Inspirational Movies and Shows

by Dennis Detwiller

I often see people referencing particular shows in relation to Delta Green. Many focus on the X-Files as a prime reference, even as the SOURCE of Delta Green, but it is not so. Delta Green first appeared in John Tynes' scenario Convergence in 1992's The Unspeakable Oath, issue 7, back when Mulder and Scully were only dim outlines in Chris Carter's mind. We all mined the same resources of course, Roswell—back before it was trite, I might add—so it's no shock we share similar elements. But the tone is vitally different.

This may shock some, but I was never really a great fan of X-Files (that would be—or have been—Scott Glancy). I found the show disappointing for a lot of reasons. I liked an episode or two. But it never held together for more than one episode for me, and it is certainly not a reference for my stuff on Delta Green.

So, what is? (For me, of course, I don't speak for John or Scott.) That's the interesting bit, isn't it? So, first, let's look at works that existed and that I loved that affected the creation of Delta Green, and then we'll look at stuff that feels (to me) very Delta Green related.

The Source Movies

I CONSUMED these movies when I was younger and they shaped my thinking on horror. Note, I've seen all the Lovecraftian films of the time, and the only one which REALLY holds water for me is Dan O'Bannon's excellent The Resurrected. There films did not directly shape my thinking, but laid the foundations of what I thought was frightening. I recommend them all wholeheartedly. I still watch many of them at least once a year—mostly while working.

(It's particularly fascinating to me to note how many arrived in or near 1980.)

Those marked in bold are works that made me feel something (fear, excitement, etc...) very deeply, and are HIGHLY recommended.

• Altered States (1980)
• The Changeling (1980)
• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Exorcist III (1989)
• Faust (1994)
• The Fog (1980)
• The Prince of Darkness (1990)
• Jacob's Ladder (1990)
• The Keep (1983)
• The Ninth Configuration (1980)
• Phantasm (1979)
• The Reflecting Skin (1990)
• The Resurrected (1990)
• Roswell (1994)
• Salem's Lot (1979)
• The Shining (1980)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• The Thing (1982)
• They Live (1988)
• The Wicker Man (1973)

The New Works

The following movies and shows have come out since Delta Green was created, and have struck me as similar in tone or intent as Delta Green.

Note: Though I enjoyed TRUE DETECTIVE immensely, I find the whole lifting of great gouts of Ligotti without credit from The Conspiracy Against the Human Race so irksome, I don't include it here... BTW, read that book.

• 28 Days Later (2002)
• Absentia (2011)
• Arrival (2016)
• Annihilation (2018)
• Banshee Chapter (2013)
• The Belko Experiment (2016)
• Berebian Sound Studio (2012)
• The Blair Witch Project (1999)
• Blue Ruin (2013)
• Contagion (2011)
• The Crazies (2010)
• Cronos (1994)
• Cube 2: Hypercube (2003)
• A Dark Song (2016)
• Dawn of the Dead (2005)
• Fallen (1998)
• The Fourth Kind (2009)
• Hereditary (2018)
• The House of the Devil (2009)
• The Innkeepers (2012)
• Intacto (2001)
• The Invitation (2016)
• It Follows (2015)
• It Comes At Night (2017)
• The Jacket (2005)
• Kill List (2011)
• The Killing of the Sacred Deer (2017)
• Midnight Special (2016)
• Millennium (TV series, 1996-1999)
• The Mist (2007)
• Monsters (2010)
• Mothman Prophecies (2002)
• Munich (2005)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• The Others (2001)
• Photographing Fairies (1997)
• The Road (2009)
• Ronin (1998)
• The Rover (2014)
• Se7en (1997)
• Sound of My Voice (2011)
• Southbound (2016)
• Stay (2005)
• The Strangers (2008)
• These Final Hours (2014)
• They Remain (2018)
• The Witch (2016)
• YellowBrickRoad (2010)
• You Were Never Really Here (2017)
• Zodiac (2007)

I love all the works in these lists, sometimes for strange reasons, but there is not a single one here I would not wholeheartedly recommend. Go on out and gobble them up. I promise you'll walk away with some great ideas for Delta Green-style horror.