10 underrated horror movies. Part 1.

And here we go, leaving the cheese behind us and moving on to the more substantial for those looking for genuinely interesting and yet no over played to the point of meaninglessness on TV.  So with that in mind here are the rules of this list.  1.  It has to be a horror movie that either no one has heard of, or that very few people seemed to have seen, at least in the regard of general public horror movie knowledge.  And 2, most importantly, it has to actually be good, as in you watch it feeling like you’ve seen a good movie, not just a good HORROR movie.  I’m also going to go out of my way not to name things I’ve either already mentioned as something to track down or reviewed as such, so allow me to again throw out my recommendations for:  “Ginger Snaps 1&2”, “Daybreakers”, “Martin” and “The Company of Wolves”.  Ok, now that that’s out of the way, the actual list.  Since I’m working hard on this, and that requires not only re-watching these movies, but also ranking and giving micro reviews, I’m going to do this in two parts.  So here’s part one.   Part two will follow later this week.

10.    The Japanese version of “One Missed Call”.  Thanks to the success of “The Ring”, a sad part of the remake trend going on in Hollywood is the idea of just taking a Japanese horror movie and doing it again without adding much, except maybe sucking.  This was one such movie, no, I haven’t seen the remake, that being said if you haven’t either, do yourself a favor and pick THIS movie up.  The premise is simple, a bunch of unexplained deaths are connected by a foreshadowing phone message received by the victims.  This movie is damn well shot, has some effectively disturbing imagery and a solid pace.  However, what I think really sets it apart is that where most horror movies would have the phenomenon dismissed by the general public, this movie chooses to go the opposite route and have everyone actually believe it.  It actually gives more suspense because it causes a great panic that just makes you even more interested in what’s happening.  The pay off is good, the story is  well played, and the movie just goes on to be a good idea well told.

9. “Audition”.  Yes, it’s another Japanese movie, but I promise it’s the last one.  Basically I like to describe this movie as “Fatal Attraction” if you put it on steroids, and then had it OD on meth.  A widower has finally decided that he should seek a new wife, at the advice of his friend he has a fake movie audition to pick the one he wants.  He chooses a quiet, meek and unassuming type of woman and begins to court her… Then things get weird.  How weird?  I’m not telling, you need to track this movie down as I feel it has one of the greatest build ups in modern horror and yet the movie is so dense and well made that it’s open to several kinds of interpretations over multiple viewings.  It share it’s director with the previous entry, Takashi Miike, and you really get the sense that this guy really knows his craft and that he’s just a superb film maker.  Not to mention this is one of my favorite movies of all time.  It’s just a weird and interestingly wild ride from start to finish.

8. “Near Dark”.  It’s a vampire movie with half the cast of “Aliens”.  That should be enough to get you to watch it, but if I needed to share more I’d say that it to me is one of the better done vampire movies.  Being one of those rare movies that tries to mix genres and ACTUALLY succeeds, it’s got great intense scary moments, balanced by well directed action sequences.  Those fans of director Katherine Bigelow’s Oscar winning “The Hurt Locker” should probably get off your ass and pick this one up, as it showcases her talents were evident from the very beginning as this was her first outing as a solo director.  It has a good grasp on how to incorporate the vampire mythos and it has some absolutely gorgeous photography.  Those dreading the fact that “Twilight” has basically ruined the vampire genre oh yourself this movie.  It’s just a damn solid vampire story.

7. “The Abominable Doctor Phibes”.  While I’ve made it no secret that I absolutely HATE the “Saw” movies, I can at least acknowledge some of the appeal.  The idea of a killer that comes up with elaborate traps to kill people is interesting, and it’s an unfortunate extension of the slasher genre’s appeal.  Some like to think of it as the whole morbid fascination with death thing and blah blah blah.  I sadly have to just agree with the idea that it’s nothing but a different kind of porn.  Now, if you want to see how you take the concept of a killer that does elaborate traps to kill people and see how it’s actually done well, you need look no further than “The Abominable Doctor Phibes”.  Starring the always awesome Vincent Price in the title role, the film chronicles the tale of a man bent on taking out all the doctors he blames for the death of his wife.  To express the biblical nature of his rage, he takes them out using various interpretations of the 10 plagues of Egypt.  All the actors turn in good performances and while the film seems to want to dance into the realm of camp/cheese now and then, it’s still got a cast that takes the material like it’s actual scripture and really sell this impossible idea as some what plausible.  It’s a really interesting flick and I feel one of Price’s best performances.  It has a sequel, “Doctor Phibes Rises Again” which is most certainly higher on the camp scale, though still I feel is enjoyable.  Both films are worth a look this Halloween, I promise you will not be disappointed.

6. Trick-r-Treat.  So, there is a sub-genre in horror that I think needs more attention.  A sub-genre that I feel can truly showcase a director’s horror chops, or in some cases, allow several directors to collaborate on the same goal.  It’s the anthology movie, a film that is made up of more than one self contained story that are all tied into one another by one unifying theme.  I had oh so many movies I wanted to put in here, the first two “Creepshow” movies, the original “Tales from the Crypt” and it’s sequel “The Vault of Horror”, but I decided on this movie as a place holder for all of them for a couple reasons, firstly, it’s the most recent example of this kind of movie.  But mostly I picked it because it was one of those movies that’s underrated because it never really took off.  It was produced by Bryan “X-men 1 & 2” Singer’s Bad Hat Harry production company, and seemed to be getting a release with advertisement on the DVD release of “300”, but sadly that never happened and after touring the festival circuit for a spell the movie landed on DVD.  It’s a shame because the movie has a great cast and all the stories work really well, being tied together by happening on the same night and being seen by the same odd figure.  Honestly if you want a really good Halloween movie that takes place on the actual night that ISN’T John Carpenter’s classic, it’s this one.