Pictured: ‘The Strangers’ (2008)

Horror is my fave genre, because anything goes. There are no rules, except maybe the mission to make the viewer feel a little (or a lot) disturbed. This is why I’ve spent the last 100+ weeks trying to convince my horror-avoiding friend Peach to stop being afraid and lean into the fear on Spooko.

With that in mind, here are 10 movies about being stuck in a nightmarish house (to watch while we’re still stuck in our houses lol).

1. Get Out

A great example of how horror as a genre can be a voice for social change, as well as Kanye West’s most quoted film by a mile.

2. The Strangers

Hard to recommend something so chilling. Just remember that Liv Tyler is just acting, and that sometimes the worst motive of all is simply “…because you were home.”

3. Green Room

Being locked in a punk venue’s green room would be scary enough, even without Captain Picard and an army of neo-nazis trying to break in with machetes. Can A24 do no wrong? Episode feat. Al Grigg for punk authenticity. 

4. The Collector + The Collection

Thank Saw’s popularity for making ‘Traps’ a subgenre within Horror. But if you are gonna delve, this cult series features – and I quote from a Spooko listener – “the best Trap artist since Gucci Mane”. 

5. Relic

An unappreciated Australian classic, Relic is a far more gentle haunted house film about the ravages of dementia. But then the final scene happens and you won’t know whether to hug your loved ones or not sleep for a week. Our second crossover with sister podcast Too Scary; Didn’t Watch. 

6. The Belko Experiment

Okay I know we’re probably at the stage of lockdown where going back to work sounds like paradise. But what if we get back and then get stuck there, forced to kill each other for [redacted] reasons until there was only one survivor? The legend Ruby Miles guest stars.

7. The Lodge 

Kids are evil.

8. Mom & Dad

Okay yes, kids are evil. But also, when you are a kid, you have no freedom, and home can feel like a jail… especially when an alien radio signal turns all parents into sociopaths intent on murdering their young. Featuring a very Nicolas (un)Cage(d).

9. Antichrist

I love that this was inspired by research that portrayed the forest as a chaotic, nightmarish place to survive (for the animals that live there), rather than the harmonious Disney-fied version we’re usually fed. Makes you feel better about staying inside… as long as someone hides the scissors.

10. Society 

Another horror film with a strong ethical core, but from the 80s so its message is SUPER blunt and literal. That said, once you learn what ‘shunting’ is, your world will never be the same. Episode features the incredible Alexei Toulopolis.

New episodes of Spooko up every Monday on all the usual podcast spots!