Horror is a very popular genre in the world of cinema. While horror lends to a narrative style that plays into humanity's innermost fears, there is no one single way that this is achieved. In fact, there are various horror movie subgenres that explore all the different things that terrify people. One such subgenre is cosmic horror, aka Lovecraftian horror.
Cosmic horror and the work of H.P. Lovecraft are often considered synonymous. While it is true that the author's influence is all over this particular brand of scary movie, it isn't the only (or even necessarily the definitive!) voice. In the spirit of searching for more wonderful examples of one of horror's most curious corners, here are some of the best non-Lovecraftian cosmic horror movies.
In The Mouth of Madness Turns Reality Upside Down
From the master of horror John Carpenter comes In The Mouth of Madness. The name itself derives from a short novel written by H.P. Lovecraft, At The Mountains of Madness. Carpenter's tale tells the story of Sam Neill's John Trent, an insurance investigator sent to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of pulp horror novelist Sutter Kane. On top of his disappearance, rumors abound that Kane’s works have a tendency to turn the more fragile-minded fans insane.
Trent's investigation takes him to a strange small town known as Hobb's End. Here, the lines between fact and fiction, imagination and reality begin to blur beyond recognition. Generally one of John Carpenter's more underappreciated movies, In The Mouth of Madness is a chilling portrait of the fragility of humankind's perceptions of material reality. It also speaks to the power of horror fiction to sneak its way into the minds of its viewers, and never let go.
Annihilation Combines Cosmic Horror and Other Horror Subgenres
Alex Garland's sophomore directorial effort Annihilation stars Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, among a handful of other excellent performers in what amounts to a stunning cosmic horror epic adaptation of the eponymous novel. Natalie Portman is Lena, a military veteran and biologist who travels into an enormous time-space (possibly alien) environmental event called “The Shimmer” to rescue her husband.
"The Shimmer" remixes and alters the biological structure of all living things that enter it in horrifying and beautiful ways. Naturally, the government must investigate, as the boundaries of the alien event are expanding. Lena's husband Kane is called to enter "The Shimmer" for that purpose and gets lost, prompting her journey inside the glimmering walls herself. What happens from there on runs the gamut from terrifying body horror, cosmic existential dread, and meditations on depression and grief. It's an enormous task to undertake for Garland, and an enormously powerful work of art.
Event Horizon is B-Movie Cosmic Horror That Still Packs a Punch
For movie fans in the market for a bit of B-movie spice with their cosmic horror, Paul W. S. Anderson's Event Horizon is the perfect pick. Initially panned by critics and a financial flop, the movie has since garnered a passionate cult fandom. Event Horizon follows the crew of a rescue starship who follow a distress signal from a fellow space vehicle that had previously disappeared into a black hole. That ship, the titular Event Horizon, has mysteriously reappeared. Of course, it hasn't come back the same, as there is a mysterious presence on board. Event Horizon is schlocky, but boasts a solid cast, punchy action sequences, and killer multidimensional cosmic horror.
Sunshine Is a Minor Masterpiece of Cosmic Horror and Sci-Fi
Danny Boyle's Sunshine isn't strictly a horror movie. Nor is it simply a science fiction action film. It's a little bit of everything, complete with a massive dollop of philosophical/existential angst. Despite its box-office failure and mixed critical response upon release, Sunshine is something of a minor masterpiece. Cillian Murphy stars as a physicist aboard Icarus II, humanity's last hope to save the earth from a dying sun.
Tasked with delivering a nuclear bomb the size of a city to the surface of the sun, hoping to reignite its core with a massively explosive payload, the crew of Icarus II encounter a distress signal from their predecessor. Icarus I failed in their selfsame mission, for unknown reasons. Hoping to retrieve the first ship's bomb for two opportunities to accomplish their goal, the crew of Icarus II unknowingly invite a twisted power that they cannot understand aboard. Pulse-pounding and meditative in equal measure, Sunshine is a triumph, and one of Boyle's best works.
While the aforementioned list is by no means definitive, it does touch on many of the key elements that make cosmic horror so uniquely terrifying. Like any subgenre, there are myriad excellent entries that expand and re-imagine the tropes of the movies that came before.