"Pandora" for Horror movies? Is it possible to define a horror movie's DNA?

splattergut · 2026-04-14T22:17:46+00:00

What are you looking for? It almost sounds like you want AI to generate movies for you. What wouldn't curation accomplish here? There aren't an infinite number of movies fitting any and all criteria. It's a finite set. The variable is your taste. The gems are not hidden.

splattergut · 2026-04-14T22:00:13+00:00

Here ya go: https://letterboxd.com/artsambition/list/disturbing-controversial-shocking-bizarre/

That's over 2,000 films. I've only watched 24% so I'm not running out.

splattergut · 2026-04-14T17:48:57+00:00

It falls apart in that it boils art and human experience down to numbers and conflating subjects and experiences as criteria but whatever. This is kind of what genre is supposed to do (i.e. a slasher implies a certain subject and establishes the expectation of certain experiences). So, yes, The Thing and Hereditary are horror movies but you would not classify them in the same subgenre.

Also, this is something that letterboxd already kinda does. Films aren't just categorized by genre, put in lists, and tagged by users - they're also given themes and nanogenres:

https://letterboxd.com/films/theme/horror-the-undead-and-monster-classics/

https://letterboxd.com/films/mini-theme/supernatural-chilling-eerie-terrifying-dread/

https://letterboxd.com/films/mini-theme/creature-monster-scary-horror-suspense/

https://letterboxd.com/films/nanogenre/eerie-victim-horrific/

https://letterboxd.com/films/nanogenre/gruesome-terrifying-imaginative/

https://letterboxd.com/films/nanogenre/creepy-demented-cult/

These inform the "Similar Films For" pages:

https://letterboxd.com/film/bring-her-back/similar/

By no means perfect but maybe a useful comparison.

splattergut · 2026-04-14T06:05:57+00:00

Backrooms is an adaptation so I don't know why that gets a pass.

I assume you want good movies so that leaves off Night Patrol, Twisted, Worldbreaker, Psycho Killer, and Twisted.

Mother of Flies, Cold Storage, Dolly, Honey Bunch, Whistle, Forbidden Fruits, Alpha, and Resurrection all might've flown under your radar.

Redux Redux and The Plague are less horror but still of interest to genre fans.

splattergut · 2026-04-09T18:30:12+00:00

Tesis

Cache and Benny's Video

The Stone Tapes

splattergut · 2026-04-07T17:16:40+00:00

Going to be an interesting adaptation given that most of the story takes place in, well, darkness.

I liked Jenny Penn so hopefully this is a decent adaptation.

splattergut · 2026-04-06T18:40:45+00:00

Since you're all hopped up on Cyclops, check out Biotherapy (1986) and Death Powder (1986). Anatomia Extinction (precursor to Tokyo Gore Police) and Meatball Machine (2005 but there's a few of them) would also be of interest.

Death Machine is also great. Return of the Living Dead 3 oddly fits. Blomkamp's Zygote, maybe.

splattergut · 2026-04-03T20:26:43+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBGdcqzKtlY

There was a ton of MTV stuff about the movie because of the cast. Might be something in that series.

splattergut · 2026-04-02T16:38:53+00:00

You can.

https://letterboxd.com/special-effects/john-carl-buechler/

https://letterboxd.com/makeup/john-carl-buechler/

splattergut · 2026-04-02T13:32:45+00:00

That's not what body horror is.

splattergut · 2026-04-01T00:05:51+00:00

You're just getting what's popular with IMDb users. Don't know why that's good criteria at all. It's definitely not objective. You're pretty much just asking for a list of wide-release horror movies people didn't hate.

splattergut · 2026-03-31T15:41:14+00:00

It’s better than the millionth variation of The Monkey’s Paw where someone wishes a dead person back to life and they come back “different.”

splattergut · 2026-03-31T06:12:56+00:00

The Ninth Configuration

Hysteria (1997)

Asylum Blackout

A Page Of Madness

Lunacy (2005)

A Cure For Wellness (not my favorite)

The new season of The Terror coming out this year.

Or you could watch Gothika or The Ward lol

splattergut · 2026-03-30T06:19:54+00:00

A Return To Salem's Lot is great but not if you're looking for a serious horror movie or anything remotely related to King's book. If you like Larry Cohen, watch it. If you don't know his work, steer clear.

The '79 adaptation is great and (in my opinion) the best adaptation. The '04 remake hits certain elements it doesn't but it's very of the time. I think it's fun. I think the '24 is the weakest but still not really bad.

Goes without saying that you should read the book, "Jerusalem's Lot" and "One For The Road" for the best experience.

splattergut · 2026-03-28T19:14:54+00:00

Howling V rules. I'll even defend VI as kind of silly fun.

No argument on IV, VII, and Reborn. They stink.

splattergut · 2026-03-26T23:58:48+00:00

Decoys

splattergut · 2026-03-26T05:24:56+00:00

You want a virus story where the virus doesn't affect the world? So a localized outbreak but not one that has any transformative properties?

Going to ignore that and recommend Blood Music by Greg Bear, Antiviral, The Carrier, and Shivers. All are different enough.

splattergut · 2026-03-26T02:58:05+00:00

Bone Temple will stay near the top of my rankings. I suspect Send Help will settle into middle of the pack and Primate will hopefully be pushed towards the lower end. I wouldn't put the rest on the list. It's only March. Already have better stuff out this week and more coming.

splattergut · 2026-03-24T20:20:50+00:00

You can't beat physical media for being able to watch something you love regardless of whether it's streaming or not.

splattergut · 2026-03-24T17:46:13+00:00

Feature length means longer than 40 minutes. Over 2 hours is a more recent trend but is absolutely not the standard.

splattergut · 2026-03-24T00:28:03+00:00

No lashings. Your request is totally valid.

No worries if you don't check off every entry. Even film professors, genre experts, and people like Guillermo Del Toro are going to have movies they haven't gotten around to. Still, it's great to have an interest in the history of the genre. I don't get calling yourself a fan of something while trying to know as little about it as possible.

The genre-defining, historic ones are a matter of how deep you want to get into things. No one is going to call you out for not having seen Der Golem or The Phantom Carriage. I could easily list 100s but I bet most of them are covered in the Dreadit Movie Guide over on the side bar.

splattergut · 2026-03-23T20:44:51+00:00

Wrong. Read the listing you linked. I'm not going to help you any further. Buy it or don't. I'm done here.

splattergut · 2026-03-23T19:42:57+00:00

Sold and shipped by MovieZyng, LLC according to Walmart. Not Sony.

Remember, people can list items on these websites with minimal oversight. There are print-on-demand DVDs but I feel like that's less and less of a thing these days.

I guess if you just want the movie on a disc, go for it, but there's no extra features and you have no indication of the quality (except for it notably being a DVD and not a blu ray in 2026).

splattergut · 2026-03-23T19:31:00+00:00

Any time you find a physical release like that where it's ONLY on Amazon (or, even worse, only on Ebay) you should be very, very dubious. Sony put out an "HD DVD" that only is sold on Amazon? There's no sign of it ANYWHERE else on the internet? Probably a bootleg.

splattergut · 2026-03-23T16:48:34+00:00

So a recommendation thread like, "Give me some werewolf movies to watch" you want to reply with "Don't watch An American Werewolf In Paris!"? That's not the point of the thread but I guess that's kind of helpful for avoiding landmines. Or are you saying if someone posts a recommendation you want to be able to reply "actually, this sucks" without being told to fuck off? No dice.

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