So rather than watch The Shining for the thousandth time, I decided it was high time I had another attempt at finding that rarest of gems, a creepy (not gory, gore does nothing for me at all) horror film that would genuinely spook me a bit, or at least have a slight effect on my arm hairs. So I had a look around and found three more recent ones that sounded like they might fit the bill, which I've watched more or less back to back.
The Orphanage (2007)
A very enjoyable and cleverly written story, I don't think there was a single moment I could guess quite where this was going to go next and I certainly wasn't prepared for the film's major reveal about Simon's whereabouts. But while it did have a great atmosphere to it and provided a couple of unexpected shocks and twists, it never particularly gave me the chills. I'd say it's more of a dark, supernatural mystery than a horror, really and in the end, it turned out to be kind of heart-warming.
The Conjuring (2013)
A much more straightforward haunted house tale, which when placed next to the other two is clearly more targeted towards the mass market (aptly illustrated by the fact it's already become a franchise with multiple spin-offs that I doubt I'll be bothering with). It looked very good and the actors were convincing (the child actors especially were a lot better than many you see) but honestly, the film's entire premise of the Warrens coming to investigate lowered the threat value significantly. One of the things I love about The Shining is that sense the Torrences are as alone and isolated as they can possibly be with these malevolent forces - There is no getting out of there and there is no help coming, it creates a real sense of foreboding and dread. With The Conjuring, you have the initial creepy scenes of the Perrons moving into their lonely rural house and starting to feel that things aren't right, then the ratcheting up of the threat as they begin to directly witness these bizarre phenomena, it comes crashing back down almost to nothing the moment the Warrens show up with all their equipment and almost comic relief roadies. The best it got, the absolute high water mark of creepiness in the film for me, was the scene with the pitch black void behind the door in the girls' room, when one of them was terrified because they could see something the other couldn't. That terrifying void was scarier than anyone in Halloween witch make-up will ever be, the problem of ruining the thing causing your terror by showing it is an ever-present one I'm not sure horror films will ever manage to get around. There was also a point I started to smile when I thought I'd caught the film trying to wrong-foot me when the Warrens mentioned that it doesn't matter where the Perrons go because the spirits have now latched on to them. Previous scenes with their daughter and the text at the start about how this was a case they had supposedly "never revealed" made me think for a moment they were wrong, and that the spirits were instead going home with the Warrens and the film was about to shift focus entirely from the Perrons to them, but unfortunately that was me giving the film too much credit and thinking it was cleverer than it actually was. Though the house was very creepy and the actors were very good, sadly in the end the story was just too predictable and formulaic.
Hereditary (2018)
Easily the best of the bunch for creepiness factor and building that sense of dread. I'd say it owes more than a little to The Shining in fact, in set design, camera work and sound, not that that's a bad thing at all. There were a couple of moments where I felt I was owed a bit more in the way of explanation (MASSIVE spoilers) We're just going to skip right past how Peter isn't in prison for decapitating his sister while driving way over the speed limit under the influence of drugs, and how he isn't somehow sequestered in a mental institution for just driving home and going off to bed leaving her body on the back seat of the car for his mum to find the next morning, really? And Annie spins on a dime from "We can communicate with Charlie from beyond the grave, this is great!" to "I've unleashed something terrible, I have to put this right" so abruptly I feel like there must be at least one fairly major cut scene there. Oddly, right at the end it suffers from the exact opposite issue - A totally unnecessary monologue explaining exactly what had happened (presumably for audience members - Or more likely studio executives - too dense to have picked that information up throughout the course of the film) something I think I've only ever seen before in the craptastic Blade Runner theatrical cut. But for being not only an original and engaging story but actually kind of terrifying in places, Hereditary definitely deserves to wear the crown here.
Also if anyone has any more suggestions for creepy films I'd certainly be up for some more. It's a fantastically creepy night out there tonight, freezing cold and dense fog. Wonderful.
Update: Damn it, I can't find anything else of interest at all. One day, when I make my millions, I'll produce a horror film of my own. It will be nine hours of slow camera work in dimly lit abandoned buildings like orphanages, mental institutions and concentration camps while a doom-laden soundtrack and ambient sobbing noises depresses the hell out of anyone watching it. Like a horribly bleak Koyaanisqatsi.