Everyone please give a warm welcome to our new contributor, Parker Brennon!
It’s common knowledge that cinema’s history began in monochrome. Even with the advent of Technicolor, it took until the 1950s for color films to become common. However, as any cinephile will tell you, the popularity of color didn’t sentence monochrome to death. My interest is always piqued when I notice contemporary films shot in black and white. The film could be a major release, like Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse (2019), or an indie oddity like Escape from Tomorrow (2013). An immediate sense of gloom and otherworldliness is sown into my consciousness, all because of one aesthetic choice
Choosing to photograph in black-and-white is bold and signals that the filmmaker admires cinema’s history. Although much rarer than it once was, it remains a viable artistic choice. Its application can be used in any genre, but if you ask me, it’s best applied to stories with a certain nightmarish quality. To celebrate the many decades of nightmares in monochrome, I selected ten of the most nightmarish films I’ve seen that were shot in black and white.
ERASERHEAD (1977)
Eraserhead is the quintessential nightmare on film. It’s the David Lynch masterpiece that every film school nerd loves or, at least, appreciates. Each scene is a fever dream. Even watching the protagonist, Henry, walk through the industrial wasteland in which he resides feels like a nightmare. Memorable sequences include a disturbing family dinner, the musical number performed by the lady in the radiator, and any scene depicting Henry’s terrifying new child.
CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)
My personal favorite film, Carnival of Souls is a cult classic and true indie gem. It’s not technical perfection or believability that make it special, but rather the film’s atmosphere and general mood. The protagonist, Mary Henry, has an aloof personality to begin with, but after she miraculously survives a terrible car accident, her figurative detachment from humanity becomes more literal. Mary is pursued by ghostly figures and eventually finds herself caught in a limbo where no living person senses her presence. The highlight of the film is when Mary returns to the abandoned carnival pavilion, where the dead have been beckoning her. She watches the ghostly figures dance — her own eerie doppelgänger among them.
BEGOTTEN (1990)
Perhaps the most inaccessible entry on this list, Begotten is an experimental film with truly disturbing images. I first encountered it on YouTube, as a backdrop for a piece of music from Silent Hill 3. This combination of music and visuals elevated the images, leaving me to imagine Begotten as something that would scar me. Some years later, I finally sat through the whole film. Although the story left me bewildered, it was the nightmarish images that lingered in my mind. They were shot on a 16 mm Arriflex camera, using black-and-white reversal film. The resulting look is gritty, full of contrast, and at times, more reminiscent of a charcoal drawing than film.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
A black-and-white horror classic, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead still holds up today. I remember terrifying dreams from childhood, where the ambling dead pursued me relentlessly. Undoubtedly, this film has been proven nightmare fuel for more than just me over the years. Unforgettable sequences include the dead feasting on the lawn of the farmhouse, the zombified daughter attacking her mother in the cellar, and the devastating ending where the film’s hero, portrayed by Duane Jones, is murdered by a squad of trigger-happy locals.
ONIBABA (1964)
This Japanese masterpiece is a hidden gem. While the film is well-known online, many casual horror fans have yet to see it. Director Shindō Kaneto also directed the acclaimed film Kuroneko (1968), but if you ask me, Onibaba is the star of his filmography. The story explores several nightmare scenarios in medieval Japan, beginning with a literal pit of death. The story’s lead characters, a middle-aged woman and her daughter-in-law, kill passing soldiers and dispose of their bodies in the death pit. They then bring the soldiers’ gear to a local merchant for food. The highlight of the film comes much later, when the middle-aged woman acquires a demon mask that fuses to her face.
THE HAUNTING (1963)
Perhaps the all-time classic of haunted house films, The Haunting has been remembered for decades because of its eerie sequences. The whole tone of the film is surreal, but the first act has an especially dreamlike quality. The lead character, Eleanor, finds herself traveling to a mysterious mansion called Hill House. We hear her thoughts, in voice-over, as she resolves to leave her dissatisfying life behind. It almost seems like a pleasant dream, but the dark past of Hill House soon pollutes the dream into a nightmare.
KITCHEN SINK (1989)
A masterful short film, created by Canadian-New Zealand filmmaker Alison MacLean. The story begins when a young woman pulls something hairy and strange from the drain of her kitchen sink. This strange something ultimately transforms into a full-bodied man, for whom the young woman develops unexpected feelings. It’s an allegorical story, cleverly using anxiety, body horror, and humor to tell its tale. If there’s one film in this list you haven’t heard of, but should probably watch, it’s this one.
LE SANG DES BÊTES (1949)
Although Georges Franju’s 1960 masterpiece, Les yeux sans visage, would be a great title to include in this list, I couldn’t overlook his even more nightmarish documentary, Le sang des bêtes. It’s the brutal truth of animal cruelty, specifically in mid-twentieth-century France. The core idea of the film is to contrast the idyllic suburbs with the grim goings-on of slaughterhouses. No special effects or puppets — these unfortunate animals are slaughtered, for real. Franju stated that he chose black-and-white film because the images would be too disgusting in color.
DARLING (2015)
In film school, they tell you often to keep the cast of your indie film small. Not only will you save money, but it’s easier for scheduling too. If you have a compelling story, that’s all you really need. Well, I have a great example right here. Darling is that indie black-and-white film, with few actors or locations, that could have been a dull disaster. Luckily, it strikes the right tone of nightmarish atmosphere to remain engaging. A large part of the film’s success is thanks to the performance of Lauren Ashley Carter, who carries us through this tale of a haunted New York home.
THE EYES OF MY MOTHER (2016)
If you have yet to see The Eyes of My Mother, you may recognize director Nicolas Pesce’s name from his other films, The Grudge (2020) and Piercing (2018). The Eyes of My Mother was Pesce’s first feature-length film, and what a way to kick off a career. It’s an extremely dark story, involving a psychologically-damaged young woman who murders and tortures a few people. She likes removing her victims’ eyes and vocal cords, but hey, we’ve all gone through that phase. I remember the first time I saw this film, I found it a bit too “arthouse,” but as the story went on, I couldn’t help being drawn in. Ariel Loh’s music also stands out, in making this film a great cinematic nightmare.
Parker Brennon is a queer filmmaker with an affinity for horror stories. He’s been making movies since he was 15, and now, he’s writing about them too.