Supernatural horror film recommendations

December 12, 2019 9:47 PM

I've been revisiting my early student love of horror and doing a bit of catch up in the genre. I've realised there are clear things I like and am looking for and I'm looking for some to download/rent before the holidays. (I know! But it's feeling like a horror marathon kind of Christmas here.)

What I like:
Supernatural, ghosts, occult mysteries
decent acting and strong storytelling
I don't mind violent or bloody, but the point should be more the spooky than the blood

What I do not like:
Random slashers (not a fan of Hush, for instance)
purely psychological horror

Films I have seen lately which scratched this itch: The Babadook, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Conjuring

posted by frumiousb to Media & Arts (24 answers total)

The Wikipedia description explicitly includes the words "psychological horror". I'm not sure if that's completely accurate, but either way Hereditary was an amazing movie, and I'm not usually one for horror.
posted by sacrifix at 9:59 PM on December 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Best answer: It Follows: my favorite horror film of the decade--beautiful, dream-like, and scary
Housebound: great premise--spooky and funny too
Under the Shadow: thematically rich haunted house film set in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War
The Haunting of Hill House: don't expect the book (or a great coda at the very end)--just a good long ghost story with engaging twists and details worth paying attention to
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:15 PM on December 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Does it have to be recent? Because something like Don’t Look Now would be right up your alley.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 11:40 PM on December 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

The Orphanage is my go-to for this kind of thing.
posted by mykescipark at 11:45 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have probably watched too many horror movies, and my tastes are similar to yours.

Ghost movies
The Devil's Backbone
The Orphanage
The Others
13 Ghosts

Honorable mention ghost movies
Below
The Awakening
Skeleton Key
The Sixth Sense (haters gonna hate, but I like it)
The Ring (original or remake)

Not ghost movies, but original and worth the watch
Orphan
Thirst
Hard Candy
Triangle
Let the Right One In (Swedish original)
The Witch
John Dies at the End
The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Recent horror movies
Midsommar
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Haunt
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:46 PM on December 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

All ghost stories. YMMV on the horror factor.

The Fog (1980)
Ghost Story (1981)
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)
The Frighteners (1996)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Others (2001)
posted by TrishaU at 11:49 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Mama (2013)
posted by fairmettle at 12:41 AM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Ghost Stories For Christmas is allll of this - some of the older ones are quite slow and some of the picture quality is not the best, but you've got every British character actor ever in them.
posted by Vortisaur at 2:05 AM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Recent: Oculus, Drag Me to Hell
Old: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), The Uninvited (1944)
posted by scratch at 3:58 AM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

Have you ever seen a British series called Inside No. 9? What about the 1968 film Witchfinder General? Do you like the weirdness? Then you might like A Field in England, set in the English Civil War. It wouldn't be fair to spoil you for any of it, except to say people who like it think it's amazing and people who don't think it's absolutely dull as ditchwater as well as being pretentious nonsense. (Edit: it's very different from Vortisaur's - fabulously creepy - list above)

A Field in England.
“I think I have worked out what God is punishing us for: everything.” - Friend
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Featuring: Reece Shearsmith, Michael Smiley, Peter Ferdinando, Richard Glover, Ryan Pope
posted by glasseyes at 4:06 AM on December 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Pan's Labyrinth
posted by miles per flower at 6:48 AM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

In Fabric.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 7:28 AM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Conjuring 2
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
The Changeling (1980) starring George C. Scott
Suspiria (both the 2018 remake starring Tilda Swinton & Dakota Johnson, and Argento’s original 1977 version)

2nd-ing/nth-ing: It Follows, Under the Shadow, The Others, The Witch, Drag Me To Hell, The Skeleton Key, The Sixth Sense.
posted by edithkeeler at 8:44 AM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

A Dark Song! Last I checked, this one's available on US Netflix. It has supernatural, occult stuff, and some great acting. No big jump scares, really, just a building atmosphere of claustrophobic dread. It might hew a bit too close to psychological horror for your liking, depending, I suppose, on how you interpret the movie, but I think if you liked The Babadook you might like A Dark Song.
posted by yasaman at 9:41 AM on December 13, 2019 [6 favorites]

Lots of good ones here, but I'd add these classics: The Sentinel, The Keep, Prince of Darkness and The Entity.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 10:03 AM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

Antlers is just coming out
posted by speakeasy at 12:06 PM on December 13, 2019

Mothman Prophecies. Not violent, but weird and suspenseful. And it's a Christmas movie as well.
posted by SPrintF at 12:52 PM on December 13, 2019 [5 favorites]

If you don't mind subtitles, Veronica is a good ghost/ouiji story.

If you would like a TV show, Marianne (in french) is about witches and demons, and has some entertaining mystery, with some seriously spooky and unnerving scenes.
posted by FirstMateKate at 1:46 PM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

for vintage scares, there's 'The Innocents' (1961), a classic of the genre.
Perhaps 'The Shining' might also be considered, depending on how you interpret it.
posted by ovvl at 3:04 PM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I watched It Follows last night and it was GREAT! Keep them coming....
posted by frumiousb at 7:17 PM on December 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Nthing quite a few films already mentioned, but some that I found good:
- The Autopsy of Jane Doe
- The Ritual
- Eli
- Veronica
- Blackcoat’s Daughter
- As Above, So Below
- Insidious I and II
- Conjuring I and II
- sinister I
- Hereditary
- V/H/S
- 1408 (there are two different endings, I liked the theatrical but the director’s cut is also good.)

Not ghost/exactly supernatural but still good:
- The Descent
- Midsommar

Also, check out the horror subreddit, they often have many reviews.
posted by buttonedup at 5:19 AM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Oh one more! Lake Mungo. It’s shot mockumentary style and would fit in the ghost category.
posted by buttonedup at 5:28 AM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

Tigers are not afraid

Candyman, which is getting remade next year
posted by five toed sloth at 2:00 PM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

If you haven’t yet seen The Changeling (1980) starring George C Scott, I really recommend it. It’s a great ghost story, with a terrific, cinematically influential, seance scene.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 4:02 PM on December 15, 2019 [1 favorite]