The word “liminal” is something we have been hearing more and more these days. The word is nothing new but its definition pertains to a lot of what we see around us. Liminal is a word that relates to transition, or the initial stages of a transitional process. Think of it as the end of one thing, but the next phase of whatever it may be describing, has yet to really take shape.
Horroris often, if not always, a reflection of the world around us and how we react to it. It’s the fear of the unknown in everyday life. Whether you like it or not, the 2020s have kicked off in a very liminal way. The old ways seemed to have been torn down, but we’ve yet to see a new world come together. Many are nostalgic of the past, but the problem with nostalgia is that it feels good to stare at something that reminds you of the good ol’days, but you will never truly obtain what it meant and felt like ever again. Look around you, the world many of us were promised no longer exists.
Malls are closing, technology is advancing, politics sways back and forth between conservative and progressive ideals, and here we all are, waiting for something new in this liminal space of life. To help us through that transition is a long list of liminal horror films that hit that spot of feeling like and limbo as you yearn for a past you can’t have anymore.
16The Langoliers (1995)
The Langolierswas a two-part ABC miniseries that aired back in 1995 and is based off of a Stephen King novel about a group of passengers on an airplane who wake up to see that most of the passengers on the flight have vanished. Once they get on the ground and into the barren airport, they learn that there’s a bigger existential crisis at play, and they’re the next target.
Across Space and Time
Some Stephen King adaptations should have just waited awhile to get a bigger budget, but oh well, Tom Holland directs this fun-made-for-television thrill ride with special effects that do not hold up today at all. Critiques aside,The Langoliersexplores how abstract the mind of Stephen King can get.
The Langoliersare indeed creatures that are destroyers of worlds and literally eat them up. It’s a strange and, in some ways, laughable idea, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty ofThe Langoliers, it’s utterly terrifying. There is an overarching theme that death is always coming for us, and we can’t stop it, even if it is in the shape of a creepy-looking group of Pacmen.The Langoliersis available for rent on Vudu.
Related:How Stephen King’s Underrated Miniseries The Langoliers Predicted Lost
15Dimland (2021)
Dimlandis a low-budget film about a woman looking to shake off her depression, so she and a lover head out to the country to visit a family-owned cabin for a getaway. There, she encounters a childhood friend she believed to be imaginary when she was a kid but learns they are very real, and she reconnects with them on a deeper level.
Not All Liminal Horror Is Loaded with Jump Scares
Dimlandgets talked about among horror crowds. It’s an indie film that is hard to categorize by genre. You’ll see that on this list. Liminal horror oftentimes does not frighten you in its jump scare but rather in its atmosphere.Dimlandcreates a beautiful sense of melancholy in its short run time. It’s clearly a film that is an allegory for depression.
Most liminal horror films are just that, as depression can often times be the human struggle of being stuck in between two phases of your life and not knowing how to escape it.Dimlandexplores the joyful experiences we may have had as children, and once we’ve grown, what did we leave behind? And are those experiences now stuck waiting to reconnect with us, leaving those memories that were so full of light now in the shadows?Dimlandis available to stream on Tubi.
14We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021)
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
If you were one of the many in the late 2000s and early 2010s who fell into internet chat rooms and message boards,We’re All Going to the World’s Fairis definitely a film that hits home. It’s about a teenage girl who decides to take part in an online horror game, and reality and fantasy begin to blend together.
What’s Real and What Isn’t
Liminal horror is supposed to feel like a fever dream. Especially the more recent versions of this subgenre.We’re All Going to the World’s Fairis hard to follow at times. It’s hard to know what it is trying to tell its audience, but if you gotinto creepypasta internet stories,you will find yourself sucked into the film.We’re All Going to the World’s Fairfeels like it’s not taking place in the world we live in now.
There’s an isolation from the outside world feel to it. Watch it while you’re home sick or late at night. It’s not meant to jump out and scare you, but rather lure you into its strange internet world setting and linger with you long after.We’re All Going to the World’s Fairis available to stream on Max.
13Cube (1997)
Cubeis about a group of strangers who wake up in a prison of cubic cells and are not sure how they got there. After the fear of the situation settles down a bit, the group must all use their specific set of skills to find a way out of this maze before it’s too late.
CubeWorks as a Precursor toSaw
There are a lot of films on this list that have a mellow kind of feel to them, even though there are a lot of unpredictable scares within them.Cubetakes big swings with its horror, as you never know what traps the group is going to fall into within the cubic cells. Cube feels like a precursor toSawin some ways, as it was released less than a decade before the original 2004 horror hit.
Cube’s set design is what gets it onto this list. The industrial, dream-like feel to it puts viewers in a transverse state and never lets up, as it makes you wonder if all this is even real or someterrible fever dream.Cubeis available to stream on Tubi.
12Dark City (1998)
Achieving cult-like status over the years,Dark Cityis a sci-fi thrill ride that dabbles into the world of horror like a lot of late 1990s films seemed to do. It’s about a man named John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), who awakens in a hotel room but learns he is wanted for a series of murders. Murdoch can’t remember if he committed them or not, but now he must go on a strange journey to re-learn his identity.
One Crazy Night
Dark Citycould also fall into the category of aOne Crazy Night film, if you really think about it. The film makes you wonder a lot about the protagonist’s fate. Is he a man who has died in this world but is stuck in purgatory and needs to find acceptance in the next world? What even isDark City?Who are The Strangers? There are a lot of mind-bending questions in the film.
Although this takes place in a vast world with stunning imagery,Dark Cityis indeed liminal. There is a sense that Murdoch is stuck in between two worlds and can’t get out.Dark Cityis available to rent on Prime Video.
11Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Beyond the Black Rainbow
Beyond the Black Rainbowis about a telepathic, mute woman who is being held captive in a strange facility. Although she is under heavy sedation, she plots to make her way out of the commune to achieve her freedom. Her overlords may have other plans, though.
Panos Cosmatos' Liminal Classic
Director Panos Cosmatos has it in his genes to direct films of this nature; his father, George P. Cosmatos, could take simple movie plots and take you down the wormhole a bit.Beyond the Black Rainbowpaces like2001: A Space Odyssey, slow but hypnotic. It takes its time and leaves you wondering if the payoff of it all hits for you.
Many old-school science fiction enthusiasts will enjoy it. Newer fans of the genre may find it a bore. Either way, the dream-like feel to it and colorful sequences make it highly liminal, and a solid precursor to what Cosmatos would give is in 2018 with his Nicolas Cage revenge film,Mandy.Beyond the Black Rainbowis available to stream on Fubo.
10Vivarium (2019)
Vivariumstars Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg as a young married couple looking to purchase a home in the suburbs. They stumble upon a neighborhood full of houses that all look identical, and when they attempt to leave, the road keeps taking them in circles around the labyrinth-like neighborhood, not allowing them to leave.
Potential Homeowner Nightmare
If you’re about to settle down and start a family, avoidVivariumat all costs.Vivarium’sliminal atmosphere turns into nightmare fuel as the film goes on. It touches on the themes of young couples conforming to social norms when they settle down and the horrors it can cause beneath the surface.
To compare it to today’s world,Vivariumtackles the issues of the housing market, overpriced cookie-cutter homes, and the urge to push something into a house that never really gets to feel like theirs. It’s a film that plays as a bit of social commentary on the millennial experience of settling down.Vivariumis available to stream on Netflix.
9Silent Hill (2006)
Silent Hill
Unable to accept the fact that her daughter is dying, Rose (Radha Mitchell) decides to take the girl to a faith healer. On the way, the pair drive through a portal in reality, leading to an eerie town called Silent Hill. The town is surrounded by a potent darkness, and the human survivors fight a losing battle against it.
Based on the video game franchise of the same name,Silent Hillis about a woman who takes her dying daughter to a healer in hopes of ridding her of what is stripping her life away. On the way there, the pair find themselves stuck in a mysterious town that seems to bend both time and space and unleashes demonic beings from beneath.
Liminal Atmosphere
Silent Hill, the video game, has garnered a massive following for the last two and a half decades. The atmosphere of it all is terrifying and keeps you wanting to play the original and its sequels over and over. The film got mixed to less than satisfactory reviews, but die-hard fans of the game give it the respect it deserves.
Still, it makes this list for staying true to the liminal atmosphere of a decaying town that seems to be lost between our world and the afterlife. It’s a fog-filled nightmare just waiting to unfold.Silent Hillis available to stream on Netflix.
Related:The 10 Best Video Game Movie Adaptations, Ranked
8Pulse (Kairo) (2001)
The Japanese horror filmPulseis about a college student who commits suicide, and in the wake of that, many other young adults living in the Tokyo area begin to have ghostly visions on the internet. Soon, more and more people begin to disappear, and the spirits take shape past their computer screens.
The Most Terrifying Scene Ever
Pulse had a not-so-great American remake in 2006. However, the original Kiyoshi Kurosawa-directed film holds the label of having one of themost terrifying scenesever (watch below if you dare). Kurosawa shoots Tokyo to look bleak and depressing rather than vibrant and full of life. It’s almost a colorless film, with empty room after empty room. The only signs of light in most of the scenes are the characters' computer screens, which is something they are not even safe from.Pulseis available to stream on Peacock.
7The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project
The movie that putfound footage horroron the map.The Blair Witch Projecttells the story of three film students who travel to a rural town to make a documentary about the legend of a murderous ghostly spirit. The trio collects footage and interviews from the locals, but once they travel out into the woods, things take a turn for the worse as they get lost and feel like something is after them.
Something Is Out There
The Blair Witchherself never makes an appearance on screen, but her presence is indeed felt.The Blair Witch Projectmay not seem like a liminal film, but go back and watch it. All the elements are there from the halfway point on.
The seemingly endless woods, the abandoned home they discover, the eerie sticks hanging from the trees. It’s a highly liminal film but is overlooked, maybe because it was shot on a Circuit City camcorder. Liminal horror thrives in ambiguity. You know something is there to harm these characters, and you don’t have to see it to be sure.The Blair Witch Projectis available to stream on Mubi.
