Morbid Curiosity: Horror films with Infection and Isolation.

Samuel Dougherty

So it’s been a while since I did the last one of these and quite frankly it’s well overdue. So I thought with the madness of Covid-19 what better time than now to have some fun and look at horror films from the safety of our own homes. I’ve compiled a list of films based around both isolation and infection, two ideas that flow through horror films on a regular basis while being something that people from all walks of life can relate to. Here’s 12 films to watch in self-isolation, feel free to bring a friend… just remember your social distancing.

Isolation is something that can drive us all crazy, and what’s the term we all go to when we’ve been cooped up for too long? Cabin Fever! Eli Roth’s 2002 directorial debut is a perfect look at infection and the insanity that goes along with it. Following a group of friends and their haphazard weekend getaway we get a nice dose of reality when the crew starts to become infected with a flesh-eating virus. Full of gore, and a little bit dated by it’s early 2000’s setting, at the very least this films shows us all why social distancing and self-isolation should be followed in times of infection.

Following along in this vein of infection is The Ruins (Smith, 2008). Starting in a similar arc we watch a group of friends travelling through Mexico on holiday and stumbling along an ancient Mayan ruin deep in the jungle. When the Group tries to leave they are forced back into the ruins by a group of locals who will stop at nothing to keep the horrors within from escaping. Screened by the society in 2016, and with a climax sure to make you weak at the knees, this film is a slow boil full of twists and turns that will make you squirm for weeks after and never let you think of plants in the same way again.

Up next is a double feature for the ages, combining both infection and isolation, REC (Balagueró, Plaza 2007) & REC 2 (Balagueró, Plaza 2009). Exploding out of Spain in 2007/2008, at the height of the found footage renaissance, the first two REC films are a force to be reckoned with. I highly recommend watching them back to back for the best viewing experience. Screened way back in 2010 by the society, the first film follows novice reporter Angela, and her cameraman Pablo, as they follow the local firefighters on their average night out. Things as you may have guessed become much less than average when they take a call to help an old lady in an apartment building after residents hear screams coming from her room. All hell breaks loose and soon the military and police have quarantined the whole building to stop anyone or anything escaping.

One of the better sequels in modern horror history REC 2 picks the action up right where we left off in the first film. This time we follow an elite team equipped with cameras sent into the apartment building from the first film to investigate the situation and assess the quarantine efforts. The film gives a deeper insight into the mythos of the infection seen in the first film while leaving us all feeling just as isolated as before in an environment we thought we knew. REC was remade in 2008 as Quarantine and while many may be familiar with the remake the originals shine through with a greater sense of dread held throughout.

Moving on from isolation and infection on Earth we move to, what is in my opinion, an underrated Sci-Fi-Horror Life (Espinosa, 2017). A big Hollywood cast resides within this film including Ryan Reynolds and Donnie Darko himself Jake Gyllenhaal, but don’t let the star power trick you into thinking this is another lifeless blockbuster. Life puts us in the international space station as the crew aboard examines a new soil sample from Mars that might contain evidence of life. We all know what happens next, they find life and it sure as shit isn’t happy with us. This movie is arguably the best Alien film since, well, Alien (Scott, 1979). We watch as the crew struggles to contain what they have unleashed while feeling the effects of every bone breaking decision made by the crew.

Meanwhile back in the comforts of your local supermarket we can bring you the societal breakdowns and horrors of The Mist (Darabont, 2007). Screened by the society in 2015, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s work is a harrowing experience. Masterfully showing glimpses of the monsters and horrors that lurk within the mist, we must also suffer though small town paranoia, rumours, expiation, and the breakdown of sanity while stuck in isolation. If you are yet to watch this film I recommend doing the first pass in colour, then re-watching the black and white version if you can get your hands on it. The black and white version harks back to the 50’s and 60’s anti-communism films and has a whole new level of intrigue attached.

With most office workers being able to work from home let’s all be thankful we don’t have to be stuck inside with anyone from Greg McLean’s The Belko Experiment (McLean, 2016). While straddling the line between thriller, and horror, this movie takes an old scientific theory of locking different individuals in an enclosed space together and observing what happens, like Big Brother or the Stanford Prison experiment. The exception of this experiment being that if the group doesn’t kill 30 of their workmates within a set time frame then double the amount will be killed by the overseers of the experiment. Balls-to-the-wall insanity ensues as groups are decided and power struggles break out from the ground floor to the roof.

The isolation experiments keep coming with a film screened by the society in 2017, Cube (Natali, 1997). Cube is a psychological thriller revolving around a group of strangers locked inside a labyrinthian prison trying to escape while evading deadly traps. Being stuck with people you don’t know is difficult enough when you can leave the room, but when your only means of escape is trying to overcome each others differences and work together it’s a whole different ball game. This film is a late 90’s gem, and spawned 2 sequels in Cube 2: Hypercube (Sekula, 2002) & Cube Zero (Barbarash, 2004) as well as directly or indirectly inspiring the laser grid sequence from the first Resident Evil (Anderson, 2002).

Sticking with the isolation theme is a little New Zealand horror-comedy to lighten the mood, Gerard Johnstone’s Housebound (Johnstone, 2014). NZ are masters of the horror comedy genre and Housebound is no exception. We meet Kylie, a petty criminal, as she fails in her theft of an ATM before being arrested and sentenced to house arrest. Locked in with her mother and stepfather, Kylie soon believes there is a ghost in the walls of the family home that is out to get her, but is this a case of cabin fever or something more sinister? With help from security enforcer/paranormal investigator Amos Kylie will find out what is causing the disturbance in her home.

From the same year is one of the best infection themed movies of the last 10 years, It Follows (Robert Mitchell, 2014). If you’re yet to see this movie due to the hype or uncertainty of what “IT” is then you’re missing out. Part psychological horror, part infection movie, this indie horror is one for the ages. The brooding and unrelenting force that follows teenager Jay after being infected is truly terrifying. Accompanied with an incredible score It Follows is one of those movies where the less that gets said the better. So if you’re in the mood for something creepy this is the movie for you.

Last but certainly not least are two classics in horror. You probably already know what they are but let’s put them on the list anyway. First is a film that needs no introduction and one that I mentioned earlier in this piece Alien. We all know it and we all love it, but for those who don’t here’s a little something to spark your imagination. When the Spacecraft Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from planet LV-426 the crew sets out to investigate and finds an alien ship full of an infectious dangerous cargo. In space no one can hear you scream and with Facehuggers, Xenomorphs, psychotic androids & acidic blood dripping there probably won’t be much time to anyway.

Number twelve is The Thing (Carpenter, 1982). It’s on every list of horror films, and for good reason too. What is there to say about this movie that hasn’t been said already? The visual effects are incredible, the cast is amazing, the score is classic. Antarctica is about as isolated as it gets on this planet. To throw in an alien slowly infecting an isolated crew where anybody could be the next host, that’s terrifying. Carpenter’s rendition of John W. Campbell’s novel ‘Who Goes There?’ will remain a staple of the horror genre long into the future, and it’s the perfect movie about isolation, infection and insanity.

So there you have it. A list of twelve movies about isolation and infection to get you through this crazy time we’re living in. Special mentions and shout outs to the godfather of the cabin in the woods genre Evil Dead (Raimi, 1981), body horror legend David Cronenberg’s Shivers (Cronenberg, 1975), modern zombie/infection film 28 Days later (Boyle, 2002), George A Romero’s masterpiece Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1978) and recent society screened film Pontypool (McDonald, 2008). I hope you have enjoyed the list, feel free to add your own or let us and others know about what you think the best isolation and infection movies might be.

Stay safe out there people.

Remember to keep the social distancing up, at least 1.5 meters, keep washing those hands and stay inside where you can, apart from getting the essentials or exercising. The horror community is strong, and we’ve all seen enough films to know what happens if we don’t listen to the experts, so let’s stay sane and keep each other healthy.