Lima Assi
I watch horror films with squinted eyes, peeping through the gaps in my fingers, my sister must keep the lights on, and my mother avoids them entirely. Perhaps being lily-livered is genetic. But beyond fear, I find it most boring - possessed little girls, a malicious presence loitering in a house, and evil demon nuns (sometimes all three of these if we’re lucky) have become tiresome tropes. So, I’m here to recommend four unconventional horror films that are atypical of the genre. These you can watch with your eyes wide open, yet they’ll leave a lasting impression. Warning: spoilers ahead!
1. Crimson Peak (2015)
This is not a ghost story; it just has ghosts in it. They are mutilated and grotesque, but truly, truly secondary in this gothic horror romance. Guillermo del Toro’s Victorian era haunted house blasts all other haunted houses out of the water in terms of set design. Imagine organza nightgowns billowing in the winter draft, trailing down crooked, wood-rotten steps with candelabra in hand, and navigating the secrets of the house under the cold moonlight.
Frankly, it’s not frightening, it’s not gory, and it’s barely even ghoulish. But it sure is a sight to behold, with a story that seems like it’s been plucked straight out of a Mary Shelley novel.
2. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
After watching this film, I decided to leave my first ever Letterboxd review, giving it 5 stars and writing that “this is the funniest movie ever made”.
In truth, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is presented as a psychological horror. It’s a modern retelling of the ancient Greek tragedy of Agamemnon. In this version, strange things begin happening to the family of a successful surgeon, inflicted upon them by Barry Keoghan’s character, for whom this is only the beginning of his career playing a freaky little weirdo.
Don’t let the strange atmosphere, stilted dialogue, and discordant music fool you into being scared - this film is downright hysterical and intentionally ridiculous. One must assume the film is self-aware of its own absurdity when Ellie Goulding’s “Burn” makes an unforgettable feature.
3. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
This film is exactly what it says on the tin. The story centres on two American backpackers who fall victim to a werewolf attack in the Yorkshire Moors. It follows their post-attack story in Central London, where the threat of transformation is imminent.
When the metamorphosis finally occurs, it’s unlike anything you have seen. This film cemented its cult classic status with the most mangled transformation in cinematic history. The 80s witnessed a pinnacle of practical effects mastery in this film: organs twisting, turning, and rearranging themselves; bones being cracked, liquefied, and reset; limbs and skin all stretching to fit the mould of a monster.
Whilst this scene is the ultimate embodiment of body horror, the film is simultaneously camp, comedic, and devastatingly tragic. Lycanthropes are textbook terrifying, but what if they never chose that fate? What if they were young adventurers whose lives took an unexpected, horrific turn?
4. Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Media often portrays women as monsters, from creepy little girls to old crones, or sinister nuns. When you think of a witch, everyone automatically thinks of a woman. At all stages of life, Girls! Are! Evil! Jennifer’s Body paradoxically subverts and embraces this trope.
First, it reveals teenage girlhood as potentially terrifying. Cutthroat competition in the high-school social rat race breeds jealousy and insecurity, poisoning friendships.
Second, if you want girls to be monsters so bad, let them. Let them be evil of their own accord, without demons or devils pulling the strings. Well, Jennifer, the protagonist, is a succubus, but she’s no puppet. She is in total control, enacting her revenge plot for being offered up as a human sacrifice by a satanic-cult boyband (totally fair). When her best friend accuses her of killing people, Jennifer clarifies, “No. I’m killing BOYS.”
She is a soul-sucker, a man-eater, and yet just a girl. What could be more frightening than a monster hiding in plain sight?
What would your Flick Pick be for Halloween this year?
