8 Surreal, Literate, Impressive, and Creepy Movies (part 1)

Horror is, for me, the most compelling of genres. There's nothing quite like that creeping feeling of the uncanny, that shivering crawl up the spine, that heart-deadening pulse in your chest. It's exciting. Some people don't get it, but I've always found a really good horror novel or movie to be an experience akin to the thrill I can only assume some people get from things like sports, violent video games, and sky diving. The problem is, to begin with film, the majority of what's out there is derivative, splatterfest crap. Movies like Saw and Hostel are entertaining to a certain demographic (I enjoyed them for what they were), but do not have any lasting value. I like horror that makes you think. Literary and literate horror, that is disturbing and weird. I call these kinds of titles SLIC (Surreal, Literate, Impressive, and Creepy). Here are 8 SLIC movies (I'll get to books in my next post) to begin with:

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Videodrome:
David Cronenberg's visual masterpiece. Sleazy and cerebral, the film's surrealist imagery is disgusting and unforgettable. How does mass-media affect our perceptions of reality?

Antichrist:
Unrelenting and terrifying. Lars Von Trier's descent into darkness and insanity. Chaos reigns!

Lost Highway:
Robert Blake is very creepy in this film. A movie the explores one man's conflicting identities. Perhaps not David Lynch's best, but certainly horrific.

Santa Sangre:
Filled with uncanny and disturbing symbolism and imagery, this artistic film is more horrific than Jodorowsky's equally impressive The Holy Mountain.

The Shining:
The real question is, why and for what reason did Kubric make the changes he did in his film instead of following King's most excellent novel more closely? Theories? ([email protected]). A very creepy film.

Tetsuo: The Ironman:
A response to the machination of the individual in modern industrial society, a monstrosity of a film, that spirals from one scene of twisted imagination to the next. Brutal.

Rosemary's Baby:
Mysterious and psychological, it gets under your skin and builds to a fantastic, although well-known, climax. With one of the most disturbing dream sequences I've ever seen on film. Roman Polanski is very good with subtle and disturbing occurrences on film.

Tideland:
Terry Gilliam refuses to sugar-coat the dark imagination of children. Perverse and macabre, this mind-bending film of the dark happiness of childhood is uncomfortable to watch. Brilliant.