Let me just say that The Notebook will not be on this list.
When you think of a romantic movie to watch for Valentine’s Day, you probably think of a typical love story or rom-com; a horror film may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
But it could be fun to think outside the box. Whether you plan to enjoy the holiday by yourself, with friends or with a partner, here are some unconventional love stories to consider.
‘American Ultra’ (2015)
It only makes sense that the famously awkward Jesse Eisenberg and the awkwardly famous Kristen Stewart would make a perfectly quirky pair.
In American Ultra they play a couple of 20-something burnouts. The duo live a life of placid mundanity, consisting of boring jobs with time spent smoking weed and dreaming of greater things. While they’ve repeatedly tried to leave town, our protagonist has a panic attack anytime they get close, leaving them stuck in their current life.
Despite them both looking to the future, the one grounding detail in their story is the love they share being unapologetically authentic. It’s only when the past rears its head does our protagonist realize that there’s more to his existence, his purpose, and his relationship.
This movie is filled with action, violence, and suspense, which is all grounded by a (seemingly) sincere romantic dynamic and garnished with a sense of humor. The only reason I’m keeping plot details thin is because this is best watched with little background knowledge as this movie consistently throws curveballs at its audience.
‘Mandy’ (2018)
Revenge, psychedelics, a cult, and a sadomasochistic biker gang. Those are all the trademarks of a good love story, right? Red Miller and Mandy Bloom live a peaceful and lilting life together in the mountains. If it were up to Mandy, it would stay that way. Unfortunately, she catches the eye of a cult leader, and his desire seems to take priority.
This is a straightforward story, but every single way it’s conveyed is anything but straightforward. Excess, saturation, and a spectrum of color enforce a visual style that takes the audience on a simulated hallucinogenic trip. This trip can actually be really calming and dream-like, reflecting the state of the characters. But when conflict arises, the dream quickly bleeds over into nightmarish territory, fit with strobe lights, uncomfortable visuals, and gore. Regardless, it’s beautiful throughout.
Apart from psychedelia, a lot of the stylings of this film take cues from various extreme metal artwork, appropriate for the aggressive tone taken when Mandy bares its teeth. How far could someone go if their happy ending was taken from them? Watch to find out.
‘Candyman’ (1992)
The only way to truly live on postmortem is through memory, having your story told throughout time. And with that medium of sustained life comes the idea of an everlasting love.
This idea rings true in Candyman, a gothic romance set within urban decay. Helen is a Chicago-based grad student studying urban legends. As she learns about a significant one in Cabrini-Green, she continuously puts herself in danger while searching for the truth. As the plot unfolds, you’ll find a straightforward love story here, but only a glimpse of one. The overarching love story, however, is about mankind’s love of storytelling itself–the reasons we create boogeymen and the need to retell myths and legends, keeping ideas and characters alive.
Candyman himself is comprised of several urban legends that exist outside of the film – Bloody Mary, the story of an escaped patient with a hook for a hand stalking a couple at Lovers’ Lane, and the real life incident of a woman murdered when a man broke through her mirror from the wall on the other side. Few horror icons and movies from the 80s and 90s can be looked at as a romantic tragedy, but here we have an exception.
‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)
Twilight wouldn’t exist if Bram Stoker didn’t sit down to write Dracula over a century ago. With that one book, the myth of the vampire was repurposed into a gothic romance that redefined the very perception of the creature. He applied the preexisting myth of a blood-sucking ghoul to a very real historical figure, Vlad the Impaler, and romanticized something horrific.
In the century since Dracula’s publication, the vampire would become almost synonymous with allure, sensuality, and dangerous excitement. Dracula would be adapted and referenced in hundreds of ways.
Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather trilogy among other notable films, takes a swing at this consistently readapted story and delivers something truly gorgeous. Moody, atmospheric, and a bit campy, this movie pays reverence to the Universal films of the 30’s and 40’s and imbues the classic story with striking special effects and imaginative visuals. Yearning, lust, and intimate blood-letting ensure that this horror story will constantly be intertwined with perverse possession and abhorrent attraction.
‘Hellraiser’ (1987)
Clive Barker is a gay English author and artist whose works have been adapted to film several times over, and Hellraiser is one of the three film adaptations he directed.
Like many other horror stories, Hellraiser deals with repression. Here Clive Barker takes a more overt approach when it comes to the themes. BDSM, pleasure and pain, sensations of the flesh, and the forbidden pursuit of feverish hedonism are at the forefront of this story. Many aspects of this story exist somewhere between and outside of a binary. The monsters themselves are even queer. The character that will later be known as “Pinhead” is described as androgynous in the novella this film is based on. And costuming for the monsters (Cenobites) for the movie were inspired by Barker’s experiences in S&M bars, punk fashion, and Catholicism.
These provocative concepts permeate a story of a married couple moving into an inherited family house. The wife, Julia, seems dissatisfied with her current monotony and often reminisces about the brief affair she had with her husband’s brother, who’s been missing. After a small bloody accident gives a horrific life to Julia’s fantasies, she’s asked to sacrifice more and more in her pursuit of satisfaction.
‘Saltburn’ (2023)
Is attraction merely skin deep? Is shallow beauty preferable to deep and complex personality? And what’s the difference between wanting to be with someone and wanting to be someone? Oliver Quick is a nerdy outcast who quickly fixates on the most popular boy in the vicinity, Felix. This film starts by posing a question: Does Oliver love Felix? By the end, Oliver gives an answer.
To confine this film to a genre would do it little justice. It has the vibe of a coming of age story and is scattered with dark humor. Saltburn slowly contorts into a different creature entirely by the end. This movie deals with themes of privilege, social standing and popularity, obsession, control, consumption, jealousy, and desire – just to name a few. It’s very shockingly articulate in its set design, writing, acting, costuming, cinematography, and any other area relevant to making a work of art.
Essentially this movie is all about using social roles and dynamics as a weapon and a means to gain. Saltburn displays love as both a beautiful hungry prospect as well as a malformed starved toxicity. No matter which way you choose to view it, love is still something that needs to be fed.
Velocity 
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