Hi folks! I’m back with another list for you lovely people. It seems recently there have been a fair few above-average horror movies gracing the big screen, from Silent House to Chernobyl Diaries. So, in the spirit of these new additions to my favourite genre, here’s a rundown of ten horror movies you may not have heard of.
Dead Girl
Dead Girl has one of the most disturbing and unique premises around. Two friends, whilst looking around an abandoned mental asylum, find a woman chained to a table. Instead of doing what any sensible, sane person would do and call the police, they decide to keep her there. But they soon realise two important things; first, that the girl is feral – growling and trying to bite anyone who comes near; second, that she cannot die.
What follows is a unique and incredibly disturbing take on the zombie myth, with a truly heartbreaking end and some of the most downright evil characters you’ll see in film history.
In the Mouth of Madness
John Carpenter is possibly the biggest name in horror. He’s given us The Thing, Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, and The Fog. But surprisingly, In the Mouth of Madness is often forgotten when talking about the big man. Sam Neill plays an insurance investigator looking into the disappearance of renowned horror author Sutter Cane. Soon the world descends into an almost Lovecraftian nightmare.
Distinctly unsettling from the off, and with some absolutely spectacular set pieces, In the Mouth of Madness is a far cry away from Carpenter’s most famous movies and shows his real versatility as a horror director.
Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
What if the world of the slasher flick was real? What if all that you saw when you sit down for your movie marathon is true? Those are the questions posed by this smart, funny deconstruction of the world of horror.
Nathan Baesel stars as Leslie Vernon, the next big thing in the murder scene. He invites a student film crew to follow him as he prepares to go on a killing spree, hoping to become the next great legend like his heroes Freddy and Jason. An incredibly clever film, it will change the way that you see horror films forever.
Pontypool
There is an outbreak of some kind of disease in an isolated town in Canada. It seems as though the people of Pontypool are becoming violent, feral, and even committing acts of cannibalism. So, a typical zombie film, right? Wrong. In Pontypool, the disease is spread by using certain words.
In the middle of this, a radio host and his small team try to keep broadcasting news about the event. Deeply unsettling, weird, and totally unique; Pontypool has it all.
Session 9
Want to know what David Caruso has done aside from putting on sunglasses and making awesome puns? Here’s your answer. Location can often make or break smaller budget horror films, and Session 9 has the perfect setting.
A cleaning team needs to complete work on an abandoned mental hospital. The only problem is that the mysterious past of the hospital seems to be coming back. If you like slow-burning horror that’s low on action but high on atmosphere, this is the film for you.
Club Dread
But, not everyone fancies something as deep as Session 9 above. Club Dread is a horror comedy with the emphasis on the comedy side.
There’s something afoot on a club 18-30 party island. By something afoot, I mean the killer-wearing-an-island-mask-and-poncho kind of afoot. Amongst the cast is Bill Paxton as a washed-up singer whose biggest hit was a song called Pina Coladaburg. I don’t think you need to know more than that.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
As you may already know, I’m a bit of an aficionado of the Found Footage sub-genre. The Poughkeepsie Tapes mixes this style with mockumentary, including fake news bulletins and an overall documentary narrative.
Although short on big thrills, The Poughkeepsie Tapes creates a genuinely disturbing atmosphere. Prepare to squirm throughout. Add to that one of the most depressing finales in recent horror and you’ve got a real diamond in the rough.
Alone With Her
I might as well lump all the Found Footage films together. Alone With Her stars Colin Hanks as a man who becomes obsessed with a woman he sees in the park. He rigs up a set of hidden cameras in her apartment to watch her every move.
The most troubling thing about this film, though, is the way it’s told – via the stalker’s footage. You see how he uses what he sees to manipulate his real-world relationship with her. Hanks also shows real versatility by being completely terrifying.
The Tunnel
This is a tale of independent filmmaking done right. This Australian movie has gained huge plaudits for the way in which it was produced and distributed; the film was crowd-funded and then gained most of its popularity by being released, for free, to Bit Torrent users. The fact that it’s been such a huge success brings hope to a lot of young filmmakers.
As for the end product? A claustrophobic horror film that should win medals for having a scene so tense that even I, an emotionless robot of a man, wanted to look away.
Black Christmas
Most horror nuts have seen this film, but it’s surprising the number of people who haven’t. This 1974 horror film was one of the first slasher movies ever made, inspiring the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th, and still one of the most effective.
If you want to go back to the root of many of the huge horror franchises, this is the film to watch. It’s also scary as hell, and has one of the best final scenes ever.
So, there are ten horror movies you may want to watch. Problem is, there are about a hundred more that I’d like to talk about. So, I’m likely to revisit this topic again in the future (after I’ve seen a few other suggestions, of course). Want me to talk about a specific film? Any particular movies you feel I’ve left out? Let me know!
There’s a certain monster movie that I certainly need to talk about.
And of course, don’t have nightmares.
Eyes Are Out 