Summary
Many famous horror series can trace their success to humble beginnings. Huge, decades-spanning franchises likeHalloweenandSawbegan with low-budget affairs that captured audience’s attention and catapulted theirrespective creators to illustrious careers.
That comparatively low barrier to entry has created a bloated genre that is all too often subject to low-effort, low-risk movies that add one hook to the marketing, kill a few teens and call it a day. That can make rifling through the genre a tricky endeavor, with many fantastic, original products falling into the mire and remaining underappreciated by horror fans. This one’s for the filmmakers whocreated something specialbut failed to find a wide audience, the8 best horror films you’ve probably never seen.
Probably the best-known entry,It Followshas achieved a significant cult following since its initial release, with filmmaker David Robert Mitchell going on to work with the likes of Andrew Garfield, Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor in future films. With Mitchell being far from prolific and this modest movie being over a decade old at this point, it’s worth mentioning as a recommendation.
It Followsplays with the moral conventions of slasher movies as its core premise. For those uninitiated, slashers typically have moral undertones; those who misbehave are subject to death, whilst a more upstanding character, often the final girl, survives the encounter. With the added caveat of anantagonist who could be anyone at any time, delivering great suspense and horror set pieces.
The Strangershas now become a multi-movie franchise, more maligned than celebrated, but with the more recent trilogy essentially retconningThe Strangers: Prey at Night,it has become the unwanted child of the bunch despite being the best in the series.
Unlike others on this list, Johannes Roberts does not attempt to reinvent the wheel.The Strangers: Prey at Nightis a by-the-numbers slasher flick, but in doing so, he creates a real love letter to the genre’s roots. An isolated family faces off against a trio of murderous antagonists with a pumping 80s soundtrack and some of the best slasher set pieces of any modern film. It’s fun, it’s satisfying, and it shouldn’t be overlooked by fans of the genre.
Found footage horror was a played-out genre by the timeCreepemerged in 2014, but the movie breathes new life into the subgenre with a wholly disturbing and much more personal take on the formula. Inspired byMy Dinner With Andre, the film features a very small cast comprising the two filmmakers themselves, Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass.
Duplass' character, Josef, hires Brice’s videographer, Aaron, to record a message for his unborn child as he is terminally ill. The film is shot from Aaron’s perspective, with the footage starting as promised before Aaron begins to realize that all is not as it seems, as the increasingly disturbing Josef reveals his true character.
5Pearl
The Simple Life
Pearlis the prequel and least well-known of Ti West’sXtrilogy. The movies are related, but the individual narratives are self-contained enough that audiences don’t need to have seen theothers in the franchise, which left this middle film overlooked, compared to the modest success of the other entries. Mia Goth plays both protagonist and antagonist in the first film, withPearlexpanding further the villainous character’s origins.
The film deals with some complex themes of family and belonging for Pearl, who is raised in a harsh farm environment during World War 1. As German immigrants in America, and with the father paralyzed by Spanish Flu, the family falls on hard times with Pearl attempting to suppress her violent desires and escape to a better life.
4Pontypool
Aclaustrophobic horrorthat offers a very different take on the Zombie genre. Set in a local radio station in a small town,Pontypoolfollows a small cast of characters as they slowly begin to unpack what is going on around them through news reports and phone-ins.
The situation starts with a small report of trouble, unusual in this quiet town, but quickly begins to get out of hand as the situation escalates to a full-blown outbreak of violence, encompassing the station at the center of town and leaving the cast nowhere to go. Its low budget means it struggles a little in a more action-oriented third act, but it builds a great atmosphere of terror.
3Circle
Social Engineering
Circlelikely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, again centering on a single location, but this time with a cast of 50 people who are all strangers to each other. It presents afascinating social experimentthat should land nicely for fans ofSquid GameorBattle Royale,putting a real emphasis on the people rather than the spectacle.
The people are forced to whittle themselves down by voting for the next person to die by majority rule. So ensues a cycle of people pleading their case or disparaging others in an attempt to survive the encounter. It dissects what type of character, professions or circumstances people put stock in when considering who to trust and who could be crucial to their continued survival.
2Thirst
Vampiric Romance
There’s a much more famous vampire love story that audiences' minds probably go to when that phrase is mentioned. But combined with the artistic flair of acclaimed director Park Chan-wook,Thirstis a spectacularly unique and dreadful viewing experience.
Sang-hyun opts for an experimental treatment to combat a fatal virus he has contracted that turns him into a bloodthirsty creature that he struggles to reconcile with. The movie is short on outright scares, drawing focus instead on the complex relationship between the burdened vampire and his paramour, who takes much greater pleasure in the macabre realities of his existence.
1Freehold
Unwanted Tenant
At the top of the obscurity charts is a satirical film about revenge.Freeholdfollows a shady real estate agent, Sonny, who is unknowingly preyed upon by one of his victims, taking refuge in his flat after being made homeless, portrayed excellently by shapely horror icon Javier Botet.
Botet’s Orlan takes his gross revenge by secretly sullying Sonny’s personal effects, such as his toothbrush, while he is out. The film takes a mostly light-hearted approach but the concept of someone secretly living in their home remains aterrifying urban legendfor many, and Botet’s iconic gangly frame skulking around the shadows makes it all the more unsettling.
