5 cult horror films to watch this Halloween

Jump scares are great, but horror cinema can also be something else. Many directors, over the years, have approached the genre, seeking to bring their vision to dark worlds designed to disturb viewers' sleep. Often filled with an innate charm, a vital energy blended with the deadly themes of the stories, they lead into subconscious territories meant to torment and frighten people. Always maintaining an unashamedly gruesome and elegant taste. Here are five titles of artful horror for Halloween to spend sleepless nights facing the worst nightmares: a selection of directors who have awakened the darkest instincts, examining and expertly crafting them.

Hereditary by Ari Aster (2018)

One of the most recently acclaimed horror films, among names that have elevated contemporary art horror alongside Robert Eggers, Jordan Peele, and David Robert Mitchell. In 2018, Ari Aster made his international debut with Hereditary, where Toni Collette gives one of her best performances as a mother who must face a series of family losses, while an ancient tradition — involving cults and demons to worship — unfolds right within her home. A continuous connection between the Graham family's house and its miniature replica contributes to an even more sinister echo between authentic and unreal space. The seed of evil will invade her children, eventually destroying the much sought-after daily peace. A work where each scene brings the unexpected, often expressed in unheard-of violence and painful ambiguity. A film that will continue to haunt the watcher even after watching it, all to the sound of a click.

The Love Witch by Anna Biller (2016)

Within the horror cinema realm, there is a niche devoted to the figure of the witch, whether resembling Snow White’s villain, as enchanting as Monica Bellucci in The Brothers Grimm, or rural like Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch. In 2016, Anna Biller wrote, directed, edited, scored, and designed the sets and costumes of her second feature, The Love Witch, a story of a witch in love with love who pursues it at any cost. The film is the epitome of indie cinema, at the genre's periphery and thus becoming a cult gem. It merges feminist theories, anti-patriarchal struggles, and magical spells in a mix where all the protagonist seeks is a man to spend her life with. Someone to love, please, and be devoted to, while being idolized in return. A tale with such perfect aesthetics that it seems to belong to the '60s/’70s (it was shot on 35mm and printed by cutting an original negative). A story of rites and spells, where a few hearts will inevitably be pierced.

Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (1997)

Though it’s hard to believe, given that Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a global inspiration for horror filmmakers, for his Cure, he says he was influenced by The Silence of the Lambs and Seven. However, the result remains far from American cinema, and over the years, Cure has become a cornerstone in the horror genre, inspiring numerous future directors and screenwriters. The film follows a series of murders in Tokyo, where each time the killer is found near the victim, admitting to the crime after losing control. Connecting each gruesome death is a stranger who has had brief interactions with both the perpetrator and the victim. Between thriller and horror, Cure is a film that generates an inner unease that travels from the screen directly to the viewer's stomach, awash with a pervasive and paralyzing discomfort, bound by terror and madness.

Possession by Andrzej Żuławski (1981)

With Possession by Andrzej Żuławski, we enter the classics. Starring Anna/Helen and Mark, portrayed by Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill, the film is about the degeneration of a marriage spiraling into madness. Set in 1980s Berlin, it combines influences from Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage to a descent into the surreal and grotesque. A story of a relationship ending, whose nature becomes, indeed, unnatural as the film dives deeper into dreamlike and illusory territories. From a husband’s suspicions, a former spy returning home, to a wife’s double life hiding an unspeakable secret: Possession is a mysterious triangle where love leads to the knowledge of monstrous beings, immortalized in scenes like Adjani’s desperate dance in the subway.

Suspiria by Luca Guadagnino (2018)

For some, it might be blasphemy to mention Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria and not the original from which the Palermo-born director drew inspiration. However, Guadagnino's take on the story of witches and their dance academy is exactly what an auteur's approach is. A reinterpretation by an auteur. Guadagnino, with David Kajganich's screenplay, never hid that his version of the story of witches would be a deeply personal take, with little connection to the original. The title, Suspiria, was chosen to make explicit the influence that led to composing this film starring Dakota Johnson, allowing a fan to recreate one of his favorite films since his youth, as he stated. The 2018 Suspiria is a confluence of history (with a capital H) meeting dynamics of sisterhood, of daughters and mothers, all witches in their own right, who, if necessary, can also become fairies. A calm work, though sustained by constant tension, erupts in a bloody and exaggerated final scene. And in which Tilda Swinton plays not one, not two, but three roles.