The Village is so underrated. Signs is another M Night classic. The Mist, The Ring, and The Blair Witch Project are terrifying and aesthetically unique as wel.
There's an episode of Against the Crowd called Murrain from 1975 that is 55m long, can be found on YouTube, and is absolutely top notch folk horror. Highly recommended.
Don't forget to catch (again?) Corman's "The Raven," a comedy based on Poe's poem with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Karloff as delightful parodies of themselves, some very original electronic music, and a bit part by the very young Jack Nicholson. I've watched it many years in a row for a course I taught, but I was always much more entertained than the students.
I would be very interested to hear your take on Lamb (2021). I thought it was incredible and very eerie, but I am very much not a horror connoisseur so struggled to discern its artistic origins. I have the sense that it's a bit softer than a usual horror film, but I think it's quite emotionally deep which might make up for that in a horror fan's mind.
Mills, you must watch _Something Evil_ (1972) It's on YouTube. A made-for-tv movie directed by young Steven Spielberg, starring Darren McGavin and Sandy Dennis. It's about a haunted farmhouse. You will love it.
Freakin’ love this season for the films. Great reccs, several I haven’t seen! Here’s a grab bag of some lesser known faves.
The Wailing (great Korean horror)
The Innocents (1961)
The Haunting (1963)
The Tenant (1976)
The Cremator (1969)
The Ninth Configuration
The Empty Man
Inland Empire
House
Viy
Onibaba
Looking at my Letterboxd ratings it occurs to me how few I’ve given 5 stars—many a solid 3—but I still love them. There’s something about the horror genre that is so beloved, so vital, and yet there’s this limit (or bias?) to how tall they can stand amongst all other genres. Maybe this is more of a recent phenomenon, ‘cause Rear Window and some other classics are truly great all around films.
Also this whole post
https://subverse.substack.com/p/underrated-spooky-season-film-book-recs
Caddo Lake gave me goosebumps! (On Max)
The Village is so underrated. Signs is another M Night classic. The Mist, The Ring, and The Blair Witch Project are terrifying and aesthetically unique as wel.
Great post; thanks for writing this!
There's an episode of Against the Crowd called Murrain from 1975 that is 55m long, can be found on YouTube, and is absolutely top notch folk horror. Highly recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_pTzBqrQ0s
…maniac cop 2…
…children of the corn 3…
…messiah of evil…
…ghoulies/critters…(must be B2B)…
…the awakening…
Great recommendations - thanks. Mine is "Curse of the Demon" ("Night of the Demon" in the UK) by Jacques Tourneur. I posted about it a while back as it's one of my favourites so I'll leave the link here in case you want to find out more. https://open.substack.com/pub/juliadpickering/p/night-of-the-demon-by-jacques-tourneur?r=1hm9gb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Don't forget to catch (again?) Corman's "The Raven," a comedy based on Poe's poem with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Karloff as delightful parodies of themselves, some very original electronic music, and a bit part by the very young Jack Nicholson. I've watched it many years in a row for a course I taught, but I was always much more entertained than the students.
I would be very interested to hear your take on Lamb (2021). I thought it was incredible and very eerie, but I am very much not a horror connoisseur so struggled to discern its artistic origins. I have the sense that it's a bit softer than a usual horror film, but I think it's quite emotionally deep which might make up for that in a horror fan's mind.
Mills, you must watch _Something Evil_ (1972) It's on YouTube. A made-for-tv movie directed by young Steven Spielberg, starring Darren McGavin and Sandy Dennis. It's about a haunted farmhouse. You will love it.
Freakin’ love this season for the films. Great reccs, several I haven’t seen! Here’s a grab bag of some lesser known faves.
The Wailing (great Korean horror)
The Innocents (1961)
The Haunting (1963)
The Tenant (1976)
The Cremator (1969)
The Ninth Configuration
The Empty Man
Inland Empire
House
Viy
Onibaba
Looking at my Letterboxd ratings it occurs to me how few I’ve given 5 stars—many a solid 3—but I still love them. There’s something about the horror genre that is so beloved, so vital, and yet there’s this limit (or bias?) to how tall they can stand amongst all other genres. Maybe this is more of a recent phenomenon, ‘cause Rear Window and some other classics are truly great all around films.
The Vourdalak!