The leaves have turned orange as jack-o-lanterns and crimson as the technicolor blood depicted on your TV screens. Days have gotten shorter and the nights are growing colder. Halloween has finally arrived! But with such an emphasis on horror-related media, you might be feeling a little burned out on the classics. After all, how many times can you really watch Halloween or a Friday The 13th film before they lose effectiveness? What you need is the Underrated and Uncanny: The Hidden Gems of Horror! Or at least some of them.
Seeing as I’m somewhat of a trashbin of horror knowledge and connoisseur of the macabre, I have just the thing! I’ve selected 10 of my favorite horror movies people rarely talk about. While they may not be among the greatest of all time but they may be nice alternatives to what’s currently streaming at the moment. Check em’ out if you dare!
The Funhouse (1981)
After single-handedly starting the slasher phenomenon with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it’s funny how Tobe Hooper helmed a pseudo-Halloween rip-off. But what The Funhouse lacks in originality, it more than makes up for it with visuals. A group of teens spend the night in a carnival for angsty debauchery only to witness a murder at the hands of a masked funhouse worker. The rest of the night becomes a deadly game of cat and house as the worker hunts them down.
Despite being somewhat surface and generic, Hooper captures the feeling of mischief and wonder of a summertime carnival. However, when the story turns dark, his familiar horror expertise elevates what would be a run-of-the-mill slasher. Is The Funhouse the best slasher film of the 80s? No, but it is somewhat of a hidden gem of horror. Plus, it’s leaps and bounds better than the Hooper-less TCM sequels.
Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
After the death of her father, Countess Marya Zaleska sets out to rid herself of the deadly vampire curse. Unfortunately, society as well as her own servant, have different plans. As the golden age of the Universal Monsters came to a close, Dracula’s Daughter is the direct sequel and bookend to Tod Browning’s Dracula. But where the original’s primary focus was atmospheric nightmarish imagination, Dracula’s Daughter feels more like an exploration of desire versus mental health. Elevated by undertones of feminism, homosexuality, and social indifference, the titular character is far more nuanced and tragic. While not as memorable as the original, Dracula’s Daughter was far ahead of its time in both themes and characters.
Ravenous (1999)
During the Mexican-American War, a captain and his crew embark on a rescue mission in the wilderness. The expedition takes a dark turn when the group is ambushed by an unexpected, bloodthirsty killer. Is it a sadistic, murderous soldier? Or perhaps the Wendigo; a mythological creature of folklore and scary campfire stories. Ravenous is a strange example of horror. Firmly rooted in the often overlooked weird western subgenre. The plot twists are abrupt and you never really know where the story is headed. But beneath the blood and macabre storytelling, there’s an interesting study on what it means to be a hero or a coward.
Targets (1968)
An aging character actor (Boris Karloff) questions his place in the film industry on the eve of his retirement. Meanwhile, a psychotic war veteran goes on a murderous rampage shooting random people with a sniper rifle. Targets is a strange movie with two, seemingly unrelated storylines. But as the film goes on, it’s revealed the story is a metaphor for the passing of the torch.
It’s worth noting, it was released during an interesting time in the genre. By then, monsters had gone from scaring kids to becoming their heroes, be it on cereal boxes, comic books, or Saturday morning television. Meanwhile, the real monsters were being revealed as real-life people.
The Prowler (1981)
Bent on reliving a 35-year-old double murder, a masked killer wearing Word War II fatigues stalks a small New Jersey town. The premise pretty much sounds like typical slasher movie fair, but The Prowler uses its simplicity as an asset. Especially with the foggy cinematography. The film has a surreal dreamlike quality about it that’s hard to explain. But when the killer is on screen doing the horrific murders, the dream turns into a nightmare. The visuals are far more effective than they need to be but this movie gave me nightmares as a kid.
The contrast between standard-issue horror and visceral death scenes (with special effects by Tom Savini) made such an impact with Paramount Pictures, Frank Mancuso Jr. offered director Joseph Zito the job of helming Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter after only a single meeting.
Final Destination (2000)
A reluctant teenager (Devon Sawa) has a premonition about a horrific plane crash. After he prevents the disaster, Death itself seemingly starts on a path of course correction. Although marketed among the self-aware horror subgenre made famous by Scream, Final Destination has more in common with something out of Alfred Hitchcock’s repertoire. Despite the occassional gore, the film’s real star is its tension. Yes, there are plenty of late 90s tropes (bad hair, NIN music, etc) but it isn’t too distracting. Within the first 20 minutes of the film, it feels like anything could happen and anything could kill you.
Another layer of meta-horror comes into play when thinking about the time of this film’s release. The horror film industry had already been reset thanks to the aforementioned Scream but wasn’t exactly ready for the next big trend. Unfortunately, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, watching Final Destination, (especially its opening) just felt different. These days, the franchise is merely a meme. But there was a time when its premise felt like art imitating life, imitating art.
Bad Dreams (1988)
Cynthia, the sole survivor of a 1960s suicide cult, wakes from a 13-year coma in a psychiatric ward with no friends or family. As she tries to ease herself back into society, patients from the hospital start dying under mysterious circumstances. They could be legitimate suicides, but Cynthia is convinced it’s her cult leader beyond the grave.
Often written off as a Nightmare On Elm Street knock-off (and oddly similar to that franchise’s third installment released the year before), Bad Dreams isn’t really a slasher film. In fact, if it weren’t for some of the horrific death scenes, it could be a tightly wound mystery thriller. I have a feeling that had it been released a few years before or later, it would’ve faired better with critics and audiences. However, it has aged quite well and is far more effective than most of the NOES sequels. Also, keep an eye out for Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” used in the ending credits months before it was released as a single!
Silver Bullet (1985)
A small town is terrorized by a series of grizzly murders. While law enforcement thinks it’s the result of a serial killer, a girl (Megan Follows) and her disabled brother (Corey Haim) have reason to believe it’s a werewolf. Now it’s up to the duo and their degenerate uncle (Gary Busey, of course) to work together and put an end to its reign of terror.
Based on Stephen King’s novella, King’s Cycle Of The Werewolf, Silver Bullet, feels closer to a Steven Speilberg property than an outright horror film. There are plenty of scenes of tension and bloodshed, but it’s not enough to garner its R rating. My favorite aspect of Silver Bullet is the human element. Each character deals with something that’s holding them back. Be it responsibility, depression, alcoholism, or disability. It’s almost a character study in that sense. There weren’t many films made with that kind of heart back in those days. There still isn’t. Definitely a welcomed oddity in the world of horror.
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
During the course of a long summer in the Lousiana bayou, 10-year-old Eve Batiste learns the dark secrets of lies, infidelity, and gothic mysticism both binding and tearing her family apart for generations. While not a horror movie in a traditional sense, Eve’s Bayou is a unique exploration of the human condition. How perception changes with memory. How memories lie. And most importantly, how generational curses and family secrets play havoc with one’s mental, emotional, and spiritual state.
What’s extraordinary about Eve’s Bayou is it’s a film with an all-black cast telling a story going against Hollywood’s idea of a so-called black movie. The characters lead complicated lives without the inclusion of white people or their brought upon problems. Beautifully written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, Eve’s Bayou was elevated horror before A24 made it into a hipster gimmick.
The Exorcist III (1990)
During a baffling murder investigation, Lt. Kinderman (George C. Scott) notices similarities to the methods used by a serial killer executed 15 years ago. He soon discovers a hospitalized mental patient claiming to be the dead serial killer who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kinderman’s friend, a priest who died during an exorcism.
Despite being an installment in the much-maligned Exorcist franchise, The Exorcist III works just fine, if not better as a stand-alone movie. It’s a tightly written, well-acted, and a tension-driven psychological horror. All without a single drop of blood. But there’s something about this film that crawls under your skin from the very opening scene. With Oscar-worthy performances by Scott and Brad Dourif as well as one of the most effective jump scares in cinema history, The Exorcist III rivals the original in every single way.
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