8 post-horror films that scare you differently than we are used to
Miscellaneous / / November 12, 2023
There are things much scarier than jump scares.
In recent years, classic horror films have increasingly been transformed into something new. In new wave horror films, or post-horror films, directors not only scare, but also provoke thought. Using eight examples, we understand the features of this genre.
1. "Witch"
The Witch
- USA, Canada, UK, 2015.
- Duration: 92 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.0.
1630, New England. William, Catherine and their children are very pious, they atone for every offense and sinful thought. But all that is holy pales in comparison to the evil that lurks in the dense thicket. This is first indicated by a rotting crop, and then by the disappearance of newborn baby Sam. The father assumes that the child was taken by a wolf, but Catherine is sure that dark forces are involved.
One of the subgenres of the new wave of horror is considered to be slowburner - a “slow-burning” or “smoldering” movie, in which the action develops slowly, and all the worst is hidden from view. We follow the lives of colonists in 17th century America as they try to find a missing child and find harmony in a destructive family. The threat is somewhere nearby all this time, but is not shown until the very end, which is why the tension continues throughout the entire film.
2. "It Comes at Night"
It Comes at Night
- USA, 2017.
- Duration: 91 minutes.
- IMDb: 6.2.
Another epidemic has taken over the world, civilization ceased to exist, and the survivors shun each other in fear of disease and marauders. The story centers on Paul's family, who live in a house in the middle of the forest. To survive, they follow one rule: never talk to strangers. However, Paul himself breaks it when, after much hesitation, he agrees to shelter Will’s family. As it turns out later, a threat can come from strangers.
The emergence of the term “post-horror” is also associated with this film. Journalist Steve Rose was confused that audiences were expecting classic horror and complained about a slow movie with no appearance of evil. In his article for The Guardian he explained, that such films - post-horror - do not pursue the goal of scaring, but deliberately create a constant feeling of anxiety.
3. "Reincarnation"
Hereditary
- USA, 2018.
- Duration: 127 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.3.
Annie Graham is a wife and mother of two children. She recently buried her mother, who during her lifetime masterfully manipulated her and instilled feelings of guilt. After this, the Grahams' life turns into a nightmare: first, their daughter Annie dies in a monstrous manner, and then their son begins to behave strangely.
The film raises issues of family ties, loss of loved ones and a tragic past. This is also a story about how a traumatic sense of guilt penetrates a family and suffocates it from the inside. Director Ari Aster experiments with mystical images to make the viewer feel as uncomfortable as possible. However, for scary story It is very easy to read the drama of the breakdown of a family, in which people who once loved each other are imbued with hatred for their loved ones.
4. "Solstice"
Midsommar
- USA, Sweden, 2019.
- Duration: 148 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.1.
Anxiety, paranoia and a feeling of constant restlessness migrated to Astaire's next film, which continues to talk about broken families. Denis and Christian are a young couple stuck in a codependent relationship. Together with friends, they go to a quiet Swedish village, where an isolated commune of modern pagans lives. The Summer Solstice Festival is held there. The heroes don't even know what bloody rituals welcome here.
“Solstice” is Astaire’s second feature film. This time he took up the study of pagan cults in the Swedish countryside, but the focus of his attention is again on the theme of loneliness and loss of family. If “Reincarnation” terrified with its dark locations, here almost all the action takes place in bright daylight. And the tension reaches its peak at the moment when the characters’ boundaries of the real and the imaginary blur.
5. "Lighthouse"
The Lighthouse
- USA, Brazil, Canada, 2019.
- Duration: 109 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.4.
A film about two lighthouse keepers on a bleak, remote island. All around is the cold from the sea waves, darkness enveloping everything except the tower, and carnivorous seagulls waiting for new prey. The heroes share life together in a rotten house near the lighthouse, and then relations between them begin to heat up. And the island is gradually driving them crazy.
This is the second feature film from The Witch director Robert Eggers, which made a lot of noise at Cannes. This one is black and white arthouse with the participation of Pattinson and Dafoe, it amazes the viewer with its dark style and original directorial style. As in The Witch, in The Lighthouse Eggers slowly immerses the viewer in a morass of mystical atmosphere.
6. "Male gender"
Men
- UK, 2022.
- Duration: 100 minutes.
- IMDb: 6.1.
Harper recently left her abusive partner, who, out of resentment, decided to commit suicide. To recover from the tragedy and put herself in order, the girl decides to go to a mansion outside the city. But the house, like the characters around it, is not that real. And they look suspiciously like her ex. And no matter how much she wants to forget the nightmare she experienced, the mansion will remind her of it.
This intellectual horror, where horror is built on symbolism that conveys the heroine’s inner experiences. The house here is another character, its locations constantly remind her of her past: from rehabilitation after a difficult relationship to the experience of emotional abuse. Through measured filming, director Alex Garland makes the viewer uncomfortable, weaving psychological drama with creepy metaphors.
7. "Away"
Get Out
- USA, Japan, 2017.
- Duration: 104 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.1.
A black young man named Chris goes to meet the parents of his white girlfriend Rose at their elegant country mansion. The hero is received with amazing cordiality and warmth, but behind this friendliness something dark is hidden.
IN conceptual horror Jordan Peele has an acute social theme of relations between races in modern society. At the beginning the film seems quite simple, but in the middle everything turns upside down. The director creates a contrast in the emotions of the audience, encouraging them to laugh homerically or experience intense tension.
8. "Lamb"
Dýrið
- Iceland, Sweden, Poland, 2021.
- Duration: 106 minutes.
- IMDb: 6.3.
Maria and Ingvar live and work on a remote farm in Iceland. Their daily routine consists of cultivating fields, fishing, taking care of sheep and doing household chores. But one day a mysterious creature is born in the barn: the head of a lamb, the body of a man. The heroes decide to raise him as their child.
Icelandic director Valdimar Johannsson chose not to create a traditional mystery film. It was important for him to come up with a fascinating experiment combined with an ancient fairy-tale atmosphere and unique imagination. Much here is built on metaphors referring to acceptance, motherhood, grief, and heavenly powers.
Among the many debuts at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, “Lamb” is one of the most unusual horror films. And this is another confirmation that the directors of the new wave are interested not so much in jump scares, but in the relationships between people and the psychological aspects associated with their traumas.
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