Horror movies are a pretty recent love of mine. For years and years, I was scared of mostly everything, including scary movies, demons, large bodies of water, and the unknown to name a few. But one day, something switched inside of my brain. I began to see horror movies as a form of entertainment rather than introducing something new to be fearful of, and it was something I had power over—I could literally pause, fast forward, and pay or not pay to see said movie. What power! Because of (or despite) growing up in a religious household, I have a weird affinity for supernatural horror movies in particular. The Conjuring, Insidious, Saint Maud, Midsommar, Hereditary, etc. bring the battles that take place within the spiritual world into the physical world. For me, these movies are more believable (and scary) than other monster-forward horror movies. When I watch them, there is always a part of my brain shouting, “Hey, this could actually happen! You just don’t know for sure because the spirit realm is invisible and terrifying!” Yikes. Supernatural horror movies make me feel like there’s always something behind my shoulder and that something could just pop out from the screen and into my own existence. Like I said, a weird switch occurred a few years ago that gave horror movies the green light on my internal—and Letterboxd—watchlist, and I want to focus on the ones that stand out to me as scary movies I wish I could see again for the first time. There’s something in the way that those twist endings hit you the first time you put two and two together and realize whodunit, the moment of panic when the jump scares actually scare you the first go-around, and the extreme fear that feels an awful lot like excitement. Scary movies, to me, are so anxiety-inducing and terrifying that they tend to alleviate some of my own anxiety and remind me that what I am watching is probably the worst possible thing that could ever happen, and it’s not actually happening. There’s a weird sense of peace in that. However, horror movies that are based on true events… that’s a completely different ballgame.

And on that note, let’s talk about some of the horror movies I wish I could watch again for the first time.

Talk to Me (2023)

If you know my name, you know that I love Talk to Me. I loved watching it so much that I have been known to talk it up a little bit too highly to some of my friends (you know who you are). Their expectations were not met, whereas mine were surpassed. The last article I wrote for FilmAesthete was titled “Let Me Talk to You Into Seeing Talk to Me,” and you can find the article here, where I take a deeper dive into the film and why it works. I will say that as first-time movie writers and directors, brothers Danny and Michael Phillipou tell a well-though-out storyline yet hold themselves back from divulging too much information, particularly the history behind the infamous embalmed hand that you see on most of the film posters. Said hand has the power to summon the dead when another person holds on and says, “Talk to me.” The person sitting opposite the hand can only hold on for 90 seconds. If someone holds on for longer than that amount of time, I will just say that scary things happen. I wanted to include this film first on my list because it is by far my favorite scary movie I have seen in a very long time. I never knew that I was into Australian horror, but I guess I’ll have to take a deeper dive.

The Visit (2015)

This one was a doozy. The Visit is, at first, a nice little story about two kids visiting their grandparents (who lovingly go by Nana and Pop Pop). The grandchildren had gone their entire lives without meeting their grandparents due to their mother and her mom being estranged. As a result, Becca, the granddaughter, begins filming a documentary about her grandparents and her brother Tyler in an effort for family bonding. The story takes a few odd turns when the children find out that they are not allowed to leave their bedroom after 9:30 pm, and Nana and Pop Pop start exhibiting strange behavior themselves. Pop Pop attacks a neighbor, there are many eerie moments revolving around the kitchen, and there are even more eerie moments while playing a seemingly innocent game of hide-and-seek. Add all of these things together, and you’ve got yourself an unsettling film.

Midsommar (2019)

Midsommar has a few disturbing scenes in it that will make you wish you had hid your face in your sweatshirt. These moments happen pretty quickly, so you’ll never be prepared for when they come on the screen. Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, Jack Reynor, and Archie Madekwe are the frontrunners in this film. It’s a fantastic horror movie to start with if you are unsure about where you should start in the horror movie genre as a whole, because it’s visually incredibly bright, and the scary moments don’t seem as scary until you mull it over in your head after the fact. This also happened to be my first ever Florence Pugh movie, and look at me now—an absolute Florence Fan like the rest of America. Midsommar is directed by the beloved Ari Aster who also did Hereditary and Beau is Afraid. It combines essences of cults, grief, Florence Pugh’s acting, and ambiguous endings. Literally everything I want in a scary movie.

It (2017)

Do you hate clowns but think kids are funny sometimes? Then I’ve got the perfect movie for you. It is one of my favorite Stephen King books and movies, and it spans over many years. One half of the book (and the entire first movie) takes place when they’re children, and the second half (and It: Chapter Two) is when they’re adults and come back to face Pennywise and all of his other personalities. The first movie is made up of the classic horror movie formula: fear doesn’t have as much power over you when you don’t give in to it or put belief into it. However, It manages to take a new spin on this often overused storytelling technique by the embodiment of fear itself (Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgård) taking the shape of each child’s deepest fear. When you get to the second movie, names such as Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain, and James McAvoy all grace the screen with their presence. So, you’ve got a lot to enjoy with the first installment and a lot to look forward to in the second.

Marrowbone (2017)

This one is less horror and more psychological thriller. However, because of the extremity of the thriller aspect, I’m going to include this on my list. My god, I don’t even know where to start with this one. If you want something that’s spooky, makes you anxious yet desperate to figure out what on earth is actually happening, and is filled with an incredible cast (Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, George McKay, etc.), you should watch Marrowbone. It starts with a family of orphans who hide the fact that their mother has died so they can stay together as a family. Allie (Taylor-Joy) befriends the siblings and Jack (McKay) does his best to take care of his family; however, a dark presence lurks in their home that none of them know how to get rid of. The twist at the end was something I never would have guessed, and it is the epitome of a movie I wish I could see again for the first time.

Hereditary (2018)

Hereditary is possibly one of the most deeply unsettling films I have seen in a long time. Ari Aster manages to mix together supernatural elements, familial issues, and the often-overwhelming power of grief one can experience in life into one movie, and he does this all with a solid script. Together, these elements seamlessly create an incredibly layered and scary story. The movie opens with the mother, Annie (Collette), grieving the death of her mother, with whom she had a mixed relationship. Another death in the family occurs, and Annie is taught by a woman named Joan, one of her mother’s friends, how to conduct a séance in order for her to speak with the dead once more. Annie’s son (Alex Wolff) and her husband (Gabriel Byrne) join her, and as one could imagine, a crazy number of things unfold after and during this séance. Some demon possessions take place, numerous supernatural occurrences happen throughout, and there’s a demon king named Paimon sprinkled in there. Unbeknownst to her, the spirit realm has surrounded Annie’s family her whole life without really realizing it. This film really dives deep into the spiritual realm of horror as a genre, and supernatural horror is, in my opinion, the scariest subgenre of them all.

Reagan Fleming

Horror Movies I Wish I Could Watch Again for the First Time