Top 5 Underrated Horror Films That Deserve a Second Look
Horror films have been a staple of cinema since the silent era, and many come to mind when asked about the best of the best. The Shining, Psycho, The Exorcist, and Halloween all appear on “best of” lists. But what about some of the lesser known? The less well-reviewed?
I started watching horror films when I was eight-years-old, and I devoured numerous movies, both mainstream and obscure. Discovering these underrated gems was the result of time, dedication, and a lot of research. It all started with one movie and a curiosity that I could not quell…
1. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
The first horror movie that I really fell in love with was A Nightmare on Elm Street. I saw it for the first time at the age of eight, late in my bed one summer night. I watched the entire film with my finger firmly planted on the television remote’s power button. Just in case.
I was entranced, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I begged my mother to let me watch the rest, a request which was firmly denied. At least for a while.
A few years later, I was gifted the rest of the franchise on DVD for my birthday, and I watched them all in one night.
Full disclosure: I am a Nightmare on Elm Street fanatic. I go to conventions cosplaying as characters from these films; I’m in that deep. And The Dream Master is my favorite film in the series. This installation follows the last of the Elm Street children as Freddy returns, ready to finish them off one by one.
The Dream Master may not be the scariest or the best-reviewed, but it makes up for that by being so darn fun! There is no series in the horror genre more imaginative than the Elm Street series, and in The Dream Master, we literally see a girl turned into a giant cockroach and squished inside of a roach motel. I’m not joking. It’s glorious.
Director Renny Harlin was inspired by Hong Kong action cinema, and the film utilizes quick cuts, interesting angles, and stylized action sequences. Lisa Wilcox gives an amazing performance as Alice, who proves to be a capable adversary for Freddy, again played by the incomparable Robert Englund. This was really the turning point in the series where the films became more tailored to their teenage audience. Freddy’s one-liners weren’t yet outworn, and I categorize this as the sweet spot of the sequels. A little hokey, yes, but so worthwhile.
From the bottom of my heart, please consider giving this one a watch.
2. The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
If you’re anything like me, you’re familiar with at least one adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. But I’d be willing to bet money on it that whatever version you’re imagining, it is not this version.
I went through a Phantom of the Opera phase when I was around twelve or thirteen. I was obsessed with the novel, I was obsessed with the musical, and I was obsessed with the Lon Chaney silent adaptation. After watching and rewatching the Elm Street films, I discovered that there was another adaptation of Phantom that I had to get my hands on.
Allow me to set the scene: It’s the 1980’s. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation of Phantom is insanely popular. One of the hottest names in horror is Robert Englund, best known for his epic tenure as Freddy Krueger in the Elm Street series. Naturally a slasher film version starring Robert Englund as the titular opera ghost will be a smashing success! Except it wasn’t.
The film was criticized harshly for having more flash than substance, and straying too far from the source material. It brought in only $4 million dollars in box office revenue, and holds a dismal 38% on Rotten Tomatoes.
All of that means nothing to me; I enjoy the movie. Instead of viewing this as a Phantom movie or as a slasher movie, I try to separate it from what has come before and enjoy it as its own entity. This film does take a lot of liberties, but if you enjoy slasher films, shameless gore, a hint of 80’s camp, and a movie reminiscent of the older Hammer Horror films, then this might be the Phantom for you!
Check out the trailer here and see for yourself.
3. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
As I got a little older, I began to expand my viewership towards older films. I fell in love with black and white movies, and it was there that I discovered the work of Vincent Price, and with him, Dr. Phibes.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes is delightful to watch. Price plays the titular character, a musical genius, who is assumed to have perished in an accident following the death of his beloved wife. Left horrifically disfigured, Phibes decides to take revenge on those he held responsible for the death of his wife during surgery, and begins to kill the team of nine medical professionals in a series of murders inspired by the Ten Plagues of Egypt.
Some of the imagery, like Phibes’ disfigured face, is genuinely unsettling. I remember viewing this film alone in the living room at my grandparents’ house some summer evening in middle school and being absolutely enamored with the color palette of the photography.
While technically a horror-comedy, Dr. Phibes is Vincent Price at his best, and part of what makes this film so watchable is the camp and outlandish ways in which Phibes kills his targets. My personal favorite is a frog mask which squishes a doctor’s head. No, I’m serious. That’s really what happens.
What else would you expect from a film with the tagline: “Love means never having to say you’re ugly?”
4. Psycho II (1983)
I think I must have been fifteen or so when I first watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). I fell in love with the story. I read the novel and scoured the depths of the internet to learn about the film. It was in doing so that I discovered that Norman Bates’ story actually continues with three additional films, including 1983’s Psycho II!
Like with most other entries on this list, I watched all of the remaining films in a single day, and was enthralled with how different they all were. I especially loved this film.
This underrated gem is a direct sequel to the original film and is set twenty-two years after the events of its predecessor. The film follows Norman’s struggles to maintain his sanity after his release from a mental institution. He returns to the hotel, and murders soon occur, but by whom? And why? Is it Norman, perhaps not sane? Is it Lila, the sister of one of Norman’s victims? Maybe her daughter, Mary, who is staying with Norman in his house on the hill? Or the disgruntled former manager of the motel?
Psycho II keeps you guessing, and is genuinely suspenseful, while also showing more gore to keep up with the slasher revolution occurring during the 1980’s. I think what makes this film so charming is the inclusion of Anthony Perkins who resumes his role as Norman Bates, and the return of Vera Miles, who also appeared in the original film as Lila Crane.
Fun fact: Anthony Perkins appeared in all four films in the Psycho franchise, and even directed Psycho III.
5. Chopping Mall (1986)
Do you like robots? Do you like shopping malls? Do you like killer robots attacking teenagers in shopping malls? Then, do I have the movie for you! Let’s talk about Chopping Mall.
Chopping Mall is one of my more recent discoveries. In 2020, I was quarantining like the rest of the world, and I decided to branch out and watch some horror films that I had never seen before. There were several favorites that emerged from this marathon: Graduation Day, Slumber Party Massacre, My Bloody Valentine. But Chopping Mall really took the cake.
The story is simple: a group of teenage mall employees decide to have a party in the store after closing time. The mall has recently upgraded its security system from humans to robots. Robots equipped with lasers. How can this possibly go wrong? Anyway, the robots take their jobs really seriously and start to kill the intruders with explosive results. The teenagers decide to fight back to escape the locked shopping center, and it goes about as well as you’d think.
I laughed more than anything watching this film, and have watched it several more times since this initial viewing. You truly just have to experience this one to fully appreciate it, trust me.
The robots are also referred to as killbots. Just in case you need more incentive to check this one out!
These are only a few of the under-appreciated gems which exist deep within the annals of the horror genre. If you have an afternoon or two to spare, and an open mind, these movies might be for you!
