The Best Horror Movies From Neon
The real killer is the killer vibe.
Are you one of them Letterboxd people? You like some of that “elevated horror”? Wanna impress everybody at the party with your film learning, but A24 is too mainstream for you now? Looks like you need to watch some horror movies from Neon.
Like A24, Neon is a film distributor known for indies, boundary-pushing genre films, and awards-season favorites (Anatomy of a Fall—ever heard of it?). Neon has also released some of the best horror movies in recent years—here are 10 of Neon’s best horror movies (so far).
Little Monsters
This is what the film people call a “zom-com.” You know, like Shaun of the Dead? It’s zombies but funny. Little Monsters is about a down-and-out musician who volunteers to be a chaperone for his nephew’s field trip in order to cozy up to the totally crushable kindergarten teacher, played by Lupita Nyong’o. And then the undead attack. Finally, this musician gets a real job: zombie hunting.
She Dies Tomorrow
You ever get that overwhelming feeling that you’re gonna die? You’re just in the grocery store looking at, I don’t know, yams or something, and then suddenly: BAM, you start thinking, “this is the last yam I will ever contemplate for death is imminent.” Happens to all of us. But what if those thoughts never stopped?In She Dies Tomorrow, a young woman (Kate Lyn Sheil) begins to believe that her death is coming, and soon. She becomes obsessed, terrified … and the thoughts spread to others. Soon her friends are plagued by thoughts of death as well, which begin spreading virus-like among the general population. Existential dread on steroids. COVID-19 metaphor, anyone?
The Lodge
Who doesn’t dream of a little cabincore getaway? Just you and nature, high up on an isolated mountaintop, in the snow. Nothing separating you from death but the insulating properties of stacked wood! On second thought … that’s a no for me. But it wasn’t a no for Riley Keough’s protagonist in The Lodge. She’s trapped in a snowed-in cabin with her fiancé’s two children … and she ain’t taking it well. She’s coming apart at the seams faster than a well-loved stuffed animal. Somebody call 911, those kids are not safe anymore.
Bad Hair
Frizzy. Dry. Tangled. Bleached to the point of limpness. There’s many ways that hair can go bad, but hopefully never like Bad Hair. Ambitious young Anna (Elle Lorraine) is convinced to get a weave in hopes that it will help her with her career in entertainment. She soon discovers that her new hair has a mind of its own—a murderous mind of its own. It’s a B-movie romp that is just plain fun above all else.
Crimes of the Future
David Cronenberg is back with more disgusting body horror in Crimes of the Future. Hooray! More images that I will never be able to scrape off the wallpaper of my mind! Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) is a performance artist who grows gross new organs and has them removed for the world to see. Saul suffers from Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, a thankfully fictional disorder which causes the sufferer to grow never before seen novel organs at an alarming rate. Horrible for living, great for showbiz.
Border
Border is a film for the trolls. Not the neckbeards that haunt the squalid corners of 4chan, but actual trolls. Tina (Eva Melander) is a troll who works as a customs agent for the Swedish government. She uses her keen sense of smell to sniff out contraband going across the border (title drop). Despite her specialized job, Tina’s unearthly appearance has made her a social outcast. One day she meets a fellow troll named Vore (Eero Milonoff) who invites her into a visceral and violent new world. It’s a gloriously weird film, you just gotta see it.
Possessor
Uh-oh, more Cronenberg. But not from David. His son Brandon is taking up the fleshy torch of body horror! Possessor is about an assassin (Andrea Riseborough) who carries out her ruthless duties by possessing the bodies of her victims via a microchip implanted in their brains. But what happens when one of the assassin’s victims begins to fight back against the possession? Hint: a lot of psychological trauma.
Infinity Pool
Who doesn’t wanna take a dip in one of these? You’re basically an Instagram influencer already! It’s half the job! Brandon Cronenberg will surely change your mind. Infinity Pool sets its sights on the rich and famous, and centers on a struggling writer (Alexander Skarsgard) and his wife (Cleopatra Coleman) who book a trip to an exclusive island resort, with the former hoping it’ll drum up some inspiration for his next novel. What kind of novel inspo is gonna come from being around rich sociopaths? Probs a lot. The pair soon meet another affluent couple (Mia Goth and Jalil Lespert), who introduce them to a fun new way to commit violent crimes. What happens when the authorities catch you? Simple: in this world, the rich clone themselves and then the clone is executed as punishment for their crimes, allowing them to continue their spree of wanton violence. Why does it almost feel … plausible?
Titane
Directed by Julia Ducournau (Raw), Titane is a must-see. Alexia (Agathe Rousselle) really likes cars. I mean, she really likes cars. Like, is sexually attracted to cars. So much so that she actually figures out a way to do the deed with them. When she was a little girl, Alexia was in a nasty car accident and had a metal plate put in her head. The plate and accident obviously had some … lingering effects. Aside from being vehiclesexual, Alexia is also a violent psychopath. After she engages in a particularly grisly killing spree, Alexia has to flee her old life and disguise herself as a boy who went missing 10 years ago. The kid’s grieving father (Vincent Lindon) accepts her with open arms. Everything seems like it’s gonna work out! If she can just cover up the fact that she’s pregnant … with a car baby. Yes, really.
Revenge
An I Spit On Your Grave for the modern era, told through the female gaze of director Coralie Fargeat, Revenge is the story of a young woman (Matilda Lutz) who is brutally raped and left for dead by her boyfriend and his two friends. After pulling herself together again, she goes on a quest to enact bloody revenge against the assailants. It’s not a horror movie, per se, but what she does to her attackers would make even the most seasoned slasher villain take notes. A gloriously vindictive and satisfying watch.
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