Underrated Horror Films

i really loved

In The Mouth Of Madness

its a 1990s film and may not be known by the current horror audience. The idea is good, the production values are good, and for some reason, that movie has a great "HPL-FEEL" that seems to always be missing from movies made from HPL stories... (hpl fan here, why do ALL the movies fail?)

mouth of madness is NOT a HP Lovecraft story, but it sure feels like one.

I will also agree with exorcist 3 and the 1980s thing. also very pleased to see the old dreamscape on the list too.

also the next pick is NOT a "horror" movie, its an "arthouse" movie.. and it is one of the SCARIEST things ive ever seen... perhaps you will disagree, but im talkinng about

ERASERHEAD

that flick will leave a bad taste in your mouth for a LONG time, its a strange little gem, understated, over the top, impossible to explain, forcing the viewer to confront responsibility, their own mortality, their willingness to harm...

really you can stay up for hours after watching it trying to figure out what the hell you just sat through...

OK but that said, scary or NO, Eraserhead isnt best described as a horror movie. It will just give you nightmares for years...

I remember Candyman as the first movie to really get to me. I grew up on horror flicks, so by the time I saw it I thought it would be more of the same. Dunno if it was the brutal way he dispatched his victims, or the creepy "Bloody Mary" motif, but whatever it was, I was actually surprised by how unsettling it was. I was "Hooked" lol.
As much as I loved it though, it wound be a loong time before I could stand in front of the mirror and call out "Candyman...Candyman...

THANK YOU!!!
Great list of films folks, exactly what I was hoping for.

My next entry in this thread is John Carpenters Prince of Darkness



Here is the plot summary from IMDB:

"A sinister secret has been kept in the basement of an abandoned Los Angeles church for many years. With the death of a priest belonging to a mysterious sect, another priest opens the door to the basement and discovers a vat containing a green liquid. The priest contacts a group of physics graduate students to investigate it. Unfortunately, they discover that the liquid contains the essence of Satan himself, and they also discover that he will release HIS father - an all-powerful Anti-God! The liquid later comes to life itself, turning some of the students into zombies as the Devil comes forward to release his father. Will these students be able to stop him?"

What adds to this film i think is the fact that underneath the normal story line you have a thread dealing with quantum physics! Their is an appearance by Shock Rocker Alice Cooper . A great score..

It's a film worth watching!

Some of my favorites:

Near Dark - Still my all-time favorite vampire movie. It stars Lance Henriksen, Adrian Pasdar and Bill Paxton. It was a low budget film and the ending kind of sucked. But overall, it's pretty good.

The Hand - An old film from the early 80's starring Michael Caine. It is about an artist who loses his hand in a freak accident. But then he believes his missing hand is killing those who anger him. Pretty good ending.

The Stuff - It's a pretty weird movie about this guy who discovers a strange substance oozing out of the ground. He tastes it and likes it. So he decides to sell the stuff. But it turns out the stuff is actually a parasitic organism that is eating people from the inside out.

Ghost Story - From 1981 about three old guys who accidentally murdered a woman and disposed of her body when they were younger. But the woman has come back from the grave and is taking revenge by killing their children.

Night of the Comet - The ultimate in campy 80's zombie flicks. It's about a comet that passes close by the Earth which turns anyone directly exposed to it into dust. Which leaves a handful of survivors and plenty of people that were partially exposed and are becoming brainless, violent zombies.

Night of the Creeps - It's kind of a funny B-movie about brain slugs from space that are turning people into zombies. It's campy. It's fun. It's worth watching at least once in your life.

The Hitcher - The original starring Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell. Much better than the crappy remake. It's about this kid who is supposed to deliver a car across country but ends up playing a deadly game with a psychotic serial killer that just wants somebody to stop him.

Wax Works 2 - The first film wasn't all that great, in my opinion. But the sequel was just hilarious. About two people who survive the first film and discover a device which accidentally transports them through time into various horror movie plots.

Phantasm 1-4 - Ok, the first film in the series isn't all that great. But the rest of the series is very unique and keeps you wanting more.

Night of the Demons 1 and 2 - Good films. Creepy films. Just avoid the remake from 2009.

Cronos - It was Guillermo Del Toro's first film, I believe. And it is a pretty unique take on a vampire tale.

Highway to Hell - What can I say about this one? It's like being on a weird acid trip. It's campy. It's strange. But not all that bad.

The People Under The Stairs - It is a very bizarre and unique movie. Very well directed. Very well acted.

Deep Rising - Love that movie. Starring Treat Williams as a boat captain for hire who takes a group of mercenaries out to rob a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. However, when they arrive, they discover that everyone on board has disappeared and something else is inside.

Ravenous - My all-time favorite cannibalism movie. Suck it, Hannibal Lecter.

Cube, Cube 2, and Cube Zero - Some off-the-wall strange scifi-horror movies. Definitely a must watch.

Deep Rising is one of my favorites.

Feast series 3 movies there.

The Burrowers on netflix

Honorable mention tho they aren't really "horror" movies

Tremors trilogy.

reply to post by Hefficide


George C. Scott made anything believable. As another poster pointed out, he was great in the Changeling. The great thing about George was he was not an attention who're. Never went to the awards ceremonies, but was at the top of game in nearly, if not all, endeavors he engaged in. A true thespian without an ego. That is a rare being.

David Lynch's Eraserhead

In the Mouth of Madness
Prince of Darkness

Love me some John Carpenter flicks...these two I'd highly recommend, though I know they are already mentioned.

Also,

The Fog (original, not the remake)
Vampires

Other non JC ones....

Tales from the Crypt movies
Creepshow movies

Heavy Metal - pretty much a horror movie in most parts

Puppet Master and god what is it... Blood Species or I think it was Sub Species... With the bloodstone and I forget the main Vampires name.... I'm sorry I'm drawing a blank and it's almost 5pm gotta clock out~

cant remember the name maybe someone can help but I saw a pretty good one few years back where its a radio dj reporting on a strange outbreak in a small town

The Ring (2002) ~ you know, the one where that freaky kid crawls through the TV. I saw that in the theater and didn't sleep for a long time afterwards.

The Devil Inside (2012) ~ I'm not sure what possessed me to watch this movie The Exorcist scared me bad enough. Anything involving demonic possessions scares the hell out of me.

One of my favorites is The Mist www.imdb.com...
Those monsters were freaky, and now everytime even a light mist rolls in I get the thought in the back of my head that its going to happen

Originally posted by grey9438
One of my favorites is The Mist www.imdb.com...
Those monsters were freaky, and now everytime even a light mist rolls in I get the thought in the back of my head that its going to happen

Great film and great use of a Dead Can Dance song during the crushing final segment!

Not exactly sure if this falls in what you guys would consider horror and I know the vampire genre has been polluted by silly teen movies and I'm not much of a movie person anyway.

I was given a movie to watch that is in Swedish, and because I have a so-so understanding of the language (one of the easiest European ones to learn) that is in bad need of some practice I thought it would be interesting.

Not being a movie person I fail to describe it even before I start but it's about vampires, school bullying, revenge and the perils of being outcast-something I know a lot about-along with a strange, odd kind of love that devolves between the two 12 year olds-although Eli the not so female young girl has been 12 for a long, long time.

The movie "Let the right one in" (Låt den rätte komma in)-see how easy the phonics are- was about as captivating and wonderfully moody as any film I have ever seen. The 2 young Swedish actors aren't cute and attractive however they form a doomed bond that is simply magical.

There are no CGI effects, sex, very little gore and that is perhaps why American audiences won't like it-and today's movie goers hate to read subtitles I am told.

If you get the chance to rent or stream this-Amazon has it dubbed in English-by all means do. As hard as it is to fathom this obscure foreign film is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my entire life. The ending is as obscure as the picture itself-and could go many directions-none of them happy as that is basically the theme of the whole thing-I guess.

reply to post by allenidaho


You and I have similar tastes here.
The Hitcher is one of my all time faves . They remade it of course. Not as good,of course.
And I know someone who had a bit part in The Stuff .

Many of the ones named on this thread are actually long time cult classics. Ghost Story guys ,the book is far more creepy .

I have so many . But of course Tokyo Gore Police has cult status ,but mostly with Japanophiles .
It's just a must see. There's stuff in that movie,I've never seen before,and I've seen everything .
Audition .sick sick sick .
Let me think ,and make a list .

I think the Jeepers Creepers movies are under appreciated . That thing is nnnaaassttyy .
Then there's this sick ,old one,called Arnold .
Roddy McDowell and Stella Stevens.
Serious creepy .

reply to post by spooky24


It was remade in the USA already. It's called Let Me In . The original is better ,of course .

reply to post by jaybuk


I know the one. Theyre trapped inside the radio station . Let me think .....

reply to post by sulaw


Sub species ,,,with Radu and his versitile finger joints. I own the box set,as well as the box set of Puppetmaster ,plus the demonic toys vs puppet master.

Great, the post keeps going!!!!

Let the Right One In is such a great film with just as good a musical score. I didn't see the American remake , Let Me In, but I heard it actually was pretty solid.

Without question and without a doubt the most depressed I have ever felt from watching a film was making it all the way through A Serbian Film. The ending was about as crushing as you can get while the rest of the film leaves you feeling dirty in a "I need a long hot shower" sort of way. It's basically porn with violence though it doesn't really fit the cliched torture porn description. Some people will say "it doesn't have enough gore or violence or this or that" and maybe they are right but for the average film goer this film will be a challenge to get through.

On the gore\new wave of french horror films..

Inside and Martyr(s) are worth watching though for different reasons...

Martyrs gets a lot of press as being this amazing film and don't get me wrong I thought it was a good watch which challenged you mentally but I don't know that it falls in the earth shattering realm that some fans\reviews give it.

Inside was meh to me..If you like gore you will love it, if not it might not be your thing...

A Polish vampire in Burbank (Mark Pirro)

Horror Hospital (Michael Gough,Robin Askwith)

The Mad Room (Stella Stevens,Shelley Winters)

The original Grudge ,Japanese version ,and Japanese Grudge part 2

The fearless vampire killers (Roman Polanski,Sharon Tate)

Dead Alive

Ginger Snaps series


Let me keep thinking .So many