Six Visually Experimental Horror Films
Peeping Tom
Yes, this one is old. And yes, some of you may be way too young to have even heard about it. But the modern slasher as you know of today would not exist if it were not for this film. On top of that, this film is actually pretty creepy and quite gory, especially for the time.
Peeping Tom was a movie about a killer who uses a video camera mounted on his weapon (a sharpened tripod) to capture the final look of agony on his victims face when he kills them. Oh, and did I mention it came out in 1960?
httpv://youtu.be/s9ss1W4IeGc
It marked the birth of slasher/voyeur horror that would really come to shine 20 years later.
At the time, the film had people up in arms, but if you see it, and you start to understand the character a little better, his motives become more clear. I am not saying they become acceptable, but atleast you do understand his sick sense of reasoning a little more.
See this movie now, before some brainless, lazy writer and director realizes how original it is and decides they want to “reboot” it and ruin it.
Videodrome
All I really need to say about this movie is this scene: which, btw, is NSFL.
httpv://youtu.be/8IxeroqZSuo
Told you it was not safe for life.
David Cronenberg may be the grandfather of surreal, body horror. But it was with this film that he formed the niche he would go on to master. A wholly unsettling look into television and pop culture, and just how dangerous an obsession it can become when all those worlds melt together, literally and figuratively.
And you really can’t bring up one weird director named David without bringing up the other…
Inland Empire
I love David Lynch films, and I consider the diner scene in Mulholland Drive to be one of the creepiest scenes I have ever seen in a film. But when I was thinking about all of his movies, and was trying to decide which one was the scariest and the most experimental, I kept coming back to Inland Empire. Why? Well, here is why:
httpv://youtu.be/Q1awMW53Vko
The rabbit scene just creeps me out. No idea why, but it does. It is right now, for crying out loud.
David Lynch has a tendency to make movies that sit like bad food does. Just stirs and grumbles in your gut. Makes weird noises and let’s its presence be known, but you never fully know when it is going to come on, full force, so you just sit there, shaking, wondering when it will all get worse. Living at its mercy, if you will.
And with Lynch fans, it is a given that people will take to the comment section and tell me “his movies aren’t horror” or that I should have picked Lost Highway. But if a movie is truly unsettling, I think it is fair to call that horror. If a movie makes you feel like you are one dirty drugs, I think it is fair to call that horror. And for that reason, Inland Empire deserves a spot on this list as much as any other movie before it.
Horror means different things to different people.
And while some may see these movies and think of college kids in art school trying to make horror films, there are some people who will appreciate the insanity of the films on this list, and will appreciate them for the chances they took separating themselves from all the films that came before them, and the clones that have appeared since.
Honorable Mention:
The Oregonian. This movie came out recently to huge buzz, and though it can be said it is experimental, it is far more of a headache inducing experience then one I can actually recommend.
Anything by Dario Argento: Visually, this guys films were a real treat, with colors that popped off screen and gore that was so vibrant it almost looked 3D.
Man Bites Dog: A black and white mockumentary that followed a serial killer as he did more and more deranged things. And this came out long before the shaky cam, found footage stuff got huge.
Repo: The Genetic Opera: Come on, a gore driven musical? That is awesome.
The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto: A Rob Zombie horror cartoon that is actually a lot of stupid, mindless, juvenile fun.
Agree on all but Begotten… From the insipid self-promotion in the trailer (“A Rorschach test for the eyes”… is that like “a writing test for your hands”? The film is more like “a taste test for my anus”…) to your “your own perceptions play tricks on you” (why, yes… I had been convinced this was 5 stoners making a bad movie on zero budget witha shitty camera) and “no credited actors” (roll credits…) grandizing, this thing just shoots itself in the foot from jump.
You really tried too hard with that one.
I wrote a long post on the Inland Empire forum over at IMDb arguing that Inland Empire is one of the best horror films ever made. I think the best comparison of the horror in Inland Empire is the Shining – the ‘monster’ is an unseen force that becomes manifest around the character experiencing the horror, and they can’t escape it because it isn’t tangible. There are other links IE has with the Shining too but I can’t get into it now.
Good call on Begotten too, by the way.
Disappointed by the lack of Tetsuo, though. All black and white, the scrap metal special effects and the weird stop motion (particularly the chase sequence near the end) and the techno soundtrack. If it’s absent from your list because you haven’t seen it, you must.
I actually liked this list. Though I think Jacob’s Liar kinda of almost ONLY has it’s style going for it (it’s hard to defend film’s whose plots are shaggy dog jokes).
I was expecting to see Vampyr on this list. Not my favorite movie in the world, but visually it’s pretty awesome.
Great list!
I actually and off the top of my head I really couldn’t think of anything that should be removed. Clean Shaven, Man Bites Dog, and Peeping Tom are all great films.
I actually think this is the first list on the internet that I can agree through and through….well, almost El Superbeasto is garbage but I’ll look past that since it’s at the end.
@Steve, I can respect that. I ALMOST didn’t like the film, and do agree thew trailer treads on Tommy Wiseau levels of idiocracy, but that straight edge razor scene with the guts falling on the floor just gets to me.
@Me, Yeah, Lynch has a gift for truly getting under the skin better than any other director. I loved Tetsuo and that is a great call, I let is slip past me when I made this.
@Jake Fortner, I begrudgingly admit I was stuck between Vampyr and Nosferatu….
and lastly,
I am nodding my head in satisfaction that I pleased @CriticalBill. He is not an easy person to please.
Pardon me while I sit back and sip some cognac, smiling contently.
Videodrome! My high school chemistry teacher told me to “check it out, I think you’ll like it,” and I practically punched him in the face the next day. Also, you totally made the right call on Inland Empire. I’m a big Lynch fan and he always leaves me unsettled, but IE actually upset me to the core. I still have nightmares from it. And I’m not even sure why or what makes it all that different from his other stuff. God I miss Twin Peaks.
7 Strangers