Film

The Beast

Name: The Beast
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Released: 2023
Cast: Lysandre Robic, Igor van Dessel, Michel Masiero, Marie Berto, Geoffroy de La Taille

Monster horror

A 23-minute French horror film where a timid city boy joins rural boar hunts and confronts the very real terror he's been warned about. Visually striking and atmospherically tense, it's a precise blade of a film—childhood fear and adult complicity wrapped in folklore and blood. Perfect for short-film festivals and anyone who remembers being small and powerless among confident strangers.

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Come True2020

A hypnotic sci-fi horror about sleep study participants experiencing escalating nightmares. Beautifully shot, genuinely unsettling, and builds dread through atmosphere rather than jump scares. You'll feel the wrongness in your bones.

But The pacing is glacial and nothing is explicitly explained. Some viewers find the ambiguity frustrating rather than artful, and the ending won't satisfy anyone wanting closure.

Goodnight Mommy2015

An Austrian horror that twists domestic comfort into something deeply disturbing. The camera work is elegant, the psychological torment is real, and it refuses to flinch from what it's exploring. Genuinely one of the most unsettling films ever made.

But Contains graphic violence and deals with parental body horror. The twist can feel like a cheat if you're not bought into the filmmaking, and it's relentlessly bleak.

The Wailing2016

A South Korean folk horror masterpiece about a village gripped by hysteria and the mystery of a stranger. Intricate, layered, visually gorgeous, and it trusts you to think. Every frame means something.

But Nearly three hours long with multiple overlapping mysteries that may never resolve. Demands active attention and rewards it, but some find it frustratingly opaque.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Beast

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Pan's Labyrinth2006

Both use folklore and rural settings to explore childhood powerlessness in a dangerous world. Adults know the rules; children are left guessing what's real.

Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece: a girl in Franco's Spain finds refuge in dark fantasy. Visually breathtaking, mythologically rich, and balances wonder with genuine horror. The creature design alone justifies the watch.

But It's fairy tale logic grafted onto historical atrocity, which some find tonally confused. Also extremely violent in ways that matter, not gratuitous.

A Dark Song2016

Two people alone in a house attempting an occult ritual. Surprisingly tender despite the horror elements, psychologically complex, and anchored by performances that make the supernatural feel like an afterthought to the real human struggle.

But Almost entirely set in one location with two characters. If slow-burn character work doesn't engage you, the supernatural elements won't save it.

The Lighthouse2019

Two men trapped on an island spiral into madness. Shot in black-and-white, genuinely hallucinogenic, visually inventive, and psychologically claustrophobic. It's theatrical and weird in the best possible way.

But The intentional artificiality (aspect ratio, dialogue, atmosphere) will feel pretentious to some. It's also aggressively strange and makes no concessions to conventional storytelling.

The Wager2024

A hypnotic experimental horror about obsession and atmosphere. The sound design is brilliant, it looks like something from a fever dream, and it gets under your skin without explaining itself. Pure mood and texture.

But If you need plot or coherent narrative this will infuriate you. It's deliberately abstract and some viewers find that boring rather than immersive.

Late Night with the Devil2024

A found-footage horror built around a live TV broadcast, captured in real time. The premise is clever, the performances are committed, and it has genuine scares. Fun, meta, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

But Found-footage can feel gimmicky, and the film relies on you caring about the retro aesthetic. Some sequences feel underbaked compared to others.

Carnival of Souls1962

A low-budget, short-runtime film (1h 18m) about being trapped in a nightmare where everyone around you is complicit or oblivious. Same DNA, different era.

A haunting black-and-white film from 1962 about a woman returning from the dead. Made on a shoestring budget but visually inventive and genuinely creepy. It predates modern horror by decades yet feels immediate.

But The pacing is very slow by modern standards and the acting is deliberately theatrical. Some will find it quaint; others will find it revelatory.

Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai2013

Both understand that the most effective horror is brief, folkloric, and relies on what you don't see. A 23-minute film and five-minute animated stories use the same economy of terror.

A short-form anime anthology series where each episode is a folk horror story told in under five minutes. Gorgeously animated, rhythmically unsettling, and proves that constraints breed creativity. Pure nightmare fuel in miniature.

But It's anime, which some dismiss reflexively. The format (ultra-short episodes) means stories resolve abruptly, and not every tale lands equally.