Halloween isn’t complete without at least one scary movie (though a marathon is, of course, preferable). Here at The Lexi Cinema this Halloween, we’re freaking you out with a screening of an indie horror flick that’s gained cult status: The Borderlands.
So, in the spirit of the spookiest season, here’s a selection of thirteen arthouse and indie horror films we recommend, ranging from downright horrifying to moderately creepy.
1. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
From Dogtooth to The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos is a master of leaving his audiences profoundly unsettled. With The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Lanthimos crafts a horrifying story inspired by a Greek tragedy. Featuring an enthralling Barry Keoghan in his breakout role as a teenage boy hell-bent on tormenting the surgeon (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently killed his father, it’s an unbearably tense psychological horror, described by Mark Kermode for The Guardian as ‘a Saw movie for the arthouse crowd’.
2. Midsommar
With its dreamy high-key lighting and gorgeous colour palette, Midsommar’s distinctive aesthetic is disarmingly beautiful, making the horrors that slowly unfold in the film all the more disturbing. Following Dani (Florence Pugh), a recently bereaved student, and her boyfriend as they visit a Swedish commune preparing for a midsummer festival that occurs every 90 years, it gradually becomes clear that the ancient rites practised in the commune aren’t so festive after all. You’ll never look at a flower crown the same way again!
3. The Borderlands
Released in 2003 before gaining a cult following, The Borderlands is a found footage horror set in rural Devon. When a trio of investigators are sent by The Vatican to a thirteenth-century church rumoured to the be the site of a miracle, they instead uncover a series of gruesome horrors. Creepy labyrinths, animal sacrifices - it’s a chilling story with echoes of The Blair Witch Project.
The Borderlands screens at The Lexi on Tuesday 31 October! We're holding a Q & A screening with lead actor, Gordon Kennedy and producer Jen Handorf, hosted by Dan Martin, FX artist on the film and Arrow Video podcaster. Book tickets here.
4. Lake Mungo
Australian found-footage horror Lake Mungo takes place in the aftermath of a tragic death: sixteen-year-old Alice drowns while swimming with her family at a dam in South Western Australia. In the wake of the incident, her brother Mathew sets up cameras around his house after sightings of his sister’s ghost. As the family becomes plagued by paranormal events, they enlist the help of a psychic,only to discover that Alice had been leading a double life.
5. Donnie Darko
Not quite a horror, but definitely creepy, Richard Kelly’s cult favourite Donnie Darko stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled American teenager who has recurring visions of a giant rabbit named Frank. Not the cute and cuddly type of bunny, Frank’s actually a frightening 6-foot tall spectre who warns Donnie of the world’s imminent end. As his presence begins to pervade Donnie’s entire existence, Donnie becomes entangled in a series of parallel universes, crime sprees, and some time travel.
6. The Witch
Featuring a surprisingly menacing goat and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch is a folk horror which sees a New England family terrorised by black magic, superstition, and witchcraft in the 1600s. A thoroughly spooky affair, it’s also a chilling portrait of the devastating hold fear can have on us as the poor haunted family are driven to turn on one another.
7. Get Out
The directorial debut from Jordan Peele, Get Out was widely celebrated on its release. A disturbing satire of casual… and… not so casual.. racism, we follow a young Black man (Daniel Kaluuya) as he meets his white partner’s family for the first time. Morphing from an awkward comedy about meeting the parents into something far more unnerving, it’s an occasionally comic and consistently original genre-shifting horror.
8. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Enter the most compelling of all supernatural beings: the vampire. Set in an Iranian ghost-town, Persian-language film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night sees the residents of Bad City stalked by a lonely vigilante vampire who preys on men who threaten or harm women. A stylish black-and-white noir, its elements of 50s americana make for a genre-hopping horror from director Ana Lily Amirpour.
9. Let the Right One In
Set in provincial Stockholm in the 80s, Let the Right One In follows a bullied 12-year-old boy, Oskar, who befriends a mysterious girl named Eli who only appears at night. You guessed it, she’s a vampire. What follows is a surprisingly moving, though certainly horrifying, vampire story which garnered widespread acclaim upon its release in 2008 and continues as an arthouse classic.
10. Enys Men
Screening at The Lexi upon its release earlier this year, Enys Men is a Cornish folk horror tale from director Barry Jenkin. Set on a craggy uninhabited island in 1973 as a wildlife volunteer observes rare flower blooming, a slow and disturbing descent into madness begins, as isolation sets in for the unnamed botanist. Confusing and terrifying visions; reality blurred with fiction - this is full of trippy, experimental visuals that make this a truly unique watch for horror fans and horror avoidants alike.
11. Suspiria
Suspiria is master of horror Dario Argento’s baroque tale of a young woman attending an isolated ballet school run by witches. Despite a mixed reception in 1977, Argento’s stylish and incredibly frightening masterpiece has influenced a generation of horror directors and was remade by Luca Guadagnino in 2018.
12. Possession
Banned on release, Possession is Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of a marriage unraveling is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna insistent on a divorce. As her frenzied behaviour becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister than his wildest suspicions.
13. Raw
Julia Ducarnau’s shocking body horror flick Raw is an ode to female power and was dubbed 'the grisliest film to come out of Cannes', as a vet student and life-long vegetarian suddenly develops a taste for flesh. (Human flesh, that is). Although reminicent of Cronenberg and Lynch, with this incredible debut Ducarnau established a visual language all of her own.
Gen Sandle
Lexi Marketing and Comms
