Underrated Horror Movies

[Zymologist]

I've seen a couple of those, and been meaning to see some others (like Black Sheep and Cronos). Interesting list.

[JardinPrayer]

Naked Lunch is hilarious. I have a high tolerance for the absurd. And, it stars Peter Weller, so...yes, please.

Gothic is a film I've blocked out of my memory. I just seem to remember it was deeply unsettling. That's all.

[Cerebrum123]

Black Sheep was hilarious through most of it, but it gets really, really, really gross at the end*.


*I gag thinking about it, trust me, you do not want to know.

ETA: It's possible that we have the unrated edition(got it for like $1 at a used DVD and CD place). We had no idea it had that kind of stuff at the end.

[JardinPrayer]

Speaking of really, really gross, I guess I'll mention "The Brood." Now that I've mentioned it, I think I may have to unsubscribe from this thread.

[Adrift]

Speaking of really, really gross, I guess I'll mention "The Brood." Now that I've mentioned it, I think I may have to unsubscribe from this thread.

I...really like that movie. I mean, yeah, it's gross, but it does have a moral message. Kinda. Sorta. Cronenberg's body horror films do give me the willies, but I don't think The Brood is as bad as something like Rabid or Dead Ringers or Crash which may not always be as physically graphic, but are certainly viscerally so. He knows how to make you squirm. Funny how he can go from The Brood to something like Eastern Promises or A History of Violence.

[Jesse]

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.

I found City of Lost Children so dang boring . And you know what made it worse? It made me read!! I thought the only redeeming value was Ron Perlman. He seems to be good in whatever film he shows up in.

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.

I had in mind to give a lot of leeway to the thread. I just want to know what everyone's personal underrated movies are. If you feel it's a movie that deserves more praise than it gets, share it. I am enjoying seeing all these movies I haven't heard of.

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.

I saw this once and enjoyed it. It was one of the better werewolf movies if I remember correctly (we don't get many of those and it's a shame). I don't see it mentioned much so those who don't know of it will be getting a pleasant surprise.

Another werewolf movie I think is underrated and I don't see anyone talking about is Bad Moon starring Mariel Hemingway. If no one has seen it, do yourself a favor and catch it.

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.

Now this sounds like an interesting movie. I heard a small bit about this movie and then nothing else after that. You are so right about there not being many good Lovecraftian movies. One that always stuck with me was Necronomicon: Book of Dead. Have you seen that one? I thought it was pretty good. I don't know about it being underrated though.

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.

Oh, yes. If you enjoy Dead Alive, this would be right up your alley. I don't know what it is about New Zealand and gore. It is pretty funny.

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.

Another one I haven't seen. I can watch a plot premise done more than once as long as it's done well. Since you say it was, I will have to check it out.

I...really like that movie. I mean, yeah, it's gross, but it does have a moral message. Kinda. Sorta. Cronenberg's body horror films do give me the willies, but I don't think The Brood is as bad as something like Rabid or Dead Ringers or Crash which may not always be as physically graphic, but are certainly viscerally so. He knows how to make you squirm. Funny how he can go from The Brood to something like Eastern Promises or A History of Violence.

Whoa! I didn't know Cronenberg did A History of Violence. That is so not Cronenbergish . I liked that move too. Wow...

[JardinPrayer]

So, I haven't seen the trailer, but some tween boys I was minding for an afternoon showed me the trailer for "Rubber." It's about a tire that becomes not only sentient, but psychotic and psychokinetic and goes on a killing spree. Let me tell you, my jaw just hung open as I contemplated what it took in time, money, and resources to bring this concept to life. Boggles the mind. Then, I laughed hysterically at the brilliance of it all and added it to my watchlist. When I mentioned it to my husband, he said he'd love to watch it! I don't know why we haven't watched it yet. Let's have a party at my place and watch it together.

[Teallaura]

A psychotic Michelin Man....

[JardinPrayer]

Housebound is a good comedy horror. Surprisingly funny.

Altered is a pretty cool flick about a group of rednecks that capture an alien and bring it to a garage.

Went back to the beginning of the thread to look some of these up on IMDB. Chose not to add Altered to my watchlist just on the description of one brief scene involving intestines. I draw the line there. Hate those scenes as much as I hate maggots. Housebound looks like a well-made film and I do like horror/comedy when it's smartly done. But, the violence/gore rating was 9/10, though there were no specific scenes described that I felt I couldn't watch. Got any insight on this, Zymologist?

[JardinPrayer]

A psychotic Michelin Man....

Go watch the trailer. It's hilarious. But, a head does explode. And a bird.

[Zymologist]

So, I haven't seen the trailer, but some tween boys I was minding for an afternoon showed me the trailer for "Rubber." It's about a tire that becomes not only sentient, but psychotic and psychokinetic and goes on a killing spree. Let me tell you, my jaw just hung open as I contemplated what it took in time, money, and resources to bring this concept to life. Boggles the mind. Then, I laughed hysterically at the brilliance of it all and added it to my watchlist. When I mentioned it to my husband, he said he'd love to watch it! I don't know why we haven't watched it yet. Let's have a party at my place and watch it together.

I've seen it. It's...pretty much what you'd expect.

[Zymologist]

Went back to the beginning of the thread to look some of these up on IMDB. Chose not to add Altered to my watchlist just on the description of one brief scene involving intestines. I draw the line there. Hate those scenes as much as I hate maggots. Housebound looks like a well-made film and I do like horror/comedy when it's smartly done. But, the violence/gore rating was 9/10, though there were no specific scenes described that I felt I couldn't watch. Got any insight on this, Zymologist?

There is some gore (particularly at the very end), but it's very brief. I would say that Housebound is actually a lot tamer than most of what's been posted in here. Also, no language that I can remember, and no sexual content either.

[Adrift]

I found City of Lost Children so dang boring . And you know what made it worse? It made me read!! I thought the only redeeming value was Ron Perlman. He seems to be good in whatever film he shows up in.

Ah, that's a shame. I saw it when Perlman was mostly known only for playing the part of Beast on the Beauty and the Beast tv series. So he wasn't unknown, but wasn't as well known, I suppose. I just love everything about that movie. I loved the sickly green and sepia color tone of the picture, I loved the Rube Goldberg chain reactions, I loved the early 19th century French setting, I thought the kids were adorable, I thought the acting by everyone, especially by Dominique Pinon (who plays the clones and is featured in other Jean Pierre Jeunet films), and the Octopus twins was over the top and totally fun. I don't know, I just love everything about it.

I had in mind to give a lot of leeway to the thread. I just want to know what everyone's personal underrated movies are. If you feel it's a movie that deserves more praise than it gets, share it. I am enjoying seeing all these movies I haven't heard of.

Oh good!

I saw this once and enjoyed it. It was one of the better werewolf movies if I remember correctly (we don't get many of those and it's a shame). I don't see it mentioned much so those who don't know of it will be getting a pleasant surprise.

Another werewolf movie I think is underrated and I don't see anyone talking about is Bad Moon starring Mariel Hemingway. If no one has seen it, do yourself a favor and catch it.

Oh cool, I don't think I've seen that. I'll add it to my growing list.

Now this sounds like an interesting movie. I heard a small bit about this movie and then nothing else after that. You are so right about there not being many good Lovecraftian movies.
One that always stuck with me was Necronomicon: Book of Dead. Have you seen that one? I thought it was pretty good. I don't know about it being underrated though.

I don't know if I've seen that film or not. Sounds familiar. Seems like something I'd watch just for being a fan of Evil Dead. I'll have to check it out if I haven't.

Oh, yes. If you enjoy Dead Alive, this would be right up your alley. I don't know what it is about New Zealand and gore. It is pretty funny.

Another one I haven't seen. I can watch a plot premise done more than once as long as it's done well. Since you say it was, I will have to check it out.

I think you'll like it. There's nothing inherently not likeable about it for most horror fans I think.

Whoa! I didn't know Cronenberg did A History of Violence. That is so not Cronenbergish . I liked that move too. Wow...

Yeah, I love it when a director totally defies expectations. Just shows how great some of these artists are that they can do a more conventional story if they want, but choose not to a lot of the time. Reminds me of how a lot of people think that some of the great modern artists like Picasso or Pollock couldn't draw so that's why they went with abstraction, but if you look at any of their early work, they did plenty of great realistic stuff. It's fun to think that someone like David Lynch who did terrifying films like Eraserhead, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive could just as easily do sentimental work like The Elephant Man or The Straight Story.

[Adrift]

I've seen it. It's...pretty much what you'd expect.

I didn't really care for it, personally, but I liked the introduction. Reminded me a bit of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Same sort of black humor.

[JardinPrayer]

Ah, that's a shame. I saw it when Perlman was mostly known only for playing the part of Beast on the Beauty and the Beast tv series. So he wasn't unknown, but wasn't as well known, I suppose. I just love everything about that movie. I loved the sickly green and sepia color tone of the picture, I loved the Rube Goldberg chain reactions, I loved the early 19th century French setting, I thought the kids were adorable, I thought the acting by everyone, especially by Dominique Pinon (who plays the clones and is featured in other Jean Pierre Jeunet films), and the Octopus twins was over the top and totally fun. I don't know, I just love everything about it.

Yes on all of that.