Underrated Horror Movies

[Teallaura]

[Jesse]

That reminds me of a funny story that a college friend told me once.

He and some friends were getting together to watch a movie, but they didn't know what. They'd decided that they wanted a scary movie, but couldn't decide on anything. Then one of them said that they'd remembered watching this really scary movie when they were a kid, so they should rent that. None of them had ever heard of it, so they all went along with it.

The movie? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

That's hilarious. It's right up there with The Shining, amiright? It is funny how we remember these things sometimes.

[JardinPrayer]

Great film. I have a friend who worked with Richard Elfman years later. Says he was a really good guy. Love that movie. Love the music. Not sure why you wouldn't want to talk about it.

Well, probably because I'm a middle-aged woman...not exactly the demographic that film targeted. No doubt, the entire Elfman clan are brilliant, but The Forbidden Zoneis just so very over the top.

If anyone hasn't seen it, beware it has some naughty words and some topless females. Not sure why I even felt I had to say that in this thread, but I'm trying to be considerate. AFAIR, however, no one dies, loses a body part, or bleeds. They just fall down a giant animated intestine and get pooped into the sixth dimension.

[JonathanL]

That reminds me of a funny story that a college friend told me once.

He and some friends were getting together to watch a movie, but they didn't know what. They'd decided that they wanted a scary movie, but couldn't decide on anything. Then one of them said that they'd remembered watching this really scary movie when they were a kid, so they should rent that. None of them had ever heard of it, so they all went along with it.

The movie? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

If the content of the movie actually corresponded to the title (i.e explosive diarrhea), then maybe it would have been scary.

[JonathanL]

I'm sorry, don't hit me!

[Adrift]

Well, probably because I'm a middle-aged woman...not exactly the demographic that film targeted. No doubt, the entire Elfman clan are brilliant, but The Forbidden Zoneis just so very over the top.

If anyone hasn't seen it, beware it has some naughty words and some topless females. Not sure why I even felt I had to say that in this thread, but I'm trying to be considerate. AFAIR, however, no one dies, loses a body part, or bleeds. They just fall down a giant animated intestine and get pooped into the sixth dimension.

You know what's funny and kinda strange is that I've actually been thinking about that movie since first jumping into this thread. I didn't want to mention it because it's not horror. Well..., I mean, it's weird, and inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (at least in the set design), but yeah, more surrealistic fantasy than horror. Again, such a fun film. Glad you brought it up!

Oh, and I don't know if that film had a target demographic.

[JardinPrayer]

Aww, heck...I bought the VHS...the. The DVD...and have shared it with carefully-picked friends I think will still love me after viewing it.

My husband and I often "sing" that little bin bam boom thing the two wrestlers do while beating their chests. It's almost belching, but it's a catchy tune!

[rogue06]

That reminds me of a funny story that a college friend told me once.

He and some friends were getting together to watch a movie, but they didn't know what. They'd decided that they wanted a scary movie, but couldn't decide on anything. Then one of them said that they'd remembered watching this really scary movie when they were a kid, so they should rent that. None of them had ever heard of it, so they all went along with it.

The movie? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Always found it interesting that the author of the story is the same man who wrote the James Bond stories -- Ian Fleming.

[JardinPrayer]

My husband and I often "sing" that little bin bam boom thing the two wrestlers do while beating their chests. It's almost belching, but it's a catchy tune!

In looking for that clip on YouTube (it's there, but certainly not suitable for linking on this forum), I found a campaign video from Richard Elfman trying to find The Forbidden Zone 2. That was last year. Doesn't seem to have gotten funded. I just said to my husband, "I don't think I'll help him fund this. I'm barely comfortable with the fact that The Forbidden Zone 1 exists...and that I like it."

[Teallaura]

Always found it interesting that the author of the story is the same man who wrote the James Bond stories -- Ian Fleming.

Cool, I had never realized that.

Chitty was a favorite of mine. I remember waiting for it to come on each year.

[tabibito]

I'm sorry, don't hit me!

Chidori Chrawnus.jpg

[JardinPrayer]

Oh, and Adrift mentioned "City of Lost Children," when we were discussing foreign films earlier. One of my favorites of all time! It's not classic horror, but it is about a guy who steals dreams, so I think it has a place here. It's French and subtitled. Dark and beautiful and moody...and it stars Ron Perlman...speaking French! Come on! If you are a self-respecting Hellboy or Beauty & the Beast (TV series) or even Sons of Anarchy fan, you owe it to yourself to give it a watch. And, several YouTube channels, including Sony Pictures themselves, are offering the entire thing for free.

[rogue06]

Oh, and Adrift mentioned "City of Lost Children," when we were discussing foreign films earlier. One of my favorites of all time! It's not classic horror, but it is about a guy who steals dreams, so I think it has a place here. It's French and subtitled. Dark and beautiful and moody...and it stars Ron Perlman...speaking French! Come on! If you are a self-respecting Hellboy or Beauty & the Beast (TV series) or even Sons of Anarchy fan, you owe it to yourself to give it a watch. And, several YouTube channels, including Sony Pictures themselves, are offering the entire thing for free.

Yeah I was pleasantly surprised by the film.

[Cerebrum123]

No I haven't. Sounds good though. Thanks for letting me know. I'm a big Twilight Zone/Outer Limits/Tales from the Darkside fan.

I love all of those. One of my favorite episodes(thinking it was either Outer Limits or Tales from the Darkside) had a kind of reversal of the plot from The Day the Earth Stood Still. It was more funny than scary.

[Adrift]

Trying to stick with this underrated theme can be tough, especially for this genre, because so many films that I'd think are well known, may be completely off someone else's radar, so its hard for me to not list some of my personal favorites like Blue Velvet, Fire Walk With Me, Phantasm, Cube, Videodrome, Scanners, The Dead Zone and the like, because I think these are all pretty well known, especially in the horror community. The same is probably true for many of the following, but I'm going to go ahead and take the risk.

Dog Soldiers. What happens when werewolves come into contact with British special forces? Find out by watching this film. Probably one of my favorite werewolf films. Better than many with much higher budgets (I'm looking at you Wolf). It was actually a toss up between this and In the Company of Wolves, a Neil Jordan (Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) horror fantasy that riffs off of Little Red Riding Hood as a coming of age piece.


Cronos. This is an early, Spanish language Guillermo del Toro film. Saw it back when it was released in the early-mid 90s. It's sort of an interesting take on a vampire film using antiques...I guess. It's been a long time since I've seen this film, but I remember really liking it at the time. Recently tried to rewatch it with a friend, but I found myself getting distracted before I got too deep in. Might not be as good as I remember.


The Call of Cthulhu. We've been talking about Lovecraft throughout this thread, and as everyone knows, there's very few films based on Lovecraft that are very good. This film is the complete opposite of that. It's a modern indie film that was done as a silent black and white. It's very imaginative, extremely well-crafted. Lots of love and devotion going into this project, and very close to the source material. I mean, doing a silent film version of the Call of Cthulhu is just really smart. If you like Lovecraft, I think you'll love this film.


The Tenant. This is one of the more popular ones in my list. Directed and starring Roman Polanski. Psychological horror about a man losing his mind in his apartment. Great stuff as usual from him. Really captivating. If you like this, and you haven't done so, check out Repulsion, which is similar in theme, but probably more horror-like. In fact, I probably should have put that on the list instead.


Naked Lunch. Another one of the more popular ones. This film is not for everyone, but if you have even a passing interest in the 50s Beat scene, or Cronenberg, or just like weird films, this is a must see in my book. It's basically an adaption of famous Beat author, William S. Burrough's work and personal life. If I'm remembering correctly, it's based more on his book Heroin than the title's namesake, Naked Lunch. Basically about an exterminator who starts using his own supply, sort of, but not really.


Black Sheep. I don't really remember much about this film except that I laughed a lot. Basically about sheep in New Zealand that have gone baaaa'd (okay that was terrible). Quite a bit in the vein of Dead Alive. Gory NZ nonsense, so it's not everyone's cup of tea.


Triangle. I don't really know why I'm putting this on the list. If you've seen this plot premise once, you've seen it a thousand times, but this film does it pretty well, and it came out recently, so I'm listing it. I don't really want to say anything about what this film is about because I find that going in cold is the best way to get into it. Suffice to say that it's a psychological thriller at sea? Yeah, I guess that'll do.


Gothic. Not a whole lot goes on in this film, but I love it purely for it's atmosphere. Classic horror film from Ken Russell. Mary and Percy Shelley spend a night over at Lord Byron's place, and tell ghost stories which inspires Mary to write Frankenstein. Been a long time since I've seen this one, and I wonder how it's held up. If you like this, check out Russell's other horror and sci-fi films.