History of the Occult is a thought-provoking Argentinian thriller & political horror film. It was directed by Cristian Ponce, made in 2020, and is streaming now (I saw it on HBO Max).
Instead of slashers and jump scares, the low-budget/high-concept History of the Occult (original title: Historia de lo Oculto) builds eerie tension slowly and carefully. Much of the horror is off-screen.
What is Political Horror?
History of the Occult is the new vanguard of an old genre called political horror. Political horror uses the tropes of the horror genre and applies them to political themes. Many horror films are political: The Stepford Wives. Night of the Living Dead. The Purge. Get Out.
But History of the Occult is at the vanguard because it also borrows from the tension-filled 1970s paranoia films — e.g. Alan Jay Pakula’s The Parallax View. Moreover, it is set in Argentina, with a military dictatorship in its recent past. The tension and the location combine to tell a political horror story that you have never experienced before.
Plot
An investigative reporting television program, 60 Minutes to Midnight, has been cancelled. Tonight is their last broadcast. And tonight, the program’s reporters will conclude their year-long investigation: witches and warlocks control the highest level of government.
[Q Anon followers, take note: unlike your soap opera fake conspiracy story, History of the Occult does not try to fool you into voting for fools]
We watch the cloak-and-dagger movements of the reporters as they race to tell the story. Like Phonebooth and other real-time narrative movies, in this short film — it clocks in at a scant one hour and 22 minutes — every minute counts.
And its in black & white, mostly. All I will write here is that the filmmakers were inventive and purposeful. Their retro-choice of black & white is meaningful. ‘nuff said. Its better to watch it yourself.
Too Scary? Too Bloody?
No, it is not too scary and it is not too bloody.
Yes, there are a couple of scary scenes. Yes, there is some blood, though it is in black & white, and most of it are unexpected nosebleeds. It is horror, after all, and for a film that involves witches and warlocks, one can expect some scariness.
History of the Occult is perfect for Halloween.
Joshua K. Dubrow is a PhD from The Ohio State University and a Professor of Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The Sociology Place 