10 Terrifying Low Budget Horror Movies
2. Saint Maud
Saint Maud is, hands-down, the scariest, darkest, most "Oh my goodness, I can’t go straight home after seeing it even though it’s late and, instead, need to go hang out in the supermarket for half an hour just to calm myself down" film that has been seen in the last five years, at least. Maybe ten.
Released earlier this year, Rose Glass' movie is tense, brutal, and filled with the types of low-key high-awesome performances that really make all of the best low-budget horror sing.
The thing is with Saint Maud, it chronicles a descent into madness and allows us to observe all of the things that the titular Maud feels compelled to do. What separates it from most other films of its ilk is that, about 20 minutes before the end, the film switches perspective entirely. We are no longer casual observers to Maud’s broken mind, we’re in it. We see the world through her eyes, hear it with her ears. We suddenly understand why she does the things she does and, if we had to live in her head any longer, would we find ourselves doing the same thing?
Everything in this film works, from the sparse but able direction and the slight but crackling dialogue, to the slow but intensely focused pacing and, finally, a single sight and burst of sound that will have you slinking somewhere between the milk fridges and the bread aisle long after you should have gone to bed.