Occult Horror--it’s back, and it’s bigger and more terrifying than ever before.
Because as it may seem, we’ll never truly know how deeply seeded the twisted influence
of the occult runs through horror fiction and fandom.
It’s interesting, because there’s nothing quite like a horror movie that correctly handles
the occult--an exploration of the hidden facets of the human condition--of the ancient, and
the forbidden.
For horror cinema in particular, correctly portraying occultism is a difficult task to
do--and out of all our specific list videos that we’ve revisited for a Part 2--this
one is perhaps the most difficult.
Let’s see what we can do.
Hello horror fans, what’s going on--and once again, welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch--as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Scariest Occult Horror Movies -- Part 2.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from 2016’s A Dark Song--an absolutely fantastic
British movie starring the awesome Steve Oram alongside Catherine Walker, that happened
to find itself at our Number 2 spot on the previous part of this list--but is so damn
good that it deserves to take the honorable spot of today’s roll the clip.
So yeah, there you go--there you have it--and there will be many, many entries that deserve
their recognition of horror movies that deal with the occult--many of which I know you’ll
have an opinion over, so let us know your picks down in the comment section below.
On with the show.
Kicking off at Number 5 - Starry Eyes, 2014
And I’d just like to begin with the fact that this film is hella messed up.
It is incredibly, incredibly violent--and for an independent movie that was pretty much
funded through Kickstarter, it contains some of the most truly shocking visual effects
I’ve seen in a while.
Also, not only that--but 2014’s Starry Eyes handles some pretty acute themes--many of
which cut close to the bone, and many of which pose the question as to why this film had
to be created by independent studios, as it critically handles the vast conspiracy and
occultism often lauded with Hollywood--and in many ways, is reminiscent of the themes
handled in Stanley Kubrick's 1999 classic, Eyes Wide Shut.
Now we’ve got all of that out of the way though--this film is just a straight up great
horror movie, and although it has its flaws--start to finish, it portrays occultism with an air
of modernity.
Co-written and directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer, Starry Eyes tells the tale
of Sarah Walker, played by the awesome Alexandra Essoe and who’s performance in this film
is something to behold, as an aspiring actress who’s stuck in a dead-end job at a fast-food
restaurant in Hollywood, but who, of course, quickly finds herself along a much more sinister
path.
After taking a casting call with a prestigious studio, for a mysterious film known as The
Silver Scream--Sarah quickly catches the eye of a strange casting director, and her willingness
to completely transform for any given reveals the price that she has to truly pay.
To be honest, there’s not too much to spoil with this film--because you can guess the
premise from the first few scenes--but nevertheless, it’s in the gradual reveal of the true extent
of the price that Sarah pays for fame where horror truly lies.
And saying that--the final moments of this film are truly, truly shocking.
This film is gross.
It’s violent and bleak.
It’s got a secret hollywood cult pulling the strings for young actors--and as far as
occultism goes, it paints the bleakest of pictures.
Coming in at Number 4 - The House Of The Devil, 2009
And whilst one thing does, indeed, lead to another--and whilst we’ve also covered this
film before on Top 5 Scary Videos--there’s no denying the fact that when it comes to
Occult Horror--The House of the Devil is a rightful contender for the Top Spot.
So much so, that the next four films on this list are *so* neck and neck that you could
almost consider this spot Number 2.
Without beating about the bush, The House of the Devil is a fantastic horror film--and
as so far as genre filmmaking goes, it manages to *so* accurately create a sense of time
and place that it’s easy to slip through the cracks of this film.
And that time and place, is the 1980s--and a Suburban America gripped in the midst of
the Satanic Panic.
And oh boy--is this film the definition of Satanic Panic.
Written and directed by the awesome Ti West, the filmmaker behind 2011’s The Innkeepers,
as well as You’re Next--which are both incredible horror movies in their own right--The House
of the Devil tells the tale of Samanatha Hughes--played by Jocelin Donahue--a college student in the
1980s--who takes up a babysitting job at an old house in the countryside, owned by the
Ulman’s--an initially unassuming family that are hiding more than just skeletons in
their closet.
Now, I almost don’t want to say anything else about the plot--because for those that
haven’t seen this film, it’s very much a classic haunted house tale--who’s true
terror lies in the discovery of what lurks behind every corridor--but again, in classic
occult fashion--the third act of this film is the definition of Occult Horror.
Now listen, although this film is far from perfect, and it draws on many tropes already
explored in classic 1980s horror--for the sum of its parts, The House of the Devil is
start to finish horror entertainment.
I’d even go so far as to say it’s one of the best occult horrors of the last decade.
Next up at Number 3 - Häxan, 1922
This film.
Was made.
In 1922.
And--horror list aside, we should all appreciate how astonishing it is to bare witness to an
artform that has lasted for so long, whilst also being living evidence of the things that
a creative team of human beings can do, despite their technological limitations--during a
time where these particular methods of narrative weren’t even in the cultural idealogue.
Big words, I know--but this film is a big freakin' deal.
And when it comes to Occultism in Horror Cinema--this film literally wrote the book.
But it was based on another book, a book that spawned the craze of demonology that has proliferated
its way through the ages.
The Malleus Maleficarum--the 15th century demon-hunter's handbook, and in many ways--Haxan
is a visual depiction of the many bizarre mysteries and cultural superstitions that
it spawned.
And in many ways, this film is the definition of occultism in its visual form.
Written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, Haxan--also known as The Witches or Witchcraft
Through the Ages--at the time, it was the most expensive Scandinavian film ever made--and
for what is essentially a horror movie based on a medieval textbook--that’s a pretty
big deal.
Told in four distinct parts, Haxan seeks to discover the origin of witchcraft--and the
true meaning behind the many demons and destructive entities that have found their place in folklore.
In one manner, this film is an essay--and in others, it is a visual tapestry of what
role superstition--and demonology in particular--played in European culture.
Listen, this is a silent film--it was made in 1922--and it will not be for everybody--but
the bones that it laid down for horror cinema as a whole, and the depiction of occultism
and forbidden knowledge behind the silver screen--are incredibly important, and they're
the ones we should cherish.
Also, stylistically--this film is a wonder to behold.
It’s equal parts historical artefact as it is a work of horror.
There is nothing quite like it, and there definitely won’t be another like it.
Unless we go back in time… but yeah, that’s a different story.
Swinging in at Number 2 - Kill List, 2011
Alright--how do you get, what is for the most part, a British Gangster movie--that then
somehow manages to turn itself into one of the most glaring and visceral occult horrors
of recent memory?
You have to be Ben Wheately, that’s how.
I went into this film not knowing anything about it, and it was my first brush with the
incredibly talented British filmmaker, Ben Wheately--and the fact that ultimately, I
finally realised it was a horror film--rather than a straight up crime-thriller--made things
quite confusing on first viewing.
But then you watch this film back again--with that same thought in mind, and all the unexplored
mysteries of the occult--cultism in general, homogeneity, the breakdown of the social contract--conspiracy,
shady old dudes in smoky rooms--and then suddenly, 2011’s Kill List truly becomes terrifying.
And do you know why?
Because no matter how many times you watch this film, there are no answers.
And the definition of occultism--is hidden knowledge.
Do you see where we’re going with this?
Written and directed by Ben Wheatley, Kill List tells the tale of Jay, played by the
staggeringly talented Neil Maskell--alongside his partner Gal, also played by the fantastic,
Michaely Smiley--two former soldiers who took up a career as hitmen ever since leaving the
military--whilst Jay is haunted by the disaster of a mysterious mission gone wrong in Kiev.
Strangely though, the pair happen upon a mysterious job--introduced to him by Gal’s new girlfriend,
a human resources manager of all people--sounds fishy already, right?
Well, yeah--I’ll say no more, because although I said previously that this film has very
few answers--understanding the points that get us there as an audience is part of the
deeply disturbing mysterious.
This film unravels like the bandage of an infected wound.
There’s something really off about it, the whole way through.
And despite the boisterous and often comedic performances of Maskell and Smiley--their
swager only serves to make the ultimate resolution of this film far more terrifying.
Yeah.
Kill List guys.
As far as Occult Horror Movies go.
This is definitely one of the best.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot - Hereditary, 2018
And boy--where do we begin.
You just knew that this one was going to rear its ugly, Paimon-ridden head sooner or later,
and many of you found umbridge with the fact that it didn’t appear on our Part 1 of this
list--but come on, there’s a lot to get through when it comes to occult horror, okay?
And we’ve got a few demonic overlords to crown.
Nevertheless--there is only one Occult Horror film of the 21st century that rightfully deserves
its place at the top spot--and it’s Hereditary.
Also, as a little sidebar--Ari Aster’s other occult showstopper, Midsommar--perhaps deserves
its place up here, but we’ll let the dust settle first before we give that one a proper
once over.
For all intents and purposes--the meat and bones of 2018’s Hereditary are horror incarnate.
The reason this film is touted as one of the scariest films of an entire generation, is
because it is.
Hereditary is terrifying.
It’s disturbing.
It contains some of the greatest performances in the whole of horror--particularly with
the extraordinary Toni Collette and the young Alex Wolff--and occult aside, this film is
the true meaning of fear.
And then we can talk about the occult angle of this film--because again, part for part--there
are few other films that breach the topic as deftly and as comprehensively as Hereditary.
For all intents and purposes, this film is about a demon.
And in a genre oversaturated by demonic possession movies, unexplored crypts or paranormal investigators--Hereditary
manages to blow all of those films of that ilk, completely out of the water--effortlessly.
As far as demonology goes--and of shadowy, malevolent cults--this film is the most convincing
out of all of them.
I’m not sure *exactly* why that is--but it is.
Part of it is in the writing--part of it is in Ari Aster’s unique view of what horror
actually is--but the majority of it is in what we’re not shown.
It’s in the implication of a family gripped by a force far out of their control.
Yeah.
I don’t need to say much more.
Occult Horror.
Hereditary.
They go together like a cult and a treehouse.
Well, there we have it horror fans--our list for the Top 5 Scariest Occult Horror Movies
-- Part 2.
What do you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add to this list?
Let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below, as well as any choice picks
of your own.
Before we depart from today’s video though, if you’d like to continue on with your horror
recommendation binge--then please, feel free to hit that neatly compiled playlist floating
conveniently to the side.
Unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got time for in today's video--cheers for sticking
around all the way until the end.
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you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch--you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary
Videos.
And until next time, you take it easy.