In late September, we put out a call for readers looking for specific horror movie recommendations. It’s an offshoot of our Dear Polygon series, where we answer questions and give recs to readers like you. To our delight, hundreds of you responded. This is the third entry answering those requests, hand-picking a horror movie to watch just for you. You can catch up with the first entry here, and our second one here.
If you’d like to get in on the fun, you can still fill out our recommendation request form.
Let’s dig in.
[Ed. note: Some questions have been slightly edited for clarity.]
Dear Polygon,
I like psychological horror or thrillers. So I’m looking for a total mind f*ck. Also stupid horror humor is always good.
Christine
Christine: Congratulations; these are excellent avenues to start with as you begin your journey into the horror field. I’m going to kick you off with a thriller classic, one that’s very much in keeping with Black Swan (more on that later), and uses its medium to really fuck with your mind in the best way. —Zosha Millman
What’s it like? Mima is coming apart at the seams. She’s left her successful girl group to become an actress, taking a role in a risqué detective TV drama. Plus she’s got a stalker who seems to be privy to her innermost thoughts and doubts, putting them online — as Mima — in a special forum dedicated to her life. It is enough to make anyone’s reality come apart, and Perfect Blue is the perfect, mind-bending vehicle to snarl it all up.
What flavor of horror is it? Perfect Blue is mostly light on physical gore (though there is some), instead turning to more internal, psychological violence. As real life and fiction start to blur for Mima, the world becomes dizzyingly twisted, using
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