With so many releases, it’s hard to catch every little thing that comes out, and unfortunately that means that many gems are missed. With the horror genre being one of the more filled genres around, this seems to happen more and more, no matter the year.
In this list, there are some older films, but there are also some recent ones, and they all have one thing in common – they’re all great, and all have fallen under a lot of people’s radars.
10. The Burrowers
When thinking about a film that crosses over the western genre with horror, it’s normal to roll your eyes and write it off as a schlocky B-movie, but if you go into the 2008 film “The Burrowers” with that mindset, you’d be wrong.
Taking place in the 1870s, the remains of a farm are found with one family brutally murdered and another missing. Following the time, many think it was the actions of Native Americans, but as a group of rescuers go out in search of the missing family, they soon find themselves mixed up with monsters that they could not have expected.
With great performances and a well-crafted western world, the film does a great job of subverting expectations as well as creating harrowing and suspenseful horror. Taking a skill from “Jaws,” the monsters are not shown, except for quick glances throughout, creating even more of a fearful and suspenseful feeling surrounding the entire film.
9. God Told Me To
When looking for fun horror films that have a cult following, Larry Cohen is the first person you should look up. With films like “It’s Alive,” “Maniac Cop” and “The Stuff,” it’s only right that one of his lesser-known films get a nod on the list.
“God Told Me To” was released in 1976 and centers on a story following a cop named Peter Nicholas played by Tony Lo Bianco, who begins to investigate a series of random and violent murders; the only link that they all share is the killers involved all said their reason for doing the crime was that God told them to do it. Blending horror and science fiction as the film continues, it becomes a tad campy, but continues with the violence creating a great blend and one of Cohen’s best.
8. He Knows You’re Alone
Directed by Armand Mastroianni and released in 1980, the film centers on a bride-to-be named Amy who is being stalked by a killer who sets out to kill all soon-to-be brides. The film is a classic slasher film with a high body count as the killer slowly kills off Amy’s friends so she is alone, and he has no one to try and stop his last kill.
The film features great actors that are actually likeable, making the film carry more weight as you’re left to watch and hope that Amy and anyone else will make it to the end. As it continues and the body count rises, the last act is suspenseful and intense.
With great writing and (for the time) an original plot device, we get a fun film that seems to be completely forgotten, and it probably would have been if it wasn’t for Tom Hanks having his first film appearance in it. All around a fun horror film that should fit nicely in anyone Halloween season playlist.
7. We Are Still Here
Released in 2015 and directed by Ted Geoghegan, this film is centers on an older couple who, after losing their son, move to a small isolated house in New England to try and restart start their lives, although, once they get there, strange things begin to occur. They are told by their neighbors that the house once belonged to a couple that worked as morticians and would sell the bodies to a local college.
As the film progresses, the house shows signs of being alive, and as the set and characters, including the house, are created, the film takes off into something less expected. Though the film is considered a slow-burn type of horror film, it uses its time wisely as it sets up the house and its occupiers well and spaces out quick horror and intensity throughout before kicking into full gear.
The film pays homage to many different horror films and directors, most noticeably Luci Folci and his film “House by the Cemetery,” but not in a way that gets the viewer caught up in thinking about how great those other films are.
It does a great job in creating suspense and payoffs that actually matter, and spacing out the horrifying lead-ups so the payoffs are that much better. Simple things are done in post to further a subconscious awareness of the horrifying house and create one of the better, lesser-known horrors of the last few years.
6. Alice Sweet Alice
When the golden child of a family is brutally murdered, blame is quickly shifted to their other jealous and emotionally unstable daughter Alice. The family, of course, tries to push away any concern that Alice could have done anything so brutal, but when her aunt is found stabbed, they send Alice away. Soon after this, though, murders still begin to pile up, and the mystery of who this killer is begins.
In this horror/slasher film, we are given suspense and some very solid kills, as well as one of the scariest killer masks within the genre. Directed by Alfred Sole and released in 1976, this is a horror that is definitely a must-see for any fan of the genre.