-on Cronenbergian gangster movie (so there are gory parts, but not really in the body horror sense), though it definitely approaches that kind of territory at points. It’s an interesting film, to say the least.
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