If you’re staying in tonight on this most sacred of evenings – and it’s a Tuesday so if you’re not, then what’s your secret, you glorious social butterfly – then chances are you’ve not secured a horror film to watch tonight. Well, fear not, for like many of cinema’s heroes, I have rode in on my pale horse of death and years of getting pale watching horror films to offer you a selection of not-so-famous horrors that might have passed you by, but can still be found on Netflix and free on Amazon Prime (in the UK at least) because if nothing else I go the extra mile for you, or spend a minute doing research on my phone, delete as applicable.
Let me know if you enjoyed any of these, and by let me know I mean leave a snarky comment on my socials about my dubious taste in horror. And if you’re a horror nerd, I know you’ve seen them all. This wasn’t for you. I have my own list for you. That sounded weird.
The Ruins (2008)
Available on: Netflix
Crocker’s personal rating: 8/10
In this tense, gruesome low-budget horror from 2008, based on the horror novel of the same name, a pair of couples on vacation in Mexico stumble upon an ancient Mayan ruin, and, not seemingly understanding they are in a horror film and should stay well clear of any ruins, get trapped on said ruin by the monster in this film. Now – here’s the thing – the main synopsis of this film originally does not give away the nature of the horror, and it is way better if you go into it not knowing what it is, but non-official descriptions on the internet and anyone who recommends it to you will obviously give it away. But I’m a man who likes lost causes, so I will go the mysterious route, and simply say that the despicable nasty body horror in this film and admirable special effects, combined with the creeping sense of despair as the dumb young tourists realise just how screwed they are, make this a memorably nasty little watch.
Cube (1997)
Available on: Amazon Prime
Crocker’s personal rating: 9/10
Around a decade ago when my thirties were still but a distant dream, I don’t know if this would’ve counted as an under-the-radar horror as everyone seemed to still talk about this cult 1997 curiosity, but time has done its thing and I’m not sure this is as well-known anymore. Anyway, my impending mid-life crisis aside, Cube sees a bunch of strangers wake up in… well… a cube, more specifically a series of hundred cube rooms in one giant cube. Cube cube cube. Some of these rooms have deadly traps – giving us some very satisfyingly tense scenes followed by scenes of quick and very final dismemberment – and the sense of mystery as the increasingly desperate prisoners have to work out the secrets of the cube to escape make this a real classic. Come for the concept, stay for the…. well the concept, to be honest.
Blood Red Sky (2021)
Crocker’s personal rating: 8/10
Available on: Netflix
Vampires! On a plane! I could go on about how this British-German action horror has a lot of fun with this concept, but I ramble too much as it is so let’s just stick with vampires! On a plane!
No One Lives (2011)
Available on: Amazon Prime
Crocker’s personal rating: 11/10
Oh, hello, what do we have here? Is it one of my favourite horror films of all time, that I don’t think anyone I’ve ever met has ever seen, even though it stars minor Hollywood star Luke Evans (who to be fair was just starting out then)? This is another film where the less you know the better it is going in, so let me give you verbatim the official synopsis: Backwoods bandits find they’ve made a grievous error when they victimise a couple who are not nearly as helpless as they seem.
Essentially this film tries to put you in the perspective of the slasher killer, making them the protagonist (with arguably good cause) and when you combine this with the pounding, addictive electro soundtrack and Luke Evans’ astonishingly and dangerously charismatic performance, the result is unique and memorable to put it mildly.
I should add that some people who watch this will find it immediately problematic by the end, for reasons very obvious when you see it, but before you hound me out of the review-o-sphere let me say clearly that the fact the film may seem to make a hero out of its (putting it kindly) anti-hero is kind of the point, and if you end up on his side then that is your problem, not the film’s (and a credit to Luke Evans’ astonishing performance).
Circle (2015)
Available on: Netflix
Ed’s personal rating: 7/10
One of those low-budget films with a high-concept, effortlessly fascinating premise. Fifty strangers awake in a mysterious room, trapped with no memory of how they got there. Every two minutes, one of them is killed by the room. To survive, they must choose just one person who gets to live. The longer they take to decide, the more people are killed. This film is just people arguing for why they should live in between many deaths, and that might sound boring, but if you like moral philosophy debates and sociological studies in a horror film, then this is endlessly fascinating, and it’s fun watching people make terrible arguments that are clearly going to end in their own death. It’s not going to win an award but it definitely has fun with the concept.
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Available on: Amazon Prime
Ed’s Personal Rating: 9/10
In this markedly original horror Western, a sheriff (played by Kurt Russell, having a lot of fun) leads a squabbling posse in pursuit of a band of cannibal tribesmen who have abducted an injured prisoner and a doctor from his jail. This is very unlike almost any film you will watch this year as for the first half, the main attraction is the witty, dry, at times plain odd dialogue which is a joy to listen to, sort of half Coen Brothers and half Tarantino. Then in the second half things get (cannibal) gruesome and very dark indeed. Most horror-comedies end up being neither, but this is one film where both the comedy and the horror stand on their own two feet. A weird – in the best way – film.
Creep (2014)
Available on: Netflix
Ed’s Personal Rating: 9/10
Of all of these, this strange low-budget, found-footage film might be the one you’ve heard of the most if you’re a semi-pro horror film nerd, because on release this became one of those word-of-mouth “you have to watch this” cult films. It is one of the best examples of does-what-it-says-on-the-tin film-making, because holy moly it is creepy. Essentially, a videographer looking for easy money accepts $1,000 to drive to a cabin in the woods (immediate red flag) to spend the day filming a lonely hermit Josef – an incredible Mark Duplass – who has terminal cancer and wants to make a video diary for his unborn son before he dies.
As in all these found-footage low budget films, the sense of dread and the something-isn’t-right builds and builds, but this one mines the sense of unease and – you guessed it – creepiness so well that your state of unsettlement might last into mid-age. Two words: wolf mask. You’ll see what I mean.
Werewolves Within (2021)
Available on: Netflix
Ed’s Personal Rating: 9/10
This unusual film is a mystery comedy horror. That’s right, it’s attempting THREE genres, the ballsy bastard, and the fact that it achieves all three – it has a satisfying mystery full of red herrings and a great twist, it’s genuinely hilarious, and very creepy at times – makes this a great candidate for the “not sure I want an out and out horror” crowd (I know who you are).
The premise is simple: When a killer terrorizes the snowed-in residents of a small town, it falls to the newly-arrived forest ranger to find them, except they might be a werewolf and everyone’s a suspect.
Let me know if you get the twist. I did. I know, I hate myself too.
Pontypool (2008)
Available on: Amazon Prime
Ed’s personal rating: 10/10
This Canadian low-budget horror is a psychological zombie horror (bear with me, that will make sense) in which a deadly virus infects a small Ontario town, and the local radio host attempts to work out what the hell is going on while live on air. It definitely spoils the film to give anything else away, except to say that the way the virus spreads, and the way they work out just how it is spreading, is unspeakably clever and this is the kind of original horror you just have to applaud after watching. There is some action – the claustrophobic setting of the radio station is used to good effect as the town collapses around them – but the real joy here is in the subtlety and how it makes something so innocent ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING.
Hatchet (2006)
Available on: Amazon Prime
Ed’s Personal Rating: 8/10
What if you had Friday the 13th, but instead of Jason (or Jason’s mother, don’t get horror nerd on me) you had a guy with a disfigured face thanks to an unfortunate hatchet incident, and what if instead of Camp Crystal Lake you get the Louisiana bayou swamps? This film, and its sequels, which to be honest improve dramatically in quality (including the fourth one, recently released, which is unusual as fourth films go in that it might be the best of the franchise) have a cult following due to the insanely gory deaths and the knowing campy humour laced throughout them all, which is actually funny. I cannot emphasise how gory these deaths are. It is beautiful. If you’re a slasher fan, this is a must see. If not, then… maybe become one?
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