9) The Witch (2015)
Ever since the beginning of narrative film, witches have been used a source of antagonism, evil and treachery. From 1922’s Häxan to 2016’s The Love Witch (which I should add is an honorable mention for this list), witches have instilled fear and paranoia in audiences. But few of these films have achieved the same level of dread and torment as Robert Eggers’ masterful The Witch.
Using slow pace and beautiful camerawork to its advantage, The Witch unfolds in a strikingly uneasy fashion that is profound in its dark and disturbing tone. Set in 17th century New England, a family is banished from the local Puritan farming collective for their religious beliefs, leading them to set up their own farm on the edge of a secluded forest. But soon, evil forces within the forest begin tormenting the family, allowing paranoia and distrust to settle into the homestead.
Eggers’ movie is unlike most other horror films for it relishes in its lack of reveal. What the spectator does not (or cannot) see in the pitch-black forest is exactly what is intensely more terrifying. We’re seldom shown any real terror or fright during the first two acts – instead, the audience is forced to endure the increasingly discomforting tension.
Thankfully, it appears that Eggers is taking no time to rest on his laurels, jumping straight back into his dark, twisted cinematic world with a remake of 1922’s Nosferatu, a medieval epic The Knight and a miniseries on Rasputin. And if The Witch is any indication, Eggers’ newest projects will surely be of the same lofty quality of the 2015 favorite.
