10 Best Psychedelic Horror Movies

Psychedelic Horror movies are a niche, but incredibly satisfying type of scary movie, with the best examples being terrifying visual feats. Of all the horror subgenres, psychedelic horror doesn’t get enough credit as some of the best around, crafting engaging stories that are uniquely suited to the medium of film. Psychedelic horror refers to horror films with far-out, fantastical visuals, nightmarish blurs between the real and conceptual, or esoteric plots that eschew traditional narrative.

The best psychedelic horror movies excel in all these aspects while creating a well-produced and skillfully realized film. Some rely on the nonsensical nature of their unorthodox stories to invalidate the unsettling feeling of a terrifying trip through a nightmarish alternate reality. Others focus instead on the visuals, making a colorful spectacle out of an otherwise straightforward horror story. Whatever the case, the best of psychedelic horror can stand with some of the greatest horror films of all time.

10

Mandy

2018

Nicolas Cage is known for his eclectic roles in horror movies or horror-adjacent projects, playing everything from speechless pinball aficionados to Dracula himself. But among Nicolas Cage’s filmography, Mandy Stands out as a truly impressive and disorienting tale of terror and revenge told in a decidedly psychedelic style. On paper, the premise of Mandy It may not particularly qualify to fall into the subgenre, being a straightforward revenge flick about a lumberjack who attacks the biker gang that killed his wife.

But, this is the way Mandy is shot and presented that gives it such a psychedelic flair, which takes place in a hazy world of pitch black darkness, blurring neon lights, and corrupt criminals whose appearances are more demonic than conventional. Even the choice of weapons for the splatter film leans towards the mind-bending, with strange, curvaceous axes and impractically-long chains being the primary tools of justice over simple guns or knives. A blood-soaked rampage through a twisted twist on reality, Mandy Certainly qualifies as a psychedelic horror masterpiece.

9

Beyond the Black Rainbow

2010

Not only is Beyond the Black Rainbow A decidedly psychedelic horror story in terms of its tone and presentation, but its very narrative is deeply rooted in the 60s new age spirituality that heavily popularized the use of the psychedelic drugs that coined the term. Essentially a darker version of 11’s start in Stranger Things, Beyond the Black Rainbow Tells the story of Elena, a powerful psychic, telepath and telekinetic who is trapped in a mysterious scientific facility. The film follows her attempt to get out from under the thumb of the evil Dr. Nile.

Beyond the Black Rainbow Has quite a coherent history, but deliberately leaves out strange elements like the strange “Sentimentout” guards or the crooked “Devil’s Tear” ceremonial dagger as mysterious factors that evoke a larger, incomprehensible myth. Elena’s own abilities are just as terrifying as the experiments that expand on them, and the looming alternate caricature of the 80s that is the film’s time period is as much a character as her or Nyle. For his mastery of aesthetics and horrific imagery, Beyond the Black Rainbow Defines the psychedelic subgenre.

8

Suspiria

1977

Often mislabeled as an Italian giallo film, the original Suspiria is in fact better described as a member of the elite psychedelic horror cabal. While the excellent 2018 remake has its own kind of haunting assault on the senses, the original 70s classic is a true forerunner of darkly confusing psychedelic horror movies. Both films follow an aspiring American ballerina who travels to study under a prestigious German ballet academy, only to learn that the organization is a front for the practices of ancient witches.

Despite the straightforward supernatural antagonists, Suspiria managed to unbalance its viewers with decidedly psychedelic visuals, pioneering some of the shocking editing choices, disgusting gore, crude color schemes and dizzying camera angles that would go on to inspire legions of imitators. The world of the insidious witch coven also operates mysteriously and without overt logic, whirling the viewer into a delicate ballet of despair-inducing confusion. There’s a reason Suspiria is as widely revered as psychedelic horror kingdom.

7

Color out of place

2019

Despite being one of the most popular horror authors of all time, the works of HP Lovecraft are not so easy to adapt for film. His writings typically relied on vague descriptions of horror so perverse that they defied description, leaving filmmakers little to work off of as a template for visual adaptation. however, Color out of place managed to bring to screen one of the author’s most famous short stories, The color out of placeWith dazzling flying colors.

Just like in the original volume, the film’s premise centers around a mysterious meteor that crash-lands on Earth, seeping into the land and poisoning the Gardner family farm with gross alien influence. Combining the stunning Lovecraftian visuals with Nic Cage’s performance, grittier than ever in a psychedelic horror flick, Color out of place Somehow manages to translate Lovecraft’s horrors that surpass all description into a thrilling cinematic visage. From the disgusting cosmic infections to the incomprehensible alien creatures, the science fiction horror film stands with the best of the subgenre.

6

Mad God

2021

It goes without saying that animation is often better suited to psychedelic visuals, with films like Yellow submarine Pioneering the aesthetic by stepping outside the constraints of 3-D space. This is also true for horror, with this film Mad God Presenting some of the most terrifying, terrifying psychedelic horror visuals ever conceived through intricate stop-motion filmmaking. Created by the legendary Phil Tippett, known for his SFX work on Loud series like the original Star Wars Trilogy and jurassic park, The film famously took 30 years of development to see a final cut.

Looking at the finished product of Mad GodIt’s easy to see why this was the case, with every frame of the beloved hand-rendered character a masterpiece of dizzying terror. The film’s plot is vague and nonsensical, without a drop of dialogue to spoil the mood, Another mysterious figure known only as the killer on a demented journey Deeper and deeper into a twisted underworld of nightmarish creatures. The fuzzy, wordless narration further disorients the viewer along with the jaw-dropping artistic vision, making for an unforgettable feast for the eyes.

5

Under the skin

2013

One of the films that truly proved Scarlett Johansson’s worth as not just a marketable blockbuster star, but a verified genius actor, Under the skin Marry seduction and terror in a twisted psychedelic collision. The film stars Johansson as an unnamed woman who turns out to actually be a shapeshifting alien being, luring scores of people to their deaths with her charm. finally, She is discovered and tracked by determined human interlopers, resulting in a tense chase.

Everything about Under the skin is chilling in a subtle mind-bending way. From the silent narration to the esoteric depiction of how exactly Johansson’s creature consumes its prey, the film’s passage is a distinct sense of unease that breaches the surface with each incomprehensible visual. The fact that the film features Johansson driving in-character through Scotland to pick up real people in one sequence grounds the desperation uncomfortably close to reality, creating an uncannily realistic sense of dread to anchor the far-out premise.

4

Midsummer

2019

The second film of the Vishnaz horror director Ari Ater, Midsummer is a horror blend of multiple subgenres that blends folk horror and psychedelic horror into an unrelenting festival that assaults the senses. The movie centers on a young woman, Dani, played by Florence Pugh, grappling with the sudden murder-suicide of her parents at the hands of her mentally unstable sister. All too soon after, she goes on a research trip with her boyfriend to an isolated community in Sweden to observe their midsummer rituals, resulting in a parade of gruesome deaths.

Cult members’ use of hallucinogenic substances informs the psychedelic imagery of Midsummer In a diegetic way while providing a great avenue to explore some authentic hallucinatory imagery, with Danny’s world warping and throbbing around her in an unending cacophony of sensation. All the way down to MidsummerIt’s discussed ending, the true meaning and interpretation of the film’s events and symbolism remain barely out of reach, prompting endless dissection in the hands of fascinated fans. Midsummer Proving that even in broad daylight, Psychedelic horror can be amazingly effective.

3

Jacob’s Ladder

1990

Films like Apocalypse now They previously crossed the line of psychedelic pictures with their depiction of the brutal Vietnam War, but Jacob’s Ladder takes the concept much further in a decidedly horror-focused direction. The movie centers on a Vietnam veteran plagued by haunting visions from his time in the military, which become more pervasive and supernatural in their content over time. Soon, the titular Jacob finds that he is not the only member of his old unit suffering from such experiences, prompting the investigation of a dark mystery.

Jacob’s Ladder It is simultaneously a thought-provoking and nerve-shattering experience that pits the audience alongside Jacob against the entire outside world, terrified and confused by the violent events they are forced to witness. The non-stop onslaught of terrifying, contextless imagery is hard to keep up with in the best way, seeding a palpable paranoia in the hapless protagonist. At once a horror flick, war movie, and arty statement piece, Jacob’s Ladder is a piece of psychedelic terror that is hard to forget.

2

House

1977

House May sit in an odd place in the pantheon of all-time greatest Japanese horror films. Whether the film is truly a masterpiece or an ironically enjoyable failure of storytelling is up for debate, but either way, House Demonstrates an unparalleled understanding of psychedelic horror. The movie goes A group of young friends staying at one of their aunt’s houses for summer vacationOnly to fall prey to the unending terrors of the woman’s insidious haunted estate.

House is undeniably hilarious as a horror movie, from the relatively cheap special effects to the fact that each of the main cast of girls’ names is a simple personality trait or affinity, like “gorgeous” or “kung fu”. But through his editing choices and vertigo-inducing horror images, House Flexes a thorough thesis statement about what makes psychedelic horror work. Even if it’s more cheeky and comedic than scary, the 70s haunted house movie is rightly assured in its ability to mix and match with the truly weird and outrageous.

1

Destruction

2018

Based on a novel of the same name, Destruction is a sleek, modern take on Lovecraftian and psychedelic horror that is as beautiful as it is terrifying. Starring Natalie Portman as a cellular biology professor and former US Secretary of State. it. Army soldier, the film follows Portman’s character, Lena, on An expedition along with several other scientists in a strange anomalous bubble of mysterious light Known as the Shimmer. They quickly discover just how deadly the effects of the Shimmer’s influence are on biological life.

Destruction Thrives in the disgusting realm of ​​his mutated organic life, pitting the hapless investigators through all kinds of unspeakable horrors and also allowing them to witness ethereal, otherworldly beauty. The dual nature of the shimmer makes for a fascinating visual language, not to mention the poignant philosophical conversation about its basic need to copy and spread. For the questions it asks, the images it reveals, and the perplexing terror it inspires, Destruction is some of the best psychedelic Horror Around.