Horror Debuts was part of a Season 11 dedicated to women directors—and this series was its horror chapter. Six debut horror films from female filmmakers and directing teams, spanning Austria, Iran, Australia, Poland, the UK, and the early 1970s United States. Each one announced a new voice arriving fully formed.
This series is over. We’ve covered Messiah of Evil, Goodnight Mommy, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Babadook, The Lure, Saint Maud, and Relic. So what did we think of these horror debuts? And what did we think about their directors?
Our Horror Debuts series comes to an end with Rose Glass’s 2019 film ‘Saint Maud.’ It’s a dark ride on the psychosis train but we find ourselves a little divided on this one. Tune in to find out why!
The members voted and for September 2021, they selected Natalie Erika James’ 2020 horror film ‘Relic’ as our member bonus episode. This is now the seventh film in our Horror Debuts series. Check out the film and tune in!
We’re talking about the fifth film in our Horror Debuts series – Agnieszka Smoczynska’s 2015 film ‘The Lure.’ It’s a bit of a genre mashup – horror, musical, fairytale – and certainly worth talking about.
The fourth of six in our Horror Debuts series. So many people love Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Babadook,’ but does it deliver? Or is it wearing its metaphor too firmly on its sleeve? We tackle Mister Babadook – including a discussion about his LGBTQ+ explosion in memes and interweb posts – in this episode.
The third of six in our Horror Debuts series. People call Ana Lily Amirpour’s film ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ an Iranian Feminist Vampire Spaghetti Western Movie. But is it horror? We dig into this movie on the show this week!
The second of six in our Horror Debuts series. Aunt/Nephew writer/director pair Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala tackle twins, possible doppelgängers, and family grief in this slow build of a horror film. It’s incredibly well-crafted but how does the story work for us. Tune in to find out!
The first of six in our Horror Debuts series. Before ‘American Graffiti,’ before ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,’ before ‘Howard the Duck,’ there was ‘Messiah of Evil.’ We talk about where husband and wife team Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck got their start.
Horror Debuts was part of something larger. Season 11 of The Next Reel was dedicated to women directors, and this series was its horror chapter. Six films in 2021: Messiah of Evil (1973), Goodnight Mommy (2014), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), The Babadook (2014), The Lure (2015), and Saint Maud (2019). Relic (2020) followed as a member bonus. Season 15 adds Talk to Me (2022).
The filmmakers come from Austria, Iran, Australia, Poland, the UK, and the early 1970s United States. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's Goodnight Mommy. Ana Lily Amirpour's A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, an Iranian vampire western shot in California. Jennifer Kent's The Babadook. Agnieszka Smoczynska's The Lure, a Polish horror musical about mermaids. Rose Glass's Saint Maud. Natalie Erika James's Relic, a haunting meditation on family and loss that particularly resonated with both Pete and Andy. And Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz's Messiah of Evil, the strange 1973 debut that opened the series.
Talk to Me, added in Season 15, is the exception—a debut from the Philippou brothers rather than a female filmmaker. It earned its place on the strength of the filmmaking alone. Their visceral portrait of youthful recklessness and supernatural consequence is brash, affecting, and hard to shake.
What makes this series rewarding to follow is what debut films reveal. Without the safety net of an established reputation, first-time directors in horror tend to commit completely to a vision that simply cannot be tentative. Every film here has that quality, even when they share almost nothing else.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Next Reel's Horror Debuts series complete?
The current run reached eight films with Talk to Me in Season 15—but debut horror from bold new voices keeps arriving, and Pete and Andy may well return to this series in a future season.
Which films are in The Next Reel's Horror Debuts series?
Eight films across two seasons: Messiah of Evil, Goodnight Mommy, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Babadook, The Lure, and Saint Maud in Season 11 (2021), plus Relic as a member bonus that same season; and Talk to Me in Season 15 (2026).
Where should I start if I'm new to The Next Reel?
The Babadook or Saint Maud are strong entry points—both widely seen and both generating the kind of deep conversation the series is built around. If you want something more unexpected, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is unlike anything else in the series.
Is there a wrap-up episode for the Horror Debuts series?
Yes. The Retake: Horror Debuts episode walks through the full series—what worked, how the films held up, and what Pete and Andy made of the directors and their debuts. It's available to everyone and makes a natural companion piece once you've heard the individual episodes.
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Related Listening
If the Horror Debuts series brought you here, you might also want to explore The Next Reel's Horror series—a broader look at horror cinema across the show's history. It's a natural next step for anyone who came to the genre through one of these debut films.