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.
Horror is 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.
16 The Langoliers (1995)
The Langoliers was 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 Langoliers explores how abstract the mind of Stephen King can get.
The Langoliers are 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 of The 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 Langoliers is available for rent on Vudu.
15 Dimland (2021)
Dimland is 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
Dimland gets 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. Dimland creates 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. Dimland explores 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? Dimland is available to stream on Tubi.
14 We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021)
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 Fair is 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 Fair is hard to follow at times. It's hard to know what it is trying to tell its audience, but if you got into creepypasta internet stories, you will find yourself sucked into the film. We're All Going to the World's Fair feels 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 Fair is available to stream on Max.
13 Cube (1997)
Cube
- Release Date
- September 9, 1997
- Cast
- Maurice Dean Wint , David Hewlett , Nicole de Boer , Nicky Guadagni , Andrew Miller , Julian Richings
- Runtime
- 90
Cube is 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.
Cube Works as a Precursor to Saw
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. Cube takes 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 to Saw in 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 some terrible fever dream.Cube is available to stream on Tubi.
12 Dark City (1998)
Dark City
- Release Date
- February 27, 1998
- Runtime
- 100
Achieving cult-like status over the years, Dark City is 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 City could also fall into the category of a One 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 is Dark 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 City is indeed liminal. There is a sense that Murdoch is stuck in between two worlds and can't get out. Dark City is available to rent on Prime Video.
11 Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Beyond the Black Rainbow
- Release Date
- December 3, 2010
- Cast
- Michael Rogers , Eva Allan , Scott Hylands , Marilyn Norry , Rondel Reynoldson , Ryley Zinger
- Runtime
- 110
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
Beyond the Black Rainbow is 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 Rainbow paces like 2001: 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 Rainbow is available to stream on Fubo.
10 Vivarium (2019)
Vivarium
- Release Date
- September 7, 2019
- Director
- Lorcan Finnegan
- Runtime
- 97
Vivarium stars 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 try 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, avoid Vivarium at all costs.Vivarium's liminal 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, Vivarium tackles 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. Vivarium is available to stream on Netflix.
9 Silent Hill (2006)
Silent Hill
- Release Date
- April 21, 2006
- Director
- Christophe Gans
- Runtime
- 127
Based on the video game franchise of the same name, Silent Hill is 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 Hill is available to stream on Netflix.
8 Pulse (Kairo) (2001)
The Japanese horror film Pulse is 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 the most terrifying scenes ever (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. Pulse is available to stream on Peacock.
7 The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The movie that put found footage horror on the map. The Blair Witch Project tells 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 Witch herself never makes an appearance on screen, but her presence is indeed felt. The Blair Witch Project may 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 Project is available to stream on Mubi.
6 Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko
- Release Date
- October 26, 2001
- Director
- Richard Kelly
- Runtime
- 113
A teenager by the name of Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) has a sleepwalking problem late at night. One night he travels out on one of his sleepwalks and encounters a strange figure in a rabbit suit who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days. While Donnie was out, a giant jet engine fell into his room that could have killed him. These strange occurrences set up a journey through what feels like parallel universes.
Suburban Nightmares
Let's face it, when you were 17, things may have gotten weird, but not this weird. With a cast that ranges from Jake Gyllenhaal, his real-life sister Maggie, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, and a young, unknown actor at the time named Seth Rogen, Donnie Darko is one of the most admired cult classics of all time. The film explores suburban hell, mental health, and alternate universes.
It explores teenage angst in a very lo-fi kind of way. We are all stuck in our strange worlds at this time in our lives, and Donnie Darko explores that in a very dark but entertaining way. Donnie Darko is available to stream on Peacock.
5 It Follows (2015)
It Follows
- Release Date
- February 4, 2015
- Runtime
- 100
It Follows is about a teenager named Jay (Maika Monroe) who sleeps with her boyfriend but then becomes the recipient of a fatal curse where a version of "Death" follows her around everywhere she goes until it catches up to her and kills her, unless she passes the curse onto someone else.
The New Age of Liminal Horror
It took a few years for us to figure out what subgenre you could put It Follows in. Liminal horror seems like a perfect spot. With it taking place in the greater Detroit area, we see a lot of rundown areas that look dated and lacking in a renewal to their aesthetic. The synthwave score elevates with the tone of the film.
The whole film feels like a dream. We don't know when this is all taking place; it all just kind of is, and there does not seem to be any hope for the characters. It Follows is available to stream on Netflix.
4 Skinamarink (2023)
Skinamarink
- Release Date
- November 4, 2022
- Director
- Kyle Edward Ball
- Cast
- Jaime Hill , Lucas Paul , Ross Paul , Dali Rose Tetreault
- Runtime
- 1hr 40min
Skinamarink is the newest addition to this list, just hitting theaters last year. It's an avant-garde horror film about two children who wake up in the middle of the night, and their father has gone missing. As the night progresses, they notice their windows and doors have also gone missing, thus trapping them in their home.
"In This House"
Time will tell if Skinamarink should top this list, but since it's still a newbie, we'll just put it in high regard. It's a movie that got people talking about this subgenre, what it could do, and how it could be presented. For some, Skinamrink was a bore. One hundred minutes of shots of a house in the middle of the night, some grainy voice-over audio of two children, and that's about it.
For others, it's a work of art. It's a deep dive down the wormhole of nostalgic nightmares. Remember being a kid and waking up in your house in the middle of the night, and you were a bit distorted and creeped out to go use the bathroom? Director Kyle Edward Ball took big swings on a shoestring budget to achieve that feeling on screen. Skinamarink pushed liminal horror ahead in new ways, and a lot of people appreciated it. Skinamarink is available to stream on Shudder.
3 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is the prequel to the cult hit television show Twin Peaks, as it chronicles the final days of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). The film takes place one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a woman who was murdered in a neighboring town near Twin Peaks.
David Lynch Owns the Liminal Subgenre
It's hard to put a label on David Lynch. His films have strong horror themes to them, but they are so much more than that. Twin Peaks, the show, and Fire Walk With Me thrive in liminality. Stories like these usually center around a strange town that bends reality a bit. Twin Peaks tackles that plot line and themes that go with it like nothing else.
There are parts of the world of Twin Peaks that feel like a spoof of a soap opera, and others that are ripped right out of the mind of a dream David Lynch may or may not have had. Either way, be advised to watch Fire Walk With Me after you've watched the series because it gives away Laura Palmer's killer. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is available to stream on Max.
2 Lost Highway (1997)
David Lynch's lo-fi liminal drama Lost Highway follows two intersecting stories. One is about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman) who is under the impression his wife is having an affair, and becomes accused of her murder. The other is about a young mechanic (Balthazar Getty) who connects with a woman who is cheating on her gangster husband. In both stories, the actress playing the pivotal female character is Patricia Arquette.
The Master of Liminal Spaces
It was stated above, but David Lynch can nail the atmosphere of liminality. With a title like Lost Highway, you should know you may be going down the wormhole a bit. Everything feels like it is in transition, or limbo, so to speak. Through the dream-like, endless trip we seem to be on in the film, Lynch explores men's obsession with women, a lot like Hitchcock did in Vertigo.
It's a theme that, in the wrong hands, could feel exploitative, but when Lynch is behind the camera, there is a lot of artistic merit that goes into the strange, uncanny world he builds for his audience. Lastly, Robert Blake is absolutely terrifying in this movie. Lost Highway is available to stream on The Criterion Channel.
1 The Shining (1980)
The Shining is one of the most well-known horror films of all time. When Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes the winter caretaker for the Overlook Hotel in Colorado, cabin fever begins to set in with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd). Danny starts to see ghostly visions, and his father becomes plagued by them, thus turning Jack into a homicidal maniac, and his target becomes his own family.
The Overlook Hotel
Stephen King may disagree, but the 1980 adaptation of his novel is hailed as one of the scariest movies of all time. The Overlook Hotel is a place where those from the afterlife can pass through into ours, but it's not just the ghosts that heightened our senses when watching The Shining; it's the brilliant set design that only Stanley Kubrick could envision.
The emptiness of it, the long hallways, the high ceilings in the lobby—all of it hits the right spots for being liminal. Hotels are a place of transition; people come and go and never stay but leave energy behind them, some good, some bad. The Shining captured that essence perfectly, and it still haunts us to this day. The Shining is available to rent on Prime Video.
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