FIELD OF STREAMS explores the different sides of the horror genre with these five chilling offerings
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No matter how much movielovers look forward to the thrill of summer blockbusters or cinephiles anticipate the enrichment of awards season, it’s that time of year around Halloween that the majority of both sides cite as their favorite. There’s always been something about horror films which have made critics latch onto them in ways separate from other movies. Perhaps it’s the way a horror film can combine both visual technique with a striking societal subtext within the space of a single film, that makes the genre a continuously appealing one. Make no mistake, there is plenty of throwaway genre garbage designed to do nothing more than provide momentary shocks and thrills at the expense of story, character and ideology. Such examples are a film lover’s worst nightmare. Yet when a horror film dares to tell a solid story brimming over with both cinematic flair and a compelling narrative, the results elevate both the genre and the medium.
In celebration of the season, and of the genre in general, here are a collection of streaming titles, past and present; all of which show the different sides of horror in all their limitless, frightening glory.
5. THE BABY (Fandor)
Admittedly, more thriller oddity that straight on horror, 1973’s The Baby is a bizarre tale which deals with a domineering mother (Ruth Roman), her two grown daughters (Marianna Hill and Suzanne Zenor) and her son Baby (David Manzy); a full grown man who has never been taught to walk or talk like an adult, but instead remains trapped in the mind of a two year old. If the premise seems a bit out there, the realization is even harder to fathom. Watching a full grown man exist within the mental (and to an extent, physical) limits of a toddler is creepy enough, but watching the perverse joy his mother takes in the condition she’s trapped her son in, is beyond unsettling. Eventually, The Baby goes the cat-and-mouse route, temporarily leaving the weirdness side, but culminating in a finale that makes what’s come before seem tame by comparison.
4. JACOB’S LADDER (Prime)
A classic that is STILL becoming a classic, this story of a former Vietnam veteran turned New York postal employee (Tim Robbins) who begins to experience strange horrific visions that take over his life, continues to stir audiences. Adrian Lyne’s film is loaded with an assortment of terrifying set pieces, including the lizard tail, the demonic faces and the unforgettable hospital sequence. Still, the beauty of Jacob’s Ladder is that all of its horror elements are not played for elaborate shock, but instead executed with a raw starkness, making their effects all the more searing. At its center though, Jacob’s Ladder is ultimately a high concept exploration into the effects of PTSD and its impact on the psyches of those who have experienced the horrors of battle. Screenplay, directing and acting are all at their best in bringing one of the most harrowing and transformative horror films to life.
3. STIR OF ECHOES (Hulu)
The Sixth Sense may have been the “I see dead people” movie to beat in late 1999, but one cannot underestimate the haunting power of Stir of Echoes. Released a month after that film, Stir of Echoes sees Kevin Bacon play a working class family man who begins to have hallucinations involving a dead teenage girl and a mystery that hits closer to home than he realizes. Powerhouse screenwriter David Koepp made a rare directorial turn when he adapted this classic Richard Matheson novel that’s part supernatural mind trip and part murder mystery. Stir of Echoes is so tightly wound, operating at an exhilarating, yet carefully measured pace that works well against its edgy late 90’s flair. The frights are plentiful, but the true marvel of the film remains Bacon, who in one of the best performances of his career, is able to masterfully take a working class Joe and journey with him through a terror-filled illusion-riddled odyssey.
2. BUG (Shudder)
Director William Friedkin made his return to the horror genre 30+ years after The Exorcist with this film version of a Tracy Letts play involving a lonely waitress (Ashley Judd) living in a isolated motel who takes in an emotionally damaged drifter (Michael Shannon) that believes bugs are infesting within him. As an exercise in horror paranoia, Bug remains the ultimate. Friedkin’s film is fraught with the kind of creeping insanity that’s so instantly palpable. There aren’t any ghosts or boogeymen to provide audiences with jump scares here. Instead, what Bug offers up are the true horrors which come from the disturbing madness within the human mind. Eventually, the movie uses its increasingly claustrophobic trappings as a lesson in not trusting the government to incredibly visceral effect. Judd is amazing, as is Shannon. Yet apart from its collection of strong performances, the strength of Bug lies in its illustration of derangement, the loss of mind and the self-destructive power that can result.
1. CRIMSON PEAK (FXNow)
Only a very small handful of filmmakers could conjure up such a world quite like the one Guillermo Del Toro did in Crimson Peak. Calling on his love for both the macabre and the classical, the director’s spun this tale of a young heiress (Mia Wasikowska) who is lured to the decaying mansion of a brother and sister (Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain) and pulled into a sinister triangle that can only end in death. Because this is a Del Toro concoction, Crimson Peak is rich in some of the most stunning visuals of any modern horror film, with everything from dresses, to staircases, to spirits looking as gorgeous as can be. Del Toro tasks all of his actors with breaking against type when it comes to their characters, and not a one lets him down; this is especially true of the mesmerizing Chastain (robbed of an Oscar nomination). But Crimson Peak’s real joy is its purely gothic setting and a brand of horror rich in the ghosts of the past and the horrors of the human soul.
There are countless services to explore and great things to watch on all of them. Which ones did we miss that you would suggest to us? And, as always, if you’ve got thoughts on titles we’re missing out on or new services to check out, leave a comment below or email us.
Till next week, SCREAM on, SCREAM away.
