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cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16332964
Cosmic horror has been established as one of the most chilling sub-genres in horror cinema. With a focus on the unknown, isolation, and the human mind, cosmic horror plays on the imaginations of audiences rather than going all out on gore and jump scares. Instead of ghosts, serial killers, or vampires, these stories focus on the endless possibilities of the universe’s fictional horrors.
Early 20th-century author H.P. Lovecraft gave Cosmic horror prominence through stories like At the Mountain of Madness, The Hound, and The Call of Cthulhu. The genre can be challenging to pull off in cinema, but plenty of films have tried to capture the terror of the unknown and unimaginable. Everything from stories of paranoia to questions about reality itself has made up cosmic horror in cinema.
They are:
- The Thing
- In the Mouth of Madness
- Event Horizon
- The Lighthouse
- Phantoms
- The Void
- The Mist
- Bird Box
- Color Out of Space
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No “Glorious”? For shame! It’s J.K. Simmons as eldritch gloryhole, and yes, that’s as awesome as that sounds.
I literally thought I was the only person in existence who loves Dean Koontz’s Phantoms.
Ben Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo! (Love the book, like the movie.)
Word bitch, Phantoms like a motherfucker!
Sunshine would be a great addition, great cast and fantastic score.
Love that movie! But there’s nothing otherworldly, nothing supernatural going on. The captain of the Icarus I is plain nuts, not like he’s possessed or the like.
There’s a theme in the movie that some of the crew become obsessed with the sun, without any rational reason being given.
“Cosmic horror has been established as one of the most chilling sub-genres in horror cinema. With a focus on the unknown, isolation, and the human mind, cosmic horror … these stories focus on the endless possibilities of the universe’s fictional horrors.”
Seems to fit.
I don’t know the shots constantly try to remind you if that largest and most destructively uncaring monster of them all “The Sun”
I think it absolutely is cosmic horror. Humans up against something so much more than them it’s hard to not curl up into a ball at the concept of comprehending what’s going on, so they’ve have to continue.
Plus the ending.
Alien?
I include it on my list of Lovecraftian films as it’s an edge case - Giger’s designs definitely have a Lovecraftian feel to them, there’s overtones of At the Mountains of Madness (it gets a paragraph on the story’s Wikipedia entry) and there’s a pervading aura of cosmic indifference.
I also found a paper that touches on it: The Hunter in the Dark: A Formal Analysis of Lovecraftian Horror and Surrealist Style in Alien (1979)
Haven’t seen 5 of those. Got some homework tonight!
And some good films ahead of you.
Honestly I don’t get Event Horizon. It just felt like it was missing a bunch of the movie… And well… It was… But still!
Overall it was fine but definitely not the 3rd best cosmic horror of all time.
Its unpleasant and doesn’t care if you don’t get it. Cosmic Horror.
But like that’s the actual point. A plot that just keeps happening cause something beyond the realm of human comprehension or comfort just steam rolling the plot while the humans try to keep a grip.
Horror is mostly about the feeling and adrenaline you get from the tension anyways. Hellraiseright be one of the best horror movies as well but it’s for a crowd that likes body horror and it nails its vibes perfectly. Like Event Horizon nails “Space is Hell”
