Horror has existed as a literary genre for thousands of years—there are few modes of entertainment better than scaring the living daylights out of people. There are a number of mediums available, books, shows, comics, anime, and so on. However, as a self-contained story, nothing beats watching a feature length horror film.
As there are near limitless choices available, this list has made it simpler by classifying horror movies according to the Chinese Zodiac. For those born in the year of the Dragon — those who value their independence and self-respect more than anything else — here are five horror movies that people will love and five that they may not.
Love: Us (2019)
Us is a psychological thriller from Jordan Peele (who also directed Get Out, another masterpiece). It follows the story of Adelaide Wilson and her family as they take a vacation to the town where Adelaide grew up.
Dragons, being honest and responsible souls, will admire the tight-knit family that share everything with each other. They will also enjoy how the story morphs itself from a slow-paced drama to an eerie thriller—especially when it is revealed (in the trailer, as well) that these intruders are doppelgängers of the original family. Us will take Dragons on a journey of self-discovery, forcing them to acknowledge that some beliefs, even in reality, are mere facades.
Hate: Under The Skin (2013)
Under The Skin is hard to classify—is it horror, thriller, sci-fi, or a blend of all three? Scarlett Johansson plays a mysterious woman who entraps innocent men she finds around Scotland—tempting all of them into a strange, infinite black pool, in which they are lost forever.
Dragons prefer to have their world set in stone, rarely, if ever, diverting from their version of the truth — they are far less likely to enjoy the confusing surrealism that this movie employs as a form of expression. Under The Skin is, at best, extremely bewildering — and although the terror it inscribes on one’s psyche is unmatched, it will play havoc with the confident minds of Dragons.
Love: The Thing (1982)
The Thing is a paradigm of body horror, creating a repulsive vista of squirming entrails, insectoid eyes and spider legs popping out of decapitated heads.
It starts off in an isolated part of Antarctica, where researchers discover a strange alien that converts humans and animals into its hosts. Dragons, being stubborn and persistent in their habits, will love the determination with which the protagonists fight off the mutating creature — as well as the methods they use to identify which of them has already been infected. The climax of the film remains an enigma to this day.
Hate: The Witch (2015)
Dragons will find the storyline of The Witch disconcerting, given the apparent lack of agency in an exiled Puritan family, as they try to grapple with the supernatural entities plaguing the forest around them. As the movie moves into its second and third arcs, a noxious paranoia sets in, turning the parents against their oldest daughter, Thomasin.
Dragons tend to react negatively to this aura of uncertainty, as they generally identify with characters with strong, dominating personalities. The scariest part of the movie, however, are the little twins who keep referring to their goat as Black Philip.
Love: The Babadook (2014)
One of the most profound films on trauma and loss in recent years, The Babadook is perfect watching for Dragons — the utter grit displayed by Amelia Vanek, a single mother with a disturbed child (who claims to see a monster he calls The Babadook) would inspire anyone.
Dragons will relate to Amelia’s slowly expanding series of struggles — which appear as an exhausting combination of an insomniac child and her own internal demons that burst into life when she is at her lowest. The film is a metaphor for grief, suggesting that, although unavoidable, grief can be endured.
Hate: The Shining (1980)
Stephen King’s novel, converted into a dreamlike vision of bleeding elevators and creepy twin children, will not make much sense to Dragons. The Shining follows a struggling writer haunted by his own loneliness, taking out his rage and toxic masculinity on his innocent wife and child, is not something for the principled personalities of the Dragon.
Another problematic aspect of this movie is its treatment of women, depicting them as weak-willed and easily intimidated — this will not be pleasant for Dragons, given their high levels of self-esteem and belief in equality.
Love: Alien (1979)
When it was released, Alien was billed as a horror movie set in space, and it is indeed terrifying, right down to the tagline: “In space no one can hear you scream.” The burning pride that Dragons have in themselves will be amplified as they see Ellen Ripley take on a demonic, acid-spewing monster as well as take control of her spaceship when her crew begin to fall prey to the intruder.
Much like a Dragon, Ripley exhibits a sense of responsibility to herself and her crew, especially when she discovers the ulterior motives held by one of them.
Hate: Midsommar (2019)
Ari Aster’s Midsommar, at first sight, seems like a movie about a bunch of Euro-trippers visiting a midsummer festival in a rural Swedish town. However, the protagonist, Dani Ardor, soon regrets leaving her safe home in the US as the festival turns out to be a strange and incredibly gruesome event held every year by a cult of neo-pagan worshipers.
Dragons rarely enjoy seemingly weak characters, as Dani is thought to be; and they will certainly not like the complete lack of basic human courtesy given to innocent people during the course of the film.
Love: A Quiet Place (2018)
Dragons are self-reliant people, rarely asking for help when they feel that the solution is within their abilities. They will identify with the Abbotts, who are one of the very few survivors of an unknown apocalypse — as they try to build a life for themselves and their children in a world where making a single sound means instant death.
As is typical of Dragons, the Abbott family in A Quiet Place is not one to be downplayed, given that they have not only managed to survive, but also blossom (to an extent) in a horribly dangerous environments.
Hate: It Follows (2014)
It Follows is a rare sort of horror film: one in which demonic curses are not passed on through possession, but sexual encounters. At first, nobody believes Jay when she claims that the entity is after her, but her friends soon observe supernatural occurrences around Jay.
Dragons are less inclined towards stories which depict notions of oppression in sly, but indisputable, manner — in It Follows, there is a subtle implication of shaming female sexuality, in the fact that having casual sex is literally demonized. Dragons are also known for their sense of adventure, one they will find sorely lacking in this slow-paced film.
