In late September, we put out a name for readers searching for particular horror film suggestions. It’s an offshoot of our Dear Polygon collection, the place we reply questions and provides recs to readers such as you. To our delight, lots of of you responded. This is the primary entry in what shall be fairly a couple of answering these requests, hand-picking a horror film to observe, only for you.

If you’d wish to get in on the enjoyable, you’ll be able to nonetheless fill out our suggestion request kind.

Let’s dig in.

Dear Polygon,

Being utterly trustworthy, my fave horror motion pictures are those which have some descent into insanity. So I’m searching for stuff like that! People going loopy, […] characters going by means of harrowing occasions, physique horror, and simply bizarre horror motion pictures usually, [with] perhaps one thing to consider after it’s finished. So please hit me together with your weirdest!

—Jupiter

Jupiter, I couldn’t agree extra; there’s nothing higher than a film the place somebody utterly loses it. In the spirit of that, I’ve picked out the king of all freak-out motion pictures for you, one the place nobody comes out even remotely regular. —Austen Goslin

Possession (1981)

Image: Metrograph Pictures

What’s it like? A girl abandons her household, and her husband begins following her to search out out why. But he rapidly realizes that her habits has a far stranger rationalization than he (or we) might have guessed.

What taste of horror is it? Possession begins louder and angrier than most divorce motion pictures and solely grows from there, plus it’s more unusual than any of the remaining.

Who made it? Possession is directed by Andrzej Żuławski, a Polish filmmaker and an absolute grasp of very messed-up love tales, and of individuals dropping their minds over love (or one thing that appears sort of like love in case you squint).

Who’s in it? The film stars In the Mouth of Madness’ Sam Neill in one in all his earliest and finest roles. Neill stars alongside the unimaginable Isabelle Adjani, who received Best Actress on the 1981 Cannes Film Festival for Possession and Quartet, and likewise seems in motion pictures like The Tenant, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and Diabolique.

How lengthy is it? The film’s 124 minutes, however is so packed that it nonetheless barely feels that lengthy.

Where can I watch? Possession was unavailable for years till, in 2021, New York’s Metrograph theater helped restore a brand new model of the movie. Metrograph’s streaming service is now the one place to observe the film. Thankfully, at simply $5 for a month of entry, it’s principally the identical worth as renting a film can be anyway.

Dear Polygon,

I really like when a film can construct a creepy environment and a way of dread. I are inclined to want horror that has some factor of the fantastical or supernatural, a minimum of over stalker/slasher motion pictures. I really feel fairly nicely versed in American horror however much less so with international horror

–Joe

Joe, thanks for the detailed query, and the flicks you listed in our kind that you simply had already seen. I’ve the proper decide for you, and one I hope you haven’t seen. It’s a international horror film that leans closely into the fantastical and atmospheric components, is gentle on the gorier tendencies of contemporary motion pictures, and is an absolute basic. —Pete Volk

Eyes Without a Face (1960)

Image: Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France

What’s it like? A tangled-up fairy story crammed with thorny vines. It’s a haunting story crammed with moments of magnificence and lovely manufacturing design (led by the unforgettable face masks worn by one of many lead characters). The narrative follows a surgeon who performs darkish experiments to attempt to restore the harm he unintentionally brought about to his daughter’s face.

What taste of horror is it? Fantasy horror, with a substantial quantity of gore for the interval it was launched (though milder by at present’s requirements). Expect many jacked-up faces.

Who made it? Georges Franju, who additionally made the 1963 remake of Judex, directed and co-wrote the French-Italian manufacturing, based mostly on Jean Redon’s novel. Before this, Franju was primarily often known as a documentary filmmaker.

The film had an all-star group of skills behind Franju as nicely. The screenplay was co-written by prolific crime-writing duo Boileau-Narcejac (who wrote the supply materials for Vertigo), the film was shot by cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan (who broke floor on Metropolis and later received an Academy Award for The Hustler), and the rating was composed by Maurice-Alexis Jarre (finest identified for his work with David Lean, together with an Oscar-winning rating for Lawrence of Arabia).

Who’s in it? Pierre Brasseur is Doctor Génessier, the tormented plastic surgeon. Édith Scob is his extraordinarily lonely daughter Christiane, and she or he manages to ship a surprising efficiency even along with her face largely contained behind a stiff masks. Scob later referenced this iconic function in her look in Leos Carax’s Holy Motors.

How lengthy is it? A breezy 90 minutes.

Where can I watch? Eyes Without a Face is on the market to stream on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel, or for digital rental or buy at Apple and Amazon.

Dear Polygon,

When it involves horror I have a tendency to like motion pictures that make me suppose, or else ones that faucet into my deepest-held fears in an virtually instinctive manner. I’d like to see a horror film that does one thing new, comparable to: utilizing modern methods within the cinematography, motion pictures with bizarre genre-bending components or twists, or daring, artistic concepts that eschew conference!

—Charlie

Is there one thing extra lovely than a horror film that hits precisely on a deeply held worry, perhaps even one you didn’t know you had, and makes you’re feeling without delay like your soul has been stretched out of your chest and seen? Maybe, however most likely a minimum of a few of these lovely issues are movies like this one, which is daring and atmospheric whereas additionally being extremely exact with its horror components. —Zosha Millman

Possessor (2020)

Photo: Karim Hussain/Sundance Film Festival

What’s it like? The yr is an alternate 2008, the place we comply with an murderer who is ready to supplant the consciousness of others and take management of our bodies as a way to perform her hits. And when successful goes mistaken, nicely — Possessor is like that feeling of catching your self within the mirror and dissociating for a couple of seconds, immediately feeling flooded with and disconnected out of your recollections and sense of self suddenly.

What taste of horror is it? A psychological horror, with the sort of trippiness that’s seldom predictable and by no means loses you. There’s sci-fi components right here too, however solely to higher probe into the inside workings of the blurry outlines of identification. I’m additionally obligated to let you know that this falls someplace below the massive umbrella of “body horror,” however to me much less so within the gory sense, and extra within the cleaving (and perverted rejoining) of consciousness from bodily expertise.

Who made it? Unsurprisingly given the ultimate warning on the final query, Possessor was written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, who follows in his dad (David Cronenberg)’s steps by making an astoundingly assured and provocative first characteristic.

Who’s in it? Mandy’s Andrea Riseborough stars as Tasya, the murderer in query, whose handler is performed by one Jennifer Jason Leigh. Christopher Abbott and Sean Bean are additionally within the combine as two individuals within the swirl of high-tech assassinations.

How lengthy is it? 104 minutes. In phrases of how these 104 minutes really feel, I’d say they’re surprisingly economical, making room to sprawl solely when it serves the film to get misplaced within the distance of its personal visuals and story.

Where can I watch? Possessor is on the market to stream on Hulu or at no cost with a library card on Kanopy. It can be accessible for digital rental or buy on Amazon, Google Play, and Apple TV.