Letterboxd describes itself as a social community for movie lovers and a spot for cinema followers to price their favourite films. Elevated horror is a reasonably new style that does not depend on the standard horror parts. As an alternative of slashers and stalkers, these movies function artsy cinematography and darkish storytelling.
With a watch on social commentary and relying closely on metaphors, these films problem the viewer to assume. So, which elevated horror movies stand other than the remaining? From witches to evil spirits, these titles had the very best rankings on Letterboxd for the style. Truthful warning: this checklist isn’t for the faint of coronary heart.
Up to date on October 20, 2023, by Robert Lee:
Elevated horror continues to be probably the most prolific and thrilling subgenres in modern-day horror, with Letterboxd persevering with to sing its praises in the direction of the subgenre’s many entries. Latest releases like Beau is Afraid, Talk to Me, and Infinity Pool and the passion surrounding these titles on Letterboxd show that the subgenre is flourishing and is right here to remain.
15 ‘Infinity Pool’ (2023)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.2/5
From director Brandon Cronenberg, the son of the grasp of physique horror David Cronenberg, Infinity Pool follows younger couple James and Em, who discover themselves wrapped up in a mysterious taboo tradition whereas on a pristine island trip. Whereas Em is extremely hesitant and cautious of this group’s mysterious methods, James finds himself enamored, particularly by the seductive younger Gabi. James quickly finds himself wrapped up in an online of seduction, hedonism, violence, and unexplainable horrors.
As with the most effective elevated horror movies, Infinity Pool works finest with its unusual and complicated horror coming with a thick coating of symbolism and messaging about its deeper themes and messages. Its excessive idea premise additional amplifies this, as its terrifying twists and turns every include their very own terrifying reflection on energy, greed, and manipulation.
14 ‘The Night time Home’ (2020)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.4/5
Spooky and atmospheric, The Night House is directed by David Bruckner (the person who tackled the 2022 Hellraiser reboot). Whereas the movie presents just a few soar scares, it pounces on viewers’ feelings as they witness a widow wrestling along with her late husband’s secrets and techniques.
Rebecca Corridor performs masterfully as a lady plagued with visions as she processes difficult grief. Half cosmic horror and half haunted home story, followers of slow-burn films will benefit from the refined trip till the very finish. The Night time Home is one in all the best supernational whodunits, and one finest seen with the lights on.
13 ‘Beau is Afraid’ (2023)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.5/5
Beau is Afraid follows the story of Beau (performed by Joaquin Phoenix), who has been dwelling with excessive paranoia for his total life. When he units apart time to return to his childhood house to go to his mom, he finds himself on an odd and terrifying journey as he makes an attempt to search out his approach again house.
Particularly in comparison with director Ari Aster‘s other directorial works, Beau is Afraid is way more comedic and self-aware in tone, virtually as if Aster is making a dark-comedy parody of his personal signature fashion. The result’s a movie whose signature darkish moments and underlying themes go hand in hand with a degree of unusual absurdist comedy, creating an surprising match made in heaven.
12 ‘It Follows’ (2014)
Letterbox Ranking: 3.5/5
Whereas many horror films depend on gore to scare viewers, It Follows makes use of supernatural parts to terrify followers. It tells the story of Jay (portrayed by Maika Monroe), a lady combating to flee a deadly curse handed between individuals by way of intimacy.
A sinister entity follows her, and it is past disturbing. Some critics declare the movie is a metaphor for STDs. This is not your typical horror film with fast-paced enhancing however has a creeping plot that sneaks up on viewers till the bitter finish. Folks both love or hate this movie, so it is value a watch to see what the hype is about.
11 ‘Barbarian’ (2022)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.5/5
Unpredictable and surprising, Barbarian takes the elevated horror style to the subsequent degree. A girl (Georgina Campbell) rents an Airbnb to find it has been double-booked by a mysterious man. She quickly learns that he isn’t the scariest particular person within the rental.
Invoice Skarsgard (the terrifying face behind Pennywise within the 2017 reboot of It) does an excellent job as a doubtlessly menacing home visitor. Whereas the movie options elevated horror tropes (loads of dramatic close-ups and social themes), it additionally serves up soar scares and gory kills. Barbarian is a kind of films the place the much less you recognize entering into, the higher.
10 ‘Annihilation’ (2018)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.6/5
The second movie from director Alex Garland (who beforehand directed Ex Machina), Annihilation follows the story of a biologist who indicators up for a harmful secret expedition right into a mysterious zone. Inside this zone, the legal guidelines of nature don’t apply usually, because the biologist and their workforce of consultants try to survive the onslaught of hazard that faces them on their journey.
Following up on Garland’s knack for terrifying sci-fi concepts, Annihilation delivers an equally terrifying and delightful alternate world, which solely will get scarier when its origins are revealed. What helps Annihilation particularly go away an enduring impression on its viewers is its super visible results and heart-stopping rating, which each elevate the fabric to masterful ranges.
9 ‘Us’ (2019)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.7/5
Jordan Peele proves time and time once more that he is the most effective within the sport on the subject of social horror, elevating the style with each movie. Us is Peele’s second film (he is the person who gave a contemporary spin to a traditional story with Get Out). The director dominates once more in a narrative a few household trip gone unsuitable.
Lupita Nyong’o instructions the display screen as a mom combating to guard her household from murderous doppelgängers that seem in the course of the night time. The supporting solid (Shaidi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, and Winston Duke) maintain their very own as a household combating for his or her lives. Us is fast-paced bloody motion with an mental bend for good measure.
8 ‘Titane’ (2021)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.7/5
Titane is a French physique horror household drama that follows Alexia, a mysterious determine who after committing quite a lot of heinous crimes, disguises herself as a firefighter’s son who has been misplaced for 10 years. Now dwelling in hiding within the firefighter’s house, the duo quickly type a robust household bond, culminating as Alexia’s crimes and actions start to catch as much as her in horrifying methods.
It is a troublesome line to have the ability to steadiness physique horror and emotional familial bonds, but it is an act that Titane is ready to accomplish with flying colours, bringing essentially the most out of each kinds of story. Even regardless of the movie’s extra chaotic and unbelievable plot factors, it is ready to preserve all of it self-contained sufficient to inform a robust and passionate message about discovered household and acceptance.
7 ‘Suspiria’ (2018)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.7/5
Suspiria is a remake of a 1977 supernatural horror movie that is each chilling and bewildering. Directed by Luca Guadagino (the mastermind behind the acclaimed Call Me By Your Name), the premise is a few dance faculty tormented by a nasty coven of witches.
The film is a mixture of physique and psychological horror, which makes for a menacing mixture. Dakota Johnson holds her personal as an aspiring skilled dancer (she carried out a lot of the choreography). Tilda Swinton takes on three characters within the movie, pulling off a formidable triple act. This model of Suspiria is a cult traditional within the making.
6 ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ (2017)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.8/5
The Killing of a Sacred Deer explores how far a cardiovascular surgeon will go to avoid wasting his household when an orphaned teenage boy turns his life the wrong way up. This movie incorporates a stellar solid. Colin Farrell takes the lead because the intrepid physician whereas Nicole Kidman performs the chilly spouse with eerie precision.
But, Barry Keoghan steals the present as a troubled teen keen to take merciless measures within the identify of revenge. Half horror, half drama, half thriller, this film appears like a Greek tragedy for contemporary occasions. It is violent, bloody, and agonizing to look at. Be ready to cringe as a result of The Killing of a Sacred Deer goes off the rails.
5 ‘Midsommar’ (2019)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.8/5
Ari Aster’ssophomore movie, Midsommar appears like a lure. Viewers witness a Swedish cult pageant gone awry, and it is terrifying to look at. Florence Pugh performs Dani, a lady hurting from shedding her total household. She travels to Sweden along with her boyfriend (portrayed by Jack Raynor) to flee however finds she’s in a waking nightmare.
Whereas the setting and costumes are a feast for the eyes (Pugh’s floral get-up is one thing to behold), the brightness is nearly blinding. Aster is the grasp of his craft, forcing viewers to terry down a deadly path in broad daylight throughout the horror movie. It is unnerving in the very best approach.
4 ‘The Witch’ (2015)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.8/5
Robert Eggers set the bar excessive together with his directorial debut, The Witch. It is a few 1630s New England household whose new child son vanishes. Everybody suspects the oldest daughter for his disappearance, and paranoia ensues. Anya Taylor-Pleasure shines in her first function, setting the stage for her to be the last word ultimate woman.
The movie options traditional folks horror parts (an remoted setting with a darkish presence lurking within the woods). But, it faucets into elevated horror with metaphorical storytelling and gorgeous cinematography. It is a gradual descent into insanity that stuns viewers into silence. The Witch is spellbinding movie-making at its finest.
3 ‘Hereditary’ (2018)
Letterbox Ranking: 4.0/5
Aster’s debut movie put him on the horror map and set the stage for a lot of elevated horror films to comply with. Hereditary takes a horrifying have a look at a household coping with supernatural forces after the loss of life of their grandmother. Toni Collette embodies a grief-stricken girl after tragedy strikes the household.
A part of what makes this film so gorgeous is how adept Aster handles loss of life and household trauma. On the root, viewers witness the unraveling of a dysfunctional house. A phrase to the clever, be ready to ruminate on Hereditary for days. It is haunting lengthy after the credit cease rolling.
2 ‘The Lighthouse’ (2019)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.1/5
There is not any sophomore droop for Eggers, whose second movie, The Lighthouse is a murals. The film options Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two lighthouse keepers pushed to the brink of madness in 18th-century New England. There’s undeniable chemistry between the lead actors who’re each on the high of their sport.
Shot totally in black and white, The Lighthouse transcends the horror style. It is a survival film sprinkled with fantasy parts and presents a combination of suspense with mythology. The gloomy ambiance lures the viewer into the characters’ unraveling sanity (everybody will assume twice earlier than ingesting lamp oil). This one delivers an overflowing serving of insanity.
1 ‘Get Out’ (2017)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.2/5
Get Out tells the story of Chris, who travels together with his girlfriend Rose upstate to go to her mother and father for the weekend. Whereas the go to initially is barely awkward, but anticipated, as Chris believes Rose’s household is overly accommodating in an try to cope with their interracial relationship, Chris quickly realizes that the reality is way more sinister. As Chris makes quite a lot of more and more disturbing discoveries, he comes to understand a terrifying unbelievable reality, and should escape the house earlier than it is too late.
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut made a large splash on the horror scene when it was first launched, because it completely blended its terrifying premise, laugh-out-loud comedic moments, and highly effective themes to create an ideal horror expertise. It is a movie whose messages and themes proceed to remain as highly effective and related as when the movie was first launched, making for a one-of-a-kind achievement in horror filmmaking, and is taken into account by the Letterboxd group to be probably the greatest horror films of all time.
