10 Best Horror Movies With No Supernatural Elements
6. Audition
Few directors delve so deeply into the bizarre without crossing the boundaries of reality as Takashi Miike. He has films which are downright weirder - the unforgettable The Happiness of the Katakuris, for example - but his singular vision is best achieved in 1999’s Audition.
The premise kicks off in the manner of many ‘90s thrillers. A widower enlists his movie business pal to concoct a fake casting call, in which he hopes to find a new wife. He becomes entranced by Asami, though things clearly aren’t all there with the young woman, who seems to have no paper trail to speak of and lives a monastic existence. Still, the heart wants what it wants, and he pursues a relationship.
That is, until she begins to pursue him. Audition’s strength comes from the contrasts in its content. Miike one minute depicts loneliness and societal abuse in modern Japan, the next descends into truly shocking gore and horror.
It’s beautifully performed and shot, with genuine care and consideration given to characters which could devolve into tropes in lesser hands.