Cosmic horror operates on a specific, dread-inducing feel of human insignificance in the face of a vast, unknowable threat. Its characters slowly discover how meager their place in the universe is when faced with horrors beyond their reality. Our world is merely a tiny blip in the cosmos, after all.
Robbie Banfitch takes found footage to immersive cosmic horror highs in The Outwaters, releasing in limited theaters on February 9, 2023 from Bloody Disgusting and Cinedigm. In anticipation, this week’s streaming picks capture the unquantifiable terror of cosmic horror.
As always, here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Banshee Chapter – Screambox, Tubi
Drawing inspiration from actual government hallucinogenic drug experiments and H.P. Lovecraft’s From Beyond, Blair Erickson’s feature debut is as creepy as mysterious and engaging. After her friend’s sudden disappearance, journalist Anne Roland (Katia Winter) discovers the strange and horrifying links between her friend, a government conspiracy involving a research drug, and an eerie radio broadcast of otherworldly origin. Where From Beyond went for practical effects-driven spectacle, Banshee Chapter opts for a quiet, menacing atmosphere. It’s effectively creepy. Look for The Silence of the Lambs’ Ted Levine to steal every scene he’s in, but more than that, be ready for some great scares.
Event Horizon – Paramount+
Nothing makes humans seem punier than the visceral realization of Hell’s expansive reach and power in the furthest stretches of our solar system. In a haunted house film set near Neptune in 2047, the ill-fated crew of the Lewis and Clark spaceship is sent to answer a distress call from the Event Horizon after it’d been missing for seven years. They soon discover that the ship went to Hell and back, literally, and it’s gained sentience. Laurence Fishburne leads as Captain Miller, but Sam Neill steals the film as the Event Horizon’s designer turned evil villain. Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see.
In the Mouth of Madness – Tubi
Do you read Sutter Cane? Written by Michael De Luca and directed by John Carpenter, this descent into madness isn’t directly lifted from Lovecraft’s works but feels like it could be. Sam Neill plays John Trent, an insurance investigator hired to look for a missing bestselling author whose books affect his fans in brutal ways. The further into the investigation that John gets, the more surreal and dangerous things become. Hobb’s End is an insidious little town full of insanity, creatures, and death. In the Mouth of Madness closes out Carpenter’s apocalypse trilogy, this time adding a hefty dose of cosmic horror to the doom.
Sauna – AMC+
This Finnish period horror follows two brothers, Knut and Eerik, on their quest to mark the border between Finland and Russia after a 25-year war between the countries has finally ended. They come upon a village set in a swamp on their journey, with a mysterious sauna that they hope to use to cleanse away their sins of war. It’s abstract and non-linear in narrative and uniquely explores the toll of guilt, leaning into cosmic surrealism to explore its existentialism. The oppressive and haunting atmosphere offers some of the most stunning cinematography.
Uzumaki – Prime Video
Uzumaki (aka Spiral) is a surreal adaptation of Junji Ito’s well regarded horror manga of the same name. It’s not a film for those wanting a more linear plot with cohesive answers, but a journey into unknown madness. The narrative consists of four parts of a town becoming obsessed and tormented by spirals. Yes. Spirals. It’s weird, offbeat, and wholly unique. Get acquainted with this bizarre tale ahead of the upcoming animated adaptation.
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