Films like The Conjuring and Insidious have liberally played the jumpscare trope like a broken record. These cheap thrills that last only a second rarely stay with the viewer beyond the movie’s runtime. On the opposite end of the spectrum, slow-burn horror has—true to its name—slowly been gaining traction once more with Skinamarink hitting cinemas back in 2022. Underrated and usually overlooked, it is high time slow-burn horror gets its praise this Halloween.
This list is perfect for thrill-seekers who don’t mind going on a bit of a ride throughout the film. Utilizing lingering atmospheric shots and exposition-filled dialogue, these following movies require patience upon viewing—which they reward handsomely once all hell fully breaks loose.
Saint Maud perfectly captures the outcome of faith leading a devotee down a horrid path. Being Rose Glass’ debut feature film, this movie serves as a taste of the director’s potential in the genre.
The movie follows Maud (Morfydd Clark), a nurse who gets drawn to extreme measures of religion after the traumatizing death of a patient. With only an hour and a half for its runtime, Saint Maud manages to suck you in until the last second. Maud’s slow descent into psychosis mixed with thought-provoking commentary on religion makes it an intriguing watch.
Though light on jumpscares, certain scenes in the film will certainly grip you with discomfort—so make sure not to take your eyes off until the movie has finished. Your heart will blaze right after.
If you wish to uncover the glory of God through Saint Maud’s eyes, you can watch this movie on Apple TV.
It’s always a joy to see women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Annihilation follows a group of scientists exploring a quarantined zone dubbed “The Shimmer,” which contains mutated flora and fauna. This premise paves the way for unearthly body horror and breathtaking alien landscapes. With themes of self-destruction and acceptance, the film’s message is as beautiful as its sequences.
Annihilation is not a disturbing film—save for one unbearable scene—but it still manages to disturb the viewer with its uncanny ability to bend and break the human body in a bloodless display. One can also easily get invested in Lena’s (Natalie Portman) determination to find her husband, who was in the lost expedition that came before them. Though all your senses may scream at the group to turn back, curiosity will still get the better of you—especially with the need to find out what is truly in the lighthouse.
If you liked The Thing and Alien, Annihilation is a must-watch. You can catch the film on Netflix.
What can make a basement scarier? Put a morgue in it.
Such is the case of the father-son duo, Tommy (Brian Cox) and Austin (Emile Hirsch), who are tasked with providing an autopsy report of an enigmatic corpse. The deceased, dubbed “Jane Doe” since she remains unidentified, is a perplexing case of witchcraft and true crime. After a storm makes it impossible to leave the underground morgue, Tommy and Austin inevitably unearth the secrets hiding just beneath her skin.
Though the film has a moment or two of jumpscares, it always sees the scare through, filling its runtime with tense, claustrophobic scenes. It fully maximizes sound and ambiguity to enhance the viewers’ experience, haunting until the very end, The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a quick watch that will stay with you for a long time.
So what are you waiting for? Open up your heart and watch the film on Netflix!
There is a special horror in how the past can affect the future. The Call captures this aspect perfectly. Centered around Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) and Oh Young-sook (Jeon Jong-so), the film follows the relationship between the two girls, bound only by an old, corded telephone—with the twist being that they live a decade apart.
The film toys with the viewers on a psychological level enhancing the vulnerability felt from not having any control of your life. It also has a strong narrative that seamlessly ties the events of 1999 and 2019, which dodges the Achilles heel of time travel movies: a muddy timeline. Fair warning, however, this film does require your full attention.
It may take a while for the film to get the engine running, but when things go down, an avalanche ensues.
If you wish to bounce back between time periods, The Call is available to stream on Netflix.
Often regarded as a classic and a master class of ambiguity in horror, The Thing is an intelligently-made movie with an ending that audiences are still talking about today, despite its initial release being way back in 1982. The titular “Thing” refers to an alien that can assimilate into its host’s body, wreaking havoc among a group of scientists stranded in an Antarctican research base. With strong performances from Kurt Russell and Keith David, the movie keeps the audiences guessing on who’s next to fall victim to the Thing.
If paranoia were a film, this would be it. Since the alien can blend into the group, no one knows who has already been assimilated until it’s too late. Assimilation is no pretty thing either; the way the Thing shows itself is conveyed through body parts morphing or splitting off entirely to be a sentient, insect-like creature. Through director John Carpenter’s use of practical effects, the movie’s visuals still hold up and remain immersive.
As the fire burns out, find out who will survive the Thing—which can still be up to debate—by streaming it on Apple TV.
There is truly something special about trusting a story’s narrative and letting it lead you down its twists and turns. Rather than rushing through each scene, a slow burn film teaches us to savor every camera shot and dialogue.
So for this October, try a change of pace when sifting through your horror watch list!
