Horror is officially the ruler of the year. Since I’ve last typed one of these out, Obsession has officially become Focus Features’ highest grossing film, and Backrooms is a bona-fide phenomenon all on its own. There’s no shortage of exciting horror getting mainstream attention these days, and the best part of it is how there’s also a plethora of underground and older films to sort through as well. Everywhere you look, there is gold to be mined.
Goodnight Mommy (2015)
I remember when I first started paying attention to online film discourse in the mid-2010s, this movie was having quite a moment. It was critically acclaimed, and one of the first horror movies I remember getting the reaction of being more “elevated” than traditional genre fare, even if that wasn’t the exact wording. Despite getting an American remake that was immediately cast aside, this film has thoroughly fallen out of conversation and discourse. Perhaps this speaks more to the circles I’m a part of rather than any objective measure of hype, but it truly led to me forgetting about it for quite a while. This is why specialty streaming services like Shudder are so valuable, because it really jogged my memory and gave me that push to finally see it. This is a great bridge between the meanness of the decade prior and the artsier lean of the decade to come. At first, it’s a well-shot slow-burn. It lives in its moods and is excellent at crafting its story through what is unsaid by the characters. It’s amazing how much you can glean from the production design, the framing, and the good old-fashioned reading between the lines of the dialogue. The titular mother instills a sense of doubt that it never fully allows to boil over. That leads to a third act that reveals and revels in that meanness from the previous “torture porn” era. It’s some truly harrowing stuff, and without spoiling it, the finale will leave you, as it did me, completely reeling. It ties everything off very nicely, and made me excited to see it again in the future.
Watch it on Hoopla, Fandango at Home, Kanopy, YouTube TV, Fawesome
Milk & Serial (2024)
Obsession was no fluke. A lot has been spoken of Curry Barker’s sketch comedy background in the wake of his first theatrical feature skyrocketing in popularity, but surprisingly little has been said about his debut horror feature, which is available for free on YouTube, that started it all. It’s the most authentically modern a found footage film has ever felt, while also not losing that gritty aesthetic that makes the genre feel so unique. The microscopic nature of the budget did nothing to burden the many ideas the film has. The YouTube prank community is incisively critiqued and exaggerated to a horrifying degree. It follows a main duo who run the channel, one of whom is more popular and comes up with most of the video ideas, and the less popular second (played by Barker himself) who has more than one screw loose and a few ideas on how to pull off the best prank ever. It’s best to go in knowing as little as possible, so I won’t say any more, but like Obsession, it rides its simple premise to surprising and horrifying conclusions. It keeps its story grounded in character, and by the end becomes totally gripping. It’s only slightly longer than 60 minutes, and will absolutely knock your socks off. It’s truly incredible how much was accomplished on YouTube for only $800.
Watch it on YouTube
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Lucio Fulci becomes more and more a favorite with every movie of his I see. It really helps that it feels like I discover a new favorite every time. Don’t Torture a Duckling came out before he was known as the Italian king of gore, but this is by what I gather the first notable example of that title being earned and that future coming to fruition. In true giallo fashion, the film takes place in a Sicilian village that is suddenly being rocked to the core by a series of brutally violent child murders. You follow the investigators, the assorted townsfolk, and many of the children themselves as you begin to get a full picture of what’s going on. It’s shot with some truly gorgeous cinematography, highlighting the countryside and relishing in its technicolor glory. It brings that signature sense of beauty that Fulci loves to counteract with blistering cruelty. It all adds up to something surprisingly thoughtful and genuinely provocative, especially for the time. Due to its heavier themes and direct criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, it only got a limited release in Europe, the focus of much controversy, and it never even got a theatrical release in the US. There was no native US copy of the film at all until 1999, when Anchor Bay put out the film on disc, and only within the last year has Arrow Video given it the full and proper hi-def treatment this classic deserves. It’s a must-watch for all and any horror fans.
Watch it on AMC+, Fandango At Home, Shudder, Philo, Night Flight, YouTube TV, Screambox, Fawesome
Magic (1978)
I’ve written about a lot over the course of these articles about movies that I’m surprised never got full mainstream attention. This may be the film out of every single one I’ve covered that I’m the most surprised about. The director, Richard Attenborough, just four years later directed the Best Picture-winning biopic Gandhi. You might also know him as John Hammond from Jurassic Park. Anthony Hopkins, who stars as the main character, is one of the few people to win a competitive acting Oscar for a horror film, as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. The legacy of that performance and character is still felt today, which is why I’m so surprised that this movie has thoroughly been left out of collective discourse. It follows a meek but talented entertainer named Corky, played by Hopkins. Utterly petrified of failure, he begins to perform with a ventriloquist dummy named Fats, which really starts to skyrocket him onto the road to success. I don’t want to give away much more than that, but it goes on to effectively dissect his character in an artful way to disastrous effect for the characters. Corky has legitimate and relatable fears throughout, so (at the beginning) it’s easy to begin liking him, but as the film progresses, those assumptions turn sour and the toxicity of his own projections begin to overcome him. It’s a wonderful movie, and I hope more people seek it out, especially now that a new remake was just recently announced from Sam Raimi and the team behind Send Help!
Watch it on Prime Video, the Roku Channel, Kanopy, Shudder, Philo, Night Flight, Shout TV, Fawesome
Castle of Blood (1964)
This film opens on a man looking to get a rare interview with Edgar Allen Poe himself. As he walks down the stairs into a dingy tavern, he stumbles into Poe telling a story. He recalls a man breaking into a library, and during a struggle, breaking a box on the table. It contained dentistry equipment and the 32 teeth of his cousin who has now been dead for six months. She, of course, died on the night in which he cannot seem to remember. Is he the killer of his own cousin, or was something more sinister at play? If that opening sounds appealing to you in vibe and style, then I simply must insist you check out this gothic masterpiece from 1964. Equal parts haunted mansion and haunting tragedy, this is an Italian gem that knocked my socks off at the start with its vibes, then broke my heart by the end as its thread unraveled. I truly don’t want to spoil anything at all for you, but I assure you that what begins as what seems like a very straightforward idea deepens and intensifies in ways that you will not expect. This is, unfortunately, the type of movie that is easily cast aside as cheesy or not worth looking into critically, but I feel that is an absolute travesty. Seek this one out as soon as you can, and be sure to watch the Italian cut – it is only a few minutes longer, but retains the initial vision of the film better. If you put this on in the background of a Halloween party, it’d fit right in.
Watch it on Hoopla, Night Flight, Cultpix, Fawesome
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