Puzzling scares that require multiple screenings.
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00:00Two of the most enticing aspects of horror films are the simplicity of the storylines and the
00:04immediacy of the scares. More often than not, the genre excels at providing easily digestible plots
00:10surrounded by visceral frights. Of course, though, there are always exceptions to this rule,
00:15and some films require multiple examinations to truly reveal all of their secrets,
00:20explanations, connections, and greater meanings. So, if you want some films that are gonna flex
00:25your brain muscle, then I have got you covered. I'm Amy from WhatCulture,
00:29and here are 10 confusing horror movies you need to watch twice to understand.
00:3410. Don't Look Now, 1973
00:37The death of a child is the hardest thing a parent can endure, and this is something
00:41explored in the harrowingly abstract 1973 masterpiece Don't Look Now. It centers around
00:47John and Laura Baxter, a young couple who flee from England to Italy to heal their minds and
00:52marriage after the accidental drowning of their young daughter, Christine. For the most part,
00:56this consists of John restoring an ancient church, whilst Julie spends her time with a
01:00pair of elderly sisters, one of whom is blind and psychic. While that may sound fairly
01:05straightforward, Don't Look Now is anything but. In fact, it's full of odd behavior and dialogue
01:10from several characters, including the sisters, that perpetually makes the Baxters and the
01:15audience feel uneasy. There are also a few ambiguous visions and visual depictions spread
01:20throughout, as well as a mysterious recurring figure in red who reminds John of Christine.
01:25How all of these events are connected, inevitably leading to one of the most shocking and sudden
01:29endings in horror history, is only made clear after at least two in-depth appraisals. That,
01:34or, you know, you could just watch our 2019 video explanation.
01:389. Possession, 1981
01:41Long before polarizing auteurs like Ari Aster, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Darren Aronofsky began
01:46simultaneously frustrating, confusing, and delighting their fans, there was Andrzej
01:51Zalowski's violently impressionistic Possession. Through the most reductive lens, the story
01:56chronicles the mental and physical breakdown of Anna, as she wrestles with her concurrent roles
02:01as matriarch, adulteress, and independent soul-searcher. Caught in the crossfire are
02:06her husband, Mark, her child, Bob, and her new lover, Heinrich. Along the way, some of them even
02:11get doppelgangers. Obviously, that's just scratching the surface of what Possession
02:15has in store, with the director handling themes of sexual repression, unwanted parentage, and a
02:20host of other profound yet perplexing concepts. It's a cinematic journey unlike any other. If
02:25you want just a taste of the cerebral anarchy that walks a razor's edge between madness and
02:30genius that this movie is, just take a look at the infamous subway scene. Undoubtedly,
02:34it's an experience that's as easy to love as it is to hate, with dozens of layers to peel back
02:39upon a concentrated second go-round. 8. Jacob's Ladder
02:43Although the 1990s were ripe with other extraordinary psychological terrors,
02:48virtually none match the poignant truths of Jacob's Ladder. The film follows the titular
02:52Vietnam vet as he succumbs to mystifying hallucinations and increased paranoia related
02:57to his prior tour of duty. Despite being almost relentlessly nightmarish and surreal,
03:01which is why it helped influence so many subsequent pop culture IPs, such as the
03:05Silent Hill franchise, it's also a grounded and biting commentary on the depictions and
03:09the lingering after-effects of war. It's a stellar implementation of the unreliable
03:14narrator template, too, since spectators can't help but get lost in Jacob's puzzlement as he
03:18searches to discover what's real, who's trustworthy, and why it's all happening.
03:22Led by a host of stellar performances, it's as emotional and compelling as it is unnerving and
03:27fantastical. Of course, the ultimate revelation recontextualizes and enhances everything you've
03:32witnessed. Thus, a return trip is a definite requirement once your heart is ready for it.
03:37On that note, though, just be sure to watch the original. Don't bother with the 2019 remake.
03:427. In the Mouth of Madness
03:45Commonly considered John Carpenter's last great endeavor,
03:48The Mouth of Madness is a forward-thinking slice of self-referential insanity.
03:52It's also seen as the final installment of Carpenter's unofficial Apocalypse trilogy,
03:57the other two being 1982's The Thing and 1987's Prince of Darkness.
04:01The sheer grizzliness and weirdness of its plot, in which an insurance investigator searches for
04:06a missing horror writer by inexplicably entering the evil town from the writer's books.
04:11The protagonist encounters plenty of macabre sights and sounds that fall in line not only
04:16with Carpenter's previous projects, but sort of refer and direct us to those of
04:20Cronenberg and Lynch, too. That said, what makes In the Mouth of Madness truly rewatchable is how
04:26it scatters many meta-observations and callbacks into the downward spiral of lucidity and logic.
04:31Primarily, the film's horror writer, Sutter Kane, and his imaginary universe,
04:35pay homage to beloved Stephen King novels like Cujo and Children of the Corn. By the end,
04:40the movie even offers a few delightfully sly winks at itself before investing in
04:44a finale that's implications baffle nearly every first-time viewer.
04:486. Antichrist, 2009
04:51Like Don't Look Now, Antichrist centers on a married couple who relocate in an attempt
04:56to reconnect after losing their child. In typical Lars Von Trier fashion, it's an even more
05:01graphically violent, explicitly erotic, and thematically intangible statement.
05:06Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe star as the couple in question. Overcome with grief and fear,
05:10the couple retreat to the woods, where, over time, the woman develops manic and destructive
05:15tendencies, whilst the man becomes progressively domineering yet helpless. By the end, the pair
05:20indulge in numerous acts of sadomasochism, such as the very famous genital mutilation scene,
05:25all while growing further apart as they witness startling allegorical visions.
05:29There are decomposing animals, a tree made out of entwined corpses, and an abundance of other
05:35bafflingly unsettling imagery. At the time, Von Trier was suffering from severe depression,
05:39so it's only natural that his downcast outlook permeates the proceedings.
05:43Brutal, philosophical, and disturbing, Antichrist is not for the faint of heart,
05:48and it's unquestionably impenetrable without repeated scrutiny.
05:525. Triangle, 2009
05:54The best twist endings in cinema go beyond lazily employed shock value. Rather,
05:59they force audiences to reconsider everything they've just seen in order to comprehend the
06:03inevitable conclusion. What's even better is if these climaxes add new implications and layers
06:08for viewers to digest when they hit the play button again. Initially, Triangle seems like
06:12an intriguing and fun, yet fairly insubstantial, merger of the slasher and time travel subgenres,
06:18with protagonist Jess and friends getting stranded on an abandoned ocean liner with a masked killer.
06:23One by one, each person is slaughtered, only for multiple versions of them to reappear and
06:27interact as the situation keeps resetting itself. Only exasperated single mother Jess realizes that
06:33this is happening, which means that she simultaneously operates as the main hero
06:37and principal villain. For sure, it's a premise that keeps you guessing until the very end.
06:41However, the true meaning of what's going on isn't revealed until the last few minutes,
06:44and it's a game-changer. So much so, in fact, that consequent voyages are rendered both
06:49structurally and emotionally complex, with a haunting air of tragedy dampening each scene.
06:544. The Babadook
06:56Many of the greatest horror films bury deeply relevant and universal subject matter beneath
07:00their blatant scares. Jennifer Kent's directorial debut The Babadook is a superb example of this.
07:05Ostensibly, it's about a widowed mother, Amelia, trying to cope with her unstable son, Sam,
07:10following the death of her husband, Oscar. Before long, she's terrorized by the namesake being as
07:15she becomes increasingly irritable and neglectful. Eventually, the creature taunts Amelia with
07:20glimpses of Oscar before possessing her, and from there she chases her son around the house with
07:24murderous intent, but is met with compassion when her son embraces her, giving her the power to
07:29imprison her tormentor in the basement and feed it where necessary. As a superficially threatening
07:34monster, The Babadook is certainly frightening, but its weightier role as a metaphorical
07:38manifestation of Amelia's debilitating anguish and resentment, which she finally learns to manage in
07:43a healthy way, makes return encounters far clearer and more beautiful.
07:473. Goodnight Mommy
07:49Malevolent and untrustworthy kids are a staple of the style, and Goodnight Mommy demonstrates
07:54that better than most. In a nutshell, the film finds twin brothers Lucas and Elias becoming
07:59highly skeptical of their mother, whose head is covered in bandages because she's just returned
08:03from having cosmetic surgery. They believe that the woman beneath the bandages isn't really their
08:07mother, and instead that she's an imposter who's come to harm them. Part of their newfound touchiness
08:12involves her lashing out at Elias and imposing strange rules, like keeping the blinds closed
08:17during the day. In response, the boys do the logical thing and torture her so that she'll
08:21confess to not being who she says she is, leading to an alarming conclusion that incorporates aspects
08:26of several mental ailments. Written and directed by Veronica Frangs and Severin Fiala, Goodnight
08:31Mommy is a pleasingly warped tale that, like their latest venture 2019's The Lodge, unveils
08:36darker repercussions and clues with each new examination.
08:392. The Wailing
08:41South Korea has inarguably turned out some of the strongest horror experiences of the last decade,
08:46but with The Wailing, writer-director Na Hong-jin may have crafted the best of the bunch.
08:51It's a combination of horror and crime thriller, diving into a family drama revolving around
08:56demonic possession. Long story short, a strange man shows up in a small village, and shortly
09:00thereafter, a mysterious illness and murders start occurring, prompting a police officer to go and
09:05find out how everything's linked before more residents, namely his daughter, become afflicted.
09:10It's a fascinating and inventive take on the exorcism subgenre that's about much more than
09:14just instant terror. In other words, the film is as scary for its makeup effects and disconcerting
09:19audio as it is for its glimpse into how faith, obsession, and doubt can tear apart a community.
09:24Bursting with rich personalities, dense world-building, and consistently stunning revelations,
09:29it's a multi-layered triumph whose full scope can only be appreciated upon multiple inspections.
09:351. Mother
09:36In Mother, there's so much going on that it's quite difficult to summarize the plot,
09:40but, put most simply, it follows a woman who has to watch powerlessly as her utopic life
09:45is disrupted by dozens of strangers who venerate her husband beyond measure,
09:49and it delivers a visual experience that's equal parts ghastly, cruel, pensive, and figurative.
09:55Part of the terror comes from seeing Jennifer Lawrence's titular protagonist treated with such
09:59effortless, mean-spirited, and violent disrespect. We watch instances of self-immolation,
10:05infanticide, and mass murder, and literally everyone else around her just seems to be cool
10:09with it. By the end, audiences wholly adapt her sense of confusion and lack of urgency,
10:14unsure why things happened as they did and what it all means. The most overt thing about it is
10:19its biblical connotations. That's made clear pretty quickly, like an uninvited couple being
10:23kicked out for stealing something and one of their sons kills the other one, this all comes straight
10:27from the Bible. But when things start getting really crazy, it can be hard to keep up with
10:31and notice every clever little visual element. So, to truly get the most out of this movie,
10:37watch it once to get a base understanding, and then go back at least another two times to get
10:42the most. And with that, we've reached the end of this list of 10 Confusing Horror Movies You
10:46Need to Watch Twice to Understand. What other movies didn't you understand on the first watch?
10:51Let us know in the comments below. And remember to check out WhatCulture.com for more lists and
10:56articles like this every single day. As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture, and I'll catch
11:00you next time.