A24 Horror Movies

[bendk]

Having just watched Ari Aster's latest movie Beau is Afraid at the theater the other day and reading a couple lists, I thought it would be fun to see how many of the movies people have watched and to list your favorites.
I don't understand why Ex Machina is not on Collider's "Every A24 Horror Movie Ranked From Worst to Best" list. It is clearly Sci-Fi horror. Alex Garland makes at least two references to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein in film. A case could also be made for The Green Knight as fantasy horror. If you include those two, I have seen 20 of the 27 movies. I have placed an asterisk next to the ones I've seen.

(In no particular order)

The Witch *
Saint Maud *
Midsommar *
Green Room *
Hereditary *
X *
Pearl *
The Lighthouse *
Under the Skin *
The Killing of a Sacred Deer*
It Comes at Night *
Beau Is Afraid *
Enemy *
Tusk
The Hole in the Ground
Life After Beth
Slice
The Monster
In Fabric *
Climax *
Lamb *
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Men *
The Blackcoat's Daughter *
High Life
Ex Machina *
The Green Knight *

Here are two articles with their take on the films.

https://collider.com/best-a24-horror-movies-ranked/

The 15 absolute best A24 horror movies ranked


My favorite A24 film is Ex Machina.

I like quite a few of them, but I'll just name the ones that I've rewatched. (I do intend to watch some others again when I have time)
The Witch
Saint Maud
Enemy
The Lighthouse


A few comments on some of the films:

I enjoyed Beau is Afraid and was rarely bored despite its run time of almost 3 hours. I would have to agree with some critics in that it could benefit from some trimming. Some scenes and even some characters seemed superfluous. But I want to watch it again. The first thing I did when I came home was look up the movie's production budget. It was obviously more expensive than his previous films.
ChatGPT said : "The budget for Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid was $35 million. This is A24’s most expensive film and more than three times the budget of Aster’s previous films, Hereditary and Midsommar."

The first half of In Fabric is outstanding.

I liked Gaspar Noe's film Climax more than I thought I would, but the dialogue gets to be a bit much. Not that it is unrealistic given the characters, but that it's inane. It would benefit from an edit.

Both Ti West/Mia Goth movies are very good.

[cannibal cop]

Not a big fan. My favorites would probably be, in order:

Climax
Under the Skin
The Blackcoat's Daughter
High Life

There are things I liked about other movies in that list, but overall I wasn't especially fond of any of them.

[Acutely decayed]

https://player.fm/series/the-final-g...is-afraid-2023

[bendk]

I saw Talk to Me at the theater today. I thought it a fine entry to A24's horror collection. It started out a little iffy, but got better and better.

I have also added Bodies Bodies Bodies and High Life to my list of watched titles.

All worth watching once. Twice? Maybe, but I probably won't.

[bendk]

I watched a couple more A24 horror movies. The Hole in the Ground and The Monster (2006). They were a little weaker than some other titles, but solid. I also rewatched Under the Skin and Beau is Afraid. My opinion of both of these films has been raised in my estimation.

I also learned an interesting bit of trivia. I bought a few Rue Morgue magazines on eBay with cover articles on films that I really liked: Hereditary, Session 9, Susperia (remake), and The Reflecting Skin. In a smaller article in one of the mags, they interviewed the director of The Blackcoat's Daughter, Oz Perkins. It turns out that he is the son of Anthony Perkins of Psycho fame.

[Unwary Traveller]

Quote

In a smaller article in one of the mags, it interviewed the director of The Blackcoat's Daughter, Oz Perkins. It turns out that he is the son of Anthony Perkins of Psycho fame.

I enjoyed that film (released as "February" in the UK) - I was hoping it would be good and it was. There's an interview on YouTube which is worth watching (a decent length at 26 minutes long):
Video: Emma Roberts, Osgood Perkins, Kiernan Shipka & Lucy Boynton Discuss "The Blackcoat's Daughter"
Channel: BUILD Series

Emma Roberts, Osgood Perkins, Kiernan Shipka - YouTube

I've watched 12 of those films in total. I think The Witch, Midsommar, Hereditary, The Lighthouse, Under the Skin, The Blackcoat's Daughter and Ex Machina are all fine horror films in their own way. Of those, Ex Machina is probably the one that stood out as exceeding my expectations.

The visual style (and music) of Climax are compelling in typical Gaspar Noe fashion, although the improvised nature of the dialogue has its drawbacks.

I thought Saint Maud was pretty decent although not a favourite. I wasn't quite sure what to make of The Killing of a Sacred Deer although it held my attention. The only film I didn't like is the intentionally misnamed It Comes at Night which sets up expectations of some atmospheric deep-in-the-woods supernatural horror only to serve up a tedious post-apocalyptic nothing-burger.

From your unwatched films I would cautiously recommend Tusk, even though it ranks a firm last place in the Collider list! It's probably more enjoyable if you forget it's an A24 film and have modest expectations for a wacky black comedy, given that director Kevin Smith is better known for offbeat stoner comedies like Clerks. I think the performance of Michael Parks as the unhinged villain is very good, and the darkening of tone towards the bizarre and disturbing is effective and somehow more unsettling than a straight horror. From a Ligottian perspective, the fate of the protagonist could be viewed as a comment on the bleak fate of humanity in general, encapsulated in bodies we did not ask to have...

[bendk]

I would add Dream Scenario as an A24 horror film. And one of the better ones at that.

I Saw the TV Glow has been getting good reviews. I'm going to try to catch that one at the theater.

[miguel1984]

Men (2022) by Alex Garland is one of the most scariest films I've seen.

[bendk]

Quote Originally Posted by miguel1984

Men (2022) by Alex Garland is one of the most scariest films I've seen.

Without a doubt, it has its share of creepy moments. Garland tapped into the Green Man folklore for this film. The novel The Green Man by Kingsley Amos was selected for the book Horror 100 Best Books. I never did get around to reading it.

[Severini]

My favorites a24 movies are:

The Witch and Hereditary

Speaking of Alex Garland, I think the only film I enjoyed by him was his latest, "Civil War".
Every other one I watched didn´t leave an impression.