Halloween 2022
by ariaKC | created - 05 Oct 2022 | updated - 11 Oct 2022 | PublicA list of dark films, animation and good shorts for the season. Some great films with trans representation here too!
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1. Mesmeralda (2019)
19 min | Short, Horror, Thriller
In this queer neo giallo, Elena, a young woman obsessed with 9/11 news footage, descends into a surreal nightmare after witnessing a real murder.
Director: Joshua Matteo | Stars: Emira Hajj, Alec Bandzes, Zholie Brooks, Pierce Hughes
Votes: 8
In terms of trans-representation this short film is a breath of fresh air. Wonderfully lit and scored, the use of stock footage lends an extra depth to the dialogue free narrative. Wardrobe is also outstanding.
2. Bit (2019)
TV-MA | 90 min | Comedy, Horror
A transgender teenage girl on summer vacation in Los Angeles fights to survive after she falls in with four queer feminist vampires, who try to rid the city's streets of predatory men.
Director: Brad Michael Elmore | Stars: Diana Hopper, Nicole Maines, Zolee Griggs, Friday Chamberlain
Votes: 1,408
Whatever you’re doing, stop. Now go watch ‘Bit’. Absolutely solid trans representation, vampires and some wonderful cinematography.
3. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
Bunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
Director: Robert Hiltzik | Stars: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields, Christopher Collet
Votes: 38,071 | Gross: $11.00M
Despite its flaws, Sleepaway Camp has an inescapable charm. Whether its the crop tops or that unforgettable finale.
4. Hellraiser (2022)
R | 121 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites.
Director: David Bruckner | Stars: Odessa A'zion, Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey
Votes: 48,784
Trans disney princess!
5. Love You Forever (2021)
20 min | Short, Horror
Director: Sepand Mashiahof | Star: Sepand Mashiahof
A mini-masterpiece of transgender horror, this film will blow you away. For a film so early in the creator’s respective filmographies, Love You Forever boasts superb editing and sound production. The atmosphere is well sustained and for those who are in a desperate search for stellar trans-representation; look no further. Love You Forever opens the doors for multiple possibilities concerning the future of Trans Horror as well as transgender cinema as a whole.
6. Ms .45 (1981)
R | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A timid and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York City after dark and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Zoë Lund, Bogey, Albert Sinkys, Darlene Stuto
Votes: 12,555
One of the more engaging Femme-revenge films.
7. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Fantasy, Mystery
A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
Directors: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Stars: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid
Votes: 15,209
A source of inspiration for much of David Lynch’s filmography (most notably Mulholland Drive), Maya Deren created a timeless and ever haunting collation of imagery.
8. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,225
A dark, atmospheric thriller. The less known about this going in, the better.
9. Titane (2021)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years.
Director: Julia Ducournau | Stars: Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh
Votes: 56,161
For anybody who missed this when it came out, you are in for a superb treat. Equal parts dissection of gender and mysterious thriller, Titane will blow you away.
10. Dead Ringers (1988)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon
Votes: 53,585 | Gross: $9.13M
One of David Cronenberg’s early triumphs. Follows twin-brother gynaecologists. Wonderful body horror.
11. Possession (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Horror
A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen, Heinz Bennent
Votes: 42,872 | Gross: $1.11M
An all-around jaw dropper. With extremely strong performances on display, posession is a paranoid delve into the psyche of a fractured relationship. Presenting itself as a kitchen-sink drama, Possession is much, much more.
12. Kwaidan (1964)
Not Rated | 183 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Kenjirô Ishiyama
Votes: 19,994
A work of pure beauty, Kaidan is based on various folk stories, most which can be found in Lafcadio Hearns written collection called Kwaidan. Theatrical in nature, the various supernatural tales feel incapable of being contained. ‘Yuki the snow maiden’ is a standout segment.
13. Black Cat (1968)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Horror
Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokkô Toura
Votes: 8,579
Riveting shots of stark black and white. The ghostly nature is undeniably spooky.
14. Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A sound engineer's work for an Italian horror studio becomes a terrifying case of life imitating art.
Director: Peter Strickland | Stars: Toby Jones, Antonio Mancino, Guido Adorni, Susanna Cappellaro
Votes: 17,427
With a minimalist plot, the story revolves around the making of a film score for a new horror movie. Sound design is in the forefront here.
15. Stalker (1979)
Not Rated | 162 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
Votes: 144,777 | Gross: $0.23M
The most beautiful cinematic experience you’ll ever have. A highly engrossing dark tale that exists somewhere between science-fiction and drama.
16. Mad God (2021)
Unrated | 83 min | Animation, Fantasy, Horror
The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.
Director: Phil Tippett | Stars: Alex Cox, Niketa Roman, Satish Ratakonda, Harper Taylor
Votes: 14,723
Over 30 years in the making, Mad God is a stop-motion horror marvel.
17. Vampyres (1974)
R | 87 min | Horror
A pair of women lure passers-by to their countryside mansion to feed on them to satisfy their need for blood.
Director: José Ramón Larraz | Stars: Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, Murray Brown, Brian Deacon
Votes: 4,274
A nice watch to pair with ‘Vampyros Lesbos’, ‘Vampyres’ is a wonderfully sleazy erotic horror gem. More of a slowburn, the film takes a little time to get going but once it has, the atmosphere is good.
18. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
While vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Georg Rydeberg
Votes: 22,578
For those seeking a more restrained and symbolistic approach to the horror genre, Bergman’s only “horror” film is a unique, brooding feature. A perfect pairing with the same director’s more well known film ‘Persona’.
19. Midori (1992)
Unrated | 47 min | Animation, Drama, Horror
The story based off of the controversial manga by Suehiro Maruo takes place where a little orphaned girl joins a freak-show circus troupe whose members rape and abuse her. She then finds a glimmer of hope in the enigmatic magician who joins the group.
Director: Hiroshi Harada | Stars: Minako Naka, Norihiko Morishita, Keinosuke Okamoto, Kazuyoshi Hayashi
Votes: 3,666
Despite its controversy’s, this early hand-drawn anime feature is packed full of gorgeous and bizarre imagery. Inclusion of a trans-femme character surprised me and although not handled with the greatest care, it added to my appreciation in this case.
20. Vampyros Lesbos (1971)
Unrated | 89 min | Drama, Horror
An erotic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood.
Director: Jesús Franco | Stars: Soledad Miranda, Dennis Price, Paul Muller, Ewa Strömberg
Votes: 5,200
One of Jesus Franco’s strongest directorial efforts is a surreal, slightly sleazy gem of queer cinema. Even if the occasionally terse editing and script bothers you, the excellent soundtrack will hook you.
21. The Love Witch (2016)
Unrated | 120 min | Comedy, Horror, Romance
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, with deadly consequences.
Director: Anna Biller | Stars: Samantha Robinson, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Laura Waddell, Gian Keys
Votes: 19,914 | Gross: $0.23M
A lovingly crafted ode to 70’s cinema. Absolutely beautiful to watch!
22. Troll 2 (1990)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A vacationing family discovers that the entire town they're visiting is inhabited by goblins, disguised as humans, who plan to eat them.
Director: Claudio Fragasso | Stars: Michael Paul Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie Young
Votes: 34,680
Sick of being scared? Want something that will genuinely terrify you with its terribleness?
23. Outer Space (1999)
Not Rated | 10 min | Short, Horror
Footage from The Entity (1982) is edited into an abstract nightmare.
Director: Peter Tscherkassky | Star: Barbara Hershey
Votes: 2,807
Frantic. Frenetic. This abstract short film was made using multiple cut up and fold in techniques. An eerie sense of foreboding drips from the grain.
24. Eden Lake (2008)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.
Director: James Watkins | Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Jack O'Connell
Votes: 94,868 | Gross: $0.01M
One for the masochists.
25. House (1977)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Horror
A schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi | Stars: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ôba, Ai Matsubara
Votes: 33,735
Charming in its zaniness, Hausu will appeal to those who enjoy a more surreal viewing experience. A splattering of genre tropes and techniques are at play, providing a rather kitsch and camp tone. Filled with unusual shots and wild practical effects.
26. Dark Water (2002)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A mother and her 6-year-old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.
Director: Hideo Nakata | Stars: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa
Votes: 34,932
A little lost alongside larger more infamous J-horrors, Dark water is an interesting supernatural slow burn.
27. Cat People (1942)
Not Rated | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
Votes: 25,996 | Gross: $4.00M
Cat People is a queer-coded classic of early horror cinema.
28. Society (1989)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Horror
An ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite.
Director: Brian Yuzna | Stars: Billy Warlock, Concetta D'Agnese, Ben Slack, Evan Richards
Votes: 21,950
Highly entertaining, Society is a fun film for all the family!
29. The Descent (2005)
R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Votes: 246,969 | Gross: $26.02M
The Descent uses its claustrophobic setting in a highly effective manner.
30. Evil Dead Trap (1988)
Unrated | 102 min | Horror
A late night TV presenter receives a snuff tape, in which a woman is brutally killed. She decides to take a crew out to a location indicated in the tape, but only death and despair await them.
Director: Toshiharu Ikeda | Stars: Miyuki Ono, Aya Katsuragi, Hitomi Kobayashi, Eriko Nakagawa
Votes: 3,800
A very strange forgotten-gem of Japanese horror cinema, Evil Dead Trap is all about the gore and the shock.
31. Suspiria (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé
Votes: 105,457
The classic giallo. Although the 2018 remake is superb, I feel they exist as very different films. The original is worth watching if you haven’t seen it yet.
32. The Beyond (1981)
R | 87 min | Horror
A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.
Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John
Votes: 25,320 | Gross: $0.12M
Tightrope walking a thin line between amazing and god-awful, ‘The Beyond’ manages to balance its self cleverly. Gore sequences are outlandish in concept and execution. The acting and sound production is a little shaky in places but theres so much fun to be had here.
33. Heavy Metal (1981)
R | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
A glowing green orb that embodies ultimate evil terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories.
Directors: Gerald Potterton, John Bruno, John Halas, Julian Harris, Jimmy T. Murakami, Barrie Nelson, Paul Sabella, Jack Stokes, Pino Van Lamsweerde, Harold Whitaker | Stars: Richard Romanus, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Don Francks
Votes: 38,167
No one: Me: What? Taarna definitely had nothing to do with sparking gender-confusion when I watched this as a kid.
34. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
R | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
An aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
Director: Meir Zarchi | Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
Votes: 31,210
Famously decisive, watching ‘I spit on your grave‘ remains an uncomfortable viewing. Its lack of a soundtrack not helping either. It is far more than a simple video nasty however; It is THE iconic femme-revenge film.
35. Braindead (1992)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin
Votes: 103,312 | Gross: $0.24M
Blood and blood and blood and blood and more blood. Better known for ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Peter Jackson’s ‘Braindead’ (also known as Dead Alive) is notorious for its gore. A rather simple premise that is taken to incredibly over the top heights.
36. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,900 | Gross: $26.12M
A sombre, moody exploration of PTSD.
37. Fireworks (1947)
20 min | Short, Drama, Horror
A dissatisfied dreamer awakes, goes out in the night seeking a 'light' and is drawn through the needle's eye. A dream of a dream, he returns to bed less empty than before.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Kenneth Anger, Gordon Gray, Bill Seltzer
Votes: 2,905
Holds the legacy of first gay narrative film in the United States. Full of startling imagery and violent undertones, Fireworks is a great introduction to Kenneth Anger’s filmography.
38. Orpheus (1950)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.
Director: Jean Cocteau | Stars: Jean Marais, François Périer, María Casares, Marie Déa
Votes: 13,411
Included for its dark fantasy elements, Orphee is an exquisitely unique feature. Strange and delightful in its imaginative use of the camera, youll be dazzled.
39. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
R | 99 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Twin boys move to a new house with their mother after she has face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under the bandages is someone the boys don't recognize.
Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Stars: Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz, Susanne Wuest, Hans Escher
Votes: 59,773 | Gross: $1.17M
Mysterious and haunting, the aesthetic framing and composition is engaging.
40. Dogtooth (2009)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Thriller
A controlling, manipulative father locks his three adult offsprings in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Angeliki Papoulia, Christos Passalis
Votes: 110,468 | Gross: $0.11M
Although far from a horror movie, Dogtooth builds a world of isolation and control that feels rather unnerving.
41. Come and See (1985)
Not Rated | 142 min | Drama, Thriller, War
After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas
Votes: 97,277
For those who feel they are desensitised to gore or find jump scares and other modern horror cliches a tad too boring, this film will rattle you. The most harrowing war film I have ever seen. Added for those who find most harder-hitting horror films a walk in the park.
42. Mirror (1975)
Not Rated | 107 min | Biography, Drama
A dying man in his forties remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments and things that tell of the recent history of all the Russian nation.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Margarita Terekhova, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev, Oleg Yankovskiy
Votes: 52,257 | Gross: $0.18M
By no means a horror film, Zerkalo is in my opinion, Director Tarkovskys finest work. The haunting images contained in this picture will stay in your mind long after it has finished - an achievement few genre horror films can accomplish. It does so without the use of any gore or dressed up thrills. Pure poetry.
43. Æon Flux (1991–1995)
TV-14 | 30 min | Animation, Adventure, Sci-Fi
There is a mysterious and immoral secret agent from the country of Monica. Her motives and background remain unexplained, as do those of her antagonist/lover, Trevor Goodchild.
Stars: Denise Poirier, John Rafter Lee, Max Redmond, Julia Fletcher
Votes: 7,059
A masterwork of animation. Surreal, humorous, erotic and emotional. The series occasionally dips into dark sci-fi territory. If you haven’t watched it, start!
44. Surrender Dorothy (1998)
Unrated | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Lahn is a heroin addict who will do anything for his dose. He robs a dealer and bumps into Trevor, who works at a restaurant. He gives him shelter, but for that turns him into his slave, makes him dress in drag, and names him Dorothy.
Director: Kevin DiNovis | Stars: Peter Pryor, Kevin DiNovis, Jason Centeno, Elizabeth Banks
Votes: 398
Without spoiling anything, Surrender Dorothy is the finest example of a film of its kind that ive seen. Problems exist within the ambiguity but theres a sense of sensitivity present here that is usually absent from the far more clinical takes on the same narrative. To me Surrender Dorothy is not a horror film but I can see why some Cis people might view it as such.
45. The Nightmare (II) (2015)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Horror
A look at a frightening condition that plagues thousands; sleep paralysis.
Director: Rodney Ascher | Stars: Stephen Joseph, Estrella Cristina, Siegfried Peters, Nicole Bosworth
Votes: 7,176
A truly unnerving documentary looking at the phenomena of sleep paralysis.
46. Knife + Heart (2018)
Unrated | 102 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Paris, summer 1979. Anne is a producer of cheap gay porn. When Lois, her editor and companion, leaves her, she attempts to get her back by making a more ambitious film with the flamboyant Archibald.
Director: Yann Gonzalez | Stars: Vanessa Paradis, Nicolas Maury, Kate Moran, Jonathan Genet
Votes: 5,537 | Gross: $0.03M
While there are far more well-known Giallo out there, Knife + Heart is a refreshing and even occasionally humorous, queer take on the famous genre. With a protagonist inspired by 70’s french porn director/producer Anne Marie Tensi, If you havent seen it already, it deserves your attention.
47. Lady Snowblood (1973)
Not Rated | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
Director: Toshiya Fujita | Stars: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza
Votes: 16,304
Inspiring much of Tarantinos Kill Bill V1-2, Lady Snowblood is a wonderfully told tale of violent revenge.
48. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After spending a year in solitary confinement, Matsu escapes from prison with six more convicts, followed by the guards led by the vengeful warden who wants her dead at all costs.
Director: Shun'ya Itô | Stars: Meiko Kaji, Fumio Watanabe, Yukie Kagawa, Kayoko Shiraishi
Votes: 3,374
Continuing from where ‘Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701’ ends, the sequel ‘Jailhouse 41’ far exceeds in all respects. Sequences are shot in an elaborate framing more commonly seen in the panels of a gritty manga. Fantasy, WIP, horror, and Revenge tale. ‘Jailhouse 41’ is all of the aforementioned and more.
49. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
Director: Shun'ya Itô | Stars: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Yayoi Watanabe, Yôko Mihara
Votes: 4,872
The first in the series, ‘Female Prisoner Scorpion 701’, is a well made exploration of the WIP sub-genre. The femme-revenge aspect takes precedence and will lead you on to the sequel, ‘Jailhouse 41’, one of the best 70s exploitation features of all time.
50. Begotten (1989)
Unrated | 72 min | Fantasy, Horror
Presented in a surreal, gory and entirely visual manner, Begotten tells of the death of religion, the abuse of nature by Man and a nihilistic outlook on what life ultimately is.
Director: E. Elias Merhige | Stars: Brian Salzberg, Donna Dempsey, Stephen Charles Barry, James Gandia
Votes: 11,758
Viewing Begotten transports you to a space void of the living or the dead; fitting, as the core vision for this film came to the director during a near death experience. Free of dialogue, the distant chirrup of crickets and analogue hiss combine to a sinister ambience. More of a hypnotic experience than a standard film experience.
51. Nekromantik (1988)
Not Rated | 71 min | Horror
A street sweeper who cleans up after grisly accidents brings home a full corpse for him and his wife to enjoy sexually, but is dismayed to see that his wife prefers the corpse over him.
Director: Jörg Buttgereit | Stars: Bernd Daktari Lorenz, Beatrice Manowski, Harald Lundt, Collosseo
Votes: 10,979
Highly unusual and highly unsettling, Nekromantik is uncomfortable viewing. The grimy tones of the colouring and the film stock create a harrowing atmosphere. The soundtrack is quite memorable here.
52. Cutting Moments (1996)
29 min | Short, Drama, Horror
With her quaint suburban existence on the slow road to ruin, Sarah mutilates herself in the bathroom mirror while her husband sits downstairs watching TV.
Director: Douglas Buck | Stars: Nica Ray, Gary Betsworth, Jared Barsky
Votes: 1,741
Returning to this short many years later, it remains gut-wrenching. The body horror elements to me, possess a rather gender focused drive.
53. The Path (1988)
31 min | Animation, Short, Sci-Fi
People survive on an alien planet in the hope of returning to Earth. Fantastic cartoon based on Kir Bulychyov's novel.
Director: Vladimir Tarasov | Stars: Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Vasiliy Livanov, Aleksandr Pashutin, Alla Pokrovskaya
Votes: 467
A futuristic fable set in a shifting landscape of exquisitely rendered beauty. Equal parts foreboding and poetic.
54. Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
R | 104 min | Mystery, Thriller
A famous fashion photographer develops a disturbing ability to see through the eyes of a killer.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 12,087 | Gross: $20.00M
An entertaining serial-killer film set amid the fashion world of the late 70s.
55. Carnival of Souls (1962)
Approved | 78 min | Horror, Mystery
After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.
Director: Herk Harvey | Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison
Votes: 27,821
Although well known for its influence on George A. Romero’s night of the living dead, Carnival of Soul’s masked queer coding is often overlooked. Includes some lovingly dreamy shots.
56. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse
Votes: 41,043 | Gross: $0.23M
Stifling heat and the overt-etiquette of a turn of the century college in Australia, combine to create a dazzling and mystifying feature.
57. Proxy (I) (2013)
Not Rated | 122 min | Horror, Thriller
The life of three parents who have all shared the loss of a child. Motives are not what they seem and sanity is in short supply in this thriller.
Director: Zack Parker | Stars: Alexa Havins, Joe Swanberg, Kristina Klebe, Alexia Rasmussen
Votes: 4,397
Overlooked at the time, Proxy takes a sheer left turn every time you feel you have the story figured out. Wonderfully creepy, Proxy, can be quite an intense watch.
58. The Tell-Tale Heart (I) (1953)
Passed | 8 min | Animation, Short, Crime
A madman tells his tale of murder, and how a strange beating sound haunted him afterward.
Director: Ted Parmelee | Stars: James Mason, Jack Mather
Votes: 2,211
The Tell-Tale heart is a must watch for fans of animation. A wonderfully precise take and reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short tale.
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