5 films with a deadly surprise in the house

Do you feel safe at home contented isolating in your cocoon, or are you like so many, working remotely in what you mistakenly perceive is the comfort of your own home? Don’t take solace in either of these scenarios! Every mysterious creak or thud or distant shuffle could be something (or someone) hidden close by.

Here are five films I recommend to help keep your senses sharp and your mood pleasantly paranoid: from snakes in the walls (Venom 1981), landlords in the vents (Crawlspace 1986), monsters in the cellar (The House by the Cemetery 1981), hideouts in the bunker (Parasite 2019) and freaks in the castle dungeon (Castle Freak 1995) — these five films cover all of the common types of threats to watch out for in your abode.

Let us know your own favourite cinematic basement dwellers as we nervously await Friday the 13th.

Rob Hughes, Australian Cinémathèque, QAGOMA

#1 Venom

#2 The House by the Cemetery

*The House by the Cemetery* 1981 / Director: Lucio Fulci

#3 Crawlspace

*Crawlspace* 1986 / Director: David Schmoeller

#4 Castle Freak

*Castle Freak* 1995 / Director: Stuart Gordon

#5 Parasite

*Parasite* 2019 / Director: Bong Joon-ho

Dip into our Cinema blogs / View the Cinémathèque’s ongoing program

QAGOMA is the only Australian art gallery with purpose-built facilities dedicated to film and the moving image. The Australian Cinémathèque at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) provides an ongoing program of film and video that you’re unlikely to see elsewhere, offering a rich and diverse experience of the moving image, showcasing the work of influential filmmakers and international cinema, rare 35mm prints, recent restorations and silent films with live musical accompaniment on the Gallery’s Wurlitzer organ originally installed in Brisbane’s Regent Theatre in November 1929.

Featured image: Parasite 2019 / Director: Bong Joon-ho

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