31 New or Noteworthy Horror Movies to Stream in October

Header image featuring the film #Alive (2020)

Genres are only as useful as we make them.

Etymologically, genre and gender are both adopted from the French, and you can trace them back to the Latin genus, meaning “class” or “kind.” Go back a bit further and you will find the Proto-Indo-European root “gen,” which led to words like genealogy and genesis and, eventually, kinship.

This is my roundabout way of offering a disclaimer: not every movie on this list is strictly a horror movie. It would make sense that as modern society continues the process of approaching and breaking down the concept of gender identities and allowing more room for non-binary gender classifications, so too might genres in art become less delineated.

Some of the films on this list arguably belong in categories like drama or thriller, but each movie here has enough horror in its DNA to be included on the list. I sometimes like to think of these emotionally-related films as “horror-adjacent.” They might not be in the immediate family but they’re still invited to the cookout.

The Platform (2020)

Gaztelu-Urrutia’s bleak dystopian thriller was streamed 56 million times in its first month on Netflix, pushing it into the top 10 most popular Netflix movies ever. It is the only non-English language film on that list, and it benefited from the entertainment-starved stage of early Coronavirus lockdown (ah, to be watching Tiger King while experiencing a slow motion anxiety attack). But like the similarly timed Parasite, it struck a nerve.

I recently wrote about the anti-capitalist message that has informed popular South Korean horror films—The Platform is driven by a similar disgust for dehumanizing classist systems that provide feasts for those at the top while leaving nothing leftover for those at the bottom. The socio-political allegory is unsubtle but not over-done, and it functions both as a brutal sci-fi drama and a furious rebuke of the mechanisms of inequality.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: Cube, High-Rise, The Hunt
Tags: Class Warfare, Dystopia, Sci-Fi

Mandy (2018)

Panos Cosmatos’ drug-fueled revenge film Mandy is not quite like anything you’ve seen before. It is equal parts dreamlike romance and face-shattering uberviolence (taken to another level by what is known in cinema as “balls to the wall Nic Cage”); all of it is shrouded in a psychotropic haze of anamorphic distortion and blood-drenched color grading. Its mood is amplified by an outstanding atmospheric score, one of the last ever written by the brilliant Jóhann Jóhannsson before his death. Mandy is an acid trip, and it’s fucking metal. 

Stream on: Shudder
If you liked: Bliss, The VoidColor Out of Space
Tags: Occult, Romance, Psychedelic

Mandy (2018). Spectrevision, RLJE.

Suspiria (2018)

Dario Argento’s psychedelic mystery Suspiria is a classic of paranoid giallo filmmaking, which makes this 2018 remake a head-scratching proposition—the kind of decision that gets up-tight horror dweebs upset before a single scene has been shot. But like the 2013 Evil Dead remake, Guadagnino’s Suspiria borrows the skeleton of a beloved original property and fleshes it out into something wholly new and bizarre. This film features one of the most brutal and ingenious scenes in modern horror history, a haunting Thom Yorke soundtrack, and one of the most audaciously, gobsmackingly violent conclusions ever put on screen. Guadagnino why would you make something so controversial yet so brave?

Stream on: Amazon Prime
If you liked: Climax, Neon Demon, Mother!
Tags: Psychological, Supernatural, Psychedelic

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

The more slashers you’ve seen, the more likely you are to enjoy this clever subversion of the genre; Behind the Mask hilariously deconstructs the structure, tropes and pitfalls of horror’s most iconic slashers, both paying tribute to the genre’s highest-profile killers while cheekily poking holes in some of the genre’s more problematic hangups and paradoxes. 

The naturalistic mockumentary style plays like a candid behind-the-scenes that you might find working in the background of any psycho-killer film, while the perspective shifts allow the audience to experience what this movie would actually look like—in this way Behind the Mask effectively double dips, giving us a prototypical slasher and its own making-of, all rolled into one nimble and satirical package.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder
If you liked: What We Do in the Shadows, Shaun of the DeadTucker & Dale vs. Evil
Tags: Mockumentary, Slasher, Comedy

The Wailing (2016)

The Wailing might be the shortest 156 minute horror movie ever. Which is to say that while this is a long movie it’s never a dull one. It takes thematic inspiration from Korean and Nepalese folk religions as well as Catholic dogma, and it’s somehow a drama, a black comedy, a zombie movie, a possession movie, a ghost movie, and a police drama playing out in wild turns of tone and plot. I can’t believe it actually works; it’s a sprawling, funny, bold and disturbing path right to the house of the devil—further proof that South Koreans are producing horror as well as anyone else in the world and maybe better.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder
If you liked: Parasite, Ichi the Killer, I Saw the Devil
Tags: Crime, Zombies, Occult

The Wailing (2016). Side Mirror, 20th Century Fox Korea.

Les Diaboliques (1955)

There is a persistent rumor that Henri-Georges Clouzot swiped the rights to Les Diaboliques right out from under the nose of Alfred Hitchcock, something which has the ring of plausibility although it’s been denied by the American director. Just remember that before you call this crime mystery “Hitchcockian” it might be more apt to say that films like Psycho are in fact Clouzotian (which is up to debate). Either way, Les Diaboliques is a masterclass in suspenseful storytelling and cinematic sleight of hand. A cautionary intertitle even warns against spreading spoilers for the film’s shocking ending: “Don’t be a devil!” Indeed. 

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Criterion
If you liked: Psycho, The Wages of Fear, Eyes Without A Face
Tags: Crime, Mystery, Drama

Host (2020)

This is it, folks. The first truly notable quarantine movie. We had to figure this microgenre was coming. It’s really a specialization of found footage and screen life, if you care about categorization (which you don’t need to), and it must be the biggest hit so far for the horror streaming service Shudder. A clever Zoom prank inspired the efficient thriller, the entire story of which takes place during a conference call between friends under UK lockdown. It uses the séance-gone-wrong premise to great effect by limiting the scope of our perception and staying true to its format, while the naturalistic acting and smartly distributed visual effects amplify the immediacy of its rather bare-bones plot. A sense of voyeurism and physical isolation adds some texture to its depiction of our increasingly screen-filled lives.

Stream on: Shudder
If you liked: Paranormal Activity, Unfriended, Cam
Tags: Supernatural, Screen Life, Haunting

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

If Charlie Kaufman’s latest labyrinthine headfuck was a house then it would be filled with trap doors and impossible angles and windows looking into other rooms; you might step across the sill of the front door and never find your way out. A single viewing of the film is inadequate for thorough analysis, but there is an undeniable preoccupation with death: death of family, death of relationships, death of ego itself. It is about interiority and loneliness and time. It shows how we revisit over and over the places and experiences with which we have been imprinted—how we move on without ever really finding our way out. The whole thing will be terribly frustrating to some, but if you succumb to the morbid charms of its enthralling dream logic then you might come out the other side perceptibly changed.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: Synechdoche, New York, She Dies Tomorrow, Last Year at Marienbad
Tags: Psychological, Drama, Surreal

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020). Likely Story, Netflix.

The House of the Devil (2009)

Ti West is a fan of the slow burn. His filmography likes to dissect the moral fallibility of human nature while hinting at a dimension of reality that lies just outside our realm of understanding.

The House of the Devil was shot in the northwestern corner of Connecticut over the course of 18 days, and its loving adherence to the style of genre films from the late ’70s and early ’80s is so convincing that you might assume on first blush that it is authentic to the era. The use of 16mm film and zoom shots add to the period feel, and the minimalist plot relies heavily on a slow boil sense of unease fueled by physical isolation and the lurking hysteria of hidden satanic cults.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder
If you liked: The Innkeepers, The Amityville Horror, A Dark Song
Tags: Occult, Slow burn

Parasite (2019)

Chances are you don’t need me to tell you to watch Parasite. The classist thriller is winner of a slew of awards including 4 Oscars (including Best Picture), and it is the highest-grossing domestic film in the history of South Korean cinema. It is part of a wave of modern films that are convincingly identifying the disastrous long-term effects of unregulated neoliberal capitalism as the primary threat to society and global ecosystems.

Despite the nature of its dour implications it is never a slog; Bong Joon-ho masterfully balances comedy and suspense and the cast is more than up to the task in a story where the only real villain is the unseen forces that put them all in play against one another. It is an urgent and necessary story told with confidence, wit and depth of humanity.

Stream on: Hulu
If you liked: Snowpiercer, Get Out, The Handmaiden
Tags: Thriller, Comedy, Class Warfare

Demon (2015)

The haunting events of Demon are deeply informed by the catastrophic genocide of the Jewish population of Poland during World War 2. If you believe, like Salman Rushdie, that a ghost is “unfinished business,” you can imagine that Poland might have more than their fair share.

In this case, the intruding presence is that of a dybbuk: in Jewish folklore, a malevolent spirit that can possess the body of a person to accomplish an unfulfilled task (“dybbuk boxes” are said to house them and have even turned into popular collectors’ items on eBay). The Polish director Marcin Wrona had some demons of his own; after Demon was screened at the Gdynia Film Festival he hung himself in his hotel room.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder
If you liked: A Dark Song, Luz, Hagazussa
Tags: Ghost, Historical, Possession

Wedding-goers look on in horror during Marcin Wrona's Demon (2015).
Demon (2015). The Orchard.

#Alive (2020)

Back in early September, Cho Il-hyung’s zombie survival film became the most popular movie on Netflix—a first for the films of South Korea. It’s not hard to see why: it is essentially a lockdown thriller that tells the story of two young South Koreans barricaded in their respective 8th floor apartments after a fast-spreading zombie outbreak in Seoul.

This is a distinctly modern horror movie that depicts how bad quarantine can really be when population density and failing infrastructure make survival a bleak prospect. In the early days of their siege, a commercial for ramen prompts Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in) to compulsively eat his “Last Supper” way before its time, and a talk show guest demonstrates breathing exercises to reduce anxiety. This is a picture of capitalism in free-fall, a theme that can only continue as our planet attempts to cure itself of the human virus.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: Train to Busan, The Night Eats The World, The Evil Dead
Tags: Zombie, Survival, Isolation

Onibaba (1964)

Much of the emotional impact of this sensual period drama is felt immediately: the spare pleasures and primal hungers on display are fierce and basic, and the visual elements of the film are striking. Everything that we see exists in an undulating ocean of susuki grass, a setting that elevates the elemental struggles of its human characters to something like a parable or stage play. We only know that the rest of the world even exists because it is the war-torn state of it that shoves these few survivors into this rural corner of 14th century Japan.

The story is inspired by a Buddhist parable, set during the civil war of the Nanboku-chō period, and, according to Shindô, symbolic of the literal and symbolic fallout of the nuclear bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Onibaba is a strange and poetic reminder that we are our own demons, and its fable-like qualities cause a residual emotional impact which lingers beyond the first impressions. 

Stream on: HBO Max, Criterion
If you liked: Kuroneko, A Field in England, Kwaidan
Tags: Psychological, War, Period Piece

Onibaba, one of the best horror movies streaming now.
Onibaba (1964). Toho, Tokyo Eiga.

Hereditary (2019)

As the name implies, Ari Aster’s debut Hereditary is most centrally about our family trees—about the inescapability of our own history, and how little our free will might have to do with our eventual outcomes. It is also a film that understands misdirection (its trailer is a rare example of marketing that does not give away too much).

Clues and cracks pile up in the barely maintained peace of a family’s household before a personal tragedy brings forth the kind of pent-up frustrations that can only be harbored in the darkest corners of family homes. It is a singular vision of familial trauma and a head-turning debut from new horror darling Ari Aster.

Stream on: Amazon Prime
If you liked: Get Out, Midsommar, The VVitch, The Babadook
Tags: Psychological, Occult, Grief

The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)

McG’s The Babysitter was a silly and bloodthirsty vehicle for the delightful Samara Weaving and her clique of good-looking demons. It did not rewrite any rules but it was an enjoyable genre film with a sense of humor. Now take that fun-loving original, put it in a gimpy shopping cart at the top of a very tall hill, strap on some party streamers and several M-1000 fireworks and just push. I want to make this painfully clear: Killer Queen is not a good movie. In fact it is startlingly bad, even audaciously so.

But at a certain point I realized: the crazy bastards might just have found the sweet spot. It is fantastically stupid but not without a crucial sincerity that keeps everything from melting into nothingness like yesterday’s Silly String. It’s the kind of film that should be covered by How Did This Get Made?—and that, despite all the odds, is a good thing.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: The Babysitter, Piranha 3D, Scary Movie
Tags: Slasher, Supernatural, Teen Romance

The Handmaiden (2016)

Park Chan-wook’s stunning adaptation of Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith is an erotic and lushly articulated period piece set during the Japanese occupation of Korea in 1930s, and it is one of those “horror-adjacent” films that I referenced in the opener. Everything about the mise-en-scène is immaculate; The Handmaiden is a masterclass in cinematography, acting, costume design, art direction and editing. Its plotting is sinuous and full of moments of genuine exhilaration and dismay.

And we must talk about the sex. Explicit scenes of lesbian lovemaking have inspired fascinating conversations about the potentially problematic nature of engaging the male gaze in a way that could be seen to conflict with the film’s symbolic and narrative dismantling of male power. The film’s message is a feminist one, but it also may serve to illustrate the tenacity of the male reach when it comes to the bedrooms and idealized bodies of women struggling to break free from the watchful eye and controlling laws of men in places of power. Horror or not, The Handmaiden is a necessary watch. 

Stream on: Amazon Prime
If you liked: Parasite, Mother, Thirst
Tags: Romance, Drama, LGBTQ

The Handmaiden (2016)
The Handmaiden (2016). Moho Film, CJ Entertainment.

Goodnight Mommy (2014)

When I was younger I had a recurring nightmare that my mother was not herself. Whoever it was looked and sounded like my mom, but it just wasn’t her. In one dream, I stood in the kitchen as she glided towards me down our long hallway, without ever moving her feet. Goodnight Mommy (directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz) taps into the deep-seated fear of the doppelgänger while exploring themes of loss, grief and personal tragedy. The much-lauded psychological horror was Austria’s entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards (a historically horror-averse awards show). Its impressively staid atmosphere can only hold up for so long before descending into jarring violence and tragic revelations.

Stream on: Hulu
If you liked: Honeymoon, The Others, The Babadook
Tags: Psychological, Imposter, Gore

We Summon the Darkness (2020)

Satanism. Cocaine. Rock and fucking roll. Marc Meyers’ upbeat black comedy is steeped in nostalgia for the horror and hard rock of the ‘80s, and your own personal interest in this pastiche will go a long way in determining your predisposition for this energetic thriller. It flips the script on the satanic cult trope and has fun doing it, even if there’s nothing really transcendent going on in its storytelling. It seems happy to revel in genre conventions, zingy dialogue, and the increasingly off-the-rails mayhem of its devilish house party. This is a fun and uncomplicated treat for those looking for a bit of Satanic Panic—it’s not the finest cut of steak but it’s plenty bloody and it doesn’t lack for sizzle.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: The Babysitter, Jennifer’s Body, Deathgasm
Tags: Satanism, Slasher, Dark Comedy

We Summon the Darkness (2020).
We Summon the Darkness (2020). The Fyzz Facility, Saban Films.

Horse Girl (2020)

My violent dislike of the 2005 mumblecore festival hit The Puffy Chair caused me to resist the charms of the Duplass brothers for years. Let this be my belated announcement to the world: I was wrong, and I’m sorry. Jay and Mark Duplass are producing, writing, directing, and/or acting in some of the most inventively strange and human films in the past few decades. Horse Girl is executive produced by the brothers, directed by Jeff Baena, and starring Alison Brie in one of the most impressive performances of the year. As is often the case with Duplass projects, genre classifications are of limited use here: this is darkly funny, irresistibly weird, affectingly tragic, and just creepy enough to land on this list. It’s an offbeat and genre-defying adventure into mental illness and the terrors of social engagement. 

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: The One I Love, Unsane, She Dies Tomorrow
Tags: Mental Illness, Comedy, Surrealism

Starry Eyes (2014)

Trichotillomania is a mental disorder that causes compulsive hair pulling; there is some overlap between this and obsessive-compulsive disorder (which has little to do with most of the common representations and myths about the disease). This disorder illustrates the fundamental connection between our physical and mental states, and in Starry Eyes it foretells the alarming body horror that depicts, in the second half of the movie, the collapsing state of would-be movie starlet Sarah (in an agonizing performance by Alexandra Essoe). The influence of ‘70s and ‘80s-era horror can be found in the themes, soundtrack and throwback title card of this hard-to-watch descent into body dysmorphia and shadowy Hollywood cabals.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi
If you liked: The Devil’s Candy, The House of the Devil, Last Shift
Tags: Occult, Satanism, Body Horror

Bulbbul (2020)

“The only thing personal in a wife’s life is her husband.”

For Indian writer-director Anvita Dutt, them’s fightin’ words. Bulbbul is the debut film for the Bollywood writer, who brings a stylish eye and ferocious feminism to the gorgeous period piece, which takes place in the late 19th century Bengal Presidency in Southeast Asia. Although horror is an important element in the story, the film does not don the typical emotional or chromatic uniform of the genre. It is better described as a sumptuous fairy tale with elements of romance, horror and Hindu mythology. Its eye-catching color and costume design make it one of the most visually striking films on this list, and its virtuous rage towards perennial misogyny channels the Hindu goddesses Durga and Kali Ma—passionate destroyers of injustice and evil.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: Eve’s Bayou, Tigers Are Not Afraid, Tumbbad, Pan’s Labyrinth
Tags: Bollywood, Supernatural, Romance, Period Piece

Tripti Dimri in Bulbbul (2020).
Bulbbul (2020). Clean Slate Filmz, Netflix.

What Keeps You Alive (2020)

This SXSW hit shows, among other things, the growing maturity of director Colin Minihan, who began his career as one half of The Vicious Brothers (best known for the cult found footage hit Grave Encounters). The film also provides an emotionally charged platform for the leads Hannah Emily Anderson and Brittany Allen, the latter of which received her first music credit for writing the film’s score. The setup: a young couple celebrates their first wedding anniversary by visiting a remote family cabin just to learn way more about each other than either had bargained for. Its ending over-complicates an otherwise hard-hitting thriller, but there is more than enough here to satisfy genre fans. 

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: Honeymoon, Hush, The Lodge
Tags: Psychological, Slasher, LGBTQ

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019)

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd (just one crime in a long history of unjustified racial violence), there has been a pronounced push for a greater understanding of Black stories and non-White representation in the media. The movie industry, and specifically horror, has a long and dubious relationship with Black people. Shudder’s excellent documentary traces the history of Black horror all the way from The Birth of a Nation (a dazzling and hugely influential display of racist ideals) to Get Out and The Girl With All the Gifts. This should be required viewing; it’s not just interesting to fans of movies or horror, but to anyone who wants to appreciate some dimension of the Black experience—and how cinema changes the way we see ourselves and others.

Stream on: Shudder
If you liked: 13th, Smoke & Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini, In Search of Darkness
Tags: Documentary, Civil Rights, Film history

Come to Daddy (2019)

Since the conclusion of the juggernaut The Lord of the Rings franchise, Elijah Wood’s acting career has veered (refreshingly) into a strange world of indie productions. He even co-founded SpectreVision, a production company that is responsible for genre hits like Mandy, The Boy, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. He met Come to Daddy director Ant Timpson at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX—the first-time director founded The Incredibly Strange Film Festival and the grueling 48Hours filmmaking competition, and is an avid collector of 35mm films.

Come to Daddy is inspired by the death of Timpson’s own father, and it sees Wood playing a prissy musician visiting his estranged father on the coast of Oregon. The rug-pulling directorial debut is bleakly funny and gruesome in some truly surprising ways.

Stream on: Amazon Prime
If you liked: Maniac, Creep, The Loved Ones
Tags: Thriller, Comedy, Psychological

Elijah Wood and Stephen McHattie in Come to Daddy (2019).
Come to Daddy (2019). Tango Entertainment, Sagan Films.

1BR (2020)

If you’ve ever looked for a new place to live and told yourself: “This place says no pets but I’ll just sneak Mr. Boots in anyway. What’s the worst that can happen?”

This. This is the worst that can happen.

The feature debut from writer-director-editor David Marmor is tight, effective and engaging, even if it doesn’t revolutionize the genre in any way. Nicole Brydon Bloom is affecting as a new tenant in a small, suspiciously friendly community inspired in part by LA’s storied history with cults and would-be utopias.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: Vacancy, Vivarium
Tags: Thriller, Cult, Gore

Head Count (2018)

Historically, you can find Elle Callahan in the sound department of a film’s credits. Head Count is her directorial debut, and its premise finds a group of teens unknowingly inviting the presence of a not-so-fictional creepypasta presence into their guest house in the Joshua Tree desert. Callahan’s feature debut displays some growing pains in writing and execution, but it excels at creating a heady atmosphere of palpable dread through the use of sound, cinematography and patient plotting. It is also responsible for one of the most chilling and cleverly executed scenes in 2018’s horror slate. Head Count shows promise, and Callahan is an up-and-coming filmmaker to watch.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Tubi, Hoopla
If you liked: Signs, The Endless, In the Tall Grass
Tags: Supernatural, Psychological, Sci-Fi

Ready or Not (2019)

Australian actress Samara Weaving manages somehow to be both acerbic and sweet, and she turned heads in 2017 with two horror comedies (Mayhem and The Babysitter) and a supporting role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. She is the lead in Ready or Not, and it has all the feel of a mainstream debut. This explosively entertaining satire is one of the best horror comedies probably ever, and it has to be the reason that directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have landed the upcoming Scream 5. The film is wonderfully cast but it all hinges on Weaving’s salient charisma; this is what a smart, well-written $6 million dollar horror movie looks like.

Stream on: HBO Max
If you liked: Game Night, Murder Party, The Cabin in the Woods
Tags: Comedy, Gore, Class Warfare

Samara Weaving in Ready or Not (2019).
Ready or Not (2019). Fox Searchlight.

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

Director Adam Robitel has since moved on to bigger-budget projects, but his 2014 feature debut is quietly one of the better movies in the found footage genre. It chronicles the deteriorating state of Deborah Logan (Jill Larson) through what is believed to be an aggressive case of dementia and Alzheimer’s—and what turns out to be something far more sinister. It is not without a few of the eyeroll-inducing habits of the subgenre, but its format and escalation of the eerie narrative is effectively nerve-rattling. Hard-working special makeup effects artist Vincent Guastini sells the alarming progression of Logan’s “disease,” and the climactic shot of the film will be forever burned into my memory.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi
If you liked: V/H/S, Paranormal Activity, Satan’s Slaves
Tags: Mental Illness, Possession, Found Footage

Shirley (2020)

Elisabeth Moss has proven to be an actor who, in the right circumstances, is more than capable of generating the elusive sense of photogénie—that maddeningly illusory moment of emotional revelation that only exists in movies. She is consistently uncompromising in her dedication to the full realization of her roles and the physical inhabitation of her characters. Moss’ turn as the agoraphobic horror writer Shirley Jackson, and director Josephine Decker’s willingness to focus unflinchingly on her physical and mental state, paints a haunting portrait of mental illness and fraught human connection. Its sensual story is fueled, like a coal-fired furnace, by the universal struggle of young women in a world beset with men both callous and well-intentioned.

Stream on: Hulu
If you liked: They Look Like People, The Invisible Man, Horse Girl
Tags: Psychological, Biography, Drama, Feminism

Elisabeth Moss and Odessa Young in Shirley (2020).
Shirley (2020). Killer Films, Neon.

Knife+Heart (2018)

Knife+Heart is a stylish and lurid thriller about a French porno director and her dying relationship, and a series of sexual murders performed by a vengeful madman. It is a blatantly queer movie that strives (with good reason) to depict how those at the relative fringes of a still-repressive society are seen as more disposable than others—how the apathy of law enforcement and society at large leads to (and creates) victimization of those vulnerable members of a minority group.

The madman himself is a product of violent homophobia and ignorance, and the fallout from this tragedy, in a horrible irony, only hurts those who are the least protected. Somewhere in the middle the plot gets a little lost in the woods (literally and figuratively) but the climax finds a sense of justice and the end credits leave us, thankfully, with a moment of beauty just for the sake of it.

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Shudder, Kanopy
If you liked: In Fabric, Climax, Blood and Black Lace
Tags: Giallo, LGBTQ, Slasher

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

It’s hard to be a zombie movie these days. You have to either bring something new to the table or absolutely nail the execution. The Girl with All the Gifts stops just short of doing both (held back only by some clunky and occasionally illogical writing). But there’s a whole lot to like: the direction, art design, music and acting all communicate a world overrun by a different type of zombie, and the focus on a young, capable Black girl as a main character (the first film for the impressive Sennia Nanua) is an unusual and welcome act of inclusion in a genre with a disappointing history of racial representation. Its opening act is spellbinding, and the pivotal message about a world evolving faster than humanity can keep up is both timely and thought-provoking.

Stream on: Netflix
If you liked: 28 Days Later, Cargo, Ravenous
Tags: Zombie, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi