NOT The Top 10 Horror Movies

WatchMojo

These films will haunt you long after the credits roll... Join us as we count down our picks for the most underrated favorites among true horror fans! These genre-bending masterpieces push beyond conventional horror, offering something deeper and more disturbing than your typical scares. Which of these hidden gems have you seen?

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our pick for the most underrated favorites

00:12among true horror fans, despite them pushing beyond the conventions of the genre.

00:21Horror fans, this one's for you. Join the WatchMojo horror community for early drops

00:26and exclusive horror alerts sent straight to your phone. Scan the QR code or click the link below to

00:31join. Don't watch alone. Number 10, Beloved.

00:36They have a ghost here, you know.

00:40We met. Denver heat up that stove. Can't have a friend stop by and don't feed him.

00:46Having bridged thriller and horror with The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme went even more radical

00:51in his take on novelist Toni Morrison's indescribable masterpiece. Beloved stars Oprah Winfrey,

00:56as a former slave whose haunted house hosts an old friend and a mysterious, unsettlingly familiar girl.

01:02There's a lot more to unpack with that story across three hours. The epic represents an esoteric part

01:07of American culture and history, while using supernatural horror as a metaphor for individual,

01:12racial, racial, and female trauma. It was clearly too ambitious for an October release, as Beloved bombed

01:30at the box office. Nonetheless, its unique, nuanced storytelling and incredible acting have prompted

01:36years of admiration, on top of an equally rich atmosphere that haunts on many levels.

01:40That girl, you know, uh, beloved. She, she gone like they say?

01:48Haven't seen her since that day. Mama say she gone.

01:53Number 9. May

01:55How you doing, May?

02:00Great, actually. Making new friends. It's bright and light.

02:06Slasher films from the slasher's oddly sympathetic perspective can be a tough sell. May didn't

02:10gross half of its indie budget under $2 million, but is decidedly more popular than the title

02:15character. The Lonely Soul's Frankenstein tale of building the perfect friend was praised

02:20as striking in its twisted humor, resonant in its drama, and deeply disturbing in its atmosphere

02:25and content. Above all, Angela Bettis' both heartbreaking and harrowing performance has

02:30been called a true masterpiece within the horror genre.

02:33I, um, saw some kids playing in the park, and I was wondering if I could volunteer to

02:40help watch them.

02:41The film is much more than that, though. Earning a cult following is a bold cautionary tale

02:45about the maddening nature of loneliness. Whether cathartic or dynamically thrilling, may

02:49truly cuts deep.

02:50Hello, May. Hello, Polly. Slick duds. Thank you.

02:58Number 8. Ginger Snaps

03:01I think we should get together.

03:05Um. Oh.

03:10Contrary to the title's clever wordplay, Ginger Snaps is a supernatural thriller about process,

03:15and we don't just mean the gradual process of turning into a werewolf. What the modest

03:19indie lacks in consistent scares is made up for in the chilling drama of macabre outcast

03:24Bridget Fitzgerald trying to come to terms with her sister's condition.

03:27Even then, the less metaphorical payoff and practical effects are ferocious. The structure, soundtrack,

03:44feminist themes, and accoladed performances of Emily Perkins and Catherine Isabel earned

03:49a strong cult following, never mind a sequel and a prequel that were also well-received.

04:03Still, nothing compares to the way the original Ginger Snaps sinks its fangs into you.

04:07Number 7. Kronos

04:09Guillermo del Toro is now a titan of horror cinema, though you could have predicted this

04:19from his very first feature. Kronos is about an aging antique dealer who discovers a device

04:24that turns him into a vampire. It was the first example of del Toro's knack for addressing complex

04:28themes through the sympathetic perspective and creative mythology of monsters. And for it to be

04:33a far cry from the blockbuster productions he went on to direct, the visual style and effects are

04:38unforgettable. Though Kronos got little attention as a limited release, it swept the Ariel Awards.

04:50Since then, horror and art film enthusiasts alike have embraced it as a highlight of the esteemed

04:54filmmaking career it initiated.

04:56Quiero que sepas que, que de alguna manera, por alguna razón, sigo vivo.

05:06Number 6. Senta Sangre

05:08Then, they knew sin. Universal, universal sin.

05:17Avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky has always been known for his disturbing surrealism.

05:22The horror genre merely pushed that further in Senta Sangre, starring two of Jodorowsky's sons,

05:27as a young circus magician bound to his mother after the loss of her arms.

05:38The edible coming of age is an epic descent into madness, bloody vengeance, and taboo topics unlike

05:44anything else the auteur has dared to do. And yet, it's as visually stunning as it is viscerally

05:48unsettling. Commercial success was obviously not a priority for what is recognized as one

05:52of Jodorowsky's greatest films. Of course, cult connoisseurs of horror have also embraced

05:57Santa Sangre as the most daring stunt and twisted spectacle.

06:00Without me, you are nothing. No one sees you, and no one notices you, just like your stupid hero.

06:10Number 5. The Cremator

06:25It doesn't get more horrifying than the justification of the Nazi regime. Still, Juraj Herz also covers the

06:31unique angle of dark comedy through a Czechoslovak Cremator who does revolting things to rise in the

06:36occupying government in 1939. The Cremator is timelessly bold in its philosophical satire of

06:42death and prosperity to desensitize one to the most evil acts. There's no need to be graphic for

06:47this stylish character study to leave you profoundly disturbed.

07:01The greater controversy at the time, however, was the allegories for the contemporary communist

07:05regime in Czechoslovakia. Since its ban ended with this system, the Cremator has been regarded as a

07:11masterpiece of a lost nation and subversive genre bending. Horror is nonetheless burned into the

07:15subject.

07:26Number 4. House

07:35Teenagers in a haunted house may sound like a typical horror movie, but there's nothing typical

07:47about Nobuhiko Obayashi's house. What started as Toho's attempt at Jaws-style suspense wound up being a

07:53radical experiment in various styles, effects, and tones with deliberately campy genre extremes.

08:00It somehow became a commercial hit, but initial reviews were not flattering. Over time,

08:04a cult following embraced Obayashi's radical vision and harrowing aesthetic.

08:20With that comes serious discussions about how he deconstructs everything from the pressures on women

08:25to the lingering trauma of World War II in Japan. Provocative, hilarious, and shocking in almost

08:30every way, House comes well furnished for fans of weird horror.

08:44Number 3. Martin

08:45George Romero is a legend to horror fans for his zombie films alone, but too many of them overlook

08:58what he told Sight and Sound was his favorite accomplishment. Martin follows a wanderer who

09:03may be either worryingly delusional or an actual vampire who reluctantly drinks human blood. The

09:07film is ambiguous in its dramatic narrative, but very direct and brutal as horror.

09:12It was very controversial at the time for disturbing content that still holds up all too well. By that

09:25token, Martin has been acclaimed as a bold and tragic character study, carried by John Amplass'

09:30his committed performance. Romero obviously made more important films, but it's easy to see why

09:45he'd say Martin was his favorite. Number 2. Possession

09:49I am downtown. But why downtown? I've been waiting all day.

09:57I need some time to think. Based on Andrzej Żuawski's personal experience with divorce,

10:01Possession is a domestic psychodrama with quite a few twists. Sam Neill plays a spy who investigates

10:07the reason for his estranged wife's erratic behavior, whilst pursuing another woman who looks like her.

10:11All right. Together we can listen if Bob cries out. What follows is a mix of psychological,

10:20Lovecraftian, and body horror, if it's any of that. The film's enigmatic and excessive nature

10:25contributed to its failure at the time, but after years of audiences trying to figure out what's

10:29going on, it has attained cult status as a unique expression of gender dynamics, psychosis,

10:35and geopolitics. Audiences are at least resolute in their praise of Isabella Gianni's unhinged performance.

10:40Well, yet I can't exist by myself because I'm afraid of myself, because I'm the maker of my

10:48own evil. As both vivid art and a mind-bending thriller, Possession consumes you. Before we

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11:081. Cure

11:22Though Ringu and Juwan globalize the trend, J-horror fans trace the formula back to a more ambiguous

11:27breakout. Cure is a serial killer thriller, complicated by supernatural proxy murders. As a

11:32detective follows the bloody pattern of hypnosis, his own grasp on reality begins to collapse.

11:48This disturbing look at the fragility of the human psyche and society is driven by

11:52suspensefully slow pacing and gruesome visuals. It's a pro-typical J-horror technique, which writer-director

11:58Kiyoshi Kurosawa further refined with other classics, like 2001's Pulse. But Cure is distinguished by

12:05its immense acclaim and influence on a variety of genres. It leaves a particularly deep scar on the

12:10minds of horror fans for showing the art's capabilities beyond the hallmarks.

12:14What genre bending horror films do you feel are frightfully underseen? Scream it up in the comments.

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