10 Horror Movies With No Obvious Villain

After terrifying moviegoers with his feature debut, The Witch, writer-director Robert Eggers shifted his attention from the forest in 17th century New England to a desolate 19th century lighthouse for The Lighthouse. Whereas The Witch’s themes of religious superstition and paranoia were manifested in the form of the titular witch, The Lighthouse had no such physical villain.

The film follows newly employed lighthouse keeper Winslow (Robert Pattinson) as he takes a job at a rundown lighthouse on a barren island under the supervision of veteran sailor Wake (Willem Dafoe). The pair’s relationship soon becomes strained thanks to a combination of Wake’s cruelty and the poor working conditions. And when a storm rolls in and strands them on the island, it doesn’t take long for alcohol-induced chaos to break lose.

With both men driven to the brink of madness, all sense of time and reality hit breaking point by the time the events reach their climax. It becomes impossible to tell if the men have simply lost their minds or if something more supernatural is underfoot.

Perhaps the light which Wake forbids Winslow from seeing really does have otherworldly properties, or maybe it was Winslow’s disregard for maritime superstition that doomed them both.