Horror films are typically old from the perspective of their victims. This is partly so you can sympathise with them, and partly to amp up the terror of the unknown – the thing that’s the object of their fear. Not knowing where the killer is – human or inhuman – or what they’re planning, are the building blocks of the genre, allowing creators to build suspense in an audience who are as in the dark as the terrorised protagonists are about when and where danger is going to spring from next.
But where there are conventions, there are films that tear them apart. Good Boy, for instance, is a new horror film told entirely from the perspective of a dog brought by its owner to an isolated home where things start going bump in the night. It’s a point of view that certainly puts a new spin on the creakingly old haunted house set-up, but the film isn’t the only time the horror genre has shifted the focus to an unusual place. If you’re interested in other movies that are either consistently or partly told through the (sometimes literal) eyes of the villain or a non-human entity, take a look at Good Boy and these other trend-buckers we’ve rounded up.
1. Good Boy (2025)
If you’ve seen a good amount of horror, you’ll know that when a dog starts barking at seemingly nothing at all, you need to start worrying. Often, this results in these furry alarm bells sadly being the first to get bumped off as a warning sign of what’s to come, but in Good Boy, the horror movie dog finally gets to be the hero.
In the film, retriever Indy is moved to his owner, Todd’s deceased grandfather’s house in the woods. Todd is suffering from a chronic health disease, and things get worse when Indy notices a dark, muddy figure watching them from the shadows. It’s a hook that could quickly lose its impact, but a lean runtime of 72 minutes and a re-bark-able (sorry) performance from director Ben Leonberg’s actual dog as a loyal-to-the-end companion in the face of abject dread is one of the best on-screen assurances of who Man’s Best Friend truly is.
2. Presence (2024)
It’s near-impossible to discuss Presence in this context without spoiling it, so if you’re really keen on watching it without knowing much going in, I’d recommend skipping to the next entry, or to where you can stream the film further below; I promise, it’s worth it!
… For those still reading, the gimmick here is that it’s told from the POV of a ghost, and unlike Good Boy, knowing that at the top could significantly lessen the film’s impact rather than creating a selling point for it. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Presence is that there’s sort of a double-twist at play: not only do you see everything through the eyes of someone already dead, but it’s also revealed that they’re a victim/protagonist, not a villain. The film is also eerily crafted, drifting in and out of scenes to mimic the sensation of a spirit drifting in and out of existence, and directed with uncharacteristic restraint by Steven Soderbergh to capture realistic performances in a fly-on-the-wall way.
3. Halloween (1978)
While the sequences are fleeting, it’s hard not to talk about unusual perspectives in horror films without mentioning the original Halloween. John Carpenter’s foundational slasher movie is at the height of its lurid power right from the get-go, thanks to the director’s decision to force the audience to watch through the eyes of future serial killer Michael Myers while he butchers his older sister. The feeling of ‘floating’ through the scene was achieved thanks to new camera technology at the time – a masterful blending of the technical and creative.
The real stinger, however, is the reveal at the end of the sequence, leaving Michael’s POV to show that he’s just a small child – the seeds of evil he was seemingly born with already sprouting. Trapping us in this perspective makes us feel complicit in his actions, and though we stay with Final Girl Laurie Strode for the rest of the film, that strange connection formed with her stalker at the start never leaves the back of your mind.
4. In A Violent Nature (2024)
In A Violent Nature plays essentially like an unofficial Friday the 13th sequel, but one where you follow Jason Vorhees around instead of a group of not-so-innocent teens. Part of the ‘slow’ or ‘ambient’ horror niche, the film is one of the most unexpectedly relaxing slashers you’ll ever see, with long stretches of simply wandering through woods with the silent killer. These are, of course, punctuated by unflinchingly brutal kills, made all the more shocking in contrast.
This is definitely a Marmite one – if you go in knowing what to expect, you’ll be able to appreciate its experimentalism, but those seeking a more traditional, slice ‘n’ dice thrill ride may be left bored. The gore is certainly not for the faint of heart, though.
5. Peeping Tom (1960)
No list of films told from a unique or unusual perspective would be complete without the once-derided and now-lauded British classic Peeping Tom. The film emphasises the voyeuristic nature of the camera by telling its story through the point of view of a deranged murderer who is using one to make a snuff film: stalking and killing women, and filming their final moments.
Unfortunately for director/producer Michael Powell, Peeping Tom did its job a bit too well for critics at the time, who widely panned it as perverse and exploitative. As is often the case, it only took a decade or so for Powell’s film to be reevaluated as a fevered commentary on the nature of cinema as spectatorship rather than a realistic endorsement of its villain’s actions. It makes for a disturbing double-bill with Psycho, both proto-slashers about disturbed young men.
6. Maniac (2012)
Fusing the houses of ‘grind’ and ‘art’, Maniac is an experimental splatterfest that’s part Hardcore Henry and part Terrifier. Like he did in Sin City, Elijah Wood plays against type as a killer whose mummy issues manifest in a violent desire to collect women’s scalps and hair for his mannequin collection.
Shot almost entirely from Wood’s character’s first-person viewpoint, the making of Maniac is as interesting to read about as the film is to watch, with Wood unusually needing to be on set throughout the four-week shoot while director of photography Maxime Alexandre hovered almost constantly at his shoulder. Director Franck Khalfoun said he wanted to go one step further than films like Peeping Tom: “I wanted the audience to feel trapped in his body. [...] You are therefore at the same time complicit and repulsed. Therein lies the horror."
7. The Evil Dead (1981)
Sam Raimi’s debut feature is famous for a lot of things: it helped popularise the cabin in the woods setting for horror films, had a torturous, run-and-gun production, kicked off a long-running media franchise, and launched Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s careers as cult figures. For this list, however, we’re mainly interested in its innovative POV shots.
These shots mimic the weightless feeling of some sinister, bodiless force rushing through the woods, which were achieved – without the cash-strapped crew having access to a dolly – by mounting the camera to a bike, a piece of wood, or sometimes held by a sprinting, jumping Raimi himself. One scene involving a woman and a demonic tree still raises eyebrows, but The Evil Dead remains a standout in an era when horror films were getting more creatively gnarly.
8. Rubber (2010)
Much like In A Violent Nature, a film told from the POV of a killer tyre is either something you’ll love or hate. Defined by Wikipedia as an “absurdist French horror comedy”, which I think says it all, Rubber follows Robert, a tyre (yes, tyre) who rolls around the Californian deserts using his psychic powers to explode people who cross him. There’s a strong whiff of Stephen King at play, specifically things like Christine and Cujo, but don’t expect any Kingsian lore or hints at a wider universe: Rubber is more metaphorical than mystical.
The film also doesn’t quite sustain its gimmick over a feature-length runtime as well as Good Boy does, and you may find its tone more grating – “intellectual wankery”, as one critic more unkindly put it. However, anyone intrigued by obscure foreign-language cinema that has to be seen to be believed should get a kick out of it.
