I run to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday. (John Dunne)
Like most people, movies have always been a source of comfort for me, especially when I’m feeling low. It can be cathartic to watch stories of pain and grief, and connecting with the characters or stories helps to remind me that I’m not so alone in the world. Since I was feeling particularly sad recently, I revisited some of my favorite bleak films.
Perhaps surprisingly, some of the most emotionally stirring films are not drama but horror. Although the horror genre is often dismissed as lowbrow entertainment (and there’s nothing wrong with that kind of movie!), it’s ignorant to consider that as all the genre has to offer. Indeed, throughout cinema history there has always been quality, thought-provoking stories told through a horror lens. Horror is an interesting opportunity to explore relatable themes of grief, closure, loneliness, and death. These five films on my list do exactly that, using supernatural elements like haunted objects, ghosts, and even Satan himself as a vehicle to confront trauma, interpersonal relationships, loss, and death as an inevitability.
Content warning for the last film on my list, which discusses suicide. Discussions of the films are relatively spoiler-free.
Lake Mungo
“I feel like something bad has happened. It hasn’t reached me yet, but it’s on its way.”
Lake Mungo is one of the most popular mockumentary/found footage films, and for good reason. The story focuses on the death of Alice Palmer, a teenager who drowned while on a family trip. The family experiences paranormal events inside the home that they interpret as Alice, whose spirit wants them to know something. Seeking the guidance of a parapsychologist to communicate with her ghost, they discover that there is more to Alice than they knew. The movie shows us how we can be close to someone and yet not fully know them, how we hide secrets from each other, and how we may not know how to show that we care.
Lake Mungo is also different from your typical ghost movie fare because of how it answers the question of who is closure really for, the dead or the living? I wouldn’t say the film is traditionally scary – there aren’t any jump scares, although there is one particularly harrowing moment – but it’s unsettling and terrifying in its idea of what happens when we die. The conclusion of the film is devastating. Murcof’s soundtrack gives the film a touch of eerie poignancy.
Where to Stream: Tubi (free), Prime (subscription)
Oculus
Oculus may seem like a weird choice given the rest of the films on my list, but trust me when I say that it’s quite a dark movie.
Siblings Tim and Kaylie reunite after Tim is released from a psychiatric hospital. The narrative uses dual timelines: present day and 11 years earlier, which is when a violent crime occurred in the family home. The reason why Tim was in the psychiatric hospital is directly related to that incident. In the present day storyline, Kaylie and Tim have returned to their house, with Kaylie determined to prove that a 400 year old mirror is a haunted entity responsible for the deaths of all those who owned it. More importantly, Kaylie seeks to prove that the mirror, and not Tim, is responsible for the horrific violence inflicted in their family years ago.
Over the course of one night, while trying to heal from their trauma, the siblings grapple with conflicting memories and second guessing what’s reality and what isn’t. The audience isn’t quite sure whose words to trust, and if the images before them are representative of the truth. The sibling dynamic is believable and you can’t help but root for them to find their answers. Oculus is a gory but gripping look at a family unraveled. The ending is a gut punch.
Where to Stream: Prime
The Blackcoat’s Daughter
The film centers on three young women – Kat, Rose, and Joan. For most of the film, it’s not at all clear where Joan fits in, but she’s heading somewhere with a purpose. The primary focus of the story is on Kat, who, along with Rose, is left behind at their boarding school over winter break. But this is no vacation: Kat is possessed, and this isn’t your typical demonic possession story, either. Typically, the point in those kinds of stories is to get rid of the demon. But what if the demon is all you had?
The Blackcoat’s Daughter is utterly dreadful. Like Lake Mungo, its main character suffers from a deep loneliness, but The Blackcoat’s Daughter manages to be even more of an unhappy film, nailing what abandonment feels like. The narrative isn’t told in a straightforward manner, but it all comes together at the end, which I think heightens the emotional impact. Be sure to not Google the film before watching, as you don’t want the twist ruined. In all honesty, this is my favorite film from the list. I love the static, distanced camera work and the cold aesthetics. The alternate title for the film is February, and while that may not be as poetic, it’s fitting, for the film is of a bitterness and chill that a wintery February day evokes. Also, the soundtrack is as haunting as the visuals, particularly its theme, Incantation.
Where to Stream: Netflix
Carnival of Souls
In Lake Mungo, Alice knew that death was close behind. Carnival of Souls continues that theme, literally portraying death as a ghastly man following Mary, our protagonist out of place. At the beginning of the film, Mary miraculously survives a car wreck off a bridge. She suffers no injuries and never discusses the accident, instead simply carrying on with her life, moving to a new town to work as a church organist. But she soon begins seeing frightening apparitions, and in her new town often finds herself unseen and unheard by the people around her. Additionally, all the men in the film dismiss her or antagonize her in some way. There’s a particularly moving scene that was sampled by artist Lana del Rey for her song “13 Beaches”, in which Mary describes not having a place in the world: “I don’t belong in the world. That’s what it is. Something separates me from other people. Everywhere… They’re everywhere! They’re not going to let me go. Everywhere I turn, there’s something blocking my escape. It’s trying to prevent me from living. He’s trying to take me back somewhere.” Feeling out of place and experiencing a disconnect from the people around us is something that some of us can relate to all too well.
Truthfully, Carnival of Souls is not a story that makes much sense logically when it concludes. But ultimately I’m not bothered because it succeeds in establishing a dreary, dreamy atmosphere and mood. I wasn’t at all surprised to find out that the film has been cited as an inspiration to my favorite filmmaker, David Lynch.
Where to Stream: Pluto TV (free), Roku TV (Free), Tubi (Free), Vudu (Free), HBO Max (Subscription), Prime (subscription)
The Seventh Victim
“Your sister had a feeling about life; that it wasn’t worth living unless one could end it.”
Right before covid shut the city down, Anthology Film Archives ran a satanic panic film series, The Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic. I attended as many films as I could, and The Seventh Victim was one of them. (Here’s my list of all the films shown during the series.) I didn’t know anything about the movie prior to seeing it – I hadn’t even heard of it – but immediately it struck me and I fell in love with it.
In the film, Mary, a young woman, goes to New York City in search of her missing sister and guardian, Jacqueline – who, as it turns out, has fallen in with a Satanic cult. Or, more accurately: has fallen out with the cult. In her search to find and protect her sister, Mary realizes how much she didn’t know about Jacqueline (“Because I loved Jacqueline, I thought I knew her”). I’m including the film on this list because of the film’s portrayal of death, and in particular suicide. How to live life and the decision to end one’s life are explored through the characters’ movement and dialogue. As one would expect from a horror noir, there is some beautiful black and white photography at work here; one scene that comes to mind is a terrifying sequence of a character plunging into a shadowy darkness to meet death. Characters say things such as, “One must have courage to really live in the world”, while someone else asks, “Why can’t everyone be happy like we are? Laugh and have a good time.” And Jacqueline explicitly says, “I’ve always wanted to die.” But the most meaningful exchange in the film is between two characters who present differing approaches to death: To seek joy despite knowing life is coming to an end, or to embrace the darkness.
Producer Val Lewton said that he wanted The Seventh’s Victim message to be that death can be good. Inevitably, then, it’s a grim film, which I’m sure contributed to the negative reception at the time of its release. The Seventh Victim is also remarkable for two aspects: There’s a creepy, threatening shower scene that predates Psycho, and the film has a fairly blatant lesbian subtext. It’s clearly a bold film for its time.
Where to Stream: Vudu (rental), Prime (rental)
If you’re interested, I’ve been maintaining a list of what I call “emotional horror movies”, which can be found on my Letterboxd, and the list features these five movies and more. Feel free to follow me on Letterboxd; I log every movie I watch and love making lists.
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