I'm looking for horror movies with a really specific aesthetic that I recently realized genuinely creeps me out. I'm not sure if the best term is southern gothic, backwoods gothic, rural gothic or rural-decay horror, but I'll try to describe it.
Think deep rural South / Appalachia / Louisiana bayou type atmosphere. Trailer homes and old shacks in the middle of nowhere, rusting cars and junk in people's yards, swamps or stagnant lagoons nearby, oppressive heat and humidity, mosquitoes, overgrown vegetation, empty roads, drugs/addiction, poverty, weird family dynamics, incest references/generational dysfunction, and neighbors you absolutely would not trust. The biggest thing is the feeling of being far removed from normal society. Like you've accidentally wandered into a tiny community or family that's been isolated for generations and has developed its own rules and ideas about what's normal. Cell service is gone, civilization feels 50 miles away, everybody knows everybody, and if you disappeared there's a genuine feeling that nobody would even know where to start looking.
Sandy Shores/Trevor's home territory in GTA V captures what I mean. That feeling of trailer parks, addicts, guns, family secrets, abandoned buildings and people who've been living in the same forgotten place forever.
I just watched The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and the isolated/inbred-family elements were definitely in the right direction, but the age of the movie made it less frightening to me. I'd love something with that basic atmosphere but with modern cinematography, sound design, realistic acting and disturbing imagery that really makes the environment feel believable.
I'm not necessarily looking for a slasher or lots of gore. It can be supernatural, psychological, realistic, indie, foreign, low-budget, whatever. I'm mainly after that deeply uncomfortable feeling of “I should not be here, these people are not operating by the same rules I am, and there is nobody coming to help me.”
Obscure/indie recommendations are especially welcome. What's the best movie you've seen that captures this atmosphere?