For many cinephiles, November becomes Noirvember, a month dedicated to noir. 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 the femme fatale. All of which marries well with horror.
Whether you want to dip your toes into noir this month or add some horror to your Noirvember, these five horror movies should do the trick. Here’s where you can stream them this week.
Angel Heart– Prime Video, Paramount+
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, twists, 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 – HBO 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.
Cat People – AMC+
Serbian-born fashion illustrator Irena (Simone Simon) struggles with repressed sexuality once she falls for handsome engineer Oliver (Kent Reed). They meet-cute then get married, but Irena refuses to consummate their marriage as she fears physical intimacy will transform her into a predatory cat of Serbian legend. The scene in which Irena stalks her rival Alice (Jane Randolph) on the darkened empty street birthed the jump scare, but the iconic pool scene that sees Alice tormented by a predator in the dark is a knockout moment. Irena’s one memorable horror femme fatale.
Diabolique – Criterion Channel, HBO Max, Plex
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s twisty thriller grips you from beginning to end. The frail wife and the mistress of a vile school headmaster conspire to commit the perfect murder to free them both of 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. Diabolique shocked audiences upon release and inspired director Alfred Hitchcock and author Robert Bloch for Psycho.
Eyes of Laura Mars – Prime Video
Before famously helming The Empire Strikes Back, director Irvin Kershner tackled a neo-noir Giallo feature based on a treatment/source story by horror master John Carpenter. Faye Dunaway stars as the titular Laura Mars, a fashion photographer that develops a bizarre ability to see through the eyes of a killer targeting those around her. While played straight, the ending goes off the rails in the most wonderfully dramatic way. It’s stylish and studded with an all-star cast, including Tommy Lee Jones, Raul Julia, and Brad Dourif.
