DEEP DIVE: Soul Searching- Detective Horror Movies

This is a watch at home, discuss in person event. Join me to discuss 3 horror films centered around detectives!

I’ve said before that my favorite nano-genre is detectives becoming so obsessed with a case that it changes how the viewer watches the movie. Where the audience becomes just as interested in the deteriorating psyche of the detective as they are in the actual drama of the case, if not more so. Zodiac (2007, David Fincher) and Memories of Murder (2003, Bong Joon-Ho) made me fall in love with this type of movie, but I think it gets even better when translated through my favorite broad genre: horror.

I’ve picked three movies that I think will intersect with these interests really well. Two are all time favorites of mine, and one is a film I’ve been wanting to check out for a while and have heard great things about. Here we’ll discuss characters obsessively leading themselves down crime rabbit holes that turn supernatural, often paying a Faustian price for their own obsession with their sanity, their lives, and their souls.

Please try to watch all three films before the discussion, but you're still welcome to join if you’ve only watched one or two. All three are easily available on video rental services (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, etc.). If anyone needs help finding a copy though, shoot me a message and I’ll help you out!

Angel Heart (1987, Alan Parker): A down-and-out Brooklyn detective is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.

• Stream for free on Kanopy
• Rent on Apple TV, Amazon or YouTube

Cure (1997, Kiyoshi Kurosawa): A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances is sweeping Tokyo.

• Stream on Criterion Channel
• Rent on Apple TV, Amazon or YouTube

The Empty Man (2020, David Prior): On the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity.

• Stream on Hulu
• Rent on Apple TV, Amazon or YouTube

Other titles to check out (not required):

• The Wicker Man (1973, Robin Hardy)
• The Vanishing (1987, George Sluizer)
• The Exorcist III (1990, William Peter Blatty)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)
• In the Mouth of Madness (1994, John Carpenter)
• The Ninth Gate (1999, Roman Polanski)
• I Saw The Devil (2010, Kim Jee-Woon)
• The Wailing (2016, Na Hong-Jin)
• Longlegs (2024, Osgood Perkins)

We’ll meet at Zymos Brewing in Littleton. I believe this will be a new venue for DCC but I’ve been here many times and can vouch for both the vibes and the beer! We should be good to push some tables together to chat inside, but they also have some outdoor space if the weather’s nice!