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Horror Films That Aren’t Actually Horror Films

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The horror genre is the most diverse genre around, with tons of sub-genres and sub-sub-genres. Often times Hollywood stays away from giving new releases the “scarlet H” moniker. Labeling a film “horror” makes the mainstream uneasy, but there are a lot of big Hollywood flicks out there marketed as thrillers and psychological thrillers that are full of horror themes and elements. Here’s my list of my favorite horror films that aren’t actually horror films.

Let me know what your favorites horror films that aren’t actually horror films are.

Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Black Swan (2010)

Right off the bat we get a filmmaker who walks the line between thriller and horror in most of his films. Darren Aronofsky is a talented filmmaker who often times gives the audience a horrifying look into abject horror without ever presenting a demon, serial killer, or giant creature. Requiem for a Dream has so many horrifying scenes that there’s too many to list. But just tell me that Ellen Burstyn’s decent into addiction isn’t fucking horrifying (as is all the cast’s).

Horror Requiem

In Black Swan we get a different type of horror as a young dancer (Natalie Portman) is dominated and controlled by her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey) to the point where she cracks and begins to have difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality. Portman gives the performance of her career as a young woman descending into madness.

Horror Black Swan

Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover (1989)

This is a hugely entertaining black comedy about a wife and her abusive husband who frequent the same fancy London restaurant for dinner every night. The wife meets a kindly customer in the restaurant and begins an affair. When hubby finds out, he’s not happy and things get pretty bad. There are more than a few scenes of brutality that will make you flinch (that damn fork through the cheek!!).

Horror Cook Thief Lover

Bryan Singer’s Apt Pupil (1998)

The first movie I can think of where the Nazi isn’t the monster. Singer presents a chilling portrait of obsession as a young man (Brad Renfro) blackmails a Nazi into telling him everything he knows. Creepy stuff.

Horror Apt Pupil

David Fincher’s Se7en (1995) and Gone Girl (2014)

You know I couldn’t leave Fincher off this list. I think I need to convince you that Se7en is largely a horror film. The film is about a serial killer that kills people according to the seven deadly sins, but of course the studio wouldn’t label this film a horror movie. Instead it is called a drama/mystery/thriller. Whatever!!

Horror Seven

Gone Girl also has many horror elements in it (especially Neil Patrick Harris’ character), but watching this film gave me an uneasy feeling from beginning to end. Amy (Rosamund Pike) is a class-A sociopath, and in the end, Affleck’s character winds up inches own Hell that there’s no way out of.

Horror Gone Girl

Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy (1997)

If you haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it. When the film begins, Francie (Eamonn Owens) is a normal, playful child who has a rich fantasy life. But Francie’s environment is full of violent, alcoholic, manic-depressive, suicidal parents and other negative things which impress upon his young mind. We watch as all the elements in Francie’s life weigh upon him until he erupts into brutal violence. The Butcher Boy details the “making of” a sociopath. It’s a brilliant film.

Horror Butcher Boy2

Lars von Trier’s Antichrist (2009)

Need any convincing? Just the name “Lars von Trier” alone should be enough. Melancholia, Dogville, and even Nymphomaniac Vols. One and Two, fit this list perfectly, but there’s just something about Antichrist that is extremely unnerving. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s young son dies while they’re having sex. The couple retreats to a cabin in the woods (Trier even uses the oldest horror setting in the book) to mourn their loss, but instead each becomes consumed by their grief. Hallucinations, meeting talking animals, and sadistic and violent sexual deviancy (there’s a lot of genital mutilation here) accent this film as we watch a couple torn apart by their sorrow and guilt.

Horror Antichrist1

Special Mention:

Adrian Lyne’s Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

I’m including Jacob’s Ladder as a special mention because this film has embraced its horror label. Jacob (Tim Robbins) is a traumatized Vietnam vet who returns home to find that he sees demons everywhere. Is it PTSD? Is he going crazy? Is it connected to the trauma he experienced in Vietnam? Jacob even begins experiencing shifts in reality. He goes to sleep with one wife and wakes up with another. This film has elements of a mystery, a psychological thriller, a drama, and even has heavy conspiracy overtones in it. But don’t be fooled, this brilliant film is a horror film through and through. The visions inside the hospital will give you nightmares for days!!

Horror Jacob's Ladder

So what’s you favorite horror films that aren’t actually horror films? There’s a lot of possible flicks out there that fit this bill. Can’t wait to hear your picks.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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