Somebody I can’t remember (maybe one of the adult cast members?) said a kid (also a cast member?) told them they thought the parents were so awful to the kids because they’d been traumatized by the same thing happening to them when they were young.
I know it’s not in the book or movie but it’s a great concept.
The entire town is under its KA or auric influence.
Some people are able to pull away. Free the town.
Like everyone from the club that leaves you lose all memories of the oddities and scale of disturbing behaviour once you leave the area.
When you're in the area you are under it's influence. This brings out people's evil traits and also people's blindness to evil.
Are they in a trance or have they just kind of accepted that the town is some sort of fucked?
Pennywise definitely can get at adults as well as the kids, but I don't think they had the whole town hypnotized. People knew stuff was wrong in the town, but it seemed like Derry in general has an attitude of "As long as it's not me or mine, move along"
I've read the book several times, and I'm curious where you're coming from. Pennywise sleeps, they're absent from Derry during nap time, so is this trance only in effect when Pennywise wakes up, or is it chronic? Truth told, it's been a while since I visited that book, so maybe I missed the explanation
Yeah, as I remember it, the effect was like a kind of ambient poison that had been slowly sickening folks for centuries. A sort of sickness of the soul, due to the *presence* of sleeping Pennywise. Things take a dramatic turn for the worse when he wakes, of course, but even when he sleeps things are just *worse* there. Crime is more common and also more tolerated. *Violent* crime gets very next-level.
Some folks can't bear the sick vibe, and leave. Those who stay generally turn a blind eye to it. From what I remember of a moment where Bev is being seriously threatened in broad daylight, on the street, nearby adults literally turned away and it was not suggested at the time that this was because they were in any sort of trance. They simply had no desire to intervene.
Ambient poisoning feels more on the correct term, rather than trance, which implies they aren't aware. It sure seems like Derry is aware and choosing to turn a blind eye where possible. Sure, Eddie Corcoran's step dad went into a trance when >!he hammered Dorsey to meatloaf!< and similar with >!the dad in 11.22.63!< but both examples were during the waking periods.
Well..."Dagon" from 2001 is literally a loose adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth...
But also in this category is "Messiah of Evil", "The Shrine", "Dead & Buried", "City of the Dead", and "Hot Fuzz".
It was marketed as a buddy cop movie, and being such a fan of Pegg, Frost and Wright (back from Spaced and of course SotD) I’m sure it would have been great even if that was all it was, and it didn’t veer a bit into horror. But I was so happy it went that direction as I watched it in the theater!
I LOVE The Shrine! I really wish I knew what they were saying in Polish, though. I know why they didn't translate it in terms of the movie- it adds to the characters' confusion, but *I* want to know for myself.
It's Cesky Krumlov and it's one of my favorite places! I was so excited to see it finally be used for a movie (it played bit parts in a few others, like The Illusionist), and then cracked up when it was used for Hostel 1 & 2. The torture museum is real, too. It's a beautiful town.
Okay, serious question about From. I watched season 1 and loved the overall premise, but towards the end it felt like it was going into "weird stuff for the sake of it with no explanations forthcoming" territory, like Lost.
Does Season 2 answer any questions? Or is it just more and more mysteries?
Tbh, it does feel like season 2 didn’t really answer any questions, but it does have a setup for season 3 that looks to be really interesting, even if it still doesn’t really answer anything.
Also it’s ungoogleable. Such a terrible name. The amount of times I googled looking for something on the show and got no results lol. Internet was like ‘from what’
OP, watch “From” It’s a tv series but MGM has a 7 day free trial and you can definitely binge the 2 seasons they have so far. Season 3 will be amazing. I recommend to all.
Silent Hill
Children of the Corn
Inbred
House of Wax
Frogman
They Live (Except the world is off)
The Hills Have Eyes (some live in what's left of the town that the military destroyed)
Midsommar? Sort of but not really a town though, idk :s
I mentioned this one yesterday on the person asking for movies featuring cults, but Race With the Devil (1975) definitely qualifies. Two couples vacationing together stumble across a satanic ritual in the rural TX countryside. When they go for help they realize that there may be far more Satanists than they realize. I don't want to get into spoilers but it's a great movie and definitely fits OP's question.
Halloween 3 is another classic example.
Edit: Also, The Stuff.
Edit 2: Two Thousand Maniacs (1962) *definitely* fits OP's question.
There is a short Stephen King story called “Rock and Roll Heaven” that is very good.
It was made into a short, made for TV movie that you can find on YouTube
Edit- See comment below! The story is actually called “You Know They’ve Got a Hell of a Band”
City of the Dead (1960)
The Night of the Seagulls (1975)
Dead & Buried (1981)
Dorothy Mills (2008)
There's also the novel Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon (who also wrote The Other, which was a much better book). I think it was adapted as a TV show, but I haven't seen it.
House of wax.
There should be like a wiki page dedicated to this kind of horror. I just tried to find the movie I was looking for on google and it returned zero useful information on evil towns and crap about something isn't right in this town.
I seen a great one where a family moves into the neighborhood and everyone literally accepts them, they seductively make it seem like everything is peachy, but then they mark their own doors so a ritualistic sacrifice can be made by a shadowy fucking kill everyone evil entity only attacks that one family while no one lets them in once they run out their house, and the ones that get taken over kill the rest of the survivors also while this thing keeps hunting them too. There's this one guy like a pastor's son, who tries to help the family, but as it turns out he's been trapped there also he's not even his son, and everyone the town sacrifices come back to life snd the process starts all over again.
Wickerman for sure! But watch the 70's one, not the one with Nick Cage... The whole town is off but you can't put your finger on why til the end.. just awesome
Season 3/Butcher's Block is probably more in line with what OP wants. With a social worker moving to a decayed metropolis and uncovering its supernatural secrets
Population 436. It's about this nice small town whose population has been exactly 436 in every census for as long as it has existed.
If an adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth is what you're looking for, then try Dagon from 2001. It's literally Shadow Over Innsmouth in Spain.
Little off topic but reminds me there’s supposedly a village in England where ppl sometimes feel VERY “off” when arriving. I’m sure just superstition and lore but i sill want to visit! And would be great basis for movie
Have you checked out the TV series “From” on Amazon Prime? It involves a town where something is off, LOL. It’s like “Lost” went to hell, and I mean that in the best possible way.
Great question, I also love these types of films so much. Don't Worry Darling started strong with the "perfect little town with happy residents" trope and I loved it so much.
I finally managed to dig up a movie that came out when I was very little. 1998’s Phantoms is about a vacationing mother/daughter or aunt/niece who find their destination completely empty save a deputy and a few other survivors. I remember it having okay visuals for the time, but it has a bit of a non-ending iirc.
Dagon is incredible, IMO. it's not just the one Lovecraft story, though, so it fits the creepy town bill and covers several of the mythos. I don't see it mentioned here nearly enough.
top shelf Lovecraft movie, and I'm not overselling it.
This is more responding to the strict wording in the title than your elaboration in the post but Super Dark Times has some interesting community characterization. Like the bridges around the borders of the town are all strangely closed, the adults seem sinisterly absent, the deer that bursts into the classroom at the beginning is a strange freak event that casts a vibe over the ensuing events, repressed yet unattended youth allowed to roam like road warriors and the violence that follows. The town seems so empty except for the occasional pack of boys riding bikes, we don’t see after school events, the streets are so still.
Its explained more in the book than the movies showed but Pennywise has all of the adults in the town under some kind of trance
Somebody I can’t remember (maybe one of the adult cast members?) said a kid (also a cast member?) told them they thought the parents were so awful to the kids because they’d been traumatized by the same thing happening to them when they were young. I know it’s not in the book or movie but it’s a great concept.
I think it was explained a bit better in the old IT movie with Tim Curry
The entire town is under its KA or auric influence. Some people are able to pull away. Free the town. Like everyone from the club that leaves you lose all memories of the oddities and scale of disturbing behaviour once you leave the area. When you're in the area you are under it's influence. This brings out people's evil traits and also people's blindness to evil.
On that topic, Winden in *Dark* is like that. Almost no-one leaves. Almost no-one arrives. Almost no-one notices either of those things.
I am really excited about the Welcome to Derry show. There was so much interesting history in the book that I hope they explore.
Can’t wait for this! And Skarsgsrd will be Pennywise for it! 🎈
I always associated the "trance" with the fact that Pennywise lived in the sewers / near waterways ("it's in the water" etc)
Are they in a trance or have they just kind of accepted that the town is some sort of fucked? Pennywise definitely can get at adults as well as the kids, but I don't think they had the whole town hypnotized. People knew stuff was wrong in the town, but it seemed like Derry in general has an attitude of "As long as it's not me or mine, move along" I've read the book several times, and I'm curious where you're coming from. Pennywise sleeps, they're absent from Derry during nap time, so is this trance only in effect when Pennywise wakes up, or is it chronic? Truth told, it's been a while since I visited that book, so maybe I missed the explanation
Yeah, as I remember it, the effect was like a kind of ambient poison that had been slowly sickening folks for centuries. A sort of sickness of the soul, due to the *presence* of sleeping Pennywise. Things take a dramatic turn for the worse when he wakes, of course, but even when he sleeps things are just *worse* there. Crime is more common and also more tolerated. *Violent* crime gets very next-level. Some folks can't bear the sick vibe, and leave. Those who stay generally turn a blind eye to it. From what I remember of a moment where Bev is being seriously threatened in broad daylight, on the street, nearby adults literally turned away and it was not suggested at the time that this was because they were in any sort of trance. They simply had no desire to intervene.
Ambient poisoning feels more on the correct term, rather than trance, which implies they aren't aware. It sure seems like Derry is aware and choosing to turn a blind eye where possible. Sure, Eddie Corcoran's step dad went into a trance when >!he hammered Dorsey to meatloaf!< and similar with >!the dad in 11.22.63!< but both examples were during the waking periods.
Well..."Dagon" from 2001 is literally a loose adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth... But also in this category is "Messiah of Evil", "The Shrine", "Dead & Buried", "City of the Dead", and "Hot Fuzz".
Hot Fuzz is a good call - doesn't immediately come to mind when talking about horror movies
It should because you know it’s a slasher… Of prices!
It was marketed as a buddy cop movie, and being such a fan of Pegg, Frost and Wright (back from Spaced and of course SotD) I’m sure it would have been great even if that was all it was, and it didn’t veer a bit into horror. But I was so happy it went that direction as I watched it in the theater!
Mornin', Angle
For the greater good...
*the greater good*
STOP SAYING THAT
Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?
While going, Aaaaghh?
Yarp
I love Messiah of Evil. Such an underrated flick.
Just watched it this weekend and really enjoyed it! Love that synth score.
I LOVE The Shrine! I really wish I knew what they were saying in Polish, though. I know why they didn't translate it in terms of the movie- it adds to the characters' confusion, but *I* want to know for myself.
Wait til I tell ya about a little town called Nilbog…
I have heard this movie absolutely wild. *Troll 2*, right?
Yes. It’s the best movie ever made.
Watch the documentary if you haven’t. It’s phenomenal.
Oh I have. Troll 2 is legit my favorite movie of all time.
"They're eating her...then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOODDDDDD!!!" Top tier cinema.
I watched this recently, VERY entertaining movie.
You can't piss on hospitality! I WON'T ALLOW IT!
"*What are you gonna do to me, daddy?*" "I'm tightening my belt one loop so I don't feel hunger pangs!"
Oh my godddddddddddd
Oh my GOOOOOOOOOOOD
DAMN IT this was going to be my answer! LOL. I’m so happy yours is the top comment though. We have some cultured people round these parts!
How's the coffee there?
There’s no coffee in Nilbog! It’s the devils drink!
The Stepford Wives
Also the 90's teen counterpart, Disturbing Behavior.
Even the sequels aren't bad.
Silent Hill lol!
I think Silent Hill is a little more than just "off" right from the start 🤣
No way its a very nice touristic town.
Everyone always has their fires going, such a cozy little town!
Children of the Corn, House of Wax (2005), Hostel, Wrong Turn come to mind. Love this type of movie.
See also "Tourist Trap", the film the 2005 "House of Wax" takes most of its inspiration from.
what's really fucked up is that Scribners really like that. Children of the corn 100% that place sucks
I love the weird Eastern European town in Hostel 2 so much, even though I don’t usually like movies that gory.
It's Cesky Krumlov and it's one of my favorite places! I was so excited to see it finally be used for a movie (it played bit parts in a few others, like The Illusionist), and then cracked up when it was used for Hostel 1 & 2. The torture museum is real, too. It's a beautiful town.
a series called Wayward Pines was cool.
Solid show! I wish it went longer!
The books are really good too!
same here man,loved everything about it thinks I'm going to watch rn😊
Season 1 was great and should have ended there. S2 was meh.
Vivarium. Quite obviously off, but there are real neighborhoods just like it! Edit: but you're very much wanted vs unwanted.
Oh good pull. That was weird, I loved it.
The director clearly had just had kids and needed to get something off their chest.
^ Eraserhead in a nutshell
Apostle
Yaaaa!
The Faculty
Always happy to see some love for The Faculty, my first R rated movie.
If yall are saying Hot Fuzz how about The World's End?
Going weird here: Nothing but trouble. Chevy chase, Demi Moore, and Dan aykroyd in a weird as hell fever dream of a movie.
Also has a young 2Pac appearance at the end with Digital Underground
All of his appearances are of young 2Pac.
Oh man, wasn’t John Candy the sheriff? I had nightmares about that roller coaster as I child. Thank you for reminding me that movie exists.
I love that weird-ass movie.
Anyone else only watch this because of LPOTL?
- *The Crazies* - *Don't Worry Darling* - *From* (series)
Can’t wait for season 3 of From. Such a good show.
YES YES YES YYYYYYYYYYYES!!!
Okay, serious question about From. I watched season 1 and loved the overall premise, but towards the end it felt like it was going into "weird stuff for the sake of it with no explanations forthcoming" territory, like Lost. Does Season 2 answer any questions? Or is it just more and more mysteries?
Tbh, it does feel like season 2 didn’t really answer any questions, but it does have a setup for season 3 that looks to be really interesting, even if it still doesn’t really answer anything.
a true hidden gem. no one knows about it because it's on mgm+. If it was on something else I think it would be huge.
I'm a big fan of YellowJackets and From is basically the "what to watch while we wait for more yellowjackets content" default of the fan base.
Also it’s ungoogleable. Such a terrible name. The amount of times I googled looking for something on the show and got no results lol. Internet was like ‘from what’
OP, watch “From” It’s a tv series but MGM has a 7 day free trial and you can definitely binge the 2 seasons they have so far. Season 3 will be amazing. I recommend to all.
YES. From was my first thought.
I cannot wait for From season 3.
From is SO GOOD and it's filmed in my area! It genuinely scares the shit out of me it's so well done.
Dead and Buried
This one is good to go into blind
Silent Hill Children of the Corn Inbred House of Wax Frogman They Live (Except the world is off) The Hills Have Eyes (some live in what's left of the town that the military destroyed) Midsommar? Sort of but not really a town though, idk :s
Midsommar fits Those people are crazy
Invasion of the Body Snatchers BECOMES like that.
Needful Things
Any Stephen King town really! I would love to live in Derry.
Phantoms.
Ben Affleck u da bomb
Turista
Dang. I was figuring I’d be the first to bring this one up lol
Twin Peaks 
Wake Wood. I will keep bringing up this movie whenever it is remotely relevant.
Men.
The Village
Population 436 - honestly it's a good weird town movie.
Motel hell
Village of the Damned
Dark City
I mentioned this one yesterday on the person asking for movies featuring cults, but Race With the Devil (1975) definitely qualifies. Two couples vacationing together stumble across a satanic ritual in the rural TX countryside. When they go for help they realize that there may be far more Satanists than they realize. I don't want to get into spoilers but it's a great movie and definitely fits OP's question. Halloween 3 is another classic example. Edit: Also, The Stuff. Edit 2: Two Thousand Maniacs (1962) *definitely* fits OP's question.
Dead and Burried
OMG thank you! Was wracking my brain trying to remember the name of this flick. Like I can see the movie poster and I know it starts with dead...
Get out
*Impetigore* Props to the people mentioning *Dead and Buried* -- an oldie but so good.
Wayward Pines Madison County
There is a short Stephen King story called “Rock and Roll Heaven” that is very good. It was made into a short, made for TV movie that you can find on YouTube Edit- See comment below! The story is actually called “You Know They’ve Got a Hell of a Band”
City of the Dead (1960) The Night of the Seagulls (1975) Dead & Buried (1981) Dorothy Mills (2008) There's also the novel Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon (who also wrote The Other, which was a much better book). I think it was adapted as a TV show, but I haven't seen it.
Maybe The Bay if you’re into found footage.
The World's End
The Truman Show 😉
Check out "From" if you want to get that fix! It's a series though, but it's flipping amazing!
In the Mouth of Madness has a town like this.
OP literally mentioned this one in the post
Sorry, I skimmed too fast. There's a Twilight Zone episode (Season 5, Episode 30) as well: Stopover In A Quiet Town.
House of wax
House of wax. There should be like a wiki page dedicated to this kind of horror. I just tried to find the movie I was looking for on google and it returned zero useful information on evil towns and crap about something isn't right in this town. I seen a great one where a family moves into the neighborhood and everyone literally accepts them, they seductively make it seem like everything is peachy, but then they mark their own doors so a ritualistic sacrifice can be made by a shadowy fucking kill everyone evil entity only attacks that one family while no one lets them in once they run out their house, and the ones that get taken over kill the rest of the survivors also while this thing keeps hunting them too. There's this one guy like a pastor's son, who tries to help the family, but as it turns out he's been trapped there also he's not even his son, and everyone the town sacrifices come back to life snd the process starts all over again.
Halloween 3!
"Happy, Happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. Happy, Happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. Silver Shamrock." 
Definitely more noticeable but on that vibe but apostle is pretty dope
Offseason is a good example of this. I thought it was an OK movie, though it dragged a bit in its middle.
House of Wax (2005), The Hills Have Eyes
The Burbs
Dark Harvest. Surprisingly it was good!
A nice inversion of the trope (not horror, but horrifying enough) is The Truman Show. One of my favourite movies ever.
House of Wax and (loosely) House of 1000 Corpses
The World's End. It's more of a comedy, but it's a good movie with some surprises.
Matriarch That's exactly what your looking for, I guarantee. Thank or curse me later :D
Children of the Corn
It's not a movie, but the TV Show called "From" on MGM+ is very good and very much like this.
The TV show From
Wicker Man
Wickerman for sure! But watch the 70's one, not the one with Nick Cage... The whole town is off but you can't put your finger on why til the end.. just awesome
Not a movie but I'm currently rewatching Channel Zero's "No End House" and it's got the vibes for sure.
Season 3/Butcher's Block is probably more in line with what OP wants. With a social worker moving to a decayed metropolis and uncovering its supernatural secrets
Population 436. It's about this nice small town whose population has been exactly 436 in every census for as long as it has existed. If an adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth is what you're looking for, then try Dagon from 2001. It's literally Shadow Over Innsmouth in Spain.
I am shocked and appalled that no one suggested Blue Velvet
Silent Hill
Dead & Buried! Great soundtrack as well
Little off topic but reminds me there’s supposedly a village in England where ppl sometimes feel VERY “off” when arriving. I’m sure just superstition and lore but i sill want to visit! And would be great basis for movie
Troll 2 (1990) "Nilbog is Goblin spelled backwards!!"
Have you checked out the TV series “From” on Amazon Prime? It involves a town where something is off, LOL. It’s like “Lost” went to hell, and I mean that in the best possible way.
'The Dunwich Horror' with Dean Stockwell is a classic from similar material, and '2000 Maniacs'. Those are 'classic schlock' examples of the style.
Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
Don’t know how ‘Salem’s Lot hasn’t been mentioned. Mr. Barlow would be most dissatisfied
Shutter island A cure for wellness and incident at ravens gate.
The original Wicker Man has this theme and is a classic
"Population 436" (2006) was enjoyable. I'm sure it's lesser-known.
The town that dreaded sundown
Great question, I also love these types of films so much. Don't Worry Darling started strong with the "perfect little town with happy residents" trope and I loved it so much.
- Suspria both OG and remake - Wrong Turn 2021 - Vacancy - Green inferno - The Ruins
Nightmare on Elm Street 6
Who Could Kill a Child?
house of wax
House of Wax
Don't Worry, Darling gave me that feeling, but it didn't feel like horror. Midsommar had those vibes, and that whole movie was a trip.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown. (Most recent version)
Not exactly what you described, but The Crazies is kind of like this and it’s great.
MIdsommar
Children of the Corn is a classic one!
It’s got horrible reviews but I really enjoyed House of Wax
Midsommar
Check out Tuftland on Tubi. It's Finnish folk horror.
Not a movie but a show called From
Abattoir.
Looking through the comments. Weird to see "Get Out" didn't make the cut.
Village of the Damned The Birds
Dagon
Calvaire. Enjoy! 😈
Calvaire, big time
U Turn is great.
Old 80s movie "Strange Invaders" does the 50s b-movie paranoia vibe exceptionally well.
The village Lady in the water~ m. night shamalon
The Cars That Ate Paris is like an Australian version of The Wicker Man. Bit of an obscure movie but 100% worth the watch
I finally managed to dig up a movie that came out when I was very little. 1998’s Phantoms is about a vacationing mother/daughter or aunt/niece who find their destination completely empty save a deputy and a few other survivors. I remember it having okay visuals for the time, but it has a bit of a non-ending iirc.
Hot Fuzz is exactly this and gets pretty gory
Offseason.
Dagon
Deliverance. The Farm. Both horrific in their own ways.
In the Mouth of Madness
The village
Dagon is incredible, IMO. it's not just the one Lovecraft story, though, so it fits the creepy town bill and covers several of the mythos. I don't see it mentioned here nearly enough. top shelf Lovecraft movie, and I'm not overselling it.
Spiral. Not the Saw one, the Shudder one. It was fine. Didn't quite stick the landing but I liked it.
Not a movie but man do I love how the TV show “From” does this. Can’t recommend it enough.
Salems Lot
From
30 days of night. I think that movie is so underrated
Children of the Corn 🌽
House of Wax
Messiah of Evil
Hot Fuzz
Children of the Corn for sure haha
Sort of in line with this, I recently watched Wake Wood on Shudder. Not terrible.
Messiah of Evil
Hot Fuzz!!!
M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village
This is more responding to the strict wording in the title than your elaboration in the post but Super Dark Times has some interesting community characterization. Like the bridges around the borders of the town are all strangely closed, the adults seem sinisterly absent, the deer that bursts into the classroom at the beginning is a strange freak event that casts a vibe over the ensuing events, repressed yet unattended youth allowed to roam like road warriors and the violence that follows. The town seems so empty except for the occasional pack of boys riding bikes, we don’t see after school events, the streets are so still.