20 Assorted Movies for The Modern Goth

This list is not in any specific order.

01) Dark City

Plot:

When he awakens alone in a hotel room that contains a dead body, John Murdock has no idea what is going on. He has lost all of his memories, the police are suspecting him in relations to a series of brutal murders, a group of beings known as “The Strangers” are tracking him down, and he is noticing that the sun has vanished. John uncovers an underworld that appears to be controlling the city, along with the memories of its inhabitants. 

02) The Crow

Plot:

(Same director as Dark City) The Crow is about guitarist Eric Draven who has been resurrected, and declares revenge on those who murdered him and his fiancée. Based on the graphic novel by Jason O’Barr, The Crow has become a staple of the gothic culture. This was also Brandon Lee’s (Bruce Lee’s son) last film before his untimely death through an accident that happen during the making of this movie.

03) Interview With the Vampire

Plot:

Based on the novel by Anne Rice, who also wrote the film’s screenplay, Interview with the Vampire tells the tale of vampire Louis life. The Vampire Lestat offers young Louis eternal life, but what does immortality entail?

04) The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Plot:

The ultimate cult film, Rocky Horror offers a weird, wonderful and immensely camp ride.

Brad and Janet find themselves in a predicament when their car breaks down. While walking through the rain searching for help, they come across an ominous castle. Inside they find a group of eccentrics who enjoy nothing more then to dance to the Time Warp, a transvestite from Transylvania who is building a man for himself, and a whole host of trouble. 

05) Repo! The Genetic Opera

Plot:

In the not-too-distant future, organ failures have devastated the planet. GeneCo, a company that offers organ transplants for a price, make a ‘killing’. But, those who miss their payments are then hunted by the repo man to reclaim GeneCo’s property. 

This “Goth Opera” is created by one of those responsible for Saw, so you can expect plenty of blood. It is a little-known movie that is beginning to find its own audience. Is it destined to become the next Rocky Horror?

06) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Plot:

Sweeney Todd is seeking revenge after being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit.

In the mean time, he would stay with Mrs Lovett and help her run her pie shop… but what are they putting in the pies?

This darkly comic musical is, in my opinion, Tim Burton’s masterpiece. 

07) Vincent

And older example of Tim Burton’s work. This short animation is about a little boy who wishes to be just like Vincent Price. Below is the full film.

08) The Doom Generation

Plot:

Jordan and Amy are two troubled teens. After a night out they accumulate troublesome drifter, Xavier Red. The three of them embark on a journey of sex and violence through a twisted America.

09)  Nosferatu

Quite frankly, if you are a goth, then you have a duty to watch this classic. Full movie below.

Note: this list can easily be filled with the old classics. I am instead keeping to more modern pictures, so this shall be the only listing of it’s kind.

10) Underworld (full trilogy)

Plot:

Set in a world where vampires and lycans (werewolves) are at war. Selene (vampire) falls in love with Michael (lycan) and together they learn of the plots and dark histories between their races. 

This film also happens to be playing in the background as I write this list.

11) Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola’s version)

You already know the story, well, at least you should. This version is beautifully realised by the hand of a true master of cinema. Also boasts a spectacular performance by Gary Oldman as the count.

12) Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead

Plot:

Set during the post-apocalypse, Peggy lives with her over-protective mother. Peggy works in the family’s restaurant but dreams of more.

In comes a group of punks who whisks Peggy away from her dreary life, but things takes a dark turn when she finds her dead sister dancing in a club. What is the dance of the dead?

Features a delightfully devilish performance by Freddy Kruger himself, Robert Englund

13) Edward Scissorhands

Plot:

Edward was a near-complete human, but his maker died just before Edward was complete. And so Edward lived in the castle alone, and with scissors for hands. But, when an Avon lady discovers him and takes him home with her, would the community accept him?

14) Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

 Plot:

In this spectacular anime, the vampire hunter known only as D has been hired to rescue a girl after she had been kidnapped during the night by a vampire. But it would appear that she does not wish to be rescued…

This is my personal favourite anime. The characters are fascinating, the action is exciting, the story is old fashioned, and it is just dripping in gothic style.

15) The Nightmare Before Christmas

Plot:

A rather obvious one here. Jack Skeleton has grown weary of the same scares year in, year out. He stumbles upon Christmasland and in there he finds such wonder. But he could not help but bring trouble with him…

16) Nightbreed

Plot:

Based on Clive Barker’s novela Cabel, and directed by the man himself, this is the story of a dark underworld of monsters under attack by those evil humans. Hellraiser may be Barker’s superior movie, but I believe Nightbreed fits better in this specific list.

17) May

Plot:

May’s only friend as a child was a creepy doll kept in a glass case. She grows into a weird and lonely woman who works in a animal hospital. May meets Adam Stubbs (a man with beautiful hands) and they begin to date. Unfortunately Adam cannot take May’s weird and bizzare nature and he becomes distant. Feeling alone and rejected, May has a brief affair with her lesbian assistant, Polly. Things take a dark turn when May’s doll ends up broken, and the much deranged May decides to “build” her own friend.

18) Ginger Snaps

Plot:

Brigitte and Ginger are two misfit sisters. they spend their days taking fake-death pictures of each other, and generally avoiding everyone else. On the night she has her first period, a werewolf bites Ginger. Within a few days, some serious changes happen to her body and her temperament. Brigitte, is attempts to find a cure with the assistance of Sam, a local doper.

This comic horror uses the werewolf concept as a metaphor for a young lady going through the pains of adolescence. 

19) Labyrinth

Plot:

Sarah has to babysit her little brother Toby. But the baby keeps crying and Sarah, while telling him a story to make him sleep. When The Goblin King steals the child and takes him to his castle within a grand labyrinth, Sarah has to rescue. But if she does not manage to do this before midnight, then her brother will become a goblin.

20) The Addams Family/ The Addams Family Values

Honestly, who in the world does not know about the Addams Family and their delightfully quirky ways.