The human brain loves a good mystery, a nice puzzle, and the hit of working out exactly what is going in during fiction. Horror so often crosses into the realm of mystery and fans are looking to get puzzled.
Harken your mind back to your favorite unexplained horror films, ones like The Ritual, It Follows, and the like. Films which respect your intelligence and allow you to do the detective work finding out what on Earth is going on. One horror fan is endeavoring to find the best in this subgenre, and the recommendations are excellent.
The original poster gave immediate credence to one of Ben Affleck’s more forgotten roles, with praise for Phantoms. Affleck stars alongside a terrific cast including Rose McGowan, Peter O’Toole, and Liev Schreiber as they work together to find out what has happened in a small Colorado town.
If you’re in the mood for an ecstatic Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, Lost Highway should be next on your list for deeply puzzling horror. Featuring their song “The Perfect Drug”, it could give you just the hit you need.
Several commenters also referenced 2009’s Triangle as one to watch, with scream queen Melissa George alongside Liam Hemsworth in a deeply disturbing film set on a boat trip to Florida.
You can hardly talk mysterious horror without a mention of Twin Peaks. A genre-defining series which even the late Queen Elizabeth II was believed to be a massive fan of. If someone could explain what is going on during Fire Walk With Me, that’d be great.
A Twilight Zone plot come to life in Jacob’s Ladder also gets a strong mention, despite the gruelling fact there is no ladder in Jacob’s Ladder. I sure hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
Many of these films are currently available to stream on Shudder, which keeps a backlog of lesser-known horror films.