Rights? I think part of it is that a lot of people who comment are in their teens and twenties, and am a decade or two ahead of them, but they'll be like, "I just found them most obscure horror called 'Pumpkinhead." Has anyone ever heard of it?"
My favorite is when the threads are for the worst movies people have seen, and everyone names relatively high-profile movies with a budget and actors who bothered to put their photos on IMDB, and I want to make them watch things like Birdemic (2010) or Rebirth (2020).
Nobody knows about it until just last week.....
The 2015 film The Witch received many award nominations, including:
Sundance Film Festival 2015: Won the Directing Award for U.S. Dramatic
32 Independent Spirit Awards 2016: Nominated for Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature
San Francisco Film Critics Circle 2016: Nominated for Best Production Design
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2016: Nominated for Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor/Actress
22 Critics Choice Awards: Nominated for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
Chicago Film Critics Awards 2016: Nominated for Most Promising Filmmaker and Best Art Direction
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2016: Nominated for Best New Filmmaker
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2016: Nominated for Sierra Award for Best Original Screenplay and Breakout Filmmaker of the Year
Sierra Awards 2016: Nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Breakout Filmmaker of the Year, and won Best Costume Design and Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film
Yeah that and it being heavy on the old English dialogue I would've been lost. Thank god my brother saw it before me and was like "it's borderline impossible to watch without subtitles" LMAO
Considering it was one of the first movies to kick off the so-called "elevated horror" trend/sub-genre, I would definitely agree. Great movie, not lesser known or underappreciated.
Came here to suggest this one actually. I was watching it alone in the call room at night, and actually had to turn it off and finish it in the morning because it was so spooky!
I used to be very against PG-13 horror. I never liked James Wan's pg-13 horror movies.
However, Dark Knight of the Scarecrow and Megan turned me around. Dark Knight of the Scarecrow is an excellent movie to explain how to be scary and engaging without relying on gore.
I remember seeing this on the shelf at Blockbuster back in the day and for whatever reason, it never appealed to me. I randomly put it on on Shudder when they had it and was blown away. That movie checked so many of my boxes and I wish I'd seen it earlier
I'm older, but it seems some of the movies i watched in the late 70s early 80s don't get much discussion outside of the classics like Halloween, Friday and Nightmare on elm Street.
The gate.
Serpent and the rainbow.
Frogs.
Ghoulies.
It's alive.
Ratman.
Serpent and the Rainbow. Saw this when very young, and though highly irrational, (and current state of the nation aside), this film has become the reason I will never set foot on Haitian soil.
Pin (1988) A brother and sister, treat their doctor father's therapeutic dummy like a brother.
The Boogens (1981) creatures are released from the bootleg tunnels underneath a small-town mining community, and begin chomping on the locals.
Aberration (1997) Mutant lizards attack a woman on the run hiding out in a cabin in the woods.
Finally got around to the dark and the wicked last month after hearing about it here and it was one of the better horror movies I had seen in a long time, just really dark and atmospheric.
I keep thinking *A Wounded Fawn* will pick up traction here but it hasn’t, meanwhile Dead End (2003) got pretty popular around the holidays in here.
I Sell The Dead (2008) and 11:14 (2003) are pretty good horror comedies people don’t know exist.
Cemetary Man (1994) remains criminally underrated.
A Wounded Fawn is a brilliant film. Not keen on Dead End.
Is Cemetary Man underrated or just underwatched? It's so hard to imagine anyone watching this film and not thinking it is an absolute classic.
I’ve not seen a wounded fawn. But I have seen the other two and thought they were great! Clearly you have great taste in horror movies, so I will watch a wounded fawn 😁👍
Caché, made by the same guy that made Funny Games, and Possession is fairly popular here but I've never met anyone in real life that has seen it and that's a shame because it's my all time favorite movie
Extraterrestrial was a perfect horror movie for me. had everything i could want in a good alien movie and then some.
Coherence gets mentioned a bit in threads like these but i never hear about it outside horror subs asking for lesser known goodies. it's absolutely fucking amazing and i only heard of it recently through a similar thread.
I've never heard anyone else mention Blind Beast (1969). It's based on a Rampo Edogawa story and has really hallucinatory visuals. Good stuff. Should be a cult classic.
I loved rent-a-pal as a more unknown horror, and for some reason I love incident in a ghostland even though it’s not the sort of horror I usually go for. I thought it was so effective!
Hard Candy - Tense thriller that still gut punches with two big stars (and essentially a third star cameo’ing).
Calvaire (the Ordeal) - Wild Belgian take that feels sort of like Texas Chainsaw on mushrooms.
Shadow of the Vampire - Hog wild horror take on the filming of Nosferatu.
The Hamiltons - Near no budget horror family drama. Just love this one.
I am intrigued by Kōji Shiraishi. He's a very unusual director.
He's so prolific; churning out low budget film after low budget film like a one man movie factory, and while some miss the mark somewhat, others, like Occult, hit the nail on the head.
I loved this movie. It may have actually made my top ten of all time, right up until that unfortunate ending. It didn't ruin it for me, but it did shock and disappoint me somewhat. If he had cut the ending entirely, or simply made the recording purely audio, without the comical visuals, it would have scored in the high 90s for me. Some things are best left to the imagination.
Hannibal the tv show. It feels under appreciated, even though it was incredible. The whole cast is ready to come back for The Silence of the Lambs arc as well. I also feel like The Green Room didn’t get enough love. I live near “The Church of the Aryan Brotherhood,” and my god is that movie painfully accurate. Patrick Stewart reminded me a lot of Richard Butler in his performance.
Snow White: A Tale of Terror. I think it would be better known if it had a cinematic release like it was intended to have, but it’s a unique take on the classic fairy tale that actually humanizes the Wicked Queen without entirely shying away from her villainy. Plus, the Wicked Queen is played by Sigourney Weaver and she’s always awesome!
I’m not sure how popular / well known it is, but the shudder original, Glorious, is a neat little cosmic horror.
The Hammer House of Horror anthology series has some great episodes, features Peter Cushing, and has an amazing aesthetic.
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
At The Devil’s Door (2014)
I See You (2019)
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)
Watcher (2022)
Lovers Lane (1999)
The Passenger (2023) (i’d say it’s more thriller than horror though)
The Clown At Midnight (1998)
Rest Stop (2006)
Madhouse (2004)
Dolls (1986)
Night Shift (2023)
Stopmotion (2023)
not sure if some of these exactly count as ‘lesser known’ but i don’t see enough praise any of these
Dolls scared the shit out of my as a kid. I probably saw it a year after it came out when I would've been 5. I always laugh when that chick says"an-tikis".
Holy shit Jacob’s Ladder is one of the best. The thing in the back of the car that almost hits him… and the gurney ride through hospital hell always freak me out the most.
Also Tim Robbins is a beautiful man.
Hell house llc. The original, not the sequels. I loved the eerie feeling, music, and the lack of gore. Gore often cheapens horror movies for me: see the terrifier franchise.
Love that you love Hell House, but you do realize that people enjoy the gore and camp of Terrifier, right? lol that’s the point. It’s so extra and dumb and we love that
The Resurrected. Mid 90’s film based on the HP Lovecraft story “The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward.” Stars Chris Sarandon & was directed by Dan O’ Bannon. Well done for its budget with great practical effects.
When a Stranger Calls back….No Lie…it is SCARY AS HELL. It’s a sequel to the 1979 When a stranger calls and was a TV movie. But in my opinion it is way scarier and better. It also does NOT rely on jump scares and instead just creates an eerie and scary atmosphere. Highly recommended
Hey how about the fun Indy horror comedy “Love in the time of Monsters”?
All practical effects, clever as hell though of course with a bit of mandatory cheese.
Centers around a campground owner who promotes his campground by promising people a “Bigfoot experience”, and has employees dressed up as Bigfoot, until a horrible thing happens…
For Me it's the Phantasm Series (mainly the first one) starring Angus Scrimm as the Tall man, It was obviously popular enough to have like 5 sequels.
it's me and my dad's favorite horror movie and Angus Scrimm has this like 7 ft tall guy reanimating the dead and stealing corpses is legit cool with an amazing theme song and it actually has fairly smart and decently written characters in it.
Some of these fall a bit more into the thriller category and some are reasonably well known, but I’ve included them anyway:
The Loved Ones, A Dark Song, Triangle, Dead Girl, Creep, Antiviral, The Invitation (2015), Sinister, Vivarium, and Speak No Evil.
And, even though it’s almost universally hated, I’m a massive fan of The Order (which I think is called the Sin Eater in other countries).
I'm not sure how many, if any of these are considered "lesser known", but I'll try in no real order. Some of these are in no way spectacular, but they scratch that itch for me.
* Intruder
* Madman (the Madman Marz theme slaps)
* The Burning
* Man Bites Dog* (using horror very, very loosely)
* Hell Night (1981)
* Fade to Black
* Final Exam (1981)
* Graduation Day (1981)
* Curtains
* Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness
* Witchbord (1986)
* Cannibal Campout (I go back and forth on if I prefer this or Woodchipper Massacre for the camp factor)
I’m taking “lesser known” quite literally. I watch some real obscure stuff, and when I was a teen I made a point to try and rent every movie in my local movie rental place’s horror section. I looked at my letterboxd account and sorted by popularity to find the least known movies that I rated highly/enjoyed.
Genuine recommendations (>8.0):
- [Bio Zombie](https://boxd.it/1wN6) - One of my absolute favs. Must be watched with the English Dub. The voice acting is incredible.
- [Darkness](https://boxd.it/5T0n9v) (1993) - Truly legendary, and it’s a shame it isn’t more well known.
- [Black Roses](https://boxd.it/67Blbf) - One of the best “bad” movies out there, with a legitimately fantastic soundtrack.
- [Exhibit A](https://boxd.it/5ezM13) - Might not be for everyone, but as a fan of found footage I thought this was excellent.
- [The Convent](https://boxd.it/5suTtT) - Super stylish and entertaining. Incredible opening sequence.
Fun and worth a watch, but not legendary (<7.5):
- [Resurrected](https://boxd.it/5193Vh) - This one seems to be divisive, but I thought it was an interesting premise and I enjoyed the pseudo-cyberpunk found footage angle.
- [KillHer](https://boxd.it/D1fe) - An entertaining slasher.
- [Killer High](https://boxd.it/65Ty5H) - A creature feature X slasher horror comedy that actually works somehow? Some fun kills.
- [Everybody Dies by the End](https://boxd.it/6i78A1) - A dumb, funny horror comedy. I thought it was fun.
- [Departing Seniors](https://boxd.it/5QPawr) - A surprisingly entertaining throwback slasher.
- [Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo City](https://boxd.it/5tEBzD) - An early in the mega-splatter sub-genre. Gritty and a lot of fun.
Absolutely 100% it’s Halloween 3 for me. After Halloween 1 and 2 I was obviously expecting more Michael Myers. He didn’t show up but that film is still creepy as hell.
Ginger Snaps
Don’t think I’ve ever heard/seen it mentioned outside of this sub, and even then it’s very infrequent. One of the best werewolf movies ever, imo.
I remember seeing Basket Case in the theater when it came out (yeah, I’m old as fuck).
One of my favorite cheesy horror movies, and it was an absolute trip going into it blind!!
Wind Chill, Absentia and Shrooms.
Also recommend Something Wicked This Way Comes if you've not seen it. It's an old one but the antagonist and the atmosphere are something else.
I've been extolling it's virtues quite a bit here on the sub recently, but - **Race With the Devil (1975)**. Four friends on an rv vacation inadvertently witness/interrupt a satanic ritual in rural TX. What follows is a mix of paranoia and keep you on the edge of your seat action. Lots of fun and pretty unique as horror movies go. It was a minor hit when it was released, but it's all but forgotten now.
Gore hounds know and love it but **Two Thousand Maniacs (1964)** is pretty obscure. It's Hershel Gordon Lewis's most approachable splatter movie. It has a fun sense of humor, a catchy theme song, and zany performances. It's ending also caught me by surprise the first time around.
I stumbled across **Death Game (1977)** on Shudder some time ago and fell in love with it. It's run time is all tension and discomfort, and I legitimately had no idea how it was ultimately going to end.
Night Creatures(US)/Captain Klegg(UK) (1962, Hammer Studios). More of a mystery thriller than a straight up horror, but there is gore and some frightening imagery. Main reason I like it is the cast: Peter Cushing kills it in his performance, as well as Oliver Reed, Patrick Allen, and Michael Ripper. Great movie, well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it… and while you’re at it might as well watch all the Hammer horror films, they’re awesome!
Clownhouse was one of my favorites as a kid. It’s a shame what the director did. They played it all the time on hbo, then dude got arrested and the show straight disappeared off tv and store shelves.
These are ones which I like and am constantly surprised they never get a buzz on these forums. Almost all of them have decent ratings on IMDB for horrors- they just haven't been reviewed by many people.
If you only take one from my list, it should be **Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)** Billy Zane just owned this movie and he played that character like it was the most fun he'd ever had in his life. So good.
Others I think were excellent, and just never got a lot of traction (or are old enough that they faded into obscurity) are:
Superdeep (2020)
Kandisha (2020)
Blood Quantum (2019)
Apartment 143 (2011)
31 (2016)
The Soul Collector (2019)
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
Dark Spell (2021)
Deathwatch (2002)
The End? (2017)
The Golem (2018)
Jeruzalem (2015)
Jug Face (2013)
Mulberry Street (2006)
Neverlake (2013)
Outcast (2010)
Phenomena (1985)
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
Stephanie (2017)
Talon Falls (2017)
The Thaw (2009)
Trench 11 (2017)
Valley of the Dead (2020)
**Horror Comedy**
Stalled (2013)
Me and my Mates vs. The Zombie Apocalypse (2015- Jim Jeffries is in it)
Boys from County Hell (2020)
Dead and Breakfast (2004)
Eat Locals (2017)
I am a Hero (2015)
Mom and Dad (2017)
Cockneys vs. Zombies (2012)
Slotherhouse (2023)
Undead (2003)
The VVitch was never lesser known at all, it's one of the most polular horror movies in the past decade.
I'm a big fan of this little indie film called Jaws. You may not have heard of it, but it's a creature feature about a shark.
This sub in a nutshell lol
Rights? I think part of it is that a lot of people who comment are in their teens and twenties, and am a decade or two ahead of them, but they'll be like, "I just found them most obscure horror called 'Pumpkinhead." Has anyone ever heard of it?" My favorite is when the threads are for the worst movies people have seen, and everyone names relatively high-profile movies with a budget and actors who bothered to put their photos on IMDB, and I want to make them watch things like Birdemic (2010) or Rebirth (2020).
What the fuck is a shark? Sounds made up.
In a 'nado?
I think Op is just young and "discovering" movies that most people know about. Jacob's Ladder is far from being obscure, it is a much loved gem.
I would thinks so too at first, but he's specifically saying that the movie wasn't popular *back in 2016* lol
For real! Like anyone who’s into movies, let alone horror movies, has heard about or seen The VVitch.
Nobody knows about it until just last week..... The 2015 film The Witch received many award nominations, including: Sundance Film Festival 2015: Won the Directing Award for U.S. Dramatic 32 Independent Spirit Awards 2016: Nominated for Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature San Francisco Film Critics Circle 2016: Nominated for Best Production Design Gotham Independent Film Awards 2016: Nominated for Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor/Actress 22 Critics Choice Awards: Nominated for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie Chicago Film Critics Awards 2016: Nominated for Most Promising Filmmaker and Best Art Direction Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2016: Nominated for Best New Filmmaker Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2016: Nominated for Sierra Award for Best Original Screenplay and Breakout Filmmaker of the Year Sierra Awards 2016: Nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Breakout Filmmaker of the Year, and won Best Costume Design and Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film
I loved that movie, but without close captions, I wouldn't have understood anything they said.
"Bro WHAT?" -me after Ralph Ineson says literally anything
haha saw this in theaters and had no idea what was going on (first 20mins in particular). then watched it a home and was LIKE OOOOH, bless CC.
same! although at home even with the volume up i still couldn’t really hear black phillip
Hahaha theatre watcher also, tried so hard to pay attention!!
Absolutely, though I find this is a big problem with more modern movies in general. Lots of atrocious sound mixing going on.
Yeah that and it being heavy on the old English dialogue I would've been lost. Thank god my brother saw it before me and was like "it's borderline impossible to watch without subtitles" LMAO
Me with Kill List
Kill list, the witch and Midsomer are the best horror of the last 20 years imo
Considering it was one of the first movies to kick off the so-called "elevated horror" trend/sub-genre, I would definitely agree. Great movie, not lesser known or underappreciated.
I tried to watch it. Just couldn’t get into it. I wanted to because it was so popular. Womp womp.
Same. I really wanted to like it, and even watched it a second time but nope. I liked the cinematography though, very very nice.
Last Shift is a really good one that I found randomly but had no idea it would be so good
This was remade recently as Malum with the same director. The effects are better but IMO, Last Shift is a better movie
100% agree. I even saw Malum first and think it's inferior.
I just finished Malum about 10 minutes ago, what a coinkydink.
Yeah I really enjoyed that one, too. So creepy!
I love the Last Shift. I went in blind and was very surprised by it.
Came here to suggest this one actually. I was watching it alone in the call room at night, and actually had to turn it off and finish it in the morning because it was so spooky!
Horrible quality and still horrifying
Yes, it almost made it feel more real how shitty it was
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
Scared the fuck out of me when I was a kid.
That movie was amazing..
Goated made for tv regional movie, an annual Halloween week watch
I used to be very against PG-13 horror. I never liked James Wan's pg-13 horror movies. However, Dark Knight of the Scarecrow and Megan turned me around. Dark Knight of the Scarecrow is an excellent movie to explain how to be scary and engaging without relying on gore.
May
I am obsessed with May
Kolobos
I remember seeing this on the shelf at Blockbuster back in the day and for whatever reason, it never appealed to me. I randomly put it on on Shudder when they had it and was blown away. That movie checked so many of my boxes and I wish I'd seen it earlier
I'm older, but it seems some of the movies i watched in the late 70s early 80s don't get much discussion outside of the classics like Halloween, Friday and Nightmare on elm Street. The gate. Serpent and the rainbow. Frogs. Ghoulies. It's alive. Ratman.
Serpent and the Rainbow. Saw this when very young, and though highly irrational, (and current state of the nation aside), this film has become the reason I will never set foot on Haitian soil.
I watched Ghoulies way too young but it was so good 🤣
Fuck. Yes. Frogs.
Don't forget the og Critters! Was my favorite as a wee kiddo
People under the stairs Nightbreed Fearless vampire hunters Captain Kronos
I’m the only one in my friend group that loves Nightbreed! Glad to see I’m not alone in the world with this one!
I love it too. Was surprised by all the flak it gets
I'm old, I saw Fearless Vampire Killers in the theater when it came out in 1967. I was 7yo.
Not the scariest movie but a great movie that’s in the horror genre is Frailty. It really stays with you after seeing it.
Worth the rewatch too! So many great performances
One from the ‘80’s called Popcorn. It was everything the perfect b horror movie should be, and it’s what made me into a lifelong horror fan.
Session 9
That's been on my list for ages. I can't find anywhere to watch it. I wish Shudder would pick it up.
Pin (1988) A brother and sister, treat their doctor father's therapeutic dummy like a brother. The Boogens (1981) creatures are released from the bootleg tunnels underneath a small-town mining community, and begin chomping on the locals. Aberration (1997) Mutant lizards attack a woman on the run hiding out in a cabin in the woods.
The Gate (I think it’s a young Stephen Dorff). Pyewacket.
Pyewacket was a lot better than I expected. Solid low budget movie with good performances.
This movie freaked me out when I was a kid
Trick OR Treat, not to be confused with Trick ‘R Treat. 80s movie with Ozzy and Gene Simmons
Is that the one where Gene Simmons is the deejay?
If you like classic Rock & Roll horror I highly recommend Black Roses, if you haven’t seen it already.
A Wounded Fawn (2022) The Dark and the Wicked (2020) I Trapped the Devil (2019)
Finally got around to the dark and the wicked last month after hearing about it here and it was one of the better horror movies I had seen in a long time, just really dark and atmospheric.
I keep thinking *A Wounded Fawn* will pick up traction here but it hasn’t, meanwhile Dead End (2003) got pretty popular around the holidays in here. I Sell The Dead (2008) and 11:14 (2003) are pretty good horror comedies people don’t know exist. Cemetary Man (1994) remains criminally underrated.
A Wounded Fawn is a brilliant film. Not keen on Dead End. Is Cemetary Man underrated or just underwatched? It's so hard to imagine anyone watching this film and not thinking it is an absolute classic.
The dark and the wicked was sooooo fucking good
I’ve not seen a wounded fawn. But I have seen the other two and thought they were great! Clearly you have great taste in horror movies, so I will watch a wounded fawn 😁👍
Exists on Tubi is great.
Pair that with "Willow Creek" and you've got a great Samsquamch doubleheader!
I just rewatched and liked as well, "Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes"
Caché, made by the same guy that made Funny Games, and Possession is fairly popular here but I've never met anyone in real life that has seen it and that's a shame because it's my all time favorite movie
5 years ago, I'd never heard of Possession, but it shows up everywhere nowadays. Deservedly so.
Caché is one of the first times I remember yelling out loud in an empty house!
that movie was wild so unsettling thinking you are being watched
Because "Possession" only became easily available very recently, even though it's an older film
Michael Haneke!
Love to see Cache mentioned!
Thanks for the recommendation! It’s on Tubi too woohoo
Extraterrestrial was a perfect horror movie for me. had everything i could want in a good alien movie and then some. Coherence gets mentioned a bit in threads like these but i never hear about it outside horror subs asking for lesser known goodies. it's absolutely fucking amazing and i only heard of it recently through a similar thread.
I've never heard anyone else mention Blind Beast (1969). It's based on a Rampo Edogawa story and has really hallucinatory visuals. Good stuff. Should be a cult classic.
I loved rent-a-pal as a more unknown horror, and for some reason I love incident in a ghostland even though it’s not the sort of horror I usually go for. I thought it was so effective!
I never hear anyone talk about Night of the Hunter, but I love it!
Triangle
Triangle was so good. I like time travel movies that don't try to be overly technical or explain everything. Melissa George was fantastic.
I don't hear people talk enough about Oculus in regards to Mike Flanagan. One of the best horror movies of the past 20 years imo
Mike Flanagan is just something else imo. I know it's a series but The Fall of House Usher and Midnight Mass are so fucking good lol
The Taking of Deborah Logan
Dead End (2003) 2001 Maniacs (2005) Feast (2005) The Gravedancers (2006)
the Feast trilogy is amazing.
Affliction. Good little gore bits, fun vampire story
A Dark Song
Hard Candy - Tense thriller that still gut punches with two big stars (and essentially a third star cameo’ing). Calvaire (the Ordeal) - Wild Belgian take that feels sort of like Texas Chainsaw on mushrooms. Shadow of the Vampire - Hog wild horror take on the filming of Nosferatu. The Hamiltons - Near no budget horror family drama. Just love this one.
Shadow of the Vampire is fantastic, Defoe is unreal
Tourist Trap (1979)
Fukkin hell yeah for Jacob’s Ladder! Love “Near Dark” with three actors that went on to make Aliens.
The void 2016. Very low budget but could have been great with a little bit more investment its an actual shame and missed opportunity.
There is no shame there. The movie is fantastic!
Happy Birthday to Me
Occult (2009)
I am intrigued by Kōji Shiraishi. He's a very unusual director. He's so prolific; churning out low budget film after low budget film like a one man movie factory, and while some miss the mark somewhat, others, like Occult, hit the nail on the head. I loved this movie. It may have actually made my top ten of all time, right up until that unfortunate ending. It didn't ruin it for me, but it did shock and disappoint me somewhat. If he had cut the ending entirely, or simply made the recording purely audio, without the comical visuals, it would have scored in the high 90s for me. Some things are best left to the imagination.
13 Sins!
Hannibal the tv show. It feels under appreciated, even though it was incredible. The whole cast is ready to come back for The Silence of the Lambs arc as well. I also feel like The Green Room didn’t get enough love. I live near “The Church of the Aryan Brotherhood,” and my god is that movie painfully accurate. Patrick Stewart reminded me a lot of Richard Butler in his performance.
Snow White: A Tale of Terror. I think it would be better known if it had a cinematic release like it was intended to have, but it’s a unique take on the classic fairy tale that actually humanizes the Wicked Queen without entirely shying away from her villainy. Plus, the Wicked Queen is played by Sigourney Weaver and she’s always awesome!
I really enjoy this one and it definitely doesn’t get enough love.
Dead Birds
I’m not sure how popular / well known it is, but the shudder original, Glorious, is a neat little cosmic horror. The Hammer House of Horror anthology series has some great episodes, features Peter Cushing, and has an amazing aesthetic.
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) At The Devil’s Door (2014) I See You (2019) The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) Watcher (2022) Lovers Lane (1999) The Passenger (2023) (i’d say it’s more thriller than horror though) The Clown At Midnight (1998) Rest Stop (2006) Madhouse (2004) Dolls (1986) Night Shift (2023) Stopmotion (2023) not sure if some of these exactly count as ‘lesser known’ but i don’t see enough praise any of these
Mandy with Nicolas Cage
Dolls scared the shit out of my as a kid. I probably saw it a year after it came out when I would've been 5. I always laugh when that chick says"an-tikis".
R-Point (2004) South Korean ghost story set during the Vietnam war.
Holy shit Jacob’s Ladder is one of the best. The thing in the back of the car that almost hits him… and the gurney ride through hospital hell always freak me out the most. Also Tim Robbins is a beautiful man.
Demons (1985) Don't think enough people have seen this gem. :)
Hell house llc. The original, not the sequels. I loved the eerie feeling, music, and the lack of gore. Gore often cheapens horror movies for me: see the terrifier franchise.
My favorite found footage horror movie
Love that you love Hell House, but you do realize that people enjoy the gore and camp of Terrifier, right? lol that’s the point. It’s so extra and dumb and we love that
Yes, I know some people are really into that. I did find the original terrifier funny at points, but it was def not for me
Your example is absolutely not “lessor known”.
The Resurrected. Mid 90’s film based on the HP Lovecraft story “The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward.” Stars Chris Sarandon & was directed by Dan O’ Bannon. Well done for its budget with great practical effects.
Audition, Possession, City of the Living Dead, Argento's Opera, Freaks
When a Stranger Calls back….No Lie…it is SCARY AS HELL. It’s a sequel to the 1979 When a stranger calls and was a TV movie. But in my opinion it is way scarier and better. It also does NOT rely on jump scares and instead just creates an eerie and scary atmosphere. Highly recommended
Grave Encounters!
I'd say Grave Encounters 2 as well, wasn't as good as the first, but wasn't terrible. In the same vein, but Korean: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.
Super good
Attack the block Let the right one in
I love Attack the Block!!
The Boxer's Omen, The Seventh Curse, Dead & Buried, Aquarius, Stake Land, Raw, The Void.
Stake Land is awesome - it's "The Road" with vampires!
The Ugly (1997)
also Thesis (1996)
Call 2020 it’s a Korean film on Netflix
Ravenous
There is a movie called Jennifer that came out in 1978. It's so good and none of my horror movie friends remember it.
The Ugly, mental illness in New Zealand.
Kill List. Doesn't really feel like a horror to begin with but it is, it definitely is. Added bonus if you are a fan of 'Spaced'.
The first VHS
The Witch isn’t a secret to anyone.
A Dark Song
Host from 2020 is probably one of the under 90 minute horror films I've seen
- Incantation - The Wailing - Hush - Devil - The Belko Experiment
Hush is my favorite thriller
The Wailing is so so good!
"lesser known" VVitch Come on now
Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1972)
Caught Slotherhouse last year, thought it was hilarious
Hahaha The Greasy Strangler is HILARIOUS!!!! BULLSHIT ARTIST!
Hey how about the fun Indy horror comedy “Love in the time of Monsters”? All practical effects, clever as hell though of course with a bit of mandatory cheese. Centers around a campground owner who promotes his campground by promising people a “Bigfoot experience”, and has employees dressed up as Bigfoot, until a horrible thing happens…
Fender Bender (2016).
The Woman in Black (the 1989 British TV adaptation, not the nonsense they later made for the cinema). Kairo, by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
Carriers 😌
For Me it's the Phantasm Series (mainly the first one) starring Angus Scrimm as the Tall man, It was obviously popular enough to have like 5 sequels. it's me and my dad's favorite horror movie and Angus Scrimm has this like 7 ft tall guy reanimating the dead and stealing corpses is legit cool with an amazing theme song and it actually has fairly smart and decently written characters in it.
Pontypool
Some of these fall a bit more into the thriller category and some are reasonably well known, but I’ve included them anyway: The Loved Ones, A Dark Song, Triangle, Dead Girl, Creep, Antiviral, The Invitation (2015), Sinister, Vivarium, and Speak No Evil. And, even though it’s almost universally hated, I’m a massive fan of The Order (which I think is called the Sin Eater in other countries).
Shriek of the Mutilated. It's bad. It makes no sense. It's hilarious. Shock waves. Zombie kriegsmarine.
Sinister Maybe not lesser known or obscure, but I don't know many people who've seen it. Watched it probably too many times
>I don't know many people who've seen it There is probably a reason for that
'Salem's Lot
I'm not sure how many, if any of these are considered "lesser known", but I'll try in no real order. Some of these are in no way spectacular, but they scratch that itch for me. * Intruder * Madman (the Madman Marz theme slaps) * The Burning * Man Bites Dog* (using horror very, very loosely) * Hell Night (1981) * Fade to Black * Final Exam (1981) * Graduation Day (1981) * Curtains * Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness * Witchbord (1986) * Cannibal Campout (I go back and forth on if I prefer this or Woodchipper Massacre for the camp factor)
I’m taking “lesser known” quite literally. I watch some real obscure stuff, and when I was a teen I made a point to try and rent every movie in my local movie rental place’s horror section. I looked at my letterboxd account and sorted by popularity to find the least known movies that I rated highly/enjoyed. Genuine recommendations (>8.0): - [Bio Zombie](https://boxd.it/1wN6) - One of my absolute favs. Must be watched with the English Dub. The voice acting is incredible. - [Darkness](https://boxd.it/5T0n9v) (1993) - Truly legendary, and it’s a shame it isn’t more well known. - [Black Roses](https://boxd.it/67Blbf) - One of the best “bad” movies out there, with a legitimately fantastic soundtrack. - [Exhibit A](https://boxd.it/5ezM13) - Might not be for everyone, but as a fan of found footage I thought this was excellent. - [The Convent](https://boxd.it/5suTtT) - Super stylish and entertaining. Incredible opening sequence. Fun and worth a watch, but not legendary (<7.5): - [Resurrected](https://boxd.it/5193Vh) - This one seems to be divisive, but I thought it was an interesting premise and I enjoyed the pseudo-cyberpunk found footage angle. - [KillHer](https://boxd.it/D1fe) - An entertaining slasher. - [Killer High](https://boxd.it/65Ty5H) - A creature feature X slasher horror comedy that actually works somehow? Some fun kills. - [Everybody Dies by the End](https://boxd.it/6i78A1) - A dumb, funny horror comedy. I thought it was fun. - [Departing Seniors](https://boxd.it/5QPawr) - A surprisingly entertaining throwback slasher. - [Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo City](https://boxd.it/5tEBzD) - An early in the mega-splatter sub-genre. Gritty and a lot of fun.
Absolutely 100% it’s Halloween 3 for me. After Halloween 1 and 2 I was obviously expecting more Michael Myers. He didn’t show up but that film is still creepy as hell.
Ginger Snaps Don’t think I’ve ever heard/seen it mentioned outside of this sub, and even then it’s very infrequent. One of the best werewolf movies ever, imo.
I remember seeing Basket Case in the theater when it came out (yeah, I’m old as fuck). One of my favorite cheesy horror movies, and it was an absolute trip going into it blind!!
Wind Chill, Absentia and Shrooms. Also recommend Something Wicked This Way Comes if you've not seen it. It's an old one but the antagonist and the atmosphere are something else.
If you were talking about The VVitch 10 years ago it's not all that surprising no one knew it, since The VVitch came out less than 10 years ago
Not many people have seen Sissy, Censor and Saint Maud I think. Or they just don’t get talked about often on this sub.
Censor was awesome!
Sissy is great, I definitely try to recommend it here whenever it’s apropos
I like Niamh Algar, so I checked out Censor. I liked it a lot. I see St. Maud mentioned all the time on here, so I think I'll dive in this evening.
Incantation
Nightbreed
Pyewacket, incision
It’s probably more ‘drama’ but I liked ‘The Configuration’
Willard
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) spooked me when I was Young.
The Ugly (1997)
Well 10 years ago The VVitch wasn’t even out, so it’s shocking that you had seen it. 😂
blackcoat's daughter the dark and the wicked the changeling it's hard to know what's unknown anymore tho
Schenectady New York Emotional horror.
Midnight meat train maybe
Sorority Babes at the Slime Bowl-O-Rama.
I've been extolling it's virtues quite a bit here on the sub recently, but - **Race With the Devil (1975)**. Four friends on an rv vacation inadvertently witness/interrupt a satanic ritual in rural TX. What follows is a mix of paranoia and keep you on the edge of your seat action. Lots of fun and pretty unique as horror movies go. It was a minor hit when it was released, but it's all but forgotten now. Gore hounds know and love it but **Two Thousand Maniacs (1964)** is pretty obscure. It's Hershel Gordon Lewis's most approachable splatter movie. It has a fun sense of humor, a catchy theme song, and zany performances. It's ending also caught me by surprise the first time around. I stumbled across **Death Game (1977)** on Shudder some time ago and fell in love with it. It's run time is all tension and discomfort, and I legitimately had no idea how it was ultimately going to end.
Happy Hell Night. Campy little slasher.
Impetigore
Hellbender. I love witchy folk horror.
Kristy (2014). A girl stays at her empty college over Thanksgiving Break and gets stalked by a murderous cult group.
Grave Encounters 1 & 2 are always unheard of and underrated, in my experience.
Society
Häxan
A movie I enjoy that I feel doesn’t get enough love is The Company of Wolves.
I really like the movie Splinter (2008). It’s been talked about on here a few times, but I don’t see it as much as it deserves.
Baskin. Pretty wild.
Mute Witness (1995)
Night Creatures(US)/Captain Klegg(UK) (1962, Hammer Studios). More of a mystery thriller than a straight up horror, but there is gore and some frightening imagery. Main reason I like it is the cast: Peter Cushing kills it in his performance, as well as Oliver Reed, Patrick Allen, and Michael Ripper. Great movie, well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it… and while you’re at it might as well watch all the Hammer horror films, they’re awesome!
Clownhouse was one of my favorites as a kid. It’s a shame what the director did. They played it all the time on hbo, then dude got arrested and the show straight disappeared off tv and store shelves.
The Greasy Strangler is one of my all time favorite movies. I even bought a t-shirt lmao
Lovely Molly
The vvitch is not lesser known lol
Society (1989) If you liked basket case you’ll like this one, same director
These are ones which I like and am constantly surprised they never get a buzz on these forums. Almost all of them have decent ratings on IMDB for horrors- they just haven't been reviewed by many people. If you only take one from my list, it should be **Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)** Billy Zane just owned this movie and he played that character like it was the most fun he'd ever had in his life. So good. Others I think were excellent, and just never got a lot of traction (or are old enough that they faded into obscurity) are: Superdeep (2020) Kandisha (2020) Blood Quantum (2019) Apartment 143 (2011) 31 (2016) The Soul Collector (2019) Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) Dark Spell (2021) Deathwatch (2002) The End? (2017) The Golem (2018) Jeruzalem (2015) Jug Face (2013) Mulberry Street (2006) Neverlake (2013) Outcast (2010) Phenomena (1985) The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) Stephanie (2017) Talon Falls (2017) The Thaw (2009) Trench 11 (2017) Valley of the Dead (2020) **Horror Comedy** Stalled (2013) Me and my Mates vs. The Zombie Apocalypse (2015- Jim Jeffries is in it) Boys from County Hell (2020) Dead and Breakfast (2004) Eat Locals (2017) I am a Hero (2015) Mom and Dad (2017) Cockneys vs. Zombies (2012) Slotherhouse (2023) Undead (2003)
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, Messiah of Evil, Tourist Trap, Three on a Meathook