its october and the only horror movies i’ve watched are scream 1-3. they are ok for what they are (deconstruction of horror tropes via murder mystery), but i need something spicier. something existentially horrifying, not just a wrinkly monster chase or a crazy guy hacking up white girls. something that follows you out of the movie and changes how you think about the world for a few days before you’re normal again. stuff that pulls at the threads of your understanding of reality. a lot of so called psychological thrillers do this but thats not specifically what i’m looking for as much as existential terror.
since i created this post i’ll start with suggestions of my own
1 - SKINAMARINK
watch this without any research or info going in. all i will say is that there is limited dialogue and the amount of times you see a face or character asymptotically approaches zero. watch while stoned for maximum effect.
2 - They Look Like People
psychological thriller, avoiding spoilers but i’ll say that it mayyybe leans into some problematic ableist tropes relating to mental health common to the horror genre. i have a friend that loves this movie and relates to it strongly for mental health reasons though so i might be over- or under- analyzing.
3 - The Lighthouse
monochrome period piece. 2 boys 1 lighthouse. you can probably predict how this goes but the execution is so worth it, the actors are amazing and the cinematography is excellent.
thats pretty much all i got, i haven’t seen that many movies.
I rewatched The Descent last night. It’s very creepy and claustrophic.
To create the mood - there must have been some CGI and at times they surely were filming on sets but the direction, photography, and set design worked in concert. I really felt like I was underground with them.