HORROR MOVIES (XXI CENTURY)
THANKSGIVING (USA 2023) Eli Roth
Nell Verlaque, Patrick Dempsey, Jales Brooks, Milo Manheim
During Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, people are gathering outside the local RightMart superstore in preparation for a Black Friday sale. Jessica Wright, whose father Thomas owns the store, lets her boyfriend Bobby and her friends Evan, Gabby, Scuba, and Yulia inside the store early through a side door.
SAW X (USA 2023) Kevin Greutert
Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnove Macody Lund
John Kramer is told he has only months to live due to advanced brain cancer. He attends a cancer support group meeting and befriends Henry Kessler, who later claims he has been cured by an experimental Norwegian cancer treatment conducted by a group led by Dr. Finn Pederson. A desperate John contacts the doctor's daughter Cecilia, who refers him to her clinic outside Mexico City.
TALK TO ME (AUSTRALIA 2022) Danny & Michael Philippou
Ari McCarthy, Hamish Phillips, Kit Erhart-Bruce
At a crowded house party in Adelaide, Cole searches for his brother Duckett. When he finds Duckett and attempts to bring him home, Duckett stabs him in the shoulder before fatally stabbing himself in the face. Some time later, 17-year-old Mia is struggling with the second anniversary of her mother Rhea's suicide by overdose and her distant relationship with her father Max.
PEARL (USA 2022) Ti West
Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright
In 1918, during the influenza pandemic, Pearl is a young woman living with her German immigrant parents on their Texas homestead while her husband, Howard, serves in World War I. Pearl's father is infirm and paralyzed, and her domineering mother, Ruth, insists that she help care for both him and the farm.
SPEAK NO EVIL (DANIMARCA 2022) Christian Tafdrup
Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huet
During their vacation in Tuscany, Bjørn and Louise, a Danish couple, and their daughter Agnes, meet Patrick and Karin, a Dutch couple, and their son Abel, who suffers from congenital aglossia and was born without a tongue. A few weeks later, Bjørn and Louise receive an invitation from the Dutch couple to visit their remote rural house in the Netherlands, which they accept.
MALIGNANT (USA 2021) James Wan
Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young
In 1993, Dr. Florence Weaver and her colleagues Victor Fields and John Gregory treat a violent, disturbed patient named Gabriel at Simion Research Hospital who is able to control electricity and broadcast his thoughts via speakers. After Gabriel kills several staff members, Dr. Weaver determines that he is a lost cause and the "cancer" must be removed.
HOST (USA 2020) Rob Savage
Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward
In July 2020, during a COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom, a group of friends American expat Haley; her English-Chinese friend Jemma; their English-Bulgarian friend Radina; and their English friends Emma, Caroline, and Teddy meet online for the weekly Zoom call they use to stay in touch.
THE PLATFORM (SPAIN 2019) Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Emilio Buale, Zorion Eguileor, Eric Goode, Alexandra Masangkay, Ivan Massagué
Goreng awakes in a concrete cell marked with the number 48. His roommate, Trimagasi, explains that they are in a tower-style facility in which food is delivered via a platform that travels from the top, stopping for a fixed period on each floor. Those on lower levels are able to eat only what those at the top leave them, and they cannot hoard food (the cell is heated or cooled to fatal levels if food is kept). Every month, people are randomly reassigned to a new level.
MIDSOMMAR (USA 2019) Ari Aster
Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren
College student Dani Ardor is traumatized after her sister Terri kills herself and their parents by filling their home with carbon monoxide. The incident strains Dani's relationship with her emotionally distant boyfriend, Christian Hughes, an anthropology graduate student. The following summer, Dani learns that Christian and his friends, Mark and Josh, have been invited by their Swedish friend, Pelle, to attend a midsummer celebration at Pelle's ancestral commune, the Hårga, in Hälsingland. Pelle explains that this iteration of the celebration only occurs every ninety years.
CLIMAX (FRANCE 2018) Gaspar Noé
Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile
The film opens with Lou, one of the members of the troupe, bloody and crawling though the snow. After the end credits roll, it depicts a series of audition tapes, in which choreographer Selva and DJ Daddy interview potential future members of a dance troupe they are creating. They discuss topics like dance, fears, relationships, sex and drug experiences. Later in an abandoned school, the collected dancers rehearse an elaborate routine before starting an after-party, partying, dancing and drinking sangria. The diverse group has several personal issues and share gossip about one another during the celebration.
MOTHER ! (USA 2017) Darren Aronofsky
Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, Domhnall Gleeson
In the burnt-out remains of a large house, Him, an acclaimed poet struggling with writer's block, places a crystal object on a pedestal in his study. The ruined house morphs into a lovely home in an edenic landscape. In bed, Mother, the poet's wife and muse, awakens and wonders aloud where Him is. While renovating the house, she starts seeing things that unsettle her, including visualizing a beating heart within its walls. One day, a stranger referred to as Man turns up at the house, asking for a room and claiming to be a local doctor. Him readily agrees, and Mother reluctantly follows suit.
DON'T BREATHE (USA 2016) Fede Alvarez
Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Stephen Lang, Daniel Zovatto, Jane May Graves
Rocky, Alex, and Money are three Detroit delinquents who make a living by breaking into houses and stealing valuables. Rocky longs to move to California with her younger sister, Diddy, and escape from their abusive mother and her alcoholic boyfriend. However, much to the trio's frustration, their fence keeps undervaluing the items they bring. Money receives a tip from their fence that a man has $300,000 in cash in his house in an abandoned Detroit neighborhood. The cash was reportedly a settlement after a wealthy young woman, Cindy Roberts, killed his daughter in a car accident.
31 (USA 2016) Rob Zombie
Torsten Voges, Sandra Rosko, Elizabeth Daily, Richard Brake, Malcolm McDowel
31 is a 2016 American horror film written and directed by Rob Zombie, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Meg Foster, Richard Brake, Malcolm McDowell, E.G. Daily, Judy Geeson, and Jane Carr. A period piece set in 1976, the film is about five carnies who are kidnapped by a gang of clowns called "The Heads" and forced to play a survival game called "31", where they are chased by the clowns through a maze of rooms over 12 hours, the penalty for capture being torture and murder, while bets are placed on their progress.
IT FOLLOWS (USA 2014) David Robert Mitchell
Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Daniel Zovatto
In Detroit, a young girl flees to sit by herself on the beach after escaping from a house, suspecting she is being chased by an unknown threat. The next morning, her mangled body is seen lying on the beach. Oakland University student Jay goes on a date with her new boyfriend, Hugh. At the movies, Hugh points out a woman in the back of the theater. When Jay says she cannot see the woman, Hugh becomes unnerved and asks that they leave. On another date, Hugh and Jay have sex in his car, but afterward he incapacitates Jay with chloroform, and she wakes up tied to a wheelchair...
GOODNIGHT MOMMY (AUSTRIA 2014) Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz, Hans Escher
After undergoing a cosmetic facial surgery, a woman comes back home to her modern, isolated lakeside house and to her ten-year-old twin sons, Elias and Lukas. Her head is swathed in bandages, with only her eyes and mouth visible. The twins are unnerved by their mother's appearance and are further taken aback when she begins to exhibit strange behavior. She pointedly ignores Lukas and appears to only acknowledge Elias in conversation.
STARRY EYES (USA 2014) Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer
Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan, Fabianne Therese
Sarah Walker is an aspiring actress who is stuck waitressing at a fast-food restaurant. Her friends are generally unsupportive and selfish; Erin is constantly trying to steal Sarah's roles, while her roommate Tracy and aspiring director Danny are apathetic to Sarah's situation. Sarah's prospects at stardom look dim until she takes an audition for a film called The Silver Scream, held by the powerful production company Astraeus Pictures. Her audition is met with a lackluster response by the casting director and her assistant.
THE BABADOOK (AUSTRALIA 2014) Jennifer Kent
Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall
Amelia is a troubled widow who has raised her six-year-old son Sam alone after the death of her husband Oskar. Sam begins displaying erratic behavior: he rarely sleeps through the night and is preoccupied with an imaginary monster, which he has built weapons to fight. Amelia is forced to take her son out of school due to his behavior. One night, Sam asks his mother to read from a mysterious pop-up storybook he finds on his shelf. The story, Mister Babadook, describes a monster, the Babadook, who torments its victims after they become aware of it.
WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (USA 2014) Jim Mickle
Riley Keough, Odeya Rush, Wyatt Russell, Bill Sage, Julia Garner
During a torrential downpour, a woman confusedly staggers into a store as the butcher receives a delivery. After several attempts to address her, she finally responds and explains that the foul weather has strongly affected her. The butcher says that it will get worse before it gets better, and she purchases groceries. As she leaves the store, she sees a poster that advertises missing teenage girls. Before she can reach her car, she begins bleeding from her mouth and loses consciousness as she falls into a rain-filled ditch, where she drowns.
THE GREEN INFERNO (USA 2013) Eli Roth
Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Aaron Burns, Magda Apanowicz
Justine, a college freshman at New York University, becomes interested in a social activism group on her campus, led by Alejandro and his girlfriend, Kara. The group plans a trip to the Amazon rainforest to stop a company from logging and obliterating ancient native tribes there; the goal is to film the logging crews with cell phones and stream footage to raise awareness. Justine, whose father is an attorney for the United Nations, suggests she could bring attention to the issue through her father. Her roommate, Kaycee, stays behind, being that she thinks that the mission is stupid.
THE CONJURING (USA 2013) James Wan
Vera Farmiga, Joey King, Patrick Wilson, Mackenzie Foy, Ron Livingston
In 1971, Roger and Carolyn Perron move into a dilapidated farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island with their five daughters Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April. During the first day, their move goes smoothly, though their dog Sadie refuses to enter the house and one of the daughters finds a boarded up entrance to a cellar. A few paranormal events happen within the first few nights, including all of the clocks stopping at exactly 3:07 AM and Sadie being found dead in the back yard. One night, while they are both in bed, Christine feels a tugging on her leg, which she first expects to be Nancy, but is a spirit only she can see.
MAMA (SPAIN 2013) Andres Muschietti
Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse
Distraught after losing his fortune in the 2008 financial crisis, stockbroker Jeffrey Desange kills his business partners and estranged wife before taking his children, three-year-old Victoria and one-year-old Lilly, away from home. Driving dangerously fast on a snowy road, Jeffrey loses control and the car slides down the mountain, ramming into the woods. Surviving, he takes the children into an abandoned cabin. Planning to kill his daughters and commit suicide, he holds a gun to Victoria's head, but a shadowy figure kills him.
EXCISION (USA 2012) Richard Bates Jr.
AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, John Waters, Jeremy Sumpter, Roger Bart
The film depicts the life of a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline, with aspirations of a career in medicine and the extremes to which she goes to earn the approval of her controlling mother. Pauline has a younger sister named Grace who suffers from cystic fibrosis. Pauline has vivid dreams about herself and others being mutilated with excessive amounts of blood; and after each dream wakes panting in an orgasmic state. Pauline decides to lose her virginity to a boy named Adam - explaining what she wants from him and gives him her number.
THE PACT (USA 2012) Nicholas McCarthy
Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Mark Steger, Agnes Bruckner
Nicole Barlow is finalizing preparations for her mother's funeral at her childhood home in San Pedro, California. Her sister, Annie does not want to attend, reminding Nicole of the way their mother used to treat them. Nicole tries to contact her cousin, Liz and her daughter Eva via video call. After losing the connection, Nicole sees an open door, leading into a dark room and walks inside. Annie arrives, having been informed that Nicole is missing, and finds Nicole's phone along with a photo.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (USA 2011) Drew Goddard
Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams
In the underground Facility, senior technicians Gary Sitterson and Steve Hadley discuss plans for a mysterious ritual. A similar operation undertaken by their counterparts in Stockholm has just ended in failure. American college students Dana Polk, Holden McCrea, Marty Mikalski, Jules Louden, and Curt Vaughan are spending their weekend at a seemingly deserted cabin in the forest. From the facility, where they possess some technological control over the cabin, Sitterson and Hadley manipulate them by intoxicating the teenagers with mind-altering drugs that hinder rational thinking and increase libido.
THE WOMAN (USA 2011) Lucky McKee
Angela Bettis, Pollyanna McIntosh, Sean Bridgers, Marcia Bennett, Carlee Baker
The movie opens with the feral Woman circling what appears to be her child. A wolf, apparently tamed by the feral Woman, circles the infant as well but does it no harm. Although it is not referenced in the film, the Woman is the last remaining member of a cannibalistic tribe that has roamed the north-east coast for decades. Chris Cleek is a country lawyer at a local barbecue with his family. The oldest daughter Peggy sits off to the side, upset. Their only son Brian Cleek watches as a couple of boys abuse and push a small girl into a corner, making no effort to save her.
THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (USA 2009) Dennis Iliadis
Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt, Spencer Treat Clark
Emma, John Collingwood, and their daughter, competitive swimmer Mari, head out on vacation to their lake house. Shortly thereafter, Mari borrows the family car and drives into town to spend some time with her friend Paige. While Paige works the cash register at a local store, she and Mari meet Justin, a teenager passing through town who invites them both back to his roadside motel room to smoke some marijuana. While the three are hanging out in the motel room, Justin's family members return: Krug, Justin's father; Francis, Justin's uncle; and Sadie, Krug's girlfriend.
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (SWEDEN 2008) Tomas Alfredson
Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist
Oskar, a meek 12-year-old boy, resides with his mother Yvonne in the western Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1981 and occasionally visits his father Erik in the countryside. It is not clear why Erik is living apart from Yvonne, but on one such visit, when Oskar and Erik are enjoying a cosy night playing games, a drunken neighbour arrives and Erik starts to drink heavily with him, breaking up the father/son evening. Oskar's classmates regularly bully him, and he spends his evenings imagining revenge, collecting clippings from newspapers and magazines about grisly murders.
MARTYRS (FRANCE 2008) Pascal Laugier
Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne
The film begins with a young girl, Lucie Jurin, as she escapes from a disused abattoir where she has been imprisoned and physically abused for a long time. The perpetrators and their motivations remain a mystery. Lucie is placed in an orphanage, where she is befriended by a young girl named Anna Assaoui. Anna discovers that Lucie believes that she is constantly being terrorized by a ghoulish creature; a disfigured emaciated woman. Fifteen years later, Lucie bursts into the home of an apparently normal family, the Belfonds—Gabrielle, her husband, and their children Antoine and Marie—and kills them all. Elsewhere, Anna waits for Lucie.
EDEN LAKE (USA 2008) James Watkins
Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Thomas Turgoose, Bronson Webb, Jack O'Connell
Nursery school teacher Jenny and her boyfriend, Steve, journey to a remote lake in the wooded English countryside. Hiking to the lakeside, they meet Adam, a young boy gathering insects. Relaxing beside the lake, the setting is disrupted by delinquent teenagers and their dog, who have ridden their bicycles to a spot within a few metres of the young couple. After they sleep overnight in their tent, they find their food infested with insects and their car tyre damaged by a bottle left behind by the teens. Returning to town for breakfast, Steve spots a house with the bikes he thinks belongs to the kids.
INSIDE (FRANCE 2007) Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Béatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis, Nathalie Roussel, François-Régis Marchasson
A baby in utero is seen, with the mother's voice heard soothing it. The baby recoils as if struck. Expectant mother Sarah has been in a car accident, and her husband has been killed. Months later on Christmas Eve, Sarah is making final preparations for her delivery the following day. Still reeling from her husband's death, Sarah is now moody and depressed. That evening, a mysterious woman arrives at Sarah's door, asking to use the telephone to call for help. Sarah lies that her husband is sleeping and she does not want to be disturbed, but the woman tells her that she knows that he is dead.
FRONTIERS (FRANCE 2007) Xavier Gens
Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Patrick Ligardes, David Saracino, Maud Forget
A far-right candidate is elected to the French presidency, sparking riots in Paris. Hoping to escape Paris but needing cash, Alex, Tom, Farid, the pregnant Yasmine, and her brother Sami take advantage of the chaos to pull off a robbery. Sami is shot and the group splits up: Alex and Yasmine take Sami to a hospital, and Tom and Farid take the money to a family-run inn near the border. Innkeepers Gilberte and Klaudia claim their rooms are free and seduce the two men. At the hospital, the emergency room staff report Sami's injury to the police.
THE HILLS HAVE EYES (USA 2006) Alexandre Aja
Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd
A group of scientists are killed by a mutant named Pluto. Later, Bob Carter and his wife, Ethel Carter are traveling from Cleveland, Ohio to San Diego, California for their silver anniversary. With them are their teenage children Bobby, and Brenda, eldest daughter Lynn, Lynn's husband Doug Bukowski, their baby daughter Catherine, and their German Shepherds, Beauty and Beast. In the New Mexico desert, they meet a gas station attendant named Jeb, who tells them of a short-cut through the hills.
HOSTEL (USA 2006) Eli Roth
Jay Hernandez, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova, Rick Hoffman, Jana Kaderabkova
College students Paxton and Josh are traveling across Europe with their Icelandic friend Óli. In Amsterdam, the three meet a man named Alexei, who convinces them to visit a hostel in Slovakia that is filled with beautiful women. The three board a train to Slovakia, where they encounter a strange Dutch Businessman. When they arrive at the hostel, they are greeted by Natalya and Svetlana, who invite them to the spa, and later to the disco. That night, Paxton and Josh sleep with Natalya and Svetlana, while Óli sleeps with the desk girl, Vala.
THE DESCENT (UK 2005) Neil Marshall
MyAnna Buring, Craig Conway, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Molly Kayll, Stephen Lamb
On her way back from whitewater rafting with her friends Juno and Beth, Sarah, along with her husband Paul and their daughter Jessica get involved in a car accident. Paul and Jessica are killed, but Sarah survives. One year later, Sarah and her friends Juno, Beth, Sam, Rebecca, and newcomer Holly are reunited at a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. While spelunking, Juno apologises to Sarah for not being there for her after the accident, but Sarah is distant. As the group moves through a passage, it collapses behind them, trapping them.
THE RING (USA 2002) Gore Verbinski
Naomi Watts, Brian Cox, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Jane Alexander
Teenagers Katie Embry and Becca Kotler discuss the urban legend of a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it. Katie admits she watched the tape with her boyfriend and two others at a campsite a week ago. Suddenly, the telephone rings and both of the teenagers are initially startled but the caller turns out to be Katie's mother. After finishing speaking with her mother, Katie begins to notice eerie noises coming from upstairs, where her friend had supposedly gone. After witnessing other paranormal phenomenon, Katie hesitantly yells to Becca from the bottom of the stairs, as the sounds become intensely unsettling.
THIRTEEN GHOSTS (USA 2001) Steve Beck
F. Murray Abraham, Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard
Ghost hunter Cyrus Kriticos and his psychic assistant Dennis Rafkin lead a team on a mission to capture a spirit called the Juggernaut. Several men are killed, including Cyrus. However, the team is able to catch the ghost. Cyrus's nephew Arthur, a widower, is informed by Cyrus's estate lawyer, Ben Moss, that he has inherited Cyrus' mansion. Financially insecure, Arthur decides to move there with his two children, Kathy and Bobby and their nanny Maggie. Posing as a power company inspector, Dennis meets the family and Moss as they tour the mansion.