The 12 most underrated horror movies you need to watch this Halloween

October 7, 2016

While Thanksgiving is ideal for food and Fourth of July is great for fireworks, Halloween is perfect for fear. ‘Tis the season to be scared senseless, as they say. Any horror buff has probably seen The Exorcist a hundred times, but that doesn’t mean they’ve seen it all. Here are 12 not-so-classic horror films to watch this Halloween season.

The Guest

The family of a fallen soldier welcomes a man claiming to be their son’s friend into their home. While everything starts out pleasant enough, the family’s teenage daughter begins to suspect that something just isn’t quite right about their guest, played by Dan Stevens. Don’t go into this movie expecting your typical horror movie fare: This one’s a slow burn with a brutal payoff.

Trick ‘r Treat

Everyone knows Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers (the villain, not the comedian), but you probably haven’t met Sam. Sam might just be the perfect persona of Halloween. In this compilation of intertwining short stories, a cute little demon in a pumpkin-inspired Halloween costume wanders the streets of a small town punishing those who mistreat the sacredness of Halloween. He isn’t evil, per se, but you sure as hell don’t want to piss him off. Also, there are werewolves who dance to Marilyn Manson songs.

It Follows

While this movie doesn’t have anything to do with clowns, it just may be the single most stressful movie ever released. Whoever holds the curse in this movie is followed across the earth by an unrelenting entity. No matter how far you travel, how high you climb, how deep you dig, it will always march after you—and the only way to get it off your back is to have sex with someone else.

The Craft

If ever there was a movie that went from “0 to 100 real quick,” it’s The Craft. Four semi-misfit girls undertake the darker side of witchcraft only to quickly learn that with great power comes great responsibility—and even greater outfit choices. Who will use their magic for good and who will use theirs for evil? With a lesser-known cast, this film easily has become a cult classic deserving of viewership each and every October. It simply does not go out of style.

Ring (Ringu)

Adapting foreign movies and TV shows is an American tradition, and while The Ring is a truly scary film, it’s hard to beat an original. In this case, the original film version is actually an adaption of a novel that was heavily influenced by a Japanese folktale. If you’re a fan of the Gore Verbinski version of this story and don’t mind subtitles, Ringu is a great way to keep yourself scared his Halloween season.

Let The Right One In

Move over Dracula and Twilight, Let The Right One In is the best vampire tale ever made. This film is based off of the Swedish novel of the same name, and both the book and the screenplay were written by author John Ajvide Lindqvist. The story follows a small boy who is bullied at school who befriends a mysterious neighbor next door. Lo and behold, viewers get a classic vampire-helps-weirdo story, but with a twist. Is the vampire Eli really all she’s cracked up to be? Or does she have motives of her own? (Side note: There’s also an American version of the film called Let Me In, which is good, but not as good.)

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Sharktopus

Sharknado has taken over the B-movie genre over the past few years, leaving SyFy’s extensive catalog of monster movies deep in the shadows, which is a shame. Not only does Sharktopus introduce a half-shark, half-octopus as its titular monster/U.S. Navy weapons’ project, it comes with an amazing original song. This is far from a cinematic masterpiece, but it deserves a place in the B-Movie Hall of Fame as one of SyFy’s best offerings.

Rear Window

If jump scares and bloody disembowelments aren’t your thing, Alfred Hitchcock has the perfect movie for you. Rear Window stars James “Jimmy” Stewart, a newspaper photographer trapped in his apartment with a broken leg. He witnesses what appears to be a murder, and to keep himself busy, he attempts to solve it with the help of his girlfriend (Grace Kelly) and nurse (Thelma Ritter) without getting killed himself.

Train To Busan

What’s the worst place to face a zombie attack? Train to Busan makes its pitch for a train, where one infected passenger quickly turns what was supposed to be a simple commute for Seok-woo (Yoo Gong) and his daughter Soo-an (Su-an Kim) into a hellish fight for survival. As long as you don’t mind subtitles, this movie should easily find a spot among some of the best zombie horror movies of this decade, if not beyond.

The Witch

This film is fucking weird. Like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it does not play with blatant gore and violence. Instead, it makes the viewer really, really uncomfortable with disturbing images, settings, and character relationships. The pacing of the film is bizarre and the scene cuts are even more bizarre, which only adds to the oddity and obscurity of this folktale-inspired story line. If you want a nontraditional film to keep you up at night, this one is for you.

Crimson Peak

Ignore what the critics say: This film is fantastic. Crimson Peak got a lot of backlash after its release last year, but in actuality it is one of the most gorgeous films to grace the horror genre. It’s slow-paced with a lot of subtle terrors, but it follows the tropes of a classic gothic novel perfectly. If you want a real throwback to Victorian era horror, then Guillermo Del Toro’s film is the perfect pick.

Tales Of Halloween

Tales Of Halloween is a compilation of 10 different short films directed by 10 totally different directors (including Neil Marshall) as an ode to Halloween. That’s right, every single film is centered on something around the spooky holiday, and as Jack Black notes when playing R.L. Stine, every good horror story is comprised of a beginning, a middle and a twist. These films do just that to keep you on the edge of your seat all night long.

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