The films

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Oculus

A haunted mirror, and a sister trying to prove it killed her parents by filming it destroying her too.

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The Lighthouse

Shot on black and white 35mm in a 1.19:1 box. Two men, a rock, and a great deal of drinking.

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The Witch

Most of the dialogue comes from court records, then it commits fully to the supernatural.

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Hereditary

A film about grief that turns out to be a film about a cult. Toni Collette should have won everything.

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Sinister

The super-8 reels are the film. Everything between them is a man in an office not turning the lights on.

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Crimson Peak

Del Toro doing full gothic romance. The house is the best thing in it and it is sinking.

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Us

The premise does not survive scrutiny and the film is so well made you will not care until afterwards.

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Midsommar

Runs the folk horror formula in constant daylight. Everyone is perfectly hospitable throughout.

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The Skin I Live In

Almodóvar's only horror film, and it is a revenge story disguised as a mad-scientist melodrama.

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Annihilation

No villain at all, only a process. The last twenty minutes are the closest film has come to Lovecraft.

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A Quiet Place

A high-concept gimmick executed with real discipline. The nail on the stair is the whole film.

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Insidious

Wan's best jump scares and the film that built the modern haunting industry. The Further is silly and it works.

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The Cabin in the Woods

A machine for explaining why every other film on this site is shaped the way it is.

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Get Out

Won the screenplay Oscar, which horror never does. The sunken place is the best new image in the genre this century.

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The Conjuring

Old-fashioned, extremely well made, and the reason there are now nine of these.

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Train to Busan

The best zombie film since Romero, and the only one that makes you cry.