Film

The Lure

Name: The Lure
Genre: Horror, Music, Fantasy
Released: 2015
Cast: Michalina Olszańska, Marta Mazurek, Kinga Preis, Jakub Gierszał, Andrzej Konopka

A Polish musical horror-fantasy about two mermaids who wash ashore and become cabaret performers in 1980s Warsaw. It's gorgeous, strange, and genuinely unsettling—part glam-rock fever dream, part body-horror nightmare. For anyone who wants their dark fairy tales weird and visceral, with real teeth.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like horror that fizzles into pop-tinged musical numbers and dark fairy tales where the sweetness is the trap, a film that treats glamour and appetite as the same hunger.

Skip it if you want horror that builds dread steadily, since this one is restless, lurches between moods, and can feel more like a stylish sketch than a tightly structured story.

What it asks of you: It runs about ninety-three minutes and keeps shifting between club music, lurid colour and sudden violence, so you need to be willing to go with its mood swings rather than wait for a plot to settle.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Suspiria1977

An Italian horror masterpiece where atmosphere and visual beauty matter more than jump scares. Dario Argento's kaleidoscopic direction and that pulsing score create something hypnotic and deeply wrong.

But The plot is deliberately thin, and it's slow. If you need a clear narrative engine, this will frustrate you.

Under the Skin2014

Scarlett Johansson in an alien seduction film that's more poetry than narrative. Eerie, gorgeous, layered with meaning—it rewards attention and strangeness the way The Lure does.

But Very little dialogue, barely any exposition. It trusts you to sit with weirdness and ambiguity without explanation.

Raw2017

A French cannibal coming-of-age horror that's sensual and grotesque in equal measure. Body horror as metaphor, with real emotional stakes underneath the gore.

But The violence is graphic and unapologetic. It refuses to make its premise comfortable or safe.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Possession1981

Both are Polish films that use horror and body transformation as metaphor for intimate human rupture. Both prefer atmosphere and provocation to clarity.

An absolutely unhinged Andrzej Żuławski film about a marriage collapsing into nightmare and tentacle-monster erotica. If The Lure is Polish genre-weirdness, this is its fever-dream ancestor—maximalist, grotesque, sexually charged.

But Deeply disturbing, visually chaotic, and narratively bewildering. It's an endurance test masquerading as a date-night movie.

The Witch2016

Folk-horror that takes its supernatural elements completely seriously. Gorgeous, dreadful, and controlled—every frame feels deliberate.

But Slow-burn pacing will test patience. It earns every scare, but it takes its time getting there.

Crimson Peak2015

Guillermo del Toro's Gothic romance wears its artificiality like a silk gown. Stunning production design, genuine romance, and a story that treats the supernatural as real.

But Some find it overdecorated. If you prefer subtlety to atmosphere, it might feel like too much.

Teeth2008

American body-horror about vagina dentata that's genuinely shocking and funny. It combines genre thrills with real social commentary.

But The premise and execution will make many deeply uncomfortable. It doesn't soften anything.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death1971

An underrated 1970s folk-horror oddity with genuine dread and a haunting central performance. It builds unease through tone and ambiguity rather than spectacle.

But Very of its era—the pacing and acting will feel mannered if that's not your wavelength.

Ginger Snaps2000

A Canadian werewolf film that's equal parts coming-of-age drama and horror. Smart, funny, tragic—it treats its metaphor with real care.

But Genre fans might find the emotional beats slow down the scares. It's interested in character above all else.

Annihilation2018

A beautiful, iridescent sci-fi-horror hybrid with an all-female squad and genuine cosmic weirdness. Visually stunning and narratively slippery in the best way.

But The ending divides people sharply. Some find it profound; others find it opaque and unsatisfying.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both weaponize the musical format as horror—using performance and sound to create dread alongside beauty. Both are about artists corrupted and destroyed by desire.

Brian De Palma's rock-opera horror musical about artistic obsession and corruption. The Lure's closest cousin in tone and structure—music-driven, gorgeously weird, simultaneously campy and genuinely tragic.

But It's a cult film that hasn't aged into mainstream acceptance. The 1970s aesthetic is thick and thorny.

Saint Maud2020

Both center on a young woman's dangerous obsession and the violation it enables. Both use visual beauty as camouflage for genuine evil. Both are character studies disguised as horror.

A British psychological horror about a caregiver's obsession that transforms into religious fervor. Gorgeously shot, deeply unsettling, and interested in the space between care and control—similar thematic weight to The Lure's examination of desire and predation.

But Arthouse-slow. It's more interested in mood and psychology than incident, and some will find it emotionally claustrophobic rather than rewarding.