Pumpkin Spice season is here and horror movies are the order of the day. Here are ten recent scarers you need to see…
It’s that time of the year when Mariah Carey and Michael Buble lie in wait to be unleashed like festive Krakens and terrorise the airwaves with Christmas warbling. Before they’re let loose comes a little Pumpkin spice-scented season known as Halloween. Sure, it’s only one day but horror fans often spend the month of October appreciating all things Witchy, macabre, horrifying and gruesome on screen. Unless you’re a Goth, in which case Halloween lasts 12 months a year.
If mainstream cinema and blockbuster spectaculars have had a largely tough time finding traction with audiences in the past five years, horror films have had the exact opposite. The past decade has seen a healthy rise in inventive and boundary-pushing horror movies, with the past five years launching an array of cult films and memorable entries to the genre. Yep, horror is experiencing a boon and at the very least, many films, even at their most divisive are inspiring conversation among film aficionados.
So whilst you cultivate your watchlist this October, consider these 10 recent horror films from the past five years that are must-sees…
The Lighthouse
First, let’s have a film from 2019, a very distinct throwback to horror films of the silent era up to the 40s. A folk horror from one of the modern masters of the art, Robert Eggars. Take Robert Pattinson and Willem Defoe, set them alone on an island as lighthouse keepers and let cabin fever do the rest.
With incredible cinematography and sound, and two powerhouse performances (particularly from Defoe), The Lighthouse is perhaps the most distinct descent into raving madness since Kubrick’s, The Shining. Eggars’ uncompromised vision is perfectly realised and the neo-retro aesthetics are dazzling.
Terrifier 2
Freddy, Jason, Myers, Chucky and Pinhead. All horror icons but as the years pass it becomes more and more difficult to find the secret sauce that makes a villain iconic. Damien Leone found that recipe and then some. He gave us Art the clown, who by the mega success of Terrifier 2 was already known in underground horror circles after a couple of appearances before his breakout headline feature Terrifier.
Terrifier 2, shot on a micro-budget (though you wouldn’t know it) hit big and the third film is just about to be set forth to gore-lusting audiences the world over. Relentlessly gross, jaw-droppingly savage and chilling, Terrifier 2 just does not let up and Art is just such a simple and effective villain played with enigmatically gleeful menace by David Howard Thornton. The second gore opus is a little overlong, if only because it’s an onslaught that rarely lets up.
SEE ALSO: Movie Review – Terrifier 3 finally perfects the formula
Infinity Pool
Mia Goth is killing it (quite literally) in the horror genre right now. Her Maxine/Pearl trilogy came to a close this year with a divisive but (for me) enjoyable Giallo homage. Outside of that, she’s found a good home in the genre and another good display of her talents comes in Infinity Pool, the latest from Brandon Cronenberg who is becoming arguably more reliable a specialist in psychological body horror than his old man of late.
Infinity Pool is a mind-bending, horrifying, existential, frenetic and twist-filled film with Goth and Alexander Skarsgard in top form. It really does evoke David Cronenberg’s work of the 80s, but Brandon has his own stamp too. He’s had a really effective one-two punch with this and Possessor (also worth checking out).
Suitable Flesh
Horror royalty Barbara Crampton and Heather Graham star in this one which picked up a little (but not nearly enough) attention last year. Suitable Flesh blends together David Lynch, Cronenberg and no shortage of former Crampton collaborator, Stuart Gordon (not least as this is a Lovecraft adaptation). A psychiatrist becomes intrigued by the multiple personalities of a troubled patient which leads her to fall foul of a deranged occultist.
Joe Lynch’s Shudder special is one of the streamer’s better originals in recent years, made with real craft and feeling like a proper throwback, aided by the excellent cast and Graham is especially good.
Longlegs
The Cagenaissance has covered many genres but he’s had some memorable horror roles too. Longlegs, directed by Oz Perkins (son of Anthony), has Cage let loose as a serial killer, pursued by Maika Monroe. The film has shades of Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Cure and more with Perkins wearing his influences on his sleeve. It’s an impeccably shot film with great sound and score. Monroe’s performance is superb, once again excelling in the genre and offering a good amount of nuance.
Cage is almost too much in places here but the film is well-paced, grimly atmospheric and always compelling. It doesn’t quite stick everything and the final act has been divisive, but this one is definitely accruing plenty of love among Gen Z cinephiles who haven’t had too many like this before.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive Interviews – Maika Monroe, Oz Perkins, Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt on Longlegs
The Substance
Another horror film from this year that has been met with rabid discourse online, is The Substance. It’s a love-it-or-hate-it affair but the barometer leans very heavily in the direction of love among cinephiles. Demi Moore gives a performance of a lifetime as I discussed in a piece hoping for her to gain Oscar recognition.
Coralie Fargeat’s film nails every technical facet to near perfection and it feels like the most authentically delivered auteur’s vision in years. Moore aside, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid are excellent. You may not be able to stomach the film’s grotesque insanity but it’s a film that must be seen.
SEE ALSO: Are the Oscars Daring Enough to Nominate Demi Moore for The Substance?
Censor
A film that may have slipped under your radar entirely but is well worth checking out, is Censor. This psychological horror from Prano-Bailey Bond stars Niamh Algar as a censor, back during the video nasty era who believes a woman she sees in a horror tape might be her sister.
Calling upon the likes of David Lynch in a film that plays like a lucid dream at times, with a dark brooding and ethereal atmosphere, this is an excellent feature debut from Bond. Algar is a really underrated performer deserving of wider success, whilst Michael Smiley, as he always does, makes a very welcome appearance. It doesn’t nail every landing but it would still come away with a solid bunch of judges’ scorecards.
Barbarian
Zach Cregger’s film has one of the best opening acts of a horror movie in years. It’s a masterclass in building suspense and toying with the audience’s expectations only to subvert them. When the film takes a big narrative leap (the first of several) it might prove too jarring but for the most part, I was all in for a gamut of carpet-pulling surprises throughout.
Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgard and Justin Long are all great and even if not every twist and turn comes off, Cregger’s ability to keep surprising makes this very effective, whilst the craftmanship and the open and close give Barbarian plenty of repeat value.
Men
Having a film that is loved is wonderful. One that is hated, not so much but it still keeps you in the conversation. A so-so film tends to be forgotten. For Alex Garland and his dive into psychological (with a pinch of body and Sci-fi) horror with Men, he mostly inspired love/hate reactions. Men even in the past two years and after a somewhat lacklustre box office run and critical response, has seen its standing grow. It’s becoming a cult film and the kind that has a real 50/50 split down the middle.
There’s certainly masses of subtext in this eerie, atmospheric and at times bizarre film and I’m still not even sure which side of the see-saw I’m on but in terms of its technical qualities, it’s beautifully shot with great sound and effectively atmospheric music. Jessie Buckley is incredible (as per), whilst Rory Kinnear revels in playing a vast array of characters in a village where all the men look like him (a fact that begins to dawn on Buckley right as her fractured mental state is frittering away). The last act is wild and a real point of contention for many, but at the very least whether you like it or hate it, it’s unforgettable.
Talk To Me
Kids these days. They love a bit of A24 horror and there have been many hip, great concept horror flicks from the giants of indie production. Talk to Me is an Australian horror that takes imaginative and character-focused roads an American equivalent may not have (in favour of more rote choices at every turn). An embalmed hand allows the person who takes it to open a brief window and be sat across from a dead person.
It’s a simple concept and directors Danny and Michael Philippou waste no time in setting things in motion. As soon as we’re set up with a protagonist (an excellent Sophia Wilde) grieving her recently deceased mother there’s a lingering inevitability in the air, and yet they still manage to throw in surprises. For a really decent supernatural horror, look no further.
What’s your favourite horror movie from the past five years? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
