escaping political horror for movie horror
scary movies? to escape anxiety? groundbreaking
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I’ve written about horror plenty of times before, particularly the relationship between scary movies and an anxious mindset.
But given what an absolute shitshow the past few months—hell, the past few years—have been here in the United States, might I humbly remind you of the soothing power of a horror movie to escape existential fear?
And if you’re still feeling skittish about going to a movie theater to see one, perhaps I could persuade you of the absolute ~luxuriousness~ of watching a film with an ice-cold beverage in your own air-conditioned living room to escape the relentless fear of COVID and literal ass-crack of summer that is mid-July here in New York City?
Waiting for October to watch something spooky is nonsense, particularly with an omicron sub-variant on the rise and a truly wretched rise of mass shootings as of late.
I’ve included a list below of some of my recent favorites below and why I think they are a perfect distraction for us nervous folks today.
And of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list of best horror movies, just the best ones to distract you in these alarming times. Feel free to add some of your favorites in the comments below:
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
This mesmerizing horror movie was written and directed by the wildly talented Ana Lily Amirpour. Sources online will also call this a Persian-language “hybrid spaghetti Western-vampire” film but don’t be deterred. The film follows a young man named Arash who must pay back his addict father’s debts to a local drug dealer and pimp. Arash eventually encounters a lonely, mysterious vampire woman one night merely called The Girl, who stalks the streets of their town in Iran, cleverly titled “Bad City.” More creepy than scary, this isn’t a jump-scare fest, more a beautifully weird dream (or maybe nightmare). I genuinely can’t wait to watch this one again.
Watch this if you: are obsessed with black and white movies, don’t mind subtitles, love a slow burn, dig a moody soundtrack, think vampires are punk rock.
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An extremely devout Christian hospice nurse who goes by Maud becomes obsessed with saving the soul of one of her patients while slowly losing her grip on reality. The viewer learns that she’s been trying to leave a difficult past behind her, convinced her new humble and modest lifestyle will redeem her. This movie feels like watching a car-crash in slow motion—as an audience member, I can see just how divided from reality Maud really is, but also just how much she can’t (or maybe she just refuses) see for herself. This one also has one of the most striking endings to a film that I’ve ever seen.
Watch this if you: have religious trauma, are attracted to Christian imagery and weird rituals like self-flagellation, enjoy medical horror, take pleasure in love triangles, get satisfaction out of talking with friends about an ambiguous ending.
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Midsommar (2019)
Say what you will about Ari Aster movies, but: the man knows how to unsettle. Chances are you’ve heard of Midsommar, even if it’s just via the many memes about it, but in case you haven’t: a young woman named Dani follows her boyfriend and his several of his friends in his grad school cohort to a Swedish mid-summer festival. This trip takes place mere months after Dani has suffered an unimaginable loss. Despite struggling with her immense grief and loneliness, as well as severe panic attacks, Dani and her fellow travelers realize the cult-like group running the festival have more in mind than merely drinking, eating, and dancing. One of my all-time favorite films, Midsommar is kind of like an anti-horror horror movie: it is as bright, colorful, vibrant as it is bleak and unnerving. You’ll never look at a maypole the same way again.
Watch if you like: participating in pagan rituals, taking mushrooms, awkward breathing patterns, matriarchal support systems, making fun of graduate student research.
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Shrew’s Nest (in the original Spanish: Musarañas) (2014)
I love Spanish horror movies. Spanish filmmakers just have a way of taking history and horror and anxiety and blending them into something uniquely disquieting. Writer and director Juanfer Andrés’ movie Musarañas tells the story of a severely agoraphobic, tightly wound seamstress named Montse who raises her younger sister in the wake of their parents’ deaths in 1950s Spain. But when an upstairs neighbor breaks his leg and needs her help, Montse takes him in while gradually losing her mind. I loved the pacing of this particular movie, and think it makes the scares all the sweeter.
Watch if you like: mid-century fashion, bottle episodes, Spanish-language stories, subtitles, satisfying plot twists.
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Lake Mungo (2008)
In this mockumentary-style movie, a sixteen-year-old named Alice drowns and leaves her family reeling. Yet her parents and brother begin to have strange, unexplained experiences and must bring in a parapsychologist to help them understand what exactly is going on. This Australian movie is based on the uncertainty of what a future can look like in the wake of senseless tragedy. It is, I’d argue, equal parts horror, mystery, and family drama making it unlike any other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a cult classic for a reason.
Watch if you like: Blair Witch-style cinematography, analyzing photo evidence and found footage, haunted house stories, Australian accents.
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The Witch (2015)
The subtitle for this movie is “A New England Fairy-tale,” which just about sums it up. A devout Christian family is cast out of their Massachusetts settlement in 1630 due to their beliefs, which were too extreme even for the early colonies, and they are forced to live in isolation out in the wilderness. When their youngest child mysteriously disappears, the parents fear that a witch is coming after them. The Witch was written and directed by Robert Eggers (and I’d argue it is still his best film), who spent five years reading and researching the Salem Witch Trials in order to write the script. All of the dialogue was carved out of real court transcripts from the time period, which only adds to the terror throughout.
And if nothing else, watch for the truly incredible line: “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”
Watch if you like: attending witch coven meetings, temptation, cottagecore taken a step too far, talking goats, dancing naked, Anya Taylor-Joy.
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The Orphanage (or in the original Spanish: El Orfenato) (2007)
Another Spanish horror movie, because I simply couldn’t resist. A woman moves her family back to the orphanage where she grew up in the hopes of starting her own orphanage for children with disabilities.
But when her adopted son disappears during their launch party after making an “invisible friend,” she must confront both her own traumas and the orphanage’s difficult past as well to find him again. Perfectly chilling with plenty of traditional scares, this movie is one that has stuck with me for years and years.
Watch if you like: children’s games ruined by dark entities, subtitles, imaginary friends, haunted houses, eerie arts and crafts.
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Ginger Snaps (2000)
Rounding out the list with this throwback to a cult classic. Two goth, death-obsessed sisters’ lives change when one of them is bitten by a werewolf the same night she starts her first period. This movie asks why werewolves are necessarily always depicted as men, plus it confronts the terrifying ways in which puberty changes women’s bodies until they become utterly unrecognizable. More campy and shocking than harrowing, this is a great one for the horror-phobic who still want to give the genre a try.
Watch if you like: coming of age films, co-dependent sisters, literal blood-curdling menstruation, late 90’s/early 00’s nostalgia, local goth girlz.
Some honorable mentions:
Raw (2016): A French film in which a veterinary student develops a taste for human flesh.
The Babadook (2014): An accidental LGBTQ+ icon—the Babadook—comes to life from a disturbing children’s book as a manifestation of a family’s grief.
Creep (2014): Criminally underrated movie in which a man responds to a Craiglist ad asking for filmmaker to follow a dying man around on one of his last days.
Hereditary (2018): Ari Aster’s other film, in which a family in mourning for their matriarch begins to unravel.
Which horror movies are you watching this summer as an escape? Feel free to add to the list in the comment section below!