Varun Patel
The 2019 horror-thriller, ‘We Summon the Darkness’ sees Alexandra Daddario play an unconventionally dark character wearing (extremely) tight leather outfits. It follows three friends who meet a group of fun-loving guys after a heavy metal concert. However, the group finds themselves fighting for their lives. The catch? It is the group of males that find themselves in a life-threatening situation.
Revolutionary? A little. Reductionist? Yeah. Fun? Definitely!
Combining heavy metal aesthetics and Satanic horror, ‘We Summon the Darkness’ presents an entertaining spin on the horror-thriller genre despite its imperfect attempt at reversing gender stereotypes. Without much ado then, here are 7 other movies similar to ‘We Summon the Darkness’ that you can watch. Some of them are on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.
7. Jennifer’s Body (2009)
One example of looking at female stereotyping in movies is the fact that there are extremely few female slasher villains. But it isn’t true that there are none. Moreover, it is also not true that Hollywood hasn’t ended up being reductionist in attempting to correct such stereotypes.
‘Jennifer’s Body’ is one such horror black comedy that sees Megan Fox play the role of a nightmarish (still sexy, because of the male gaze) antagonist. The movie follows the titular character who turns into a succubus after being the victim of a Satanic sacrifice. Moreover, Amanda Seyfried plays Jennifer’s best friend who attempts to stop the possessed girl from killing her boyfriend.
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ is one movie where heavy metal music or even characters related to that genre of music can easily fit in. The horror movie is known for its intelligent usage of slasher tropes that were popular in that decade. The movie introduced audiences to one of the deadliest slasher villains ever, Freddy Krueger, who wears gloves with knife blades on each finger. However, that is not the scariest part about him.
The film follows a group of teenagers who get terrorized by Krueger when he starts to enter their dreams. Nancy, the last survivor has to avoid sleeping at any cost to not be Krueger’s next victim. ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ is applauded for fluidly switching between reality and the imaginary, playing with the viewers’ minds.
5. Ready or Not (2019)
Firstly, this movie stars Samara Weaving and not Margot Robbie although both of them look practically the same. It follows Grace, a woman who has married into a wealthy family. On her first wedding night, her husband informs her about a family tradition where she must play a game of hide-and-seek and remain hidden until dawn. However, things turn dark real soon when she realizes that her in-laws are chasing her with guns and crossbows. It sports an extremely similar tone to ‘We Summon the Darkness’ wherein something seemingly fun and harmless turns disturbing.
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4. You’re Next (2011)
This 2011 thriller enjoys a cult status thanks to thanks to its effective merger of dark humor and gory violence that is executed to perfection. Moreover, the movie also features one of the most bad-ass heroines in a horror movie ever, Erin played by Sharni Vinson. The film follows the wealthy and largely dysfunctional Davison family who get together for a family reunion at their vacation home.
Erin accompanies her boyfriend, Crispian to it, only to face extreme terror when a group of people wearing animal masks starts to attack the family. However, Erin is not a run-of-the-mill survivor. The character is depicted to have been raised by survivalist parents and the way she fights back is truly victorious.
3. The Believer (2001)
‘The Believer’ is a 2001 indie drama movie starring Ryan Gosling that will haunt you more due to the fact that the movie is based on a true story. It is loosely adapted from the story of Dan Burros, a Jew who joins the American Nazi Party and the United Klans of America. It follows Daniel Balint (based on Burros) who joins a group of anti-Semitic fascists despite being a Jew himself.
The film serves to be an excellent treatise on what it means to be a Jew and the implications of hatred towards a particular community, both shown through the lens of a single character. While the movie derives its dark nature from unconventional sources just like ‘We Summon the Darkness,’ it is also much more than just a gritty thriller, with plenty to say about our society.
2. Lords of Chaos (2018)
While ‘Lords of Chaos’ does not tell a story with ghosts, its story based on true events is no less scary than a horror movie. It follows a semi-fictionalized account of the rise of Norwegian black metal in the early ‘80s. Based on a book of the same name, it follows Euronymous, a guitarist who wishes to start his own black metal band.
However, the band that he forms, Mayhem begins to stage disturbing publicity stunts for fame. Soon, the group gets sucked into violence and start to forget the distinction between what’s on the screen and reality. ‘Lords of Chaos’ presents a truly harrowing account of the extremities of a youth sub-culture and the effects of fame.
1. Deathgasm (2015)
‘Deathgasm’ is one of the best mergers of heavy metal and satanic horror. The 2015 movie is a horror-comedy from New Zealand that has garnered some rave reviews for its gore and unabashed embracing of the grindhouse genre. It follows the story of a bored teenager, Brodie who is part of a heavy metal band. In order to gain some inspiration for a new track, he steals an ancient text containing old music that he thinks he can use.
However, unbeknownst to him, the text is linked to the sinister underworld. Upon playing the music in the text with his best friend, Brodie unleashes a devilish creature called “The Blind One” and turns everyone other than his band into deadly monsters. Then, the heavy metal group is forced to fight for their lives and find a means to reverse the apocalyptic situation.
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