Winter has settled in, wrapping us (and our seasonal depression) in its frosty little chokehold as we retreat into our homes. When the sun clocks out at 4 p.m., escaping into a film is more needed now than ever. Plus, with the holidays serving us cosy vibes paired with the occasional jump scares of our lovingly precarious family dynamics, spooky films feel weirdly on theme this season. So here’s a curated list of indie horrors to keep you freaky company over the holiday break.
Perfect Blue (1997)
Directed by Satoshi Kon
Pop idol Mima Kirigoe watches her reality begin to fracture after she gets all she ever wanted: fame. As Mima takes up an acting role in an erotic murder mystery project, doubles appear, memories glitch, and paranoia takes centre stage. Perfect Blue explores the complexities of an identity under surveillance in the shape of a beautifully animated fever dream.
Watch on Apple TV and YouTube Movies
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Directed by Jaromil Jires
It’s a frost-kissed fairytale in a 19th-century Czech village when Valerie, on the brink of girlhood, slips through the looking glass between dream and waking life. Jaromil Jireš’s Czech New Wave gem flutters with ribbons of menace and magic. Expect enchanted earrings, carnivals that feel cursed, missionaries who might be monsters, and vampires lurking in the family tree. Sexual repression, religious hypocrisy, and coming-of-age anxieties all swirl together as Valerie tries to keep her innocence (and her neck) intact.
Watch on Netflix and Prime Video (location dependent)
The Doom Generation (1995)
Directed by Gregg Araki
A mid-90s sun-bleached Californa finds Amy Blue (played by indie darling Rose McGowan), bored to death by her vanilla boyfriend, until she collides (literally) with leather-clad drifter Xavier Red. Directed by a pioneer in New Queer Cinema, Gregg Araki, the film unfolds into a sexually-fueled, homicidal road trip. It’s thrilling, horny, and totally doomed.
Watch on Criterion Channel
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021)
Directed by Jane Schoenbrun
One lonely late night online, Casey hits “record” and slips headfirst into an internet challenge rabbit hole. Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair taps into the creepypasta pulse of the chronically online, where digital folk tales and dares blur into IRL psychosis.
Watch on MUBI
Oldboy (2003)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
Oh Dae-su is released after 15 years of captivity, only to tumble back into a world that’s even stranger and crueller than the one he left. As Oh Dae-su chases his vengeance for the past, violence, duels, and cruel games form all around him.
Watch on Netflix and Prime Video (location dependent)
Images courtesy of the artists
