Some Scary Horror Stuff for You!

Social thrillers or horror movies use the genre to highlight oppression in various forms. Beneath the scares lies a far more horrifying reality. In the 1995-set Spiral, a gay couple moves their teenage daughter to a new neighborhood, searching for a better life. Their friendly neighbors throw them a welcoming party, teasing something sinister lurking just beneath the surface of warm smiles. The more they uncover homophobic reactions, the more a decade-plus long mystery unravels, putting the family’s lives at risk.

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Ari Cohen star as Malik and Aaron, and Jennifer Laporte plays daughter Kayla. Spiral is directed by Kurtis David Harder and written by Colin Minihan and John Poliquin. Upon its initial release on Shudder, our own John Squires called it “a damn good horror movie, gripping from start to finish and home to surprising turns and a devastating mythology all its own. And it’s not afraid to be as dark and emotionally gut-punching as it needs to be to drive its point home.”

Spiral comes home on DVD and Blu-ray on January 19, 2021, from RLJE Films. In anticipation, here are seven social horror films to watch ahead of its release.

Parasite

Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winner throws a few different genres in a blender to create a unique depiction of class inequality. A newly formed symbiotic relationship between the poor Kim family and the wealthy family they serve derails once greed and class discrimination take root. Parasite’s scathing critique shifts through dark comedy, thriller, and horror with impressive ease.

Society

Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) has it all thanks to his upper-crust upbringing, yet he can’t shake the feeling that he can’t trust his family. Unnerving clues begin to pile up, revealing that perhaps Bill isn’t wrong. It turns out that he’s adopted, and his blue blood family comes from a society that prefers to eat the poor… literally. Brian Yuzna’s film takes on classism in the goopiest, slimiest way, delivering an unforgettable climax courtesy of surreal special makeup effects by Screaming Mad George.

The People Under the Stairs

Fool and his family are getting evicted from their apartment in an impoverished L.A. neighborhood. Fool accompanies two older friends from the area to sneak into their landlord’s home and steal enough cash to save their homes. What they don’t realize until it’s far too late, however, is that Mommy (Wendy Robie) and Daddy (Everett McGill) Robeson are far more deranged than your average landlord. Fool will have to outlast the Robeson’s and their cannibalistic children. Wes Craven’s horror-comedy achieves both biting commentary and bonkers entertainment.

Vampires vs. The Bronx

In this gateway horror-comedy, a group of kids from the Bronx grows concerned over recent closures of beloved neighborhood fixtures. New real estate and ownership indicate a significant change, but the kids realize the new owners are bloodthirsty vampires. It’s up to the young friends to save the day. Written and directed by Osmany Rodriguez, Vampires vs. The Bronx uses vampires as the big bad in this gentrification tale, told in the same lighthearted style as Attack the Block. The two would make an excellent social thriller double feature.

His House

Husband-and-wife Sudanese refugees Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) have been through more than most endure in a lifetime. They’ve fled their war-torn village, crossed the ocean, survived a degrading stint in a U.K. detention facility, and have been finally granted an opportunity for housing in their new country. The home may be large, but they face hostility in and outside its moldy walls. Remi Weekes’s feature debut transforms the refugee experience into a terrifying haunted house horror film, with expertly crafted scares. The supernatural focus is on Bol and Rial’s past demons, but they’re unable to flee thanks to an oppressive new setting that treats them like unwanted criminals.

Candyman

Grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is researching urban legends, and it takes her to dangerous housing project Cabrini-Green, whose residents are terrified of the Candyman (Tony Todd) legend. Based on Clive Barker’s “The Forbidden,” Bernard Rose’s racially charged adaptation serves as a chilling precursor to Get Out. The strength of Todd’s boogeyman could carry a horror movie on its own merit, but set against the backdrop of Cabrini-Green, Candyman becomes something far more complex and enduring.

Get Out

Get Out

Jordan Peele’s feature debut and Oscar-winner screenplay reinvigorated social horror in such a massive way that, of course, you should start here. Daniel Kaluuya stars as a photographer who visits his white girlfriend’s family for the weekend, only to discover that perhaps they’re not as progressive as they claim. Is there something nefarious beneath their warmth, or is it all in his head thanks to nerves? Peele mixes biting satire with edge-of-your-seat suspense, coiling the tension tighter until a go-for-broke horror finale that’ll leave you gasping and cheering. It’s a trailblazer in the truest sense.

Spiral arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on January 19, 2021.