The great thing about being a horror fan is that horror is always in season. As one of the industry’s longest reliable low-budget moneymakers, horror business is always booming, which means there are exciting new genre films to watch almost every week of the year – especially in the last decade since digital technology made low-budget filmmaking more accessible than ever. The downside? That means you’re probably missing a lot of good stuff just because so much of it flies under the radar.
With that in mind, I took a look back at the last decade and picked ten of my favorite horror movies that didn’t quite get the love they deserved from audiences. Since the horror genre is so robust and there are countless gems that didn’t make it at the box office – or heck, didn’t even get a proper theatrical release – I’ve limited this list to movies that have roughly 30K or fewer votes on IMDB. Yes, it’s a somewhat arbitrary metric, but it sure did help me cut down a list that was growing rampantly out of control.
I also tried to space the picks out through some subgenre; we’ve got uproarious horror comedies and bleak genre fuel alike, psychological horror, zombies, sci-fi, a slasher-riff or two, and some movies that just straight up defy genre labels. But most importantly, I just picked the movies I love that I wished more people had seen.
As I said before, there’s awhole lot of horror, so this definitely isn’t a comprehensive list so be sure to sound off with your favorite under-seen horror movies of the decade in the comments, and click the link for more of ourbest movies of the decade coverage.
Detention (2012)
Absolutely insane, utterly uneven and still a delight for all its mismatching messiness,Joseph Kahn’sDetentiondefies easy explanation. But let’s try.Detentionis a teen slasher at heart, but that heart has been chopped out and Franken-filmed into a bizarre, frantically energetic genre mash-up that gives music video favorite Kahn a chance to flex all his fast-cutting, highly-stylized creative muscles in a self-referential, wildly original take on the genre. This is definitely one of those love it or hate it movies; banter-heavy, rapid-fire, and host to some of the most bizarre and outrageous set-pieces and gags I’ve ever seen, but I love it and if you liie movies that tear up the rule book (and then shotgun blast it into a WTF-machine),Detentionis absolutely worth seeking out because almost a decade later, it’s still one-of-a-kind.
Excision (2012)
Camp tragedy of the highest order (it even has a supporting role played by John Waters for good measure,)Excisionis a dark-comedy-psychological-horror movie mashup that will keep you alternately chuckling and gagging throughout its runtime, then sour in your stomach with a vicious and heartbreaking ending you can’t forget.AnnaLynne McCordgives a spectacularly wry, unsettling and winning performance as Pauline, a teenage outcast with a surgical obsession, a raging case of hormones, and a case of increasingly violent and sexual fantasies. Isolated, terrified of her younger sister’s ill health, and wounded by her mother’s (Traci Lords) obvious disgust towards her, Pauline is poised for a full descent into her bloodbath fantasies. Witty and absurd while being absolutely ruthless,Excisionhits a scalpel-precise tone, stitching together body horror, teen and domestic drama, and camp comedy into a surprisingly appealing grotesquery. –Haleigh Foutch
100 Bloody Acres (2013)
A goofy, gory, and good-spirited riff on the backwoods killer subgenre, the horror-comedy100 Bloody Acreshas been described as an AustralianTucker and Dale vs. Evil, and that’s certainly not off, but100 Bloody Acresis just a bit weirder and even giddier.Angus SampsonandDamon Herriman(who is best known at the moment for playing double Charles Mansons inMindhunterandOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, but gets to show off a wholly charming, utterly bumbling side here) star as outback brothers Reg and Lindsay, who own a failing blood and bone fertilizer business with a macabre twist – their secret family ingredient involves the mangled bodies of car crash victims. But with a big order on the horizon and no crash victims to be found, they start to consider some, let’s say, fresher meat. Of course, nothing goes according to plan and killing people isn’t quite as easy as it sounds, especially when Reg falls in love with one of the intended victims. The resulting film is ridiculous, blood-soaked and surprisingly sweet,
Resolution (2013)
The filmmaking debut fromSpringandThe EndlessduoJustin BensonandAaron Moorhead,Resolutionis a spectacular example of how you can build cosmic-scale terrors with a micro-scale budget. The film follows two old friends to a remote cabin, where Mike (Peter Cilella) chains up his junkie BFF Chris (Vinny Curran) with the determination to get him clean no matter what. Naturally, that doesn’t go over very well with Chris, but while Benson’s script digs into their fractured friendship with some vicious, barbed dialogue, it also introduces an otherworldly menace, taunting the duo with strange videos and images that shouldn’t,couldn’texist.Resolutionis dramatically engaging with witty humor but even better, it’s downright “welp, i"ve got a sudden case of the goosebumps” chilling when it wants to be. And once you’ve finished it, go ahead and turn on Benson and Moorhead’s also under-seen follow-upThe Endlessand marvel at how they built a whole mythology and dark-fantasy world out of the simple but striking events ofResolution.
Honeymoon (2014)
An unsettling romance-gone-wrong,HoneymoonstarsRose LeslieandHarry Treadawayas newlyweds who head out to a secluded cabin for a romantic celebration and wind up trapped in sci-fi nightmare after a bout of sleepwalking leaves one of themchanged. Director and co-writerLeigh Janiakworks with the themes of alienation and isolation, particularly how they seem to poison marriages and change relationships, and mines them for maximum chills through moments of startling body horror paired with the emotional horror of watching someone you love inexplicably transform before your eyes.
Backcountry (2015)
An absolute shitshow of anxiety from start to finish, and I mean that with the greatest compliments.Backcountryis a movie that thrives, not on mystery, but on the understanding that we know exactly what’s going to happen – we just don’t know how. It’s all there in the plot synopsis: this couple is about to get fucked up by a bear, but when?! That makesBackcountryrife with jack-in-the-box anxiety, and writer/directorAdam MacDonaldmakes the most of it, keeping the drama rich with intimately barbed dialogue and a steady slow burn of conflict between the couple (played byMissy PeregrymandJeff Roop) and a nauseous sense of fear that only grows with each foolish decision.
The Final Girls (2015)
A touching story about mother-daughter bonds and coming to terms with loss, tucked inside an adoring send-up of the 1980s slashers,The Final Girlsis one of the most crowd-pleasing meta-comedies I’ve ever seen, and it’s a damn shame more people haven’t seen it. DirectorTodd Strauss-Schulsonhas proven a knack for self-aware genre comedy with his other films (Christmas comedies withA Very Harold & Kumar 3d Christmasand rom-coms withIsn’t It Romantic), but his style makes a pitch-perfect match her with the clever and heartfelt script byM.A. FortinandJoshua John Millerthat literally takes you through the movie screen into a vintage slasher. And it’s all topped off by an outstanding ensemble that includesTaissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman,Nina Dobrev,Adam Devine,Alia Shawkat, andThomas Middleditch, who nail the comedic bits just as hard as the dramatic punch. A deeply loving homage to the horror hits of the 80s that combines characters with rooting for with your favorite horror tropes,The Final Girlsis one of the best meta-horror comedies ever made.
A Dark Song (2017)
The word “unique” gets bandied about a lot (and fair enough, there are a lot of creative people out there!) but I can truly say I’ve never seen a movie quite likeA Dark Songbefore. With a tone somewhere between despairing and hopeful,Liam Gavin’s occult fantasy-horror finds a mother grieving the death of her young son (Catherine Walker) turning to a misanthropic occultist (Steve Oram) to help her perform a harrowing, months-long ritual that will grant them both the opportunity to ask their guardian angel for a wish if they manage to pull it off successfully. But to do so is going to be very,veryhard.A Dark Songpresents the grueling ritual in detail, and all the mind-bending rewards and consequences of their attempt.A Dark Songis an emotionally-fueled, anxiety-ridden genre experiment that is both bleak and beautiful, and it’s well worth seeking out if you missed it. –Haleigh Foutch
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2017)
This is one of those super slow-burn, super dark movies that tend to divide people, but if that sounds like your jam, make sure to seek outThe Blackcoat’s Daughter(formerly calledFebruary). DirectorOsgood Perkins(who also helmed the similarly chilling and underseenI Am the Pretty Thing That Lives Inside the House) has a gift for atmospheric dread, and here, he applies that talent to a cryptic tale of satanic worship and grisly murder.Kiernan Shipka,Emma Roberts, andLucy Boyntonstar in a story that’s best left unexplained, but lands with one of the best film endings of the decade. I still think about the absolute gut-punch ending years after seeing this one, and few final-moment film reveals have utterly iced me over the way this one did. Like I said, it’s not for everyone, but the film’s stark and chilling spiritual ruthlessness cut me to the bone. –Haleigh Foutch
The Transfiguration (2017)
A beautiful vampire fable about the underprivileged and cast-off in society and the eternal allure of blood-sucking immortality,The Transfiguration. The biblical title calls to mind one of the miracles of Jesus, the moment he was reborn in his full glory as the son of god, and writer/directorMichael O’Sheamines those parallels in the story of Milo (Eric Ruffin) a long-suffering and traumatized teenage boy who thinks he might be turning into a vampire. O’Shea never offers any clean answers to the paranormal potentials of that logline, but he does lean in on the tragedy of a lost boy who believes he’s found his everlasting salvation . – his escape from a life of violence – by turning towards more violence. A slow-burn shocker that sinks into your bones with the leaden weight of sorrow,The Transfigurationis a bleak and heartbreaking spin on the vampire mythology that lingers with you.
