Subscription
In Dreams Are Monsters
Through five mythical archetypes – the zombie, vampire, witch, ghost and beast – we trace how monstrous bodies have been represented and reclaimed by new voices in horror.
Monsters have always been a part of us, in the stories we tell ourselves, our collective imagination and our shared nightmares. Horror films make those monsters real. Since the inception of cinema horror has been the most radical and innovative genre. In this season, we trace how the imagery of our nightmares has been created through films and how stories of monsters have always been political. Through five mythical archetypes – the beast, ghost, vampire, witch and zombie – we trace how monstrous bodies have been represented and how they have been reclaimed by new voices in horror filmmaking. Each archetype doesn’t so much inform a subgenre as it does a taste for horror. There’s something for everyone here: tales of blood and seduction; of glorious, excessive gore; of teenagers turned monstrous; of the dead risen and angry. Horror is the genre of our times, and it speaks both to and for everyone.
- Michael Blyth, Anna Bogutskaya and Kelli Weston
Zombie
Rabid Rabid
Horror 1976 91 mins Director: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg’s classic outbreak horror introduces us to a young woman (Marilyn Chambers) who hungers for human blood after an experimental plastic surgery goes wrong.
Dead of Night (aka Deathdream) Dead of Night (aka Deathdream)
Drama 1978 88 mins Director: Bob Clark
A soldier killed in the Vietnam War returns home on the night of his death in Bob Clark’s deft blend of searing political allegory and wicked grindhouse thrills.
Pontypool Pontypool
Horror 2008 93 mins Director: Bruce McDonald
Don't say it! The wrong word starts turning people into zombies in this lo-fi Canadian horror.
Vampire
Nosferatu Nosferatu
Horror 1922 89 mins Silent Director: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.
Witch
The Blood on Satan's Claw The Blood on Satan's Claw
Horror 1971 96 mins Director: Piers Haggard
Depraved sexual practices and satanic violence envelop a remote country village in this exciting period horror.
A Dark Song A Dark Song
Horror 2016 100 mins Director: Liam Gavin
Steve Oram and Catherine Walker excel in this occult chamber piece about a grieving mother attempting to contact her deceased child.
Häxan Häxan
Horror 1922 106 mins Silent Director: Benjamin Christensen
Benjamin Christensen’s disorienting and wildly inventive 1922 doc/fiction hybrid charts the history of ancient sorcery and demonology.
Ghost
Ring [Ringu] Ring [Ringu]
Horror 1997 96 mins Director: Hideo Nakata
A journalist sets out to uncover an urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, in Hideo Nakata's chilling tale of technological terror.
Kwaidan Kwaidan
Horror 1964 183 mins Director: Masaki Kobayashi
This stunningly beautiful anthology of Japanese ghost stories is one of the most meticulously crafted supernatural films ever made.
Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains
Documentary 2012 90 mins Director: Rich Lawden
Documentary revisiting a British TV phenomenon, featuring exclusive interviews with the show's main cast and crew, and never-before-seen material.
Beast
Society Society
Horror 1989 99 mins Director: Brian Yuzna
A teenager uncovers an elite ritualistic society in Brian Yuzna's stomach-churning mix of body-horror and social commentary.
Possession Possession
Horror 1981 124 mins Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Andrzej Zulawski’s out-of-control horror masterpiece is one of cinema’s most bare-souled and open-veined accounts of a broken relationship.
Good Manners Good Manners
Fantasy 2017 130 mins Director: Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas
Disney fairytale meets body horror in this Brazilian marvel about Clara, who accepts a nanny position from Ana, a wealthy mother-to-be. Quite possibly the greatest contemporary horror film you’ve never seen.
Discover more from In Dreams Are Monsters.