Halloween’s just passed us by, but that doesn’t mean we’re any less in the mood for some horror!
Doesn’t matter what time of the year it is—horror movies are great regardless. Whether you like to watch them alone and scare yourself in the dark of your room at three in the morning (calling myself out, here), or watch them with friends or a loved one to get the adrenaline pumping together—they’re awesome.
The only thing is, they’re hit or miss, and it can be difficult to find good ones. Lucky you! Here’s a list of ten that are great, but that you might have missed because they weren’t the talking points they deserved to be.
10. It Follows
It Follows became a cult classic, but it was never very well advertised. The premise is interesting—a monster follows one person around the world, and can only move at walking speed, but it never stops. If it catches you, it kills you.
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The way to break the curse? Sleep with someone and pass the monster on. But if it kills one person, it makes its way back down the chain, and you’ll never know it’s coming because it can disguise itself as anyone—a loved one, a stranger in a crowd, whatever.
I’ll say this—I watched it on a plane, and I was immediately suspicious of every single person in the airport after I landed.
9. Dead Silence
Dead Silence was made by the same creators as Saw but, for whatever reason, never quite received the same hype. It’s about a young widowed man trying to solve the mystery of his wife’s murder, which seems to be linked to the ghost of a murdered ventriloquist.
It’s a genuinely good horror—it has a good premise, great set-up, and the ending isn’t disappointing either (always a risk with supernatural horrors). If you haven’t yet seen this movie, it’s worth a watch and provides some great scares. Every small town has their horror legends, and this one seems to be coming to life. It’ll make you never want to go and see a ventriloquist’s show again.
8. Train To Busan
Zombie movies are another risk. We’re so oversaturated that it’s hard to find an original take on humans coming back from the dead, or being bitten by a zombie and turning into one. They still keep pumping out apocalypse movies, but so many fall flat with no scare factor because the genre itself is just too overdone to be good.
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That’s where Train To Busan steps in and shows us how it’s done. It’s a South Korean movie set on the train from Seoul to Busan, about every passenger trying to survive during an outbreak. A tense movie that you may have missed, it’s worth a watch, especially for those who desperately want a fresh take on an old trope.
7. Emelie
The premise of Emelie sounds like it might be a little cliché—evil babysitter? But the truth is, this movie is so well done that it was received very well by critics and is so worth a watch. Three children are left with a babysitter who initially seems very sweet, kind… everything that the parents would hope for—but she turns out to be very disturbed and the older sibling has to step up to be the protector.
This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat, and it’s worth watching… if it doesn’t make you worried about hiring a babysitter ever again.
6. Sinister
Fun fact about Sinister: it’s the only horror movie I couldn’t finish because I was just too afraid. And I love horror. I had to read on the Wikipedia what happens towards the end.
It was kind of a popular movie, but it was lost among the Insidious hype which really isn’t fair, because this movie is so much better. From the makers of Paranormal Activity, it’s about a man who finds a box of home movies and… well, anything else I say would be a spoiler, but just know there’s some really disturbing imagery and themes. This isn’t a movie for the faint of heart.
5. The Host
Another South Korean movie! This one isn’t big on jump scares and horror clichés, but it’s more interesting to watch. Actually, it’s riveting, and it’ll have you biting your nails the whole way through.
A young girl in Seoul is snatched away from her family by a monster that emerges from the river. The story follows the family as they try to get her back from his horrifying beast and if you like your horror with well-developed characters that will tug at your heartstrings, this is the one to watch. It’s less blood, guts, and gore, and more, things that will make you want to cry. But don’t get me wrong—the monster is also pretty sinister.
4. Ginger Snaps
Werewolf teen horror?
I know what you’re thinking—if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. How can there possibly be a new twist on werewolves? And teen horrors are lame!
But not this one. It’s a surprisingly sharp and also downright witty teen horror that acknowledges enough satire to make a really good movie. It follows two teen sisters, one of whom is attacked by a wolf which presents the other with some decision to make. They’re pretty ostracized by the town they live in, which presents them with a lot of interesting conflicts—and overall, it’s such a refreshing take. Give it a chance.
3. Trick ‘R Treat
This movie actually follows four different characters. There’s a highschool principal who’s actually a serial killer; a college-age girl looking for the right guy; a woman who despises Halloween, married to a guy who loves it; and a group of teens who take a prank way too far. It’s definitely not a movie that takes itself too seriously, but you can tell that everyone behind this movie really loves Halloween and especially at this time of year when the Halloween spirit is still present, it’s a great one to watch. Lots of blood, scares, highly entertaining—what else could you ask for in a good horror?
2. Terrifier
Scared of clowns? Avoid this one.
Or don’t. Challenge yourself!
The clown in this is a lot scarier than Pennywise, that’s for sure. Terrifier is about Art the Clown who decides to terrorize two young girls, and he’s just… beyond creepy. He’s unpredictable and even his design makes him look scary, which is exactly what the movie had to be going for; preying on the typical clown phobia and making that fear even worse. It’s definitely very tense, one of those movies where your muscles don’t quite relax until the end. Or perhaps a little after the movie has ended.
1. Cold Prey
The original title is Fritt Vilt. A Norwegian movie about friends who go into the mountains on a skiing trip and end up getting more than they bargained for. They have to shelter in an abandoned hotel and one of the characters breaks his leg, meaning the car is too far for them to get to.
What they don’t know about the hotel that they’ve chosen to shelter in is that someone still lives there…
A pretty typical set-up for a horror, but one that’s definitely still scary to watch. Not many people have heard of this, maybe because it’s Norwegian, but it’s a crime that it’s so overlooked.
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