11 Horror Films for Every Occasion

Not really every occasion. There are some occasions during which you shouldn’t watch a horror film, such as at your friend's wedding or during your performance review.

Let’s start with a confession—I’ve never seen a horror movie in a theater. You could say that I am a weenie, a wuss, a wimp. Or perhaps I’m just a sensitive soul with such an insightful mind and powerful intellect that I simply cannot countenance the … OK, I’m a wimp.

It’s not the giant screen that keeps me away. Not the dark room. Not the booming sound. It’s the lack of a remote. Horror movies—good ones, at least—freak me out so bad that I need to know that, if need be, I can quickly turn it off. I’ve never actually stopped a horror movie mid-way through because it was too scary (Hereditary was dang close), but I like knowing that I can.

I think that need is indicative of what makes a quality horror movie enthralling—an atmosphere of dread so powerful that it can cause a dude sitting on a comfortable chair in a well-lit room on a Tuesday evening feel like a monster’s knocking at his door.

So today, in the spirit of Halloween, I’m going to share a few of those movies that accomplished that feeling for me. I’ll note that I’m leaving out a few big ones (The Shining, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 28 Days Later, etc.) in favor of some lesser-knowns (you’ll see ’em below) that I think are worth sharing.

Hereditary

Scare intensity: Extreme. It’s scary. Very scary. Super scary. I am scared right now typing this.

Makes you afraid of: Demons, cults, your mom, your genetic inheritance, utility poles

From the first shot of this movie you feel wrong. Is that a dollhouse? Why do they look like that? You can’t tell what exactly is going to happen to the family at the center of this story, but you know it’s going to be terrible. Ari Aster’s writing and direction is masterful; Colin Stetson’s insane saxophone score is nightmarish; and Toni Collette and Alex Wolff deliver standout performances. There’s a lot I could say about this movie, but I think a few things make it outstanding.

One is the dedication. Aster did serious research into the supernatural elements that are at play here, and while he has said he’s not a believer, he treated the demonic forces plaguing his characters seriously. Many horror movies that tread the same water fall into a certain silliness. (Like some heavy-lidded shaman chanting, “The power of Shabooby has taken control of your face” or some such.) But Aster’s thoughtful, researched approach avoids that—there is a terrible feeling of reality to even the wildest elements in the story.

Of course, there’s also the dramatic subversion of expectations; the in-built sense of inevitable Grecian tragedy; the movie’s structure as a conspiracy without exposition, forcing the viewer to slowly figure it out themselves; and that horrible freaking pulse-pounding never-ending nightmare of a final 15 minutes.

Bonus Ari Aster Movie: Midsommar

Beyond the Black Rainbow

Scare intensity: Not so much scary in the “Ah!” sense, but more scary in the “I feel sick. My head hurts. This is weird, dude. Why are you showing me this?” sense.

Makes you afraid of: The bald, synthesizers, acid

I was introduced to the work on director Panos Cosmatos through my Nicolas Cage obsession. His 2018 film, Mandy, starring my man Nicky himself, is a bold, mind-bending film. But in terms of horror, this earlier effort by Cosmatos hit me a little harder. There’s something so damn creepy about every frame of Beyond the Black Rainbow, which follows a telepathic woman trapped inside a research institute with a strange man studying her. What makes this one stand out is the visuals—Cosmatos has a flair for the psychedelic that is simultaneously awe-inspiring and nausea-inducing.

Bonus Panos Cosmatos Movie: Mandy

It Follows

Scare intensity: This morning, no joke, I went for a run, and I spotted a tall, gangly guy slowly walking in my direction down the sidewalk. I turned the next corner and got out of there as fast as I could. This movie sticks with you.

Makes you afraid of: Everyone, footsteps, fornication

This movie has one of the best horror concepts ever put on screen. It’s in the title—it follows. What is “it,” you ask? It is an evil entity that takes the form of different people. What does “it” do? It follows you. Slowly. It just keeps walking at a leisurely pace. It doesn’t sleep. It can’t be killed. It can’t be slowed down. It doesn’t stop. Ever. It will walk under the ocean floor, through fire, up walls, but never faster than a grandma at the mall. And when it reaches you, it gets you—a violent, horrible death. Oh, and also, it’s passed on like an STD. The main character finds herself infected with it after a one-night stand, having no choice but to try to outrun this thing, find a way to stop it, or pass it on to someone else.

This is one of those great horror scenarios that has the audience immediately trying to figure out what they would do, and it makes for an incredibly engaging and frightening film.

Bonus David Robert Mitchell Movie: Under the Silver Lake

The Thing

Scare intensity: Will have you jumping.

Makes you afraid of: Also everyone, dogs, the Arctic, never being able to grow a beard as majestic as Kurt Russell’s

Speaking of movies in which you can’t trust normal-looking people, The Thing is an OG in the genre. John Carpenter—probably best known for directing Halloween—takes us to a remote Arctic base that is quickly overrun by, as the title implies, a thing. This murderous, bloody alien monster disguises itself in the form of people on the base, which quickly turns the film into an exercise in sustained paranoia. Is Kurt Russel the thing? Is Keith David? Afro guy? The dude with glasses?

Bonus John Carpenter Movie: They Live

The Exorcist

Scare intensity: Very, very scary, but not always for the reasons you might expect

Makes you afraid of: Angiographies, Jesuits at the piano, incontinence, pea soup, God’s silence

This is usually my pick for the greatest horror movie ever made. (I say usually because Hereditary gives it a run for its money.) The movie’s both incredibly frightening and smart. It contains some of my favorite sequences and visuals in not just horror cinema, but film in general. The shot of the two exhausted, terrified, resigned priests sitting on the stairs outside Regan’s room—phenomenal. People remember the scary girl and the vomit, but what really powers this movie are Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller, who play the mother of the possessed Regan and the doubtful priest she asks for help. Their performances turn what could have been schlock into a very human story of desperation, faith and hope.

Bonus Exorcist Movie: The Exorcist III (actually quite good)

Infinity Pool

Scare intensity: It won’t frighten you so much as disgust and concern you.

Makes you afraid of: Going on vacation, Mia Goth, your own hidden perversions

Brandon Cronenberg, Infinity Pool’s director, is the son of famed director David Cronenberg, who you’ll find on this list below. Brandon shares many of his father’s interests in body horror, while also sprinkling in a little extra neuroticism, voyeurism, and masculine inadequacy. This movie’s odd and graphic and pokes at strange perversions, and it will indeed make you feel gross. The setup seems simple enough—a couple on vacation meets another couple that’s a little bizarre—but the turns it takes come completely out of left field. I won’t spoil them, except to say that Mia Goth is a walking nightmare.

Bonus Brandon Cronenberg Movie: Possessor

Antichrist

Scare intensity: Not ashamed to say I held out my hands to block the screen at several points during this movie.

Makes you afraid of: Windows, marriage, men, women, shoes that are too tight

I’m a very quiet man, not prone to outbursts of any sort, but I’m pretty sure when I saw this movie, I shouted, “Ew, no, gross, ah, God, stop,” at least three times. So let’s be clear—this is a grotesque film. Lars Von Trier is a known provocateur who often makes movies designed to disgust an audience in one way or another, and he does not hold back in Antichrist, which follows an unnamed couple played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg who retreat to a rural cabin after the tragic death of their son. If you can’t stomach the first five minutes, just don’t watch it. It only gets worse.

Bonus Lars Von Trier Film: Melancholia

Under the Skin

Scare intensity: Unbearably creepy

Makes you afraid of: Attractive women who don’t immediately ignore you, the void

This movie follows an alien being on a strange mission through Scotland wearing a human woman’s skin. It’s an art-house approach to horror, with slow pacing, an unsettling score, and not much resolution. The alien picks up random men and convinces them to come with it to a dilapidated house, which is super easy due to the fact that the alien looks like Scarlett Johansson. Then things get weird. The men, let us suffice it to say, do not meet pleasant ends. Under the Skin leans toward creepiness over violence, and as it progresses we witness the alien’s strange and fascinating evolution as it observes humanity and begins to empathize with us.

Bonus Jonathan Glazer Movie: The Zone of Interest

The Fly

Scare intensity: You’ll want to vomit and cry and vomit again.

Makes you afraid of: Your body, scientists, Jeff Goldblum’s enthusiasm

I knew this movie was supposed to be disgusting with its body horror—hello, David Cronenberg—but what I was not prepared for was how sad it becomes. The Fly follows a scientist played by Jeff Goldblum, who attempts to build a teleportation device, only to end up splicing his DNA with a fly that entered the device at the same time he did. What makes the following tale of metamorphosis and decay so heart-wrenching is that Cronenberg spends quite a bit of time on Goldblum’s budding relationship with a journalist, Veronica, who then witnesses his horrific degradation.

Vivarium

Scare intensity: The fear is balanced out by extreme annoyance

Makes you afraid of: Children, the suburbs, throats

Philosophically, I disagree with this movie. Viscerally, it’s upsetting as heck. A young couple touring potential homes becomes trapped in a weird, repeating suburb of empty houses. They’re unable to leave and are forced to follow strange instructions from a being they never see—and then a creepy child appears, one whom they have no choice but to raise. And that kid is the worst, just a creepy, weird little brat nightmare creature. The sheer hopelessness of the scenario makes this one a painful watch.

Possum

Scare intensity: So, so, so unsettling

Makes you afraid of: Trauma, puppets, spiders, old men with long fingers

I was introduced to this film through a photo of the puppet that plays a titular role in it. This puppet is the stuff of nightmares. I will not describe it to you because I don’t want to—if you really want to see it just watch this movie. Possum derives a lot of its horror from that monstrous puppet, which is owned by the main character, a strange, quiet, unhappy man living a life of poverty in his childhood home with his uncle. But the puppet is not all that makes this movie so unsettling—a much worse horror that lingers behind this man’s sad life slowly unfolds.

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