We watch movies for different reasons—sometimes to go on a journey, sometimes to fall in love, and sometimes to scare our pants off. Horror Film Spotlight focuses on the ones that keep us up at night, whether they star restless ghosts or psychotic ax murderers. Some are spooky and some are gory, but they’re all full of that shadow-in-the-doorway, voice-in-the-dark sense that something’s just not quite right. And what’s scarier than that?
From the film’s first moments, it’s clear that not everyone will be making it off the train to Busan alive. First to die (excluding one scene-stealing zombified deer) is a woman who sneaks on board seconds before the train departs from the station. The horde she creates forces surviving passengers to barricade themselves in a single car as their country collapses thanks to the fast-moving virus. Survivor Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is a pragmatic workaholic bent on saving only himself and his daughter, Soo-an (Kim Su-an). Soo-an isn’t nearly so selfish: thanks to her, Seok-woo forms tentative alliances with other passengers, including a no-nonsense working-class couple (Ma Dong-seok and Jung Yu-mi) and two high schoolers (Choi Woo-shik and Ahn So-hee). Despite Seok-woo’s best efforts, the group draws together as the train carries them toward their last hope, the quarantined city of Busan.
Why You Should Watch It
Train to Busan is basically World War Z—action-packed and full of some damn speedy zombies—but with a far deeper emotional core. Whatever his faults, Seok-woo loves his daughter. In the end, his love redeems him. The film does hammer in its message (selfishness is never okay, even in a train full of zombies) hard: most of the self-serving characters are guaranteed a bloody death scene. But like any good zombie movie, the body count runs high, so don’t expect the selfless characters to have it any easier. Train to Busan isn’t as sweeping as World War Z, or as gory as The Walking Dead, but it holds its own as a terrifying, touching story of family, friendship, and zombies.
We watch movies for different reasons—sometimes to go on a journey, sometimes to fall in love, and sometimes to scare our pants off. Horror Film Spotlight focuses on the ones that keep us up at night, whether they star restless ghosts or psychotic ax murderers. Some are spooky and some are gory, but they’re all full of that shadow-in-the-doorway, voice-in-the-dark sense that something’s just not quite right. And what’s scarier than that?
Meet Lily Saylor. She’s a shy, intensely awkward, and easily frightened nurse who has accepted what is possibly the worst job for an awkward and easily frightened nurse: she works as a live-in caretaker to a long-retired author of ghost stories. The author, Iris Blum, insists on calling Lily “Polly,” a quirk that seems more sinister once Lily discovers that Polly is the protagonist of Iris’s best-known book, The Lady in the Walls. In fact, Iris claimed that Polly was not only a real person, but a ghost who haunted (and still haunts) her house. To protect her sanity, if nothing else, Lily refuses to believe that Iris’s story is anything but fiction. After all, she and the old woman live alone in the house, often going without visitors for months at a time. The idea that someone—or something—else has been watching them is more than Lily can bear.
Why You Should Watch It
Okay, here’s the thing: this film isn’t for everyone. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House isn’t so much terrifying as it is unsettling. From the moment Lily appears onscreen, it’s obvious that something about her is just a tad bit off. Maybe it’s that she always wears white. Maybe it’s that she speaks so slowly and stiltedly that you’d think she was reading her lines out of a book. Who knows? The film is an eighty-seven-minute-long exercise in building up a mood that doesn’t necessarily answer the questions it raises. Why, exactly, did Polly die? For that matter, why did she decide to tell her story to Iris, and why does Iris mistake Lily for her? (Iris is an old woman who could simply be suffering from dementia, but is something stranger going on there?) If you’re looking for straight answers, skip this one. If, on the other hand, you like your ghost stories slow, stately, and ambiguously resolved, why not give it a try?
It is a terrible thing to look at oneself and to all the while see nothing.
Have you seen I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House? What did you think?
We watch movies for different reasons—sometimes to go on a
journey, sometimes to fall in love, and sometimes to scare our pants off.
Horror Film Spotlight focuses on the ones that keep us up at night, whether
they star restless ghosts or psychotic ax murderers. Some are spooky and some
are gory, but they’re all full of that shadow-in-the-doorway, voice-in-the-dark
sense that something’s just not quite right. And what’s scarier than that?
Pro tip: if you find a new storybook on your child’s
shelf—one that you can’t remember seeing, let alone reading, before—maybe, just
this once, a book burning is in order. But what could be dangerous about the
pop-up Mr. Babadook? Plenty, as it
turns out; after reading the book to her son Sam (Noah Wiseman), Amelia Vanek
(Essie Davis) starts sensing a new presence in her house. Unable to prove
anything to the police, she and Sam are forced to deal with disturbing phone
calls, shadowy figures, and increasingly graphic threats illustrated in the
seemingly indestructible book. Because here’s the thing about the Babadook: the
longer it’s ignored, the stronger it grows. And once you let it in, it never,
ever leaves.
Why You Should Watch It
Like our first Horror Film Spotlight, Mama, The Babadook also
delves into the darker side of motherhood. This time around, though, it’s the
human who has the problem, not the monster. Amelia loves her son, but there’s
no denying that Sam is a disturbed and off-putting kid who’s isolated his mother from
her friends and family. The true conflict of the film isn’t between Amelia and
the Babadook but between Amelia and Sam—you’ll be on the edge of your seat
wondering if they’ll team up in time to save each other. Also be on the lookout
for cool practical effects and simple-yet-eerie set designs. It’s not quite as
fast-paced as Mama, but The Babadook is just as atmospheric and
unsettling.
If it’s in a word. Or
it’s in a look. You can’t get rid of…the Babadook.
We watch movies for different reasons—sometimes to go on a
journey, sometimes to fall in love, and sometimes to scare our pants off. Horror Film Spotlight focuses on the ones that keep us up at night, whether
they star restless ghosts or psychotic ax murderers. Some are spooky and some are
gory, but they’re all full of that shadow-in-the-doorway, voice-in-the-dark
sense that something’s just not quite right. And what’s scarier than that?
Lucas Desange (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) has been searching for
his nieces ever since their unstable father loaded the girls into his car and
ran it off a snowy highway. Their bodies were never recovered, and five years after the girls disappeared, a rescue party finally discovers Victoria and Lilly (Megan Charpentier
and Isabelle Nélisse) living on their own in an abandoned cabin. Lucas is ready
to bring them home, but his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) isn’t so
sure; the girls are practically feral, but something was caring for them all
those years in the woods. And now that something has followed them
home….
Why You Should Watch It
Plain old eerie with a side of terrifying, Mama is worth watching for its creepy
atmosphere and special effects alone. But it’s also a heartwarming
story about the power of family and motherhood. Annabel, who at first
wants nothing to do with the girls, grows to love them and even risks her life
trying to save them. Mama herself won’t be winning any parenting awards, but
there’s no question about her motives: she genuinely loves Victoria and Lilly.
The ghosts make this film memorable, and the emotional hook makes it
satisfying. Whether you’re looking for a good scare or something a little
deeper, you’re sure to find it in Mama.
A ghost is an emotion
bent out of shape, condemned to repeat itself time and time again until it
rights the wrong that was done.
