I'm pretty sure this is the completed version of the movie. It comes out next week.
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Cosmic Horror in Film
- Thread starter UCBooties
- Start date
Color Out Of Space:
Characters are a bit undercooked and the narrative framing is trying but comes off the same... but they nailed the overall feeling of " Welp these people are fucked it's just a matter of when and how " you get from Lovecraft stories. It's not quite existential dread, it's more the fear you get when you watch " The thing". These aren't inexplicable, mind warping horrors ( they are to the characters but it's never unclear as to how or what is going on to the audience )
Most importantly though I would love to See Stanley having a go at more of HP's work and more Stanley work in general. He did a great job.
Characters are a bit undercooked and the narrative framing is trying but comes off the same... but they nailed the overall feeling of " Welp these people are fucked it's just a matter of when and how " you get from Lovecraft stories. It's not quite existential dread, it's more the fear you get when you watch " The thing". These aren't inexplicable, mind warping horrors ( they are to the characters but it's never unclear as to how or what is going on to the audience )
Most importantly though I would love to See Stanley having a go at more of HP's work and more Stanley work in general. He did a great job.
I enjoyed Color Out of Space. It is more about the madness you would get just being adjacent to the cosmic horror in your yard. But then again, that's what the original story was about if I remember correctly. I felt Cage acted like he should've and not over-the-top like he does in other movies (which normally ruins a film for me) except for the accent he did to show his madness. That took a little to get use to but wasn't bad. But they did a good job of showing just enough and portraying how they might be affected. The visuals were on point and did seem cosmic horror-y.
Excited for Dunwich Horror and hope the stuff in here carries over.
Excited for Dunwich Horror and hope the stuff in here carries over.
Have you seen Resolution or The Endless yet?
Watch Resolution first if not.
Hmm,
I hesitate to call these ones good but they are all cosmic horror or adjacent
Black Mountain Side.
The Corridor
The Creature Below
Dirt Dauber
Die Farbe
Not a movie, but a horror novel I read recently that I really liked. It's a murder mystery set on the south side of Chicago in 1918. Incredible setting, lots of historical details, memorable characters, and definitely some cosmic horror.
Amazon.com: Lake of Darkness: A Novel: 9781945863509: Kenemore, Scott: Books
Amazon.com: Lake of Darkness: A Novel: 9781945863509: Kenemore, Scott: Books
www.amazon.com
I finally was able to find and watch 'Vanishing on 7th street.' I thought it was pretty well done. Im suprised the movie was not any bigger than it is. So hard to find to watch. It deserved better. I do find it funny that Hayden Christensons characters name in the movie is Luke. Lol.
None of those sound familiar. So i'll have a look. Thanks.
I'm not much of a reader. A horribly ignorant admission to make, i know.Not a movie, but a horror novel I read recently that I really liked. It's a murder mystery set on the south side of Chicago in 1918. Incredible setting, lots of historical details, memorable characters, and definitely some cosmic horror.
Amazon.com: Lake of Darkness: A Novel: 9781945863509: Kenemore, Scott: Books
Amazon.com: Lake of Darkness: A Novel: 9781945863509: Kenemore, Scott: Bookswww.amazon.com
I was more interested in stuff to watch (which i should have said in my post. Sorry) But genuinely, thank you for the rec.
Hey ERA! I've been working on a project lately that incorporates some strong elements of cosmic horror, especially inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and I got to thinking about how relatively little cosmic horror I've seen in movies. I thought I'd start a thread to see what everyone's favorites were and maybe find a few new recommendations to add to my watch list.
First thing's first: What is Cosmic Horror?
Cosmic Horror is horror that derives its power to frighten from the unknown. It is a quintessentially post-enlightenment type of horror based around the concept that the universe is vast and unknowable and the more we attempt to discover about it through scientific inquiry, the more alien and terrible it becomes. Because of this, Cosmic Horror often has strong elements of science fiction though those elements are certainly not a necessity. Cosmic Horror often deals with themes of madness or altered perception, as the protagonists of the story encounter things which logic cannot explain and which test their understanding of the universe and their place in it.
I think there is an important key to deciding if something is Cosmic Horror:
A vast and uncaring universe. Cosmic Horror depicts a universe where humans are unimportant and all of our attempts to understand or control that universe are futile. Whatever the threat in a Cosmic Horror story is, it is usually unconcerned with humans, and may regard us as insects or take no notice of us at all.
The creation of the Cosmic Horror genre is generally credited to the works of H.P. Lovecraft and a few of his direct literary descendants writing pulp horror. A lot of Cosmic Horror shares the popular trappings of his work with cults, alien gods, and secrets that will drive you mad, but a work does not need to be directly Lovecraftian in order to be good Cosmic Horror.
Here are the Cosmic Horror movies that I have seen and enjoyed. Do you like Cosmic Horror, and is so, what are your favorite movie examples?
1. Alien
The first Alien movie is pretty much perfect cosmic horror (as well as being a nearly perfectly constructed thriller).
A crew of people land on a hostile planet and discover a derelict spaceship of unknown origin. Inside they discover a massive corpse and hundreds of alien eggs. Soon enough they are being hunted through their own ship by a nightmarish creature which picks them off one by one...
I love how alien everything is in Alien, from the almost organic designs of the derelict ship to the design of the Space Jockey itself. It all hints at a huge universe that does not care about humanity at all.
Yes, all of this goes out the window with the most recent movies. Covenant itself fully transitions from Cosmic Horror to Gothic Horror of all things. That being said, if you take the original Alien as its own film, I think it still deserves to be lauded as extremely effective Cosmic Horror.
2. Event Horizon
This is another space themed movie and it's likely to be a more controversial pick. An experimental FTL ship vanishes during it's maiden voyage and is discovered years later floating in the far reaches of the solar system. A salvage crew goes to recover the ship and discovers the terrible fate of the original crew.
Event Horizon makes my list because it's central plot is built on the idea of circumventing natural law leading to horror. The Event Horizon traveled through another dimension and when it came back changed. Bonus points for also having a lot of the horror be tied to characters struggling to understand if what is happening to them is real or not. I enjoy Event Horizon despite its cheesier parts, but I know that it's kind of a love it or hate it movie.
3. In the Mouth of Madness
Oh hi again, Sam Neill! In the Mouth of Madness is the second in John Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy and sits between The Thing and The Prince of Darkness. In the Mouth of Madness might just be the most "Lovecraftian" movie on this list. It's clear that Carpenter wanted to pay specific homage to Lovecraft's work so you have a small New England town with terrible secrets, tentacled beasts, books which drive people mad, people who can't tell if books they are reading are real... It's all pretty great and John Carpenter swings for the fences with bringing out as much weird from the concept as he can manage while Sam Neill devours scenery in order to sell the increasing instability of his character.
If you are interested, try to watch this without learning too much about it, even some of the posters have annoying spoilers.
4. The Thing
The first of the aforementioned Apocalypse Trilogy and one of the greatest practical effect horror films ever made. An antarctic research station is infiltrated by an alien creature that was dug up from beneath the ice. The crew realizes that they cannot trust anyone or anything as the creature can assume the form of any one of them.
I think The Thing is a good example of Cosmic Horror because, again, the creature has no interest in humans for our own sake. It's simply trying to survive and escape, and the humans it encounters are simply threats or disguises to be avoided or used and consumed. It also hearkened back to the trope of an expedition finding something they shouldn't have disturbed which Lovecraft used so much.
5. The Void
The Void is a recent indie horror movie currently available on Netflix and, much like In the Mouth of Madness, it is pretty much a direct Lovecraftian story. A small group of people are trapped in a rural hospital as strange cultists close in and they learn that not everyone inside is who they seem. The movie is pulpy and fun and moves at a decent pace. It does a good job balancing the tense claustrophobia of its premise with some more large scale stakes and visuals.
A good use of Lovecraftian tropes that keeps escalating until the end.
So what say you ERA? Do you like Cosmic Horror? Do you think these movies are good examples of it? What are your favorite Cosmic Horror movies?
EDIT: ERA responds! Here is the list of movies (and a few books) that received several recommendations through the course of the thread:
Thanks to astro for creating the original version of this list
Underwater.
I agree that it doesn't have the horror element of madness but I think it's straddles the line and it's so obviously borrowing from the Lovecraft mythos. It's definitely showcasing the mystery of the oceanic depths
Vast of Night is one I saw recently and had a good time with. Light on the horror, though good at hinting at the enormity of things not earth as the title implies.
Are you kidding? It's the MOST cosmic horror considering a special someone is in it...
For me it takes more than
the random appearance of Cthulhu
I think it takes more than tentacle monsters to be regarded as Cosmic Horror.
I posted my personal definition earlier in the thread:
My list:
1. Possession (1981)
2. The Wailing
3. In The Mouth of Madness
4. Begotten
5. Antichrist
6. Sleep Has Her House
7. November (2017)
8. The Beyond
1. Possession (1981)
2. The Wailing
3. In The Mouth of Madness
4. Begotten
5. Antichrist
6. Sleep Has Her House
7. November (2017)
8. The Beyond
It is the opening of the door to cosmic horror just as they opened the door to Cthulhu.
So i watch Coprse (an adapation of the King In Yellow) earlier in the week. After hearing about it for a couple of years. It's finally out on Amazon Prime.
Here's a trailer.
Umm. Yeah i liked it. Need to watch it again though, as i was very tired and nodded off here and then.
Worth a go, if you got prime.
Here's a trailer.
Umm. Yeah i liked it. Need to watch it again though, as i was very tired and nodded off here and then.
Worth a go, if you got prime.
theres a dark corruption in this thread causing the posters to lose their grip on reality
Just watched The Beach House (2020) and that was some damn good cosmic horror. Starts off kind of tame, but gets pretty wild. Some fascinating shot composition, and
in addition to the cosmic horror vibes. The characters and acting are a bit flat, but the rest of it is great. Avoid the trailer.
some good gross practical body horror.
The problem with cosmic horror movies is the best way to experience one is to go in not knowing its a cosmic horror movie.
What constitutes as comic horror is vaguely defined and varying from person to person enough that you could still go in knowing and get a large variety of experiences
I would say the biggest problem with cosmic horror in film is that the very act of filming, of rendering the unknowable in whatever manner the filmmakers chooses and then showing it, it immediately quantifies it and reduces the unknowable into the absolute knowable. No matter how horrific or unnerving, you can now look at it and understand it.
Maybe more of a Supernatural suspense but Vast of Night was real good and had cosmic horrorish stuff.
Just saw A colour out of space last night. I think my brain shut down at one point. I remember the entire film but at some point I felt like I was refreshed like I had a nap? Also I physically gasped and covered my mouth at one part. Can't remember the last time a movie made me have a physical reaction like that.
But I'm excited to get into more cosmos horror now.
But I'm excited to get into more cosmos horror now.
I need to rewatch The Color Out of Space. I kept getting distracted last time and couldn't give it my full attention. I think I remember what scene you're talking about.
I'd recommend "The Endless" if you're looking for some more cosmic horror.
I'd recommend "The Endless" if you're looking for some more cosmic horror.
I'd highly recommend watching Resolution before watching The Endless. It's not required, but it does make The Endless a little more coherent a little sooner and pays off a few otherwise random "things" in the film.
I felt just the opposite. I wasn't that enamored with Resolution, even with watching The Endless first. I think I would have actually liked Resolution less if I had watched them in the other order.
I watched The Endless first and was a decent fan until the ending with the laughable monologues as the characters are near-death.
Feel like I won't enjoy Resolution as much since I already know what's up but I'll eventually give it a shot. Color Out of Space was alright but Mandy was such a better batshit colorful Nic Cage horror/sci-fi film recently that it's kind of lessened.
Color Out of Space is good, Mandy is one of the best movies released in recent years. Not really a contest.
Feel like I won't enjoy Resolution as much since I already know what's up but I'll eventually give it a shot. Color Out of Space was alright but Mandy was such a better batshit colorful Nic Cage horror/sci-fi film recently that it's kind of lessened.
Color Out of Space is good, Mandy is one of the best movies released in recent years. Not really a contest.
Deep Rising is similar, also recommended :D a forgotten 90´s tentacle monster film
Deep Rising is similar, also recommended :D a forgotten 90´s tentacle monster film
I've been pissed off for a long time that we never got a sequel. Especially after that ending.
yeah, i´m happy we did atleast get a Bluray release of it though. And yeah, it´s not cosmic horror, just deep sea monsters :D But Abyss, Leviathan and this makes for a good deep sea trilogy :D
Agreed. Netflix's
Annihilation
Usually silly to argue genre, but True Detective S1 is definitely a southern gothic with neo-noir elements.
Evolution from 2001 is a cosmic horror comedy of sorts.
Evolution from 2001 is a cosmic horror comedy of sorts.
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That trivial thing is what caught your eye?
I just mentioned Netflix in connection to the film, so people would have some idea what may be inside the spoiler tags, as in, not something new. Mentioning someone in it would have given it away immediately.
oh shit i just realized i ruined the spoiler, i'll edit my post
pretty dumb of me tbh
I worried since I found the other Cage movie dreadful but this was so great. Tempted to get it in 4K!
Currently halfway through Lovecraft County and totally enjoying it!
Not super cosmic-y or adult but Netflix has Legend Quest on Netflix, its a cartoon about a kid, an imaginary creature, and his two ghost friends trying to stop Quetzalcoatl from taking over the world and it does a lot of supernatural stuff across the world. One of the main baddies is Baba Yaga...might not fit most people's cup of tea but curious if it would be a good beginner's steps to get children into cosmic horror? Hope it isn't too much of a stretch.
Where can i watch Sleep Has Her House? I can't seem to find it anywhere
I saw it at a festival
store — Scott Barley Film
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