Mabel 🏹 Ode (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} lunallena) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} marluna,@ 2021-10-26 08:31:00 |
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So these are my favorite horror movies, based on thrills, chills, and most importantly, panache.
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959)
Was it the first movie to be about staying overnight in a haunted house for cash? It's definitely the most iconic one! Some parts of it, especially with the skeleton above, are probably more funny than creepy to modern audiences, but just roll with it. It's a cult classic for a reason.
CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)
Sure, it is a little obvious what is happening early on, but that doesn't mean that the diabolical imagination behind each scene isn't super fun and completely weird. If you don't like things that are jarring and almost absurd, this might leave you with the Bad Feeling, so don't watch it. But if you do enjoy that kind of strange, it's fun.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
It feels oddly like a stage play, and you really don't seem many zombies or much gore. Is there a name for those one-room, dinner party French movies and plays? Is that a genre? If it is, this is similar to that. It has a lot of really iconic lines, too ("They're coming to get you, Barbara," and, "Kill the brain and you kill the ghoul.") The hazy black and white imagery also makes the parts that are gory a little scarier, because you can't really see what's happening, which if you don't want to see is good, but it does fire up the imagination...
DON'T LOOK NOW (1973)
I feel like all M. Night Shyamalan movies want to be this movie, but generally they aren't. Because this movie is how they're supposed to be. It sticks the landing, and the end is such a shocking twist. Also, the acting is good? There is a lot about grief besides being really suspenseful. I like the human element in horror movies, so I've always liked this one.
SUSPIRIA (1977)
I like it because...THE COLOR!!! It's like a crazy dream the whole time. Also a ballet school that's really a front for witches practicing human sacrifice is a fun setting. But seriously, the way Dario Argento (that weirdo!) uses that neon aesthetic to confuse and unnerve—it's his best work in my opinion.
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001)
Sometimes I think Guillermo del Toro's work tries too hard. Like, Crimson Peak? You need style, but you also need substance. Archetypal storytelling suits him less in my opinion. When he talks about people, that's when it gets interesting...and terrifying. I felt like Pan's Labyrinth was more of a fantasy movie, but this one, its sort of "brother" film feels like pure horror to me. Watch them both together! Why not?
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (2014)
In this one, the black and white and the silence spaces just feels so strange to me. I think rather than terrifying, it just leaves you with the feeling you want to rub the back of your neck. But also if a vampire that cute wanted to bite me, I think I'd be okay with it.
THE VVITCH (2015)
I liked the ending, where she finally found a place to belong. 😌 Also the aesthetic is so iconic. Even though the cinematography is doing something similar to other movies in that setting (for example, that not-so-good one, The Village), this title makes all that dreary chiaroscuro lighting its own.
VUELVEN (2017)
It is a little like Pan's Labyrinth...which is darker? Both are very dark in setting, okay! So that part might put you off, but if you like a little magical realism-horror, then this movie is absolutely one you should check out. Plus, I like it when the mistreated get to have their day.
MIDSOMMAR (2019)
Similarly, I like how the protagonist found her place in this world, even if it was with a human-sacrificing cult that burns people alive. Also, using the strangeness of the all-day sunlight was very clever. It really is disorienting to you and the heroine!
Tell me something that scares you, netizens~
P.S. Say hello to this year's Fan Scrooge!