Hello and welcome to spooky season! October is a wonderful month for me as it allows me to watch and talk about my favourite genre of film, horror. I love horror films. In fact, it was the first genre that I truly explored, and as a young teen when I was picking a film to watch I would gravitate towards horror films. As a result, I pretty much raced through all the classics that everyone knows and loves, which has allowed me in more recent years to seek out some that may fly under the radar. And it is these films we are talking about today, those horror films that may be underappreciated or not talked about enough. That is not to say that all of these films will be underground films that no one has ever heard of, but they are films that I don’t feel are talked about enough and don’t get the praise they deserve, and this list should act as films you should give a go throughout October
Chopping Mall (1986)
On second thought this may not be the best film to kick this list off with because in a lot of ways it isn’t particularly good. But I’ll tell you what it is, and that is a really good bloody time, literally and figuratively). This film doesn’t set out to terrify you and it is extremely tongue in cheek, acting much more as a horror comedy than straight-up horror. If you like your slasher films as much as I do then you should absolutely seek this one out, it’s a lot of fun.
The Borderlands (2013)
Found footage films do seem to divide opinions for people, they are like marmite in that way. For my part, I quite like them or at the very least I don’t dislike the style. That being said I have seen a lot of bad-found-footage films, but this is not one of them. The majority of the film basically follows the standard playbook for found-footage films, although it has a far more intriguing narrative than many of its counterparts which raises it. But the reason it is here is that the final act truly creeped me out and made me feel rather uncomfortable. A lot of that has to do with my own personal fears, but it still worked a treat on me.
Hellbender (2021)
The most recent film on this list and the one with the most interesting team behind it as the film is made by a family of filmmakers who all direct, write, edit, and star in their films. This could be cause for concern in a lot of cases and conjure up images of shitty home movies but that is very far from the truth here. The levels of production on the film are really impressive with some wonderful cinematography and brilliant visual imagery throughout. The film fits more into atmospheric horror than a make you jump out of your skin type horror and the atmosphere it creates is really effective. Well worth seeking out.
The Exorcist III (1990)
A sequel to a horror classic which is actually good? Say it ain’t so! They had already failed with Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) which is an abomination on film, but boy did they win back points with this one. It is likely helped by William Peter Blatty, the author of the original book, returning to direct, and because of this, the dialogue in this film is wonderful. In terms of the horror elements, it is different to the original film, taking on much more of a sinister and creepy atmosphere. There is very little on-screen violence or body horror in the film, it is all implied or described and it helps create this brilliant feeling of dread and underlying evil. Ignore the fact that it is a sequel and give it a go.
Pulse (2001)
When people think about the J-horror boom of the late 90s/early 2000s everyone’s mind immediately goes to Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002). The average film fan would unlikely bring up Pulse which for me is the best of the whole era. It doesn’t have the iconic villain that those films have, but what it does have is an unbelievably eerie and tense atmosphere from the first moment. Its fear comes from just how unnerving it is, and I can’t think of many films that hold a candle to it in that sense. It loses itself towards its climax, but it is so effective leading to that that it still works. It also has one of the scariest scenes in any film ever. It is truly brilliant, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Lake Mungo (2008)
Speaking of films that are consistently unnerving and tense, this film also ticks those boxes. A lot of how I described Pulse can be attributed to this film too, except this film is far more depressing. It is super simple in its storytelling and this means that it can focus on creating its atmosphere and it allows for the film to be incredibly creepy. It also has one of the more harrowing moments of fear I have experienced. Perhaps more than any other film on this list this one is the definition of an underrated gem.
Black Christmas (1974)
This may be cheating somewhat as it can probably be argued that this film is neither underrated nor underappreciated, I mean it managed to get two remakes. But the reason I have included it is because I so very rarely see it mentioned alongside other horror classics, and I think it absolutely deserves to be. It is brilliant and is a trailblazer in the slasher genre. Watching it for the first time I thought that it was clearly inspired by Halloween (1978) but, as you can see from the dates next to both films, the exact opposite is true. And for my money, this film is better than Halloween. It is far creepier more suspenseful, and most importantly scarier. It is a film that I only watched recently, and it has become one that I think about a lot and one that will become a Christmas tradition for me.
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