Global Horror
Words by Liam Horgan
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, that’s right, it’s Halloween month which means that it’s time to sit under a blanket and scare yourself silly. In recent years the horror genre has seen an explosion of talent both in front and behind the camera. Films like The Witch (2015), Hereditary (2018) and Get Out (2017) have moved horror away from the torture porn, found footage rut the genre found itself in the early noughties. However, despite this, horror is one of the few genres of film where the classics anchor the genre. It’s not uncommon for people to sit down and watch Alien (1979), Halloween (1978), Friday 13th (1981) and The Exorcist (1973). Yes, the classics are there for a reason but that shouldn’t stop people from exploring other films in the genre. Horror is one of the most diverse and unique film genres. There’s a horror film made in nearly every country, in a range of genres (as you’ll see below), thus the purpose of this article is to highlight some lesser seen films from the past that should be worth your time.
Comedy Horror Film - One Cut of the Dead (Kamera o Tomeru na!)
Comedy horror films when done correctly are simply fantastic. There’s something about the combination of the two genres that really works. In many ways horror and comedy have the same set up. In horror, the filmmaker often uses a set of tropes to build suspense which ultimately culminates in a reveal which is designed to terrify the audience. Sometimes this is subverted for maximum effect but regardless the effect is achieved. The same can be said for comedy, a comedian must build the joke to its zenith until ultimately it reaches a crescendo of laughter. Thus, the pair are ripe for storytelling. Some of the best of this genre are Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead (2004), Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and of course the classic Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). However, it’s also worth checking out Shiniichirō Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead (2017). This 2017 Japanese zombie comedy is a fantastic example of horror on a budget. Filmed for just ¥3 million (around €23 thousand) the film follows a Japanese film crew as they go about making their low budget film. As the title would suggest, Ueda filmed a 37-minute-long continuous shot of the zombie film which makes up the film’s first half. The second half then shows a behind the scenes look of the film, with the third act showing the crew’s perspective. It’s a crazy, unexpected film and well worth your time checking out.
Zombie Film - Ojuju
Moving on from one zombie film to another, we have the genre that is the zombie film. Zombie films have been around for years in cinema and recent offerings like Train to Busan (2016) have shown that there’s still life in the undead yet. Of course, the zombie film would be nothing without the contribution of the master that is George A. Romero. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead was the first zombie film to depict the creatures as flesh eating packs. To this day Romero’s contributions are felt. If you’ve not seen Romero’s original and his follow up Dawn of the Dead (1978) make sure to check them out.
However, this slot is here to highlight a lesser-known Nigerian film Ojuju. Written and directed by C.J. Obasi this 2014 film follows protagonist Romero, a tribute to aforementioned George A. Romero, as he tries to escape with his friends from their neighbourhood where the water supply infects people with rabid river blindness. Obasi wanted to shy away from the supernatural and decided on looking at an environmental outbreak for his zombie film. Set in a Nigerian slum, the film highlights both social inequality and environmental impact. It’s a low budget thriller and with its socio-political themes harkens back to Romero’s 1968 gamechanger.
Ghost Film - The Devil’s Backbone (El espinazo del diablo)
Ghost films have always been around since the dawn of cinema. Ever since Georges Méliès’ 1896 film The Haunted Castle (or Le Manoir du diable), cinema has loved a good ghost story. In the early noughties we had films like Paranormal Activity (2007) and The Ring (both the Japanese original and the remake). Of course, films like The Shining (1980) and Poltergeist (1982) are stables of the genre while the Japanese have some of the most consistent output when it comes to quality ghost stories. Seriously, check out Kwaidan (1964), Ugetsu (1953) and House (1977).
However, this entry is reserved for the Spanish film The Devil’s Backbone. Guillermo del Toro is one of the best filmmakers currently working. He has never been afraid to embrace genre filmmaking and has brought some amazing creations to the big screen. While his 2015 gothic thriller Crimson Peak is certainly full of memorable ghosts, it’s del Toro’s third film that really shines. The Devil’s Backbone is set in 1939 Spain, during the first year of the Spanish Civil War. The film follows the recently orphaned Carlos as he arrives at an orphanage in the country. An unexploded bomb stands in the courtyard and at night strange noises can be heard. What unfolds is a thrilling paranormal film which looks at grief, loss and death through the veneer of a war-torn country. It’s a nightmarish look at childhood during a time where it ceases to exist and can proudly stand alongside other ghostly classics.
Slasher Film - Blood and Black Lace (6 Donne per l'assassino)
Slasher films have deep roots in cinema, films such as Psycho and Peeping Tom (both released in 1960) are precursors to the genre, while films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Halloween (1978) and Scream (1996) brought acclaim and recognition to the subgenre. However, slasher films would be nothing without the contributions of the Italian giallo films. Giallo (plural gialli) is an Italian term for mystery and thrillers. With regard to film, giallo refers to films that have a mystery/thriller tone that often include moments of slasher violence, psychological horror, and eroticism. Some notable gialli include Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970).
However, if you’re a fan of slasher films then watching Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace (1964) is a must. Bava’s film follows the murders of a Roman fashion house committed by a masked killer. If you want the archetype for Michael Myers and Jason, they’re there in Bava’s film. The killer in Bava’s film is the template for killers in film. Dressed in black, with a masked face and hat, the killer has a distinct silhouette. Bava’s film used every trope of the thriller genre to tell an eerie tale of murder. It’s thrilling, it’s full of suspense and worth your attention.
Body Horror Film - Tetsuo the Iron Man (Tetsuo)
Body horror is all about disturbing the viewer. Twisted flesh, turning into monsters, it’s all about violations against the body. Famous films of the genre include The Thing (1982), Videodrome (1983), and The Fly (1986). Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg is a master of the subgenre, having heavily influenced it in various ways. With roots in early Gothic fiction, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an early literary example while Japanese mangaka Juni Ito is still carrying on Shelley’s legacy. Modern body horror films such as Julia Ducournau’s Raw (2016) and Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor (2020) play up the psychological aspects of the genre and they’re both well worth checking out.
However, I’d suggest watching the 1989 film Tetsuo the Iron Man. Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, this tecno-horror is a disturbing portrait of a body gone wrong. Following a salary man as he slowly evolves into a disturbing metal creature, the film is perverse, disturbing and a classic body horror film. Tetsuo also had a larger effect on Japanese film as a whole, with the international attention the film garnered helping to revive Japanese film internationally in the 1990s.
Folk Horror - The White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura)
Fans of 2019 film Midsommar will no doubt be aware of the folk horror subgenre. Films such as Kill List (2011), The Witch (2015) and The Wailing (2016) continue to pass on the torch of folk horror in modern horror. Folk horror films usually include a rural setting and deal with local folklore to invoke terror. Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973) is probably the most well-known film of this subgenre, possibly due to the terrible remake starring Nicholas Cage. Nonetheless, the film is a thrilling folklore-inspired horror tale.
However, I’d suggest going a few decades further back and checking out the 1952 Finnish film The White Reindeer. Inspired by Shami shamanism and pre-Christian Finnish folklore, the film follows a young woman called Pirita. Pirita is in a loveless marriage and after seeking help from a shaman is transformed into a shapeshifting, vampiric white reindeer. The villages' men are drawn to her and pursue her with tragic results. The White Reindeer is unexpected in its horror. Filmed in a documentary-like style, the film makes full use of Finland’s snow-covered landscape making for some haunting imagery.
Sci-Fi Horror - Pulse (Kairo)
Science fiction horror is a match made in heaven. Often science fiction concepts can be horrific in their own right, but when combined to create actual horror the combination is as frightening as it is perfect. Fans of both Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) will know all too well that horror can blend beautifully with science fiction. Alien of course is one of the subgenre’s best, alongside John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). However recent modern entries deserve a mention too, Alex Garland’s Annihilation (2018) brings the scares to esoteric science fiction while Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man (2020) updates the classic horror for the 21st century.
However, for this entry we’re returning to Japan for a science fiction horror that was well before it’s time in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse. Pulse is a 2001 techno-horror that deals with ghosts invading the world of the living via the Internet. In many ways Kurosawa’s film was ahead of its time, dealing with concepts revolving around internet use, technophobia, social isolation and its psychological effects. After the pandemic ravaged the world in 2020, there are moments in Kurosawa’s film that feel eerily prescient. The film capitalizes on the fear of the unknowable, the motivations behind the ghosts are never explained and indeed don’t need to be. Kurosawa’s film feels like a fever dream built out of anxieties from Y2K, however these anxieties still feel relevant today 20 years on.
Gothic Horror - Nosferatu (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens)
Gothic horror is one of the earliest forms of horror. Coming from gothic fiction, the horror genre blossomed in the 19th century with the success of novels like Frankenstein, The Fall of the House of Usher and Dracula. It makes sense then that with the arrival of film many of these works were some of the first to be adapted in some form for the screen. Today gothic horror still flourishes. Works like del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015), The Lodgers (2017) and even Mike Flanagan’s recent The Haunting of Hill House (2018) all tap into the gothic horror subgenre to delightful effect.
However, it’s hard to recommend any other film than the original gothic horror Nosferatu. F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent expressionist horror still strikes fear even to this day. Nosferatu, or to give it it’s full title, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is one of the earliest horror films and one of the best. An unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu takes some of the best moments from the novel and brings it to life. Max Shreck plays Count Orlock (the Dracula stand-in) in a performance which oozes “creepy”. The film is full of expressionism through its use of shadows and sets and the scene of Count Orlock climbing the stairs is often cited as one of the best scenes in horror. If you’ve never seen a silent film before, don’t worry as the lack of sound in the film only helps to intensify how disturbing Nosferatu actually is.
Monster Movie - Shin Godzilla (Shin Gojira)
Monster movies are a classic form of horror. Everyone knows the classic monsters of Hollywood and beyond. Hammer horror films made stars out of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and many more, while King Kong is one of America’s earliest on-screen monsters. In recent times, films like It (2017), The Babadook (2014) and The Host (2010 all feature great monster designs. However, it’s impossible to discuss monster films without looking at kaiju. Kaiju refers to the Japanese films featuring giant monsters. Often created from radioactive fallout, the genre of film started with the 1954 film Godzilla. While other kaiju films have been successful, none can compare to the king of the monsters himself.
Many readers have probably seen or heard of the Legendary Pictures version of the giant walking radioactive nightmare and they are sure entertaining, however Godzilla has always been a Japanese product first and foremost. So, we’re suggesting the 2016 outing Shin Godzilla. Directed by Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno with filmmaker Shinji Higuchi, Shin Godzilla taps into the horror of the original 1954 film. While Godzilla drew inspiration from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the 2016 film drew inspiration from both the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. The film was universally praised in Japan for its satirising of the Japanese government and their inability to deal with a crisis effectively. It builds on the legacy of Godzilla while also reinventing itself for modern times. In a post-pandemic environment, Shin Godzilla is even more relevant today than it was 5 years ago.
Supernatural Horror - Atlantics (Atlantique)
In recent years, Supernatural horror has received a boost from box office successes like Hereditary (2018), The Conjuring (2013) and Oculus (2013). Supernatural horror has always done well with audiences. Something about the unknown and unnerving dread that comes from it strikes fear into audiences. Of course, one of the most successful films of all time is a supernatural horror masterpiece; William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973).
One of the most recent supernatural films to do something different with the subgenre is the 2019 film Atlantics. The directorial debut of Mati Diop, the film focuses on Ada, a Senegalese woman whose lover dies at sea. Soon the inhabitants of Ada’s suburb find themselves possessed by the dead who drowned. Mati Diop’s film is an unnerving look at unemployment, class, migration, and the refugee crisis. Like all good supernatural horror, the horror in Diop’s film comes from the unknown. Atlantics is a socially conscious supernatural thriller that is both haunting and beautiful, a combination which helped it win the Cannes Grand Prix.
Psychological Horror - Les Diaboliques
Psychological horror focuses on disturbing the audience through its depiction of unstable mental or emotional states. Most horror uses this to some degree, but psychological horror films can often unnerve a viewer before even attempting to scare them. Some highlights of the genre are Repulsion (1965), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and animated masterpiece, Perfect Blue (1997).
Recent films like It Follows (2015), Saint Maud (2020) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) all find their success in distressing viewers psychologically, however it’s the 1955 film Les Diaboliques that really nails psychological trauma. This French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot focuses on a woman and her husband’s lover who plot to murder the man. However, his body soon disappears, and soon strange events start to occur. Les Diaboliques is a stunningly unnerving film. The film has been likened to the work of Hitchcock, with a rumour that Clouzot even bought the rights to the film before Hitchcock could make it. Regardless, Clouzot has created a great psychological horror which toys with the audience as much as its characters. With an effective final twist and some effective direction, Les Diaboliques is a film that still holds up today.
Kids Horror - Coraline
Finally, there’s nothing like a bit of horror fun for the kids. Halloween is not only for adults after all. Some of the best kids’ horror films have some of the most disturbing moments in them. Often these films swap out scares for laughs, however the best ones are the films which combine the two.
Films like The Witches (1990), The Corpse Bride (2005), The Little Vampire (2000) are great family friendly fun while packing in unnerving sequences. However, this spot could only belong to the masterpiece that is Coraline (2009). Directed by Henry Selick, this was Laika Animation's first film, and what a great debut film it is. This adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel is a creepy adventure. The film focuses on young girl Coraline, as she discovers a door to a perfect parallel world in her new home, however, behind the scenes malevolent forces are at play. The opening sequence of this film is enough to disturb adult viewers let alone children. The villainous Other Mother is both uncanny and nightmarish. Utilising stop motion animation to tell its tale, the film is beautifully designed with innovative character designs and great voice acting. The beauty of the horror within Coraline is that the film is not deliberately designed to scare you like an adult horror, rather it understands that some things are horrific regardless of age. A beautifully twisted fairy-tale, Coraline is a great way to traumatize the family!
