[Editorial] Under The Surface: 3 Claustrophobic Horror Films

Firstly I would like to start this article by apologising for not having delivered a member article last week, in all honesty it has been somewhat of an exhausting week for the team and therefore we have struggled to put anything together. A huge thank you for your continued support even during this period, but rest assured we have weekly content coming up throughout August, and have even changed up the way we do things. 

As a creative it can often be difficult to idealise new and exciting content; it feels like it has all been done before in one form or another, and there are only so many horror films that can be spoken about. However, the other evening whilst showering it came to my attention that ‘theming’ months could be one way to ensure that every month Ghouls Magazine offers its members fresher-than-a-corpse content that all feels relevant and timely. Therefore the question was: What does August have to offer for a theme? 

Immediately summer sprung to mind, but for those not familiar with the current weather situation in the UK, it is dire. Although it is meant to be the warm months where we meet with friends in the pub and bask in the sunshine, the UK is currently being battered from every angle with horrendous wind and rain. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, when has this country ever been blessed with good weather? So for that reason, it seemed sensible to not talk about summer movies, even though all those camp slashers would have made for one fun talking point. 

The second theme that seemed like it could provide some interest was to do with children. The summer holidays are here which means for those with children, there is sadly no escaping their presence and their demands. But then I realised that talking about murderous children with a penchant for bloodlust might only insight yet more anxiety and fear into those who are trying to get by every day with one just out of the corner of their eye. In which case it seemed cruel to add even more dread to the reality of life, and so that idea also got scrapped fairly quickly. 

Being an extreme horror lover, after repeating the word August, the only logical word that came next was Underground. That’s correct: my mind instinctively went to Fred Vogel’s controversial and notorious extreme found footage horror August Underground which was released back in 2001. So now you’re worried that you’re about to get a month of pure torture and vile recommendations, but somewhere deep down there is a heart in my being and therefore, we are going to steer clear of films of this feat… Instead the theme for August is simply going to be the word ‘Under’. 

To kick off our member month, we’ll be looking at three of the most claustrophobic horror films that have ever been created, and how by creating a sense of being underneath the ground can evoke sheer anxiety in the audience. 

The Borderlands

Released in 2013, this found footage horror is one of the best films that has been released in the last decade. Directed by Elliot Goldner, this film follows two skeptics who are sent to a remote English village to dispel the claims that a small church in a remote location is home to some form of presence that could be presenting a miracle in the name of God. The plot to The Borderlands doesn’t sound like anything unique or special, but it is a film that has managed to encapsulate the gradual emotional turmoil of realising that everything you once believed was reality, is in fact completely the opposite. 

The use of found footage here really plays to its strengths and allows the audience to feel as though they were watching an episode of Most Haunted, without the inclusion of Derek Acorah overtly pretending he’s possessed by something in every episode. Without any spoilers, the ending of the film might just be one of the most claustrophobic and unsettling finishers to have been shown in a found footage film - you won’t be sleeping well for a long time. 

Crawl or Die

This one comes with the caveat that you shouldn’t always trust what the reviews are saying online, because sometimes you need to give an independent film a chance, especially when it’s as anxiety-inducing as this one. Crawl or Die was released in 2014 and comes from director Oklahoma Ward, it follows a group of people who are protecting the last impregnable woman whilst trying to navigate their way through a series of tunnels all of which become smaller and smaller as they begin passing through the labyrinth. 

The fear of small spaces is a common one, and it's easy to see why; trapped with nowhere to go and the inability to change the situation once you are in it. Horror films have been using this trope as a means to torment the audience, with Neil Marhsall’s The Descent showing just how effective it can be to use small spaces paired with creatures to horrify the audience. But Crawl or Die takes this concept to the extreme, and as the film progresses towards its finale shows us the severity of being too small to even breathe. This one had me stressed beyond belief!

As Above So Below

Everyone in the film world always bangs on about underrated gems and it feels annoying to be venturing into that territory, but John Erick Dowdle’s 2014 horror film As Above So Below is absolutely under-appreciated. We follow an archaeologist on the hunt for the Philosopher’s Stone, which they believe to be hidden within the mysterious catacombs that are rooted beneath the city of Paris, France. The group are taken down into the depths of these skull-cladded caves only to discover that it is the last place on Earth that any of them want to find themselves. 

There might be a few issues with this film, especially towards the beginning but there is something so disturbingly enigmatic about the way it plays out and the discoveries that are found as the team immerse themselves deeper and deeper. In one scene the group make a decision to pass the point of no return, in which they are travelling so deep into the centre of humanity’s planet that it’s difficult for them to know exactly how they will return. Never hjas a film made me feel so breathless and out of control as this one, and if you really think you’ve experienced a sense of claustrophobia then give this film a watch, because they you’ll truly know how it feels.

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