Happy February, everyone! In honor of the month that includes Valentine’s Day, the five underseen horror films I’m bringing you today are themed around love and romance! Scary movies are always more fun when holding your partner’s hand in the theater or cuddled up on the couch under a warm blanket, anyway, so it only feels fitting!
Editor’s Note: Yes, this is late. Instead of the month of love and groundhogs and Black history, it is now the month of leprechauns and Pi and daylight savings time. We are aware of the discrepancy. Please enjoy!
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
It was only fitting to start this off with a properly Valentine’s Day-themed movie, but this is also a true-blue slasher classic. Since I saw it for the first time in 2021, My Bloody Valentine has become one of my absolute favorite slashers of the late 20th century. I recommend watching the unrated Blu-ray with the originally filmed kill scenes added back to the film, because, of course, they needed to cut them to appease the MPAA. The film takes place in a mining town with a dark past, and this Valentine’s Day season, that past comes a-knockin’ on the town’s local populace. The urban legend aspect of its villain is more effective than you’d expect, given its simplistic premise. It also cares to set up a more complex set of characters than slasher films from this period usually do. You get the history of their dynamics, the pain and regrets that some of them carry, and it actually serves to be an effective whodunnit in the process… more so than the original Friday the 13th, at least. It’s still one of the best examples of the slasher sub-genre, regardless of the era, with gnarly kills (watch the unrated Blu-ray!), a gritty and foreboding atmosphere, and a knockout ending. No matter what kind of horror fan you may be, you don’t want to miss this.
Watch it on Kanopy
Bones and All (2022)
Any romance story is only as good as its leads. If I don’t care about or enjoy watching the two main characters that I’m meant to invest in, then it’s easy to feel like the movie’s foundation has already fallen out from under it, leaving the rest of the movie’s possibly good qualities ineffectual. Such is not the case with Bones and All; quite the opposite. Not only do you feel deeply for the co-leads, but they provide the entire movie, which is otherwise gritty and bleak, with a beating heart and sense of empathy that is both unique and distinctly impactful. Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet are dynamite in this. Both have a base level of subtlety and nuance that can sometimes explode into hard-hitting drama and tension-filled sequences. Mark Rylance is also absolutely horrifying as one of the most memorable and off-putting villain presences in recent horror history. He has very limited screen time, but his presence and cadence will haunt you long after the credits have rolled. This dynamic set of characters, along with the assured way that Luca Guadagnino shoots, edits, and paces his film make this truly a one-of-a-kind experience. Since I’ve seen this in 2022, it has only grown in my mind, and grown significantly, it has!
Watch it on Tubi, Pluto TV
Crimson Peak (2015)
Guillermo del Toro is inarguably one of the best and most exciting creative forces in film right now. He’s churned out critically acclaimed masterpieces and cult classics alike, and has a consistent, loving, and creative take on genre cinema. It is always a genuine shame to me when any of his films don’t get the love and attention that they deserve, and one of the biggest examples of that is his gothic love story with ghosts, Crimson Peak. It’s easy to take for granted, but for me it’s always worth reiterating: del Toro is the master of vibes… and he backs it up with genuine skillful craft. Whole essays and studies could be done on the set design and cinematography in this. It’s del Toro going full force into the Universal monster gothic style before he ever remade Frankenstein. The main hall with the gaping hole in the roof, as it’s either snowing or shining a powerful beam of moonlight through it, adds such a strong atmosphere, and that’s just the first step through the door, literally. The ghosts themselves are also done with some of the best CG work I’ve ever seen of the type. They’re portrayed with an element of surreal tangibility, with steam rising from their forms as they float through the halls, liquid dripping off their blood-red figures. The designs are genuinely memorable and ingenious from top to bottom. The central love story is also one of the best kinds – twisted and tragic, perfect for the gothic setting and atmosphere. Mia Wasikowska gets to shine in a way she never got to in her Alice in Wonderland films, Jessica Chastain is truly devilish in this in a way you rarely get to see actors of her caliber indulge in, and Tom Hiddleston is pitch-perfect playing charming, mysterious, tender, and even occasionally villainous like it’s no effort at all to switch between and layer his emotions all on top of each other. This would be worth an immediate watch no matter what, but if you’re a film fan and haven’t seen this del Toro banger, you simply must check it out.
The Love Witch (2016)
One of the best and most underappreciated sides of horror is the “vibe movie.” There’s story and characters present, but the appeal of a vibe movie is its ability to wrap you up like a blanket and suck you into a whole different world and feeling. I’ve seen very few vibe horror films with vibes as strong as this retro gem. The Love Witch is shot on 35mm film, has vibrant colors infecting every frame, costumes that are color-coordinated and occasionally even themed to certain settings and rooms, psychedelic visuals, and hyper-specific performance and camera choices everywhere. It’s a movie straight out of time, like a lost piece of media from 1970 brought back to new life in 2016 (bar the single use of a cell phone). I simply loved being with our titular Love Witch, Elaine, and seeing all her ill-destined romantic misadventures all shot with such painstaking love and care. The writer/director/producer, Anna Biller, isn’t only that… she’s also editor, production designer, art director, set decorator, composer, and costume designer. As much as the film’s story is centered around finding love, the primary impression I get is how much of a labor of love this clearly is by its filmmaker, and that’s a feeling I’ll always love.
Watch it on Peacock, Kanopy, Fandango at Home, Philo, Pluto TV, Fandor, Screambox, Plex, Fawesome, Midnight Pulp, YOW.tv, Night Flight Plus
Fresh (2022)
Fresh has one of my favorite rug-pulls in modern horror history. I understood it would eventually turn into a horror film when I went in, but I didn’t know in what way or when it would happen. It effectively disguises itself as a cute romance film, and by the time it turns hard into spooky time, you almost don’t want it to. It earns the investment you feel towards the relationship in those scenes and expertly uses that emotion against you as the film goes on. It can be tense and quite disturbing, but better than that, it’s an immensely satisfying mind game between two actors who are absolutely killing it. It’s hard to talk about it without spoilers, and you absolutely should see this knowing as little as possible, but these two leads absolutely make this movie. Both Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan are on fire, giving multilayered and fiery performances that make every moment memorable. By the time the climax hits and the simmering tension is finally exploding out of the pot, it becomes one hell of an emotionally satisfying bloodbath.
Watch it on Hulu
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