It wouldn’t be Halloween without horror movies, but if you’ve already been spooked by classics like Halloween and The Exorcist and shocked by newer fayre like Paranormal Activity and [Rec], there are plenty of underappreciated horror gems out there waiting to be discovered by intrepid film fans on a dark October night. This Halloween, Geekzine UK presents to you a small selection of recommended horror films that you may have previously overlooked, due either to their relative obscurity or their (unfairly) poor reputation in critical circles. Ranging from fairly conventional monster movies to surreal odysseys into the unknown, they’re none of them flawless, but all of them have that essential ingredient for a suitably creepy cinematic experience….atmosphere! Enjoy some alternative horror this Halloween; there’s more than one way to scare yourself witless!
La Cabina (1972)
In just 35 minutes, this Emmy award-winning Spanish short directed by Antonio Mercero manages to build more tension than most feature-length films. A simple story about a man trapped in a phone box becomes a terrifying ordeal as a creeping sense of dread begins to infect the film, and the main character starts to realise the true horror of his situation. Eschewing any explicitly supernatural elements, La Cabina can be seen as a satire on the banality of bureaucratic evil, but works best if experienced purely as a horror story, albeit one of a most unusual kind.
C.H.U.D. (1984)
In spite of its horrendous title, C.H.U.D. is a hugely entertaining – and surprisingly well-made – monster movie. John Heard and Daniel Stern would later reunite in Home Alone (albeit without sharing a single scene), but here they play two men investigating gruesome attacks in New York’s sewers in an altogether different type of film. The concept of mutated, homeless cannibals dwelling beneath the city streets is proper B-movie fodder, but it almost seems as if everyone involved with the movie forgot that they were making a terrible film and turned in solid performances instead! The creature make-up is dated but still effective, and the labyrinthine sewer sets make for an eerie backdrop to this underrated classic.
Prince of Darkness (1987)
You might be surprised to see one film – let alone two – from legendary director John Carpenter (“The Master of Fear”) on a list of alternative horror movies, but for every Escape From New York and The Thing, there’s a lesser-known movie in Carpenter’s oeuvre that hasn’t developed the cult following some of his other works have, and they aren’t all as bad as Ghosts of Mars! Prince of Darkness may have been a critical failure upon its release in 1987, and seen as a relatively poor film in comparison to much of Carpenter’s earlier work, but despite some dodgy plot logic and even dodgier facial hair, this story of physics students investigating a demonic artefact buried beneath a church makes for a thrilling watch. The film has a fantastically creepy atmosphere, aided by Carpenter’s unsettling synth score, a great performance from Donald Pleasence as a conflicted priest, and some profoundly disturbing hand-held camera sequences. Plus, there’s a cameo from Alice Cooper!
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
The second John Carpenter film on this list is another underrated gem, and actually represents the best attempt yet by a director at adapting the work of H.P. Lovecraft for the big screen. The film isn’t an actual Lovecraft adaptation, but the mysterious and sinister figure at its centre, horror writer Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow), whose books turn those who read them into psychotic killers, is an obvious analogue for the master of atmospheric eldritch horror, and the dark and ancient beings who orchestrate the film’s apocalyptic events are clearly influenced by the Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu mythos. Sam Neill puts in a fine performance as an investigator sent to rural New England to track down Cane and his latest manuscript, only to discover the terrible truth about his own reality and an unspeakable plot to end the world….or so he thinks.
Gozu (2003)
Easily the most surreal entry on this list comes courtesy of notorious Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, with his utterly bizarre horror film Gozu. Minami (Hideki Stone) searches a small town for his lost friend Ozaki (Show Aikawa), a brutally violent gangster, and encounters a strange and disturbing array of characters who may or may not be to blame for his friend’s disappearance. Minami’s odyssey eventually brings him into contact with a cow-headed demon (the eponymous Gozu), with whom it seems Ozaki may have made a deal to ensure his own transformation and rebirth. At times the film is almost maddeningly abstract, with several key plot points seemingly left open to interpretation, but Miike manages to maintain a nicely eerie and ethereal atmosphere throughout, occasionally punctuated with some truly shocking scenes. The bonkers nature of the trailer gives a good idea of what viewers are in for, but Gozu can be a rewarding watch if you’re willing to take it on its own terms.
The House of the Devil (2009)
If you weren’t already aware that House of the Devil was made just three years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to date it accurately merely by watching. Director Ti West strove to recreate the style and atmosphere of the classic horror films of the 1970s and 1980s, using 16mm film and a range of cinematographic techniques typical of the period, and succeeded in creating a movie that looks and feels as though it was made thirty years ago. College student Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) takes a babysitting job at a foreboding house on the edge of town, home to the deeply sinister Mr Ulman (the ever-creepy Tom Noonan) and his family. All Samantha has to do is sit downstairs and watch TV, but of course her curiosity gets the better of her and her journey into the upper reaches of the house becomes a prolonged and terrifying ordeal. Despite being an obvious homage to many classic horror films of the last few decades, House of the Devil never feels stale, and features a level of finesse and attention to detail frequently absent in many modern shockers.
Go on then and take a step out into the unknown, but don’t say we didn’t warn you! And just in case these six films aren’t sufficient to satisfy your bloodlust, as an added bonus we’ve included this list of miscellaneous recommended titles from the forgotten vaults of underrated horror classics (in no particular order), compiled by horror aficionado and friend of the Geekzine, Wayne Thomson:
From Beyond (1986), Legend of Hell House (1973), The Reptile (1966), Freaks (1932), Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), Inferno (1980), Zombie Holocaust (1979), Cannibal Apocalypse (1980), Q – the Winged Serpent (1982), Anguish (1987), Lifeforce (1985), The Funhouse (1981), Frightmare (1974), Xtro (1982), The Witch Who Came From the Sea (1976), The Exorcist 3 (1990), Stage Fright (1987), Martin (1976)
Careful, though; most of these are not for the faint of heart (or stomach)….
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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