While pretty much every single website has their own Halloween top 10 list, we decided to try and go in a completely different direction. Horror Movie a Day and Bloody-Disgusting.com would like to present you with the TOP 10 OBSCURE HORROR GEMS FOR HALLOWEEN, a list of movies you might have never heard of until today, but should definitely see. Spice up this holiday weekend with something new!
One great thing about doing Horror Movie A Day (where I watch a horror movie every day, specifically one I have never seen before) is that through the process of forcing myself to watch all these things, I occasionally find a gem that makes the whole thing worthwhile. As I stick to only movies I hadn’t seen yet, I have to dig deep into the bowels of Netflix to find enough to make sure I always have something to watch every day. This means I go into the horror selections page and just queue up whatever I haven’t seen, without bothering to look at what they are about or who is in them or anything like that.
So these are NOT the best movies I’ve ever seen, or even the best ones I’ve seen since starting the site, but rather the 10 movies I NEVER WOULD HAVE seen had I not been doing this; minor, relatively obscure gems that deserve a little more love.
I’m not the biggest fan of J-Horror, because a lot of the ones I end up seeing all feel the same (vengeful ghost, wrongful death... yadda yadda). But this one definitely stuck out; a serial killer movie with realistic nightmare sequences and some fantastic visuals. A sequel is already on the way – get on board now.
This riff on Stepfather is a lot better than I expected with that title, and while certainly not perfect, it contains the single greatest “let’s prove he’s a werewolf” scene in genre history. I don’t want to spoil it, but keep in mind that blood isn’t the only bodily fluid that can be tested....
I tend to avoid anything that belongs to the “Last House _____” subgenre, but I’m glad I gave this one a go. Like Doomsday, there’s not much originality here, but it’s a well crafted homage that doesn’t try to lie about its obvious influences (such as Chaos did). Plus, it has the only gross out gag in horror movie history that actually made me, well, gag. Kudos to Gabriele Albanesi for finally making this seasoned veteran sick!
It’s about 20 minutes overlong, and the protagonist eventually comes off less as innocent and naïve, and more just mentally disabled, but for the first hour or so, this one is delightfully mean-spirited fun. Fans of Silent Night Deadly Night should appreciate the sick sense of humor on display, and since it takes place on Halloween, it’s the next best thing to Trick R Treat for now.
Lionsgate tried to pass this one off as a zombie movie, but it’s actually more in line with Mario Bava’s Shock, with an ending that Oedipus himself would consider kind of gross. Plus, a naked chick chops up her boyfriend with an axe. In the snow!
Once considered lost, Criterion has just released a fully restored version of this wonderfully bizarre German film on a deluxe set that includes quite a few extras, considering how old/dead everyone involved with it is. Fans of Eraserhead will definitely see where Lynch got some of his ideas from, and with Let The Right One In (hopefully) reviving the “serious” vampire subgenre, now’s the perfect time to see where it all began.
Featuring Andy “Gollum” Serkis in a non makeup role, this is one of those movies that BECOMES a horror movie halfway through. And it’s a lot of fun before then as well. If you dug Severance, you should get a kick out of this one. Director Paul Andrew Williams is definitely one to watch.
Somehow this Gary Sherman chiller was always completely off my radar, but when I admitted to having never seen it, some friends were amazed. And rightfully so; this is definitely one you don’t want to miss. You get Robert Englund in a pre-Freddy role, some terrific Stan Winston effects (a rare non-monster film for him), a creepy plot, and even gratuitous nudity from Prince of Darkness’ Lisa Blount. All in all, a winner that should be name dropped more often.
Another Gary Sherman movie! If you’ve seen Creep, with Franke Potente, then some of this movie’s strength will be diffused, since that film was a complete rip-, er, “homage” of this one. But one thing that film lacked was Donald Pleasence, in a role that’s even more delightful than Dr. Loomis (just trade crazy for drunk). As the cop who is supposed to investigate the strange disappearances connected to the subway, but keeps drinking (tea or booze, depending on his mood), he elevates what would be a rather straightforward “monster in the tunnels” movie into a true classic.
If you like killer kid movies, then this one belongs in your collection by any means necessary. Cathy is a little girl possessed by the spirit of her aunt, and she is a foul mouthed horrible little girl throughout most of the film. It’s poorly made (and the DVD is hardly demo quality) but the power of Cathy’s hateful attitude toward pretty much everyone in the movie more than makes up for it.
Instead of watching the original for the millionth time, or watching any of the three versions of the remake and trying to decide which is the least disappointing, why not give this unjustly overlooked movie another chance? Ignore the title, just watch it as you would any other standalone movie, and enjoy one of the strangest and joyously mean-spirited movies of the 80s. Stonehenge!
Raw Meat is just so insanely boring, I just could not get into it. Last House in the Woods was pretty boring too. I've seen all but three, so I'll need to check those out. Interesting list!
Big Bad Wolf was just plain bad, not scary and definitely failed in its dark humor. Halloween 3 is a silly mess of a movie, even if it wasn't the only non-Michael Myers sequel in the Halloween series it would still suck. Raw Meat was pretty slow going but overall a good movie though. The Cottage is great as a horror movie, unfortunately it was meant as a horror comedy and never succeeds at being funny.
Halloween III is worth it for the still picture ALONE. It's practically the best in the series? Almost! ;D satan's little helper is fun. The cottage is a great little movie.
Not a bad list!
Dead & Buried is one amazing movie!! I'm amazed how lots of people don't know much about it. Halloween 3 i always hold dearly in my heart. When i first watched it as a kid, i did not miss Michael Myers. I got too drawn in by the fucked up story to worry wether michael was there or not. Satan's little helper annoyed me though, just not a solid movie. Overall, great list.
Come on guys don't go soft on me. The Last House in The Woods is a piece of shit. The worst horror movie of the year. It has the mentallity of a 10 year old. I was waiting for fart jokes and booger eating. Fuck the Italians and their horror, with a few exceptions, and you know who they are.
Hmmm.....the whole list should be Halloween 3. But if I was to throw a few in there, there's also the late 80's cheesefests Trick or Treat and Halloween Night. Also, John Russo's Midnight is a nice little obscure flick that has a great halloween feel to it.
I always put Dead & Buried and The Stepfather on lists like this, but of course, Stepfather isn't available on DVD.
I've got several of the movies on the list on disc but haven't watched them yet. Now I'm looking forward to them even more.
And count me in for some H3 love too. The right answer was to make more movies without The Shape not more with him. Then this movie would get decent credit.
I only seen Halloween 3 during the 90's, it was pretty much the last halloween movie i seen at the time, so when i watched it i was overly disappointed. But looking back at it, it actually wasnt that bad
Pin is wonderful and I am so happy Protecious brought up the 88 Scarecrows! I freaking love that movie! I was not that impressed with the list...except Vampyr..which is a classic in my eyes.
The others look like shit, But halloween 3 is the best if you look past the fact that myers is not in it. People bitch about that all the time but i thought it was a refreshing new direction to go in. I have it on dvd and i watch it every halloween and i also notice that tv plays it more and more every year. Oh yeh and one more thing, Fuck anyone who didnt like rob zombies halloween remake. It was the best out of the series. How can people say that the originals with no back story as of why he killed his sister when he was young think its so good. I like them, Dont get me wrong but they are not as good as the remake.
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