Editorials
Bloody Disgusting’s 10 Best International Horror Films of 2023
2023 was a banner year for horror films from across the globe, which deserve just as much praise and attention as any domestic genre triumph.
In a year that’s had its share of ups and downs at the box office, horror continues to be a top performer and one of the most consistent sources of entertainment. Superhero fatigue continues to set in and the ballooning budgets of major studio blockbusters have started to seem more like a curse than a kindness. The film industry adapts accordingly and figures out what audiences want.
However, horror movies have never been more popular and 2023 has been a goldmine of blood, guts, and gore. This year alone has featured grandiose franchise sequels like Scream VI, Evil Dead Rise, Insidious: The Red Door, and Saw X. Even Hercule Poirot has gotten into the horror game with A Haunting in Venice. Additionally, weird and wild local horror releases like Skinamarink, Thanksgiving, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and The Pope’s Exorcist prove that there’s plenty of life left in the genre.
It’s easy for horror fans to get lost in the endless stream of mainstream tentpole movies, but some of the year’s strongest and scariest films are releases from outside North America. There’s such a rich tapestry of horror out there that showcases international voices that might otherwise slip through the cracks. Audiences owe it to themselves to check out these 2023 horror films from across the globe, many of which trump this year’s American slate.
The Forbidden Play
Directed by Hideo Nakata; Japan
Hideo Nakata will forever have a place in the horror genre due to his groundbreaking work with Ringu, which has arguably become the biggest j-horror film of all-time. Nakata has had other genre hits, like Dark Water, but whatever he turns out usually brings something interesting to the table with at least a few solid scares. Nakata’s The Forbidden Play sees the director turn to many familiar tricks and while it may lack the same impact as Ringu, there’s a lot to like here and it wouldn’t be surprising if this 2023 film spawned several sequels. The Forbidden Play is a haunting tale of grief and revenge that bears more in common with The Grudge movies than The Ring, with some Exorcist and Talk to Me thrown in for good measure.
A car accident claims the life of Miyuki, a wife and mother whose fractured family is left to sort through the sadness. Miyuki’s son, Haruto, bears his dead mother’s severed finger and performs a playful ritual that he hopes will regrow his mother and bring his family back together. Haruto’s emotional words work, but Miyuki returns as a vengeful wraith who’s determined to torture Hiroko Kurasawa, a video director with past ties to her husband. Nakata fills The Forbidden Play with ghoulish figures that linger out of focus in the background and find the perfect moment to attack. The Forbidden Play conjures genuine scares, but there’s also a tongue-in-cheek self-awareness to the horror movie that reflects Nakata’s decades of work in the genre. The Forbidden Play should delight most j-horror fans and the film makes excellent use of Kanna Hashimoto’s huge, expressive eyes, which become the film’s greatest special effect.
Sister Death
Directed by Paco Plaza; Spain
Paco Plaza’s Sister Death is a prequel to Verónica, a seance-centric Ouija board film that quietly caused a stir on Netflix. Sister Death is a gratifying expansion of its titular character’s story that’s set more than 40 years before Verónica’s events. However, the gothic horror movie firmly stands on its own and delivers a different brand of scares. Sister Death explores novice Sister Narcisa’s entry into a school for girls that has a sordid past as a convent. Narcisa’s budding supernatural abilities begin to eat away at the empathetic woman who gradually unravels the school’s disturbing past. This trajectory is hardly original as far as religious horror movies are concerned, but Sister Death excels with its moody atmosphere and patience. Sister Death, more often than not, feels like a silent horror movie and its confidence in character development and world-building is its secret weapon.
Sister Death presents familiar ideas, but in fresh ways. It avoids gratuitous jump scares, yet there are still some brutal murders that will leave the audience disturbed. It’s not hard to imagine Plaza taking a page out of his own book and turning this story into more of a sprawling horror universe, like he did with the [REC] franchise. The Nun II made waves at the box office this year, but Sister Death is easily 2023’s strongest faith-based nun horror movie.
Property
Directed by Daniel Bandeira; Brazil
Property is Brazilian filmmaker Daniel Bandeira’s feature film debut that hits extra hard due to its too-real commentary on financial and social inequality. There have been many films during the past few years that put the “one percent” in their crosshairs. Property cooks with the same ingredients, but brings them to a boil with its claustrophobic reverse home invasion execution. There’s a remarkably simple concept in play in Property, but Bandeira never overextends the film’s reach or makes its prolonged assault feel repetitive or formulaic.
A wealthy couple, who have just sold their fancy country house and its corresponding land, return to tie up loose ends. The property’s migrant workers learn that they’re about to be without jobs and lodging, which pushes them to desperate places as they hope to peacefully reason with the owners. Unsurprisingly, these discussions fall apart and Property morphs into one woman’s fight for survival as she’s locked in her armored car with little recourse. Property doesn’t cheat its way out of this premise and it’s easily the best trapped-in-a-car horror movie this side of Cujo, albeit with a more socially-minded and modern message.
Late Night With The Devil
Directed by Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes; Australia & United Arab Emirates
Late Night with the Devil is a cinematic magic trick that’s written, directed, and edited by siblings, Cameron and Colin Cairnes. The film operates as a period piece found-footage film that’s like the lovechild of Documentary Now! and The Exorcist. Late Night with the Devil establishes that the movie is a lost master tape of the fictitious late-night talk show, “Night Owls with Jack Delroy,” during its 1977 Halloween broadcast. Delroy interviews a parapsychologist and the young survivor of a massacre at a Satanic church, which turns into the perfect cocktail for the macabre.
Late Night with the Devil expertly plays with tension as the audience anxiously waits for the other shoe to drop, but what transpires greatly surpasses expectations. The movie’s gonzo final act is worth the price of admission, but the movie’s intricate set design and painstaking details when it comes to recreating the lo-fi feel of ’70s television is incredible. David Dastmalchian absolutely kills it as the conflicted, terrified talk show host, Jack Delroy, and this is hopefully just the start of leading roles in horror films for Dastmalchian.
Venus
Directed by Jaume Balagueró; Spain
2023 has been a great year for Spanish horror and two of the year’s best movies come from the creators of [REC]. Jaume Balagueró’s Venus functions as a fascinating companion piece to Plaza’s Sister Death that’s loud and vicious in contrast to Sister Death’s quiet introspection. Loosely inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch House,” Venus follows an on-the-run go-go dancer who seeks refuge in an apartment complex alongside her estranged sister and her young niece. Venus introduces a team of wicked mobsters as its primary antagonists, but the movie eventually turns into something considerably more sinister.
Venus is full of strong performances (particularly by its lead, Ester Expósito) and excellent, unexpected gore and effects work. There’s also a major turn that takes place half-way through the movie that elevates Venus to something greater. Venus is the type of intense horror movie that works best the less that’s known about it. It comfortably holds its own with Evil Dead Rise when it comes to grueling fights against evil that are contained to an apartment complex.
Godzilla Minus One
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki; Japan
The kaiju genre is in the middle of a renaissance right now and Godzilla fans are eating well between Legendary Pictures’ growing Monsterverse and Japan’s mammoth success, Godzilla Minus One. Godzilla Minus One is the 37th film in the franchise and yet it’s without a doubt the scariest Godzilla that’s been committed to film and a worthy successor to Hideaki Anno’s Shin Godzilla. Godzilla Minus One doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, but its respect for the kaiju genre, remarkable visual effects, and baked-in social commentary culminate into something truly special. Godzilla Minus One accomplishes more with a budget of less than $15 million than mainstream blockbusters do with 25 times that amount.
There’s a true sense of terror and despondency with every step that Godzilla takes, yet the movie is oddly optimistic regarding its world views. Godzilla Minus One also features emotional, heartbreaking human-driven stories that prove that there’s more than just kaiju destruction to appreciate in a Godzilla movie. The film’s worldwide success is incredibly encouraging and the planned black-and-white release, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, taps into the magic of the 1954 original, with a more stirring cinéma vérité aesthetic.
Sleep
Directed by Jason Yu; South Korea
Sleep is the feature film debut of South Korean filmmaker, Jason Yu, and when Bong Joon-ho praises your movie as being “the most unique horror films in ten years” you know that you’ve got a promising career ahead. Sleep is a movie that lives and breathes unease. It tells the story of a freshly married couple with a newborn child whose lives turn into a waking nightmare when the husband, Hyeon-soo, develops a relentless sleepwalking habit. Hyeon-soo’s sleepwalking is unsettling, but his wife, Soo-jin, begins to worry over their newborn’s safety. Yu crafts a compelling and off-kilter mystery with what’s afoot here.
Sleep admittedly leans more into the thriller genre than overt horror (with surprising shades of dark humor that are also masterfully interwoven), but it keeps its audience enthralled on a level that’s akin to Joon-ho’s Parasite. Sleep is an essential watch that gets under the audience’s skin and lays anxiety eggs that never stop hatching. Sleep is a movie that audiences shouldn’t sleep on and Yu’s career will hopefully reach the same accomplished genre heights as other South Korean cinematic savants like Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho.
Attachment
Directed by Gabriel Bier Gislason; Denmark
Horror and romance often go hand-in-hand. There’s an inherent level of fear and vulnerability that’s required to open one’s self up to love and completely give in. Danish filmmaker Gabriel Bier Gislason’s directorial debut, Attachment, is a stark calling card for what will hopefully be a rich horror career. Attachment initially dresses itself up as an endearing romance, complete with a sweet meet-cute that’s straight from a ’90s rom-com. Maja, a struggling actress, falls in love with Leah, a Jewish scholar who’s traveling abroad from the United Kingdom.
Leah begins to experience debilitating seizures, which bring both her and Maja to Leah’s home in London. It’s at this point that Attachment’s more menacing intentions come to the surface, especially once Maja meets Leah’s cold, cryptic mother, Chana. Attachment becomes a paralyzing possession story that’s steeped in love, religion, and methodical storytelling. Horror movies about possession and creepy mothers can dominate the genre, but Attachment strives for something different through its taut tale of codependency and identity.
Huesera: The Bone Woman
Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera; Mexico & Peru
Huesera: The Bone Woman is a co-production from Mexico and Peru that’s yet another excellent directorial debut from emerging talent that received heavy accolades at last year’s Tribeca Festival. Michelle Garza Cervera directs and co-writes a gutting horror movie about a pregnancy gone wrong that’s one of the year’s strongest dissections of body horror, family, and motherhood. Female-centric pregnancy tales of terror have become increasingly in vogue and this year even saw American Horror Story: Delicate tackle comparable territory. Audiences may think that they’ve seen everything that this painful subgenre has to offer, but Huesera: The Bone Woman is proof that there’s still more to be said here.
Cervera masterfully utilizes dramatic irony and brutal sound design to hammer in its points and the protagonist’s palpable fear. Stubborn horror leads who are lost in denial can occasionally be a frustrating experience, but Valeria’s blind optimism makes her heartbreaking story even more crushing. Cervera avoids gratuitous jump scares and instead focuses on atmosphere and emotion. Valeria’s cursed fate adopts a dream-like quality that’s reminiscent of a modern Mexican folktale. There are clear comparisons to be made to Rosemary’s Baby, The Babadook, and even Paranormal Activity, but Huesera: The Bone Woman is its own entity and not just derivative of the classics. It’s a horror movie that’s sure to inspire a new generation of female filmmakers rather than getting lost in the past.
When Evil Lurks
Directed by Demián Rugna; Argentina & United States
Demián Rugna’s Terrified is one of the best foreign horror movies of the past decade and his follow-up feature film, When Evil Lurks, is cut from the same cloth and even better. The concept of supernatural evil is at its strongest when it’s treated like a nebulous force of nature that doesn’t adhere to the rules of reality because why should it? Some things are just too dark and complex for humanity to comprehend and When Evil Lurks goes for broke in this department as evil festers and spreads during an attempt to snuff out a demon. Two brothers discover a man who’s possessed by a demonic force and becomes a monster known as a Rotten, whose purpose is to give birth to evil itself.
Attempts to dispose of this infected corpse only exacerbate problems and When Evil Lurks is suddenly off to the races with a blunt, brutal assault on all that is good. There’s an inescapable sense of dread and hopelessness throughout the entire film and its murders are truly scary due to their sudden nature. There’s one sequence with a young girl and a dog that hits with such ferocity and triggers an avalanche of evil that’s one of the scariest moments from any 2023 horror film, international or otherwise. When Evil Lurks is mandatory viewing and guaranteed to frighten and disturb even the most seasoned of horror fans.
Soon after the New Hollywood generation took over the entertainment industry, they started having children. And more than any filmmakers that came before—they were terrified. Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), Eraserhead (1977), The Brood (1979), The Shining (1980), Possession (1981), and many others all deal, at least in part, with the fears of becoming or being a parent. What if my child turns out to be a monster? is corrupted by some evil force? or turns out to be the fucking Antichrist? What if I screw them up somehow, or can’t help them, or even go insane and try to kill them? Horror has always been at its best when exploring relatable fears through extreme circumstances. A prime example of this is Larry Cohen’s 1974 monster-baby movie It’s Alive, which explores the not only the rollercoaster of emotions that any parent experiences when confronted with the difficulties of raising a child, but long-standing questions of who or what is at fault when something goes horribly wrong.
Cohen begins making his underlying points early in the film as Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) discusses the state of the world with a group of expectant fathers in a hospital waiting room. They discuss the “overabundance of lead” in foods and the environment, smog, and pesticides that only serve to produce roaches that are “bigger, stronger, and harder to kill.” Frank comments that this is “quite a world to bring a kid into.” This has long been a discussion point among people when trying to decide whether to have kids or not. I’ve had many conversations with friends who have said they feel it’s irresponsible to bring children into such a violent, broken, and dangerous world, and I certainly don’t begrudge them this. My wife and I did decide to have children but that doesn’t mean that it’s been easy.
Immediately following this scene comes It’s Alive’s most famous sequence in which Frank’s wife Lenore (Sharon Farrell) is the only person left alive in her delivery room, the doctors clawed and bitten to death by her mutant baby, which has escaped. “What does my baby look like!? What’s wrong with my baby!?” she screams as nurses wheel her frantically into a recovery room. The evening that had begun with such joy and excitement at the birth of their second child turned into a nightmare. This is tough for me to write, but on some level, I can relate to this whiplash of emotion. When my second child was born, they came about five weeks early. I’ll use the pronouns “they/them” for privacy reasons when referring to my kids. Our oldest was still very young and went to stay with my parents and we sped off to the hospital where my wife was taken into an operating room for an emergency c-section. I was able to carry our newborn into the NICU (natal intensive care unit) where I was assured that this was routine for all premature births. The nurses assured me there was nothing to worry about and the baby looked big and healthy. I headed to where my wife was taken to recover to grab a few winks assuming that everything was fine. Well, when I awoke, I headed back over to the NICU to find that my child was not where I left them. The nurse found me and told me that the baby’s lungs were underdeveloped, and they had to put them in a special room connected to oxygen tubes and wires to monitor their vitals.
It’s difficult to express the fear that overwhelmed me in those moments. Everything turned out okay, but it took a while and I’m convinced to this day that their anxiety struggles spring from these first weeks of life. As our children grew, we learned that two of the three were on the spectrum and that anxiety, depression, ADHD, and OCD were also playing a part in their lives. Parents, at least speaking for myself, can’t help but blame themselves for the struggles their children face. The “if only” questions creep in and easily overcome the voices that assure us that it really has nothing to do with us. In the film, Lenore says, “maybe it’s all the pills I’ve been taking that brought this on.” Frank muses aloud about how he used to think that Frankenstein was the monster, but when he got older realized he was the one that made the monster. The aptly named Frank is wondering if his baby’s mutation is his fault, if he created the monster that is terrorizing Los Angeles. I have made plenty of “if only” statements about myself over the years. “If only I hadn’t had to work so much, if only I had been around more when they were little.” Mothers may ask themselves, “did I have a drink, too much coffee, or a cigarette before I knew I was pregnant? Was I too stressed out during the pregnancy?” In other words, most parents can’t help but wonder if it’s all their fault.
At one point in the film, Frank goes to the elementary school where his baby has been sighted and is escorted through the halls by police. He overhears someone comment about “screwed up genes,” which brings about age-old questions of nature vs. nurture. Despite the voices around him from doctors and detectives that say, “we know this isn’t your fault,” Frank can’t help but think it is, and that the people who try to tell him it isn’t really think it’s his fault too. There is no doubt that there is a hereditary element to the kinds of mental illness struggles that my children and I deal with. But, and it’s a bit but, good parenting goes a long way in helping children deal with these struggles. Kids need to know they’re not alone, a good parent can provide that, perhaps especially parents that can relate to the same kinds of struggles. The question of nature vs. nurture will likely never be entirely answered but I think there’s more than a good chance that “both/and” is the case. Around the midpoint of the film, Frank agrees to disown the child and sign it over for medical experimentation if caught or killed. Lenore and the older son Chris (Daniel Holzman) seek to nurture and teach the baby, feeling that it is not a monster, but a member of the family.
It’s Alive takes these ideas to an even greater degree in the fact that the Davis Baby really is a monster, a mutant with claws and fangs that murders and eats people. The late ’60s and early ’70s also saw the rise in mass murderers and serial killers which heightened the nature vs. nurture debate. Obviously, these people were not literal monsters but human beings that came from human parents, but something had gone horribly wrong. Often the upbringing of these killers clearly led in part to their antisocial behavior, but this isn’t always the case. It’s Alive asks “what if a ‘monster’ comes from a good home?” In this case is it society, environmental factors, or is it the lead, smog, and pesticides? It is almost impossible to know, but the ending of the film underscores an uncomfortable truth—even monsters have parents.
As the film enters its third act, Frank joins the hunt for his child through the Los Angeles sewers and into the L.A. River. He is armed with a rifle and ready to kill on sight, having divorced himself from any relationship to the child. Then Frank finds his baby crying in the sewers and his fatherly instincts take over. With tears in his eyes, he speaks words of comfort and wraps his son in his coat. He holds him close, pats and rocks him, and whispers that everything is going to be okay. People often wonder how the parents of those who perform heinous acts can sit in court, shed tears, and defend them. I think it’s a complex issue. I’m sure that these parents know that their child has done something evil, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still their baby. Your child is a piece of yourself formed into a whole new human being. Disowning them would be like cutting off a limb, no matter what they may have done. It doesn’t erase an evil act, far from it, but I can understand the pain of a parent in that situation. I think It’s Alive does an exceptional job placing its audience in that situation.
Despite the serious issues and ideas being examined in the film, It’s Alive is far from a dour affair. At heart, it is still a monster movie and filled with a sense of fun and a great deal of pitch-black humor. In one of its more memorable moments, a milkman is sucked into the rear compartment of his truck as red blood mingles with the white milk from smashed bottles leaking out the back of the truck and streaming down the street. Just after Frank agrees to join the hunt for his baby, the film cuts to the back of an ice cream truck with the words “STOP CHILDREN” emblazoned on it. It’s a movie filled with great kills, a mutant baby—created by make-up effects master Rick Baker early in his career, and plenty of action—and all in a PG rated movie! I’m telling you, the ’70s were wild. It just also happens to have some thoughtful ideas behind it as well.
Which was Larry Cohen’s specialty. Cohen made all kinds of movies, but his most enduring have been his horror films and all of them tackle the social issues and fears of the time they were made. God Told Me To (1976), Q: The Winged Serpent (1982), and The Stuff (1985) are all great examples of his socially aware, low-budget, exploitation filmmaking with a brain and It’s Alive certainly fits right in with that group. Cohen would go on to write and direct two sequels, It Lives Again (aka It’s Alive 2) in 1978 and It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive in 1987 and is credited as a co-writer on the 2008 remake. All these films explore the ideas of parental responsibility in light of the various concerns of the times they were made including abortion rights and AIDS.
Fifty years after It’s Alive was initially released, it has only become more relevant in the ensuing years. Fears surrounding parenthood have been with us since the beginning of time but as the years pass the reasons for these fears only seem to become more and more profound. In today’s world the conversation of the fathers in the waiting room could be expanded to hormones and genetic modifications in food, terrorism, climate change, school and other mass shootings, and other threats that were unknown or at least less of a concern fifty years ago. Perhaps the fearmongering conspiracy theories about chemtrails and vaccines would be mentioned as well, though in a more satirical fashion, as fears some expectant parents encounter while endlessly doomscrolling Facebook or Twitter. Speaking for myself, despite the struggles, the fears, and the sadness that sometimes comes with having children, it’s been worth it. The joys ultimately outweigh all of that, but I understand the terror too. Becoming a parent is no easy choice, nor should it be. But as I look back, I can say that I’m glad we made the choice we did.
I wonder if Frank and Lenore can say the same thing.
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