10 Best Indie Horror Movies Of All Time
3. The Lighthouse
The rehabilitation of Robert Pattinson was complete with this 2019 psychological masterpiece. He made his name with the horror-adjacent Twilight franchise, but in Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, he finally succumbs to the dark side. The finished film is equal parts hilarious, shocking, and disturbing, with astonishing performances from Pattinson and Willem Dafoe.
Pattinson plays Ephraim Winslow, who has secured a contract for work on a lighthouse in 19th century New England. The lighthouse is run by Thomas Wake (Dafoe, channelling The Simpsons’ Captain McCallister), a stern man with a strict set of rules who can be seen at night acting mysteriously at the lighthouse’s peak, which he will not allow Winslow to visit.
The first chunk of the film sees the two men feeling each other out, with little else to do in their coastal isolation. As Winslow’s term comes to an end, a storm leaves him stranded at the lighthouse, at which point things get incredibly strange.
It’s a film that defies classification, but the creeping horror that rises throughout makes for a tense watch. To say much else would give the game away, but it’s a must-watch.