For many cinephiles, November becomes Noirvember, a month dedicated to noir movies.
Noir is often characterized by its fatalistic outlook, highly stylized imagery, down-on-their-luck and morally ambiguous protagonists, urban settings, shadows, corruption, narration, and of course, the femme fatale. All of these elements marry well with our favorite genre: horror.
This week’s streaming picks blend noir and horror together, kicking off your #Noirvember with horror movies that bear the earmarks of a classic noir film.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Angel Heart– Hoopla, Kanopy
The perfect marriage of psychological horror and noir, Angel Heart follows Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), a private investigator that Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) hires to track down missing musician Johnny Favorite. Harry’s search leads him to New Orleans, where he finds voodoo, murder, love, and a deal with the devil. A slow, simmering, hard-boiled detective tale gives way to shocking secrets and reveals that will unsettle you as much as Harry. Speaking of hard-boiled, De Niro’s menacing performance ensures you’ll never look at eggs quite the same way again.
Cast a Deadly Spell – Max
This made-for-cable movie is more of a loving send-up, marrying comedic horror-fantasy to noir. Set in an alternate 1940s where magic and magical creatures exist, Detective Harry Philip Lovecraft (Fred Ward) is hired to track and retrieve the stolen Necronomicon. That job leads to a much bigger conspiracy involving femme fatales, assassins, ancient evils, and a bid to bring about Armageddon. It’s a charming creature feature steeped in noir convention, with a stacked cast too.
Diabolique – The Criterion Channel, Max, the Roku Channel
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s twisty thriller is a must. The frail wife and the mistress of a vile school headmaster conspire and plot the perfect murder that will free them both from his abuse. Of course, such a plan rarely goes off without a wrinkle or two, creating a web of lies and paranoia. Clouzot’s thriller begins like a hard-boiled noir before segueing into a tense psychological horror movie full of nightmarish sequences. This influential film inspired both Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bloch, the author of the novel Psycho.
Lord of Illusions – Hoopla, Pluto TV, Tubi
Clive Barker infuses crime-noir with the supernatural occult in this adaptation of his short story “The Last Illusion.” Private detective Harry D’Amour (Scott Bacula) gets drawn into a battle between good and evil when the wife of a famous stage magician hires him to protect them from assassination by a fanatical cult. For a good stretch, Barker walks the line between the two genres without veering too far into either, until the full-blown horror finale anyway. Lord of Illusions has it all: the femme fatale, conspiracy-filled mystery, the hardened detective, and Barker’s unique brand of horror.
The Night of the Hunter – The Criterion Channel, Hoopla, MGM+, Pluto TV
Part noir, part gothic fairy tale, part horror, The Night of the Hunter is a melting pot of genres. Charles Laughton’s first and only directorial effort didn’t land with critics and audiences upon release but has since become one of the most influential films of all time. Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Powell, a self-appointed preacher and serial killer who marries a gullible widow to steal her deceased husband’s hidden cash. That the woman’s children only know its location puts them in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with the Reverend. Highly stylized and eerie, The Night of the Hunter is a gorgeous, chilling entry in the noir genre.