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December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
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Alien/Aliens is a given for most people. I have been watching Event Horizon during the spooky season for years. What are some of your favorite books and movies with a horror/psychological thriller lean?
Event horizon is one of the few movies I actually find a bit frightening.
I've always liked the fan theory that Event Horizon took place in the Warhammer 40k universe, and that the ship went into the warp without the necessary gellar fields.
I hadn't heard of that up until a few weeks ago and now it's hard for me not to view it as canon.
It's because Larry Fish does everything right, makes the best possible moves in his situation, and still has problems. There's a strong case to be made that Capt Miller is the one of the smartest protagonists in a horror movie and that's why the movie is so haunting.
"We're leaving."
"And then we're gonna nuke this ship"
Typical ghost/demon etc supernatural films and even a lot of sci-fi horror are snoozefests in comparison to Event Horizon because this film really puts it all together on a scale that makes it horrific. It plays with the supernatural angle and actually even explains it in such a way that puts it closer to reality, and then compounds that horror with the crushing isolation, unfamiliarity and unknowability of space.
I really wish there were more movies that got horror THIS RIGHT.
I like to share this link whenever I come across a discussion about Event Horizon-
It's fun to imagine what could have been
That movie is scary enough. I dont need to see the violence orgy from the original crew.
Gore has it's place in horror films. Personally, I feel like it's best used sparingly and to maximum effect, but there's something to be said for the "gore fest" film types (e.g. Dead Alive), I suppose. Still, after a certain point, things stop being about horror and veer closer to torture erotica. Nothing against torture erotica either (again, not my thing, but to each their own), but it's not horror. The violence orgy scene was literal torture porn, and I think it serves the film best as brief flashes, just enough to make it clear what's going on, but not enough to function as an actual torture porn clip.
SOMA by frictional games.
It explores some of the usual questions about what exactly the human mind might be, if it ever becomes possible to scan, simulate, copy and transfer consciousness.
But it does so in video game form, in a way that makes you face those questions from a visceral, personal, first hand experience perspective.
It's a science fiction masterpiece.
Omg this game is so good. Right after I beat it I went to Reddit and the discussions there helped me answer even more questions and think about it even more deeply. I wish we could copy those communities over to here.
You know what I love about Event Horizon?
That the evil hallway of spinning blades has a handrail.
Well yeah! Safety first. Otherwise, they might have OSHA on their ass, and nobody in Hell wants to deal with that.
Short Stories:
I have no mouth and I must scream - Harlan Ellison - this story was the apogee of sci-fi horror in the 70s and 80s.
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale - Philip K. Dick's original short story and the inspiration for Total Recall.
Weird French Shit:
Fantastic Planet - Animated french scifi about humans being kept as pets by giant blue aliens.
City of Lost Children - steampunk cybercultists
Classic Movies:
They Live - In case you're out of bubblegum
Tremors - broke into the wrong goddamn rec room, didn't ya?
Scanners - Pop!
Moon - really good psychological element and great acting.
Pandorum - fun (and a bit hammy) action horror romp.
Twelve Monkeys - really tight and suspenseful plot with great acting.
Being John Malcovich - not sure if this fits in, but a great mind-bender of a sci-fi movie.
Man, Moon is such a good movie. Sam Rockwell absolutely killed it which I was quite impressed by considering the last thing I saw him in was as Zaphod Beeblebrox in Hitchhikers. Quite a different set of acting chops he exercised.
I haven't seen anyone mention it but The Man From Earth is fantastic. It's literally just about a guy saying goodbye to his friends and telling an unbelievable story. There aren't any flashbacks or visuals illustrating the story. Just him talking and their reactions but it's so well written that it really draws you in.
Granted it's not horror but more people should see this gem
I don't have much of an idea on if it was small but the movie Sunshine (2007) comes to mind. Loved that movie. It's well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
I've come to like Pandorum a lot over the years. I now make sure I watch it every once in a while.
Smart shut-in builds an implausibly powerful computer in an attempt to discern a pattern that is responsible for all things. He uses the golden spiral as evidence of such a pattern, and believes he will eventually take pi out to so many decimal places that such a pattern emerges there.
The psychological thriller aspect relates to what he experiences along the way, and how it ends. I have a theory about the ending, but no idea if it's an opinion shared by the creator or any others.
Triangle . The science fiction angle is that it's a time travel paradox. Predestination is another similar film, based off of Robert Heinlein's "--All You Zombies--".
Cube, though pretty well known, still fits 'small' IMHO, Given it's lows budget.
Is Andromeda Strain small enough? I love both the story and the movie. The combination of high stakes and routinously slow and boring procedures to scientifically-like contain\eradicate the unknown virus is hypnotyzing.
Altered States comes to mind. It sort of straddles sci-fi and horror without really being firmly in either. Deals with some fringe psychology research during the 70’s going wrong in unexpected ways.
Brainstorm is more obviously sci-fi / speculative fiction… can’t say to much else without spoiling the surprises.
Neither one of these is going to seriously blow your mind, but there’s still food for thought. Bon appétit. 
Enemy Mine was pretty trippy. I saw it when I was a kid though so I'm not sure if it was any good or if it fits.
Vivarium was quite odd and different. I appreciated the original take on the age old concept of how alien and weird the suburbs are.
I'm not sure if it counts as smaller but The Thing, god damn, finally saw that one for the first time recently and it really is one of the GOATs.
Sphere from Micheal Crichton. Both the movie and the book are pretty good.
It is more sci-fi than anything else, but i think it fits the thriller category as well. Without going into spoilers, it is a story about scientists being deep down in the ocean, and strange things happening.
It is really campy and the books are much better than the movie but John Dies at the End is a fun movie that doesn't take it too seriously.
The first movie that came to mind is Aniara (2019). It's a great film that really goes beyond to show the hopelessness of being lost in space and how tiny we are in comparison. Fair warning though: This film will absolutely destroy you on an emotional level.
The French short film La Jetée is told almost entirely in still photos, but it's very haunting. 12 Monkeys was based on it. I like 12 Monkeys, but I actually like La Jetée more. There's also the short American film 12:01 PM which is excellent. Both are on YouTube.
I love sci fi movies/books where not many humans are left. Even though not all are small stories: The day of the triffids; I am legend; 28 days; i love those because of the shots you see of cities without people, with overgrown buildings that are falling apart, animals thriving. I also like other sci fi stories, but the ones i mentioned above provide a temporary relief from all the news about wars, hunger, heartless people, news that is caused by greedy, evil people who seem willing to destroy the weak, other species, and even the entire planet.
I feel like Time Lapse isn't on enough people's radar. It's a tightly written sci-fi psychological thriller.
Prospect (2018, movie) - It steals all the cool you associate with crunchy sci-fi short-stories, and gets away with it. Beautiful, lovingly detailed interior sets. Sparse exposition, leaving your snatching at any little turn of phrase or namedrop wondering if it's world-building, or just how the characters talk. Just the right length. Respect for not making it Yet Another Miniseries (YAM (this is my acronym, you'll never see it again)).
Also wow, I haven't read any reviews until now, and I'm glad I hadn't. If you like sci-fi just watch it. It's 1 and a 1/2 hours long. I've already told you too much.
+1 for Prospect.
It brought me back to the weirdness of the sci-fi era of the 70s like Battle beyond the stars, Logan's run, Doppelgänger and the original West world.
I felt like I was 8 years old discovering sci-fi again. Really worth it, although I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea.
I'm adding some great Spanish ones: Timecrimes, Shrews Nest, Rec, The Devil's Backbone
Oh, and a Swedish one: Let the right one in
Cube
I've mentioned it before, and I'll do so again! The Signal was a nice surprise, that sorta came and went in theaters, and we've watched it a handful of times since, as a spooky sci-fi comfort film. It's been a long while since the last time, though, so it may not have quite the same impact now, but that kinda makes me want to watch it more.
And not that it's at all smaller, but Shin Godzilla for another to watch over and over. So beautifully done.
Sputnik and Super Deep, two Russian sci fi movies I really enjoyed and were well made.
Europa Report and Life come to mind as well.
Pi, Brainstorm, Moon, Primer.
Society (1989 film) has some amazing 80s body horror practical effects by Screaming Mad George (Joji Tani), who also worked on Predator and some of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. And a general hatred of the rich, which is always nice.
For horror books, my favorite that I've read recently were The Twisted Ones and A House With Good Bones, both by T. Kingfisher.