Cover image by Pinho . on Unsplash
Beloved,
Given that I’ve never watched The Exorcist, I don’t particularly consider myself a horror movie buff. However, it is my favourite movie genre followed by romance, ( a girl’s gotta contain multitudes). It’s safe to say I have watched quite a great deal of these movies. Too many of them in fact. I have watched the good, the bad and the downright wtf.
Most times when people talk horror the same titles always come up: Hereditary, Get Out, The Conjuring and unfortunately The Human Centipede (I’m never watching that in my life). Most of these are great movies (outside that last one) but here’s some that I feel have flown off the radar over the years.
1. The Night House
This movie is what inspired me to write this post. It’s not very scary or horrific but it is suspenseful and eerie. Sometimes it doesn’t delve deep into its own story but I’ll give it a pass because of how fantastic I found it. It’s not the worst thing in the world when movies don’t answer certain questions. Like most horror movies these days it’s not so much a ghost story but more a metaphor for what the internet will say is grief. But it is done in such a way that subverts my expectations. Rebecca Hall’s performance in this is impeccable. The atmosphere is chilling and the things it gets right, it gets right really well.
2. Daniel isn’t Real
I’ll be the first to say this kinda of loses the plot a bit somewhere in the middle. Heck, I can’t even remember what most of the scenes are. But I do remember it creeped me out. Maybe not outright scaring me but the there are scenes that have crawled under my skin and made me want to take a shower immediately after I watched them. This movie is so upsetting. Like for real, screw that therapist for suggesting he reconnects with “that part of himself again.” Even though similar tropes have been done before, the way the story does them is interesting. Not only does it redefine our understanding of what an evil entity could be, it also redefines what it could look like, and the motives behind it all (outside of being evil.)
3. The Remaining
I kid you not, I’d sooner put a bullet through my own head then get through this sort of rapture. The Remaining is an apocalyptical movie with monsters and their actions that scarred me for life. The movie is kinda preachy and I’m not really a fan of fear mongering when it comes to religion but this one almost got me at the time, no lie.
4. Beneath Still Waters
I watched this when I went on holiday in Mzuzu. It was on one of my aunt’s DVDs (may she rest in peace). This is one of the few horror movies I watched on my own – sans my mom because she was in Lilongwe not holidaying. This movie left such an impression on me that after almost 13 years I still remember the name Silas.
5. Becoming
This horror movie took me too long to find. I had to remember certain plot points that I fed into Google but proved futile. In the end I searched movie posters that had an eye with a split pupil. Imagine my surprise when I realised IMDB actually has a list for the specific search of movie posters with an eye. And right there, on number 69 I found this movie that has been racking my brain for years. Despite the loose plot, weird pacing (that actually kinda works and also kinda doesn’t), bad reviews and even worse CGI, this horror movie is actually very sufficient. I find it to be a solid horror movie with surprisingly good acting. It’s not something that you’ve never seen before but it is very unsettling. Unsettling enough that I remember most of the scenes and even the poster to the point I can search them on Google.
6. Malignant
This has one of the most original and craziest twists of any horror movie I’ve ever watched. Truly if you know you freaking know. This requires you to suspend a ton of disbelief but it’s a horror so whatelse is new. Overall I think it takes risks that pay off quite well.
7. The Empty Man
No relation to the slender man or the bye bye man, and yes I’ll forever make this joke when I mention any of their names. I’m not sure if this movie is actually obscure but I don’t hear a lot of people talk about it. I think it’s weird and very well executed. The prologue of this movie is like a mellow fever dream and is long enough to be its own feature film. It’s original and odd and quite engaging actually.
