Welcome back to May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where every time of year is the time to watch scary movies! I’ve been on and about my usual business: ignoring essentials and classics in my watchlist in favor of random, obscure horror films (and rom-coms, oddly enough). Thank goodness then that all of that dilly-dallying about can eventuate in something, and I can, just maybe, convince you to check out any or all of these five new picks!
Nightbreed (1990)
In the world of film, Clive Barker is most known for Hellraiser, his self-directed adaptation of his own novella, The Hellbound Heart. It’s not only a personal favorite of mine, but it is utterly iconic in the world of ’80s movies and horror media in general. I doubt you’ll meet a single movie fan who doesn’t, at least, recognize an image of Pinhead. The lesser-known thing is, not long afterward, Barker directed another adaptation of one of his novellas, the supremely underrated Nightbreed. It had a famously troubled production, one that resulted in a theatrical version that Barker was supremely unhappy with. In 2014, many of the original film elements were rediscovered and put back into the film, resulting in the director’s cut which is the film I’m recommending over the theatrical cut. Nightbreed is a true love letter to the “others” of the world, so much so that I’m surprised Guillermo del Toro hasn’t already tried to remake it in some way. The monsters in Nightbreed all reside in Midian, an underground kingdom of sorts under a graveyard where they can have sanctuary from the world that hates and would exterminate them. When our main character, Aaron Boone, winds up dead via a serial killer (played by David Cronenberg), he finds a place with the monsters in Midian, but is torn between the two worlds by his love for his girlfriend, Lori. The plot spins and rockets from one direction to the next in a truly unpredictable fashion that both surprised and delighted me. It’s an effective horror, fantasy, and romance movie all in one. The effects and monsters were all gorgeously realized, the horror and tension masterfully woven, and the characters all contradictory and empathetic in truly human ways. I can’t recommend this enough…but make sure you watch the director’s cut.
Watch it on Prime Video, Tubi, the Roku Channel, Kanopy, Shudder, Philo, Pluto TV, AMC+
Silver Bullet (1985)
This one is a real treat for any horror fan, a movie I would call deliciously ’80s. It has everything you could want: fantastic practical werewolf and gore effects, a vibey synth score, a script based on a short story by Stephen King, and most importantly… a druncle played by Gary Busey. It follows a brother and sister, often along with the druncle, investigating a series of murders in the town they soon come to believe a werewolf to be responsible. The family unit’s relationship is genuinely sweet. They can believably bicker in one scene but switch to caring and loving in the next, and the specific inconsistency makes them more believable and hence likable. The town is truly coming under a reign of terror, the police are borderline helpless, and the chaotic mob of scared and angry townsfolk isn’t doing much good. The whole small town setting feels alive in a way most stories like this don’t bother to portray. The multi-faceted story continuously satisfies throughout, with memorable sequences and great tension that can both be built up in a fun way and surprisingly sudden. It’s not the best at anything that ’80s horror has to offer, but it’s a must-see for any fan of the era.
Watch it on Hoopla
C.H.U.D. (1984) & C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)
I have an unusual double feature for you smack dab in the center of the list today, and not just because I rarely do double features. With a name that fully expands to Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, you’d expect some simple and silly ’80s schlock, but for this first film, you’d be quite wrong. When the monsters do show up, it has shades of that, but by the time you get there, the movie has already filled in the context enough around the creatures so that they don’t quite come off that way. It primarily plays as a mystery and investigation of a series of murders around NYC. The whole thing eventually centers around themes of classism and government apathy to help the homeless in a way that is not only unexpected, but genuine. Daniel Stern, who joins the investigation pretty quickly, plays the character who’s shown not only to have the most know-how and information about the creatures, but also the agency and will to fight against them. Contrast all that to the sequel, which is, no joke, a zombie screwball teen comedy. It could not be more different from the first film, the C.H.U.D.s and all. The toxic sludge from the first film makes its way to a small town (somehow) and turns people into zombies instead of C.H.U.D.s (for some reason). As a double feature, it’s a perfect easy breezy palate cleanser after the surprisingly heady first film. Shenanigans and teen hijinks abound, which of course eventually grows into a full town-wide battle royale, where only one (the humans or the zombies) can make it out alive. C.H.U.D. is far from an essential horror franchise, but I feel strongly as if my horror canon has only been enhanced from my having seen it.
Watch them on Tubi
Thesis (1996)
Before Alejandro Amenabar made one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of the early 21st century, The Others, he made an even better horror film as his debut just five years earlier. When I passively threw on Thesis one night while browsing Shudder… I expected to like it, but not react significantly to it. Boy, was I wrong. Pretty much every aspect of this movie utterly blew me away. Ana Torrent, who plays final girl Angela, has many moments to shine as her world of safety and security closes in around her. The camerawork and filmmaking always find a new way to present tense scenes as the movie has a wildly keen sense of how to knock you off balance. It helps that the script is nothing short of masterful. Angela is a college student who is interested in extreme violence in media for her college thesis…more specifically, snuff films. She eventually teams up with a loner, nerdy student, Chema, in what turns into a full-on investigation of this underworld enterprise that becomes more terrifying and closer to home as it progresses. While the experience of this movie isn’t in as much danger as some movies are (like The Others) of changing dramatically if it’s spoiled, I still think it’s worth going in as blind as possible. The magic in this really does lie in its ability to center you around Angela and then play your suspicions and paranoia like a fiddle as it walks a tightrope of tonal counterbalances and conflicting information regarding everyone around her. It’s one of my favorite horror movies I’ve ever watched for the first time for this article series, and I immediately added it to my list once the credits started rolling. This is essential viewing.
Watch it on Shudder, Philo, AMC+
The Beach House (2019)
I love a good slow dreadful vibe-fest, and The Beach House fits that description perfectly. Emily and Randall met in college, and are in a bit of a rocky place in their relationship. They go to Randall’s old family beach house to try a last-ditch effort at rediscovering that old spark, but only before sinister and mysterious things start to occur. The formula is familiar, but it in no way lessens the impact. The ambiguous environmental and Lovecraftian force that begins to surround them feels a lot more thoughtful and intentional than many who intend to implement those ideas on a surface level. Instead of bright neon lights and big monsters in the ocean, we get conversations about the nature of life on this planet, the ever-growing feeling that we are a small speck in a massive universe beyond our comprehension, that we are too late to see the doom that in retrospect was always coming for us, and of course, gnarly body horror. The scene in the kitchen, around the midpoint of the film, got to me – it’s one of the few scenes in recent memory to actually make me stop eating because of how much it grossed me out. It’s low-budget and formulaic, but the creatives here all put a lot into this that would normally not be present. The whole thing became incredibly endearing to me by the end, and is a great watch for anyone interested in this vibe.
Watch it on the Roku Channel, Hoopla, Shudder, Philo, Cineverse, AMC+
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