I've discovered that my favorite kind of horror film is cosmic horror. Something about unknowable and incomprehensible terror really does it for me. I can take some gore, but I'm not a huge fan. So a lot of horror films aren't appealing to me as they feature a lot of gore. So over time I've managed to find and enjoy some horror films that focus on more of an existential terror. I love it.. something that just creeps me out 100%. I've watched and loved cosmic horror films in the past but I didn't really understand what that genre was (or even that it was a specific genre) so I'm pleased to put a name to it. My favorite cosmic horror movies I've seen over the years:
Annihilation
My all-time favorite in this genre, so far. It's beautiful and terrifying all at once. There are scenes in this movie that have never left my brain (ie, the bear). And when I think of those scenes, a shiver runs up my spine same as when I first saw them. The events of this movie are so, so inexplicable. But in a way, believable, because who knows what horror is beyond the stars, waiting to visit and unleash itself on us? It really takes the concept of first contact to its darkest, most terrifying possibility. That the exposure of humans and Earth to - whatever it is - will fundamentally alter it at a basic, biological level. The scenes in this movie, especially the ending, scare me in a really Lizard Brain type of way. I don't know the why of what is happening, but I know I don't like it - same as our protagonist. This is one of the most underrated films out there. I hold it up as the absolute pinnacle of this genre, because it manages to display 'the unknowable' in a way that we can see it as an audience, while still not really comprehending what we're seeing, and being terrified of it the whole time.
Nope
I just watched this the other night and I was very happy to add this to the list. This film masters the slow build up of fear. From the get go, everything feels a little bit off in an unexpected way. Like if you were to walk into your house through the front door and then look up to see your back door swung wide open - the spike of fear that would shoot through you from seeing something amiss. That's what this movie felt like to me. Everything felt just a little bit amiss, and as the reveals come and the story pulls together, you realize that something, well, incomprehensible is happening. I'd write more but this is a newer movie so I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it yet, but plan to.
Color out of Space
This one is the most Lovecraftian on this list, which makes sense, as it is a direct adaptation of a Lovecraft story. Now, I haven't read the story, but from other reviews I've seen, the movie manages to adapt the unknowable horror quite well. Apart from that, as a movie on its own, it works SO well. The horror builds slow as the story starts to come apart at the seams and everything starts to become more and more unhinged. The setting and the characters both warp and twist, under the influence of the unseen cosmic terror. This film is also wonderfully in your face, really leaning into the 'color', and it utilizes it really effectively to create a bizarre atmosphere that lets the rest of the story and actors come to life in a pretty wild ride.
War of the Worlds (2005)
This is probably the first movie I've seen in this genre, since I saw it when it came out. So, the internet seems to largely not consider this one a cosmic horror film. Though they mostly hinge that on the fact that the story came out before Lovecraft started doing his thing, and the internet seems to mostly attribute cosmic horror exclusively to Lovecraft. And absolutely he honed it, expanded it, brought it largely into existence. But I don't think that means it has to be Lovecraft-based to be cosmic horror - I think the genre is larger than Lovecraft. But aside from that, I specifically am speaking of the 2005 version of the movie, which alters the WotW story and really expands on it visually. Between the portrayal of the aliens and the abnormal and inexplicable occurrences that happen in the movie, I think that brings this one into cosmic horror territory. And it was the first movie I watched that inspired that feeling of "wow I feel small and full of terror for having watched that." Some honorable mentions: Sunshine, The Thing, The Mist, Europa Report, Cloverfield. I've also got a list of movies I want to see - The Ritual, The Empty Man, The Void, The Lighthouse, Resolution.
