Horror doesn't always mean darkness or gore. Some of the genre's most unforgettable moments are actually gorgeous and stick with you for years and become part of the inherent language of cinema, even if you aren't a fan of the genre.
You can get almost anything in horror films. We have German Expressionism, sunny folk terror, unrealistic neons contrasted with grim and gritty documentary-style shots, and everything in between. Beauty and fear make perfect, unsettling partners.
Here are just a few of our favorites, although it's nearly impossible to choose.
Nosferatu
NosferatuCredit: Film Arts Guild
The vampire himself doesn't appear in this shot. His shadow—fingers like claws—creeps up the stairs.
Cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner and director F.W. Murnau created fear through what remains hidden, and later inspired Robert Eggers' expressionistic remake. Wagner became known as a master of moody, high-contrast lighting during Germany's Weimar period.
The Exorcist
The ExorcistCredit: Warner Bros.
DP Owen Roizman earned an Academy Award nomination for his work on The Exorcist. One of the film's most iconic images shows Father Karras standing alone outside Regan's home. It's famous for a reason, almost painterly in its composition.
Roizman told American Cinematographer:
"We shot night exteriors in Georgetown, and the trickiest one was the scene where the Exorcist himself arrives at the house. It's late at night, and the shot starts with the camera pointing down the desolate, foggy street. Two headlights appear out of the fog, and we see that they're coming from a taxicab that swings around in front of the house. The priest gets out and stands in the bright glow coming from the little girl's bedroom window, it was difficult to get that bright of a glow from a shaded window and we also had to hold a fog effect all the way down the street. Of course—wouldn't you know—just as we were ready to shoot, the wind came up, which made it more difficult to keep the fog settled in. But we shot as fast as we could and managed to get the scene."
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The Texas Chain Saw MassacreCredit: Bryanston Distributing Company
This whole film, high-contrast and colorful, is beautiful despite its grim subject matter. Leatherface twirling with his chainsaw in the early morning light as his bloody victim escapes in the back of a passing truck is iconic. Cinematographer Daniel Pearl worked on a super low budget and shot the slasher on 16mm.
Now, filmmakers try to achieve this exact look on their own projects.
"Today, 50 years later, I can tell you I still don't know everything there is to know about lighting, but one of the great things about being a cinematographer is that you're forever learning; you're forever finding new tricks or figuring things out," Pearl said (via American Cinematographer).
Suspiria (1977)
SuspiriaCredit: EMI
Director Dario Argento asked cinematographer Luciano Tovoli to use an outdated film stock from Kodak to achieve the film's saturated color. It's hard to pick just one moment from the film when it's all so beautiful, so we picked this memorable moment. Look at all the color and texture here!
"I decided to intensively utilize primary colors—blue, green, and red—to identify the normal flow of life, and then apply a complementary color, mainly yellow, to contaminate them," Tovoli said (via American Cinematographer).
You can see that happening in this very shot.
Crimson Peak
This is another one with beauty written all over it. Dan Laustsen and Guillermo del Toro's recurring use of a single lighting source became instrumental in Crimson Peak, where realism was always secondary to storytelling through light.
I love how each ghost materializes throughout the film in red, but this is one of my favorite moments from the film, dreamlike and isolating, with that pop of blood, at the end of the character's journey.
Midsommar
MidsommarCredit: A24
Unlike most horror films that rely on darkness, Midsommar is in almost constant daylight, with director Ari Aster and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski pushing dreamy Technicolor-like shots to their limits. The characters, often on drugs, experience images and colors that feel unreal.
Pogorzelski referenced the pastel color rendition of the Technicolor process from Black Narcissus (another gorgeous film) when creating Midsommar's aesthetic (via British Cinematographer).
The Night of the Hunter
The Night of the HunterCredit: United Artists
This is a must-watch for any horror fan, every bit of it gorgeous and intentional. The film contains one of the most shocking and haunting images in the genre. We suddenly see a woman, strapped into a car at the bottom of a river, her hair floating upward while weeds undulate around her.
"We had to create a spiritual effect," DP Stanley Cortez said (via American Cinematographer). "I had eight powerful titans—the strongest sun arcs available—on a huge crane suspended over the tank."
Faust
FaustCredit: MGM
The early shots of the demon Mephisto with his wings covering the sky is like something right out of a fire-and-brimstone sermon. It's epic and stunning. F.W. Murnau's cosmic horror is an essential lesson in using light and shadow.
DP Carl Hoffmann was one of the leading German cinematographers of the 1910s and 1920s and a master of expressionist style.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween III: Season of the WitchCredit: Universal Pictures
For all its faults, and regardless of how you feel about it, Halloween III still contains some of DP Dean Cundey's best work, with strong contrast and creative use of color as the film examines the marketing of one of our favorite holidays. This shot against the sunset is simply gorgeous and has been mimicked in other horror settings and spoofs.
"My job as a cinematographer is to use light and composition to draw audiences into a credible adventure—regardless of whether it's a visual effects-heavy movie, a character-driven piece, or even a romance or comedy," Cundey said (via OCONNOR).
Audition
AuditionCredit: American Cinematheque/Vitagraph Films
That cursed bag. Here, in a nearly static shot, Asami sits perfectly still beside a telephone in her bare apartment, waiting for it to ring. The whole film has surprising pops of color, but not here, where even the blue through the window is washed out. The harsh fluorescent lighting feels clinical, and Asami's body seems twisted and uncomfortable. The whole thing just seems off.
Director Takashi Miike said his DP Hideo Yamamoto was very "sensitive toward death." This comes through the intention and care of his compositions.
We know there are so many more examples from horror, both classic and modern. Which would you pick?
