10 Horror Movie Fates Worse Than Death
3. Kidnapped By An Otherworldly Creature - Absentia
Where we've looked at endless suffering through time loops, absorption, and sadistic mutilation intent on keeping the victim alive, there's nothing quite like an Eldritch abomination to really seal the deal on a life not worth living any more.
Absentia, the vastly underrated low-budget miracle from Mike Flanagan, centres around a missing husband that inexplicably reappears again just about when he's due to be written off as dead in Absentia. And then just as quickly as he appears, he's off again - and whatever takes him has the manners to come back for his wife and eventually her sister, too.
It turns out some insectoid creature is stealing people away to a strange, paranormal realm, where they're taken through the physical wall of a tunnel and kept in another dimension by said creepy crawly. It functions as some perverse metaphor for a troll, dwelling in a tunnel - aka under a bridge - and will only let its victims go via very specific trade deals.
What it does to its victims isn't ever revealed in full, but we know they suffer an immeasurable amount, cannot escape, and can see the world going on around them whilst never being spotted themselves, which is a horrifying concept.