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Top Ten Underrated or Unknown Horror Movies for the General Public: Part 2Jan 04 '04 (Updated Jun 05 '04) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Just because it wasn't in the theaters doesn't mean it was a bad movie! Here are some awesome horror films that most people don't know. One of the first reviews I did here on Epinions was a top-ten list, entitled Top Ten Underrated or Unknown Horror Movies for the General Public. The premise was to make a list of excellent horror movies that, while probably known to horror fans, are unknown to the general public. I hoped to give people looking for a good Friday night horror rental a few recommendations as alternatives to the typical blockbuster horror films like Urban Legend and Wrong Turn. The movie I had as number 1 on my list was The Ring, which, as everyone knows, was then remade in the United States, with the original being released on DVD with the title Ringu. When I first made the list, The Ring was unfortunately impossible to find in the United States. However, I included it anyway with the hopes that it would someday be released here. And, thankfully, my hopes were realized. That being said, I have included a couple more films on my new list that are also unavailable in the United States. If you have a bit of net savvy, you can usually find some of these films, with English Subtitles. Just be careful – many of them are released in the UK, and require a region-free DVD player to play. So, without further adieu, here are the Top Ten Underrated or Unknown Horror Movies for the General Public: Part 2. 10. Dead and Buried (1981) Director: Gary Sherman; Starring: James Farentino, Jack Albertson Blue Underground released this film as a very nice 2-disc DVD set in 2003, lifting it out of obscurity. I had never heard of this movie at all until I bought the DVD, but I am glad I did. The movie starts out with a bang: a photographer meets a pretty girl on the beach, who offers to let him take nude photos of her. As he is doing this, he is attacked by a group of townspeople and burnt alive. As the local sheriff begins his investigation, more murders take place. However, strangely, the sheriff begins seeing the murder victims alive and well a few days later. The sheriff realizes that it is not his imagination, and that something strange is happening in town, possibly involving his own wife. Although the movie is not perfect, it is a solid horror film. The ending seems rather clichéd today, but was pretty original for its time. Although some of the acting isn’t perfect, Jack Albertson shines as the strange town mortician, and Farentino does a good job as the sheriff. Dead and Buried is a solid horror movie with a good story and some great atmosphere. Thankfully it has finally been given the treatment it deserves. 9. The Wicker Man (1973) Director: Robin Hardy; Starring: Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward If you’re looking for something a little off-beat, this is it. The Wicker Man is basically a horror musical; while that may sound strange, if not comical, director Hardy pulls it off very well. The musical numbers themselves are generally pretty good, with a few annoying ones here and there. The story is about a British policeman who ventures to a small island to investigate reports of a missing girl. What he finds is a society that has rejected Christianity in favor of ancient pagan rituals. When the town attempts to stonewall his investigation, it becomes clear that there is something sinister happening on the island and the girl’s life may hang in the balance. The horror in this film is subtle, and it presents a compelling mystery. If you watch it, be prepared for something a little different than your usual horror flick. 8. Dog Soldiers (2002) Director: Neil Marshall; Starring: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd An awesome, action-packed horror movie, Dog Soldiers was sadly never released into the theaters in the United States. The story focuses on a small group of British soldiers who are on a training mission in a remote forest in Scotland. When they stumble upon the remains of several Special Forces who have been torn to pieces, they realize that they are not involved in an ordinary training exercise. They flee the forest after being attacked, and are picked up by a zoologist who was in the area. Unable to escape the forest, they find a house in the woods and barricade themselves in, and are soon besieged by a pack of werewolves. The action in Dog Soldiers is relentless, and the effects are top notch. The werewolves are some of the best-looking in any movie, and the gore is truly gut-wrenching. This movie is a classic in the werewolf genre. 7. Ginger Snaps (2000) Director: John Fawcett; Starring Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle For a horror sub-genre that is given scant attention, my list has two solid werewolf movies, both released in the past three years. However, whereas Dog Soldiers is an action packed werewolf gorefest, Ginger Snaps is a movie that is driven by characters and story. Two sisters, Brigitte and Ginger, are approaching puberty together. As best friends, the two often lament on their lives and talk about killing themselves together. When Ginger is bitten by a werewolf, their relationship begins to change. Ginger develops an animal-like lust, and gets a boyfriend. The two sisters spend less and less time together. However, as the full moon approaches, Ginger’s behavior becomes even more erratic – and dangerous. If you can imagine combining a teenage-angst comedy with a werewolf horror film, that is what you have in Ginger Snaps. The movie does a good job of addressing the change into adulthood from a female perspective (not that I know anything about that, personally) and has plenty of comedy sprinkled in along with the horror. This is a great example of how to make a good movie on a low budget. 6. The Devil’s Backbone (2001) Director: Guillermo del Toro; Starring: Eduardo Noriega, Marisa Paredes The Devil’s Backbone is a movie from Spain, set during the Spanish Civil War, at a small orphanage run by people sympathetic to the losing Republican cause. A new boy, the son of a dead Republican hero, arrives at the orphanage and sees the ghost of a missing boy who gives him a grim warning about the future of the orphanage. The ghost continues to relay this message over and over, as the orphanage grows more and more isolated due to the war. As atmospheric horror films go, this movie is top-notch. It is another movie with a complex plot, that has a lot of drama and a solid story along with the horror elements. This is another movie that was not released in theaters in the U.S., but is available on DVD with subtitles. 5. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) Director: Jorge Grau; Starring: Christina Galbo, Ray Lovelock Released between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is one of the best zombie films outside of Romero’s trilogy, far surpassing anything made by Fulci. Two people get lost in the British country side, and stop at a farm for directions. One of them is attacked by a zombie, but manages to escape. Later, another couple is attacked by the same zombie, who manages to kill one of the people. The couple who survived soon realizes that the recently deceased are coming back to life and feeding on the living. Although this movie is slower than Romero’s films, it still has plenty of great zombie moments. The makeup and sound are all excellent, and the movie builds some great atmosphere throughout. Somehow this film slipped through the cracks of zombie fame. Anchor Bay thankfully released it on DVD. Well worth seeing if you like zombie movies. 4. Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara (2002) Director: Hideo Nakata; Starring: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno One of the most recent movies by director Hideo Nakata, Honogurai… is an atmospheric horror film done in the same style as Nakata’s more famous film, The Ring. After her divorce, Yoshima Matsubara and her 5 year-old daughter move into a new apartment to begin anew. Almost immediately, strange things begin happening. Water drips from the ceiling of the apartment, despite attempts to fix it. Yoshima finds her daughter carrying a small red bag with another child’s name on it, even after she throws the bag away. Her daughter creates an imaginary friend that eerily has the same name as a missing child from the area. Nakata tells a classic ghost story here, and does so masterfully. Similar to The Ring, Honogurai… relies on the slow building of atmosphere before hitting us with a shocking climax. Though this movie might be too slow for some, it has many frightening moments and has a truly creepy atmosphere throughout. Sadly, this is one that has not been released in the U.S. I have seen it listed under the alternative title of Dark Water, which makes me think it was released in English somewhere. I have not seen such a version, however. 3. Cemetery Man (1995) Director: Michael Soavi; Starring: Rupert Everett, Anna Falchi Directed by Michael Soavi, a protégé of Italian horror master Dario Argento, Cemetery Man is a weird, funny, and beautiful zombie horror/comedy. Everett stars as Francesco Dellamorte, the caretaker of a small cemetery with a unique problem: after 7 days, bodies buried in the cemetery come back to life. Dellamorte, therefore, has to re-kill corpses when they come back to life, and re-bury them, with the help of his mute assistant Gnage. Dellamorte becomes infatuated with an unnamed woman whom he sees one day visiting the grave of her late husband, while Gnage becomes infatuated with the daughter of the mayor – and then with her severed head. It is difficult to explain the plot of this movie in words. It is filled with plenty of dark humor, surrealism, and weird characters. It is also a difficult movie to classify; it has elements of horror and comedy, but also plays out almost like a David Lynch film. Soavi made a unique, beautiful film here. It is not a standard horror film, but another great choice if you are looking for something off-beat. 2. Battle Royale (2000) Director: Kinji Fukasaku; Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda The tagline to Battle Royale is: Would You Kill Your Best Friend? And the film does a pretty good job of addressing the question. The premise is simple: a class of high school students is kidnapped and taken to a remote island, where they are forced to participate in the game of Battle Royale. Each classmate is given a weapon and supplies, and is released onto the island with the mission of killing their classmates. The last person left standing gets a free pass home. If, however, more than one person is left at the end of three days, all of the classmates are killed, through the explosive collars attached to their necks. Battle Royale is a dark, dark film. It is about children killing children. The film is unabashedly violent and gory, and is not for the faint-hearted. Still, the characters are well done and the violence never feels exploitative. There is nothing fun or amusing about the violence here. The sense of desperation and horror among the children is clear, and director Fukasaku does an excellent job of making it more than a violent movie. This film is truly horrifying. If you can find a version with English subtitles, definitely watch it, if you have the stomach. 1. May (2002) Director: Lucky McKee; Starring: Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto A disturbing and tragic horror film, May is the story of a young woman, May Canady, who grows up in social isolation. As a 20-something woman, May works as an assistant to a veterinarian. However, May is desperate for companionship. When she meets Adam, who she believes is the perfect man, she is temporarily happy. Adam, though initially intrigued by May’s child-like innocence, is soon turned off my May’s social awkwardness and rejects her. Distraught, May is then forced to go to extreme measures to find companionship. Although May is a horror film, it is its dramatic aspects that set it above the rest. Angela Bettis does an amazing job playing the character of May. Her voice, her facial expressions – everything, creates a wonderful character. It is hard not to pity May, and equally hard not to care for her. May is truly a gem in the horror genre.  |
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