The 10 Most Underrated Horror Films To Watch This Halloween

Halloween is upon us once again, and there are some great undiscovered (or forgotten about) horror movies out there to help put a dash of spookiness in your day or evening this year. Some of these films we’re about to mention were moderate box-office hits, but most were not.

If one is seeking a movie to terrify or shock, these films all have such notable attributes to them that will make them entertain and, more often than not, make their audiences jump right out of their seats or simply squirm in them.

What makes a horror movie underrated is when it’s not too well-known, or has begun to be forgotten over time. Either that is the case with these films, or the movie at hand just failed to fully take off at the box-office, for whatever reason. These movies will offer many audiences a sleepless night, for various reasons.

Without any more unnecessary buildup, here is the list of the 10 Most Underrated Horror Films to Watch This Halloween:

1.  Tooth and Nail (2007)

Part of the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest series – 8 Films to Die For – was the unrelenting Tooth and Nail. Nicole DuPort was this horror movie’s main attraction. She appears opposite Rider Strong and Rachel Miner in this movie.

This picture is set in an abandoned hospital in a post-apocalyptic world. Cannibalism is on the menu in this film as our characters become involved with some psychopathic people.

What makes this movie so disturbing is the way the character DuPort plays, Dakota, changes over the course of the film. She simply must defend herself. It’s kill or be killed.

She fights fire with fire as she dons makeup and gets to the root of the problem by taking vengeance into her own hands as the movie progresses. This is a movie where you’ll be on her side and want to see her defeat evil once and for all.

Also featured in Tooth and Nail are Michael Madsen, Robert Carradine and Vinnie Jones, all character actors who work sufficiently among the younger stars of the terrifying and satifying horror picture that got no respect from most critics. Don’t miss this enjoyable tale of retribution, and make your own opinion as to the true quality of this film.

2. Heretic (2024)

Hugh Grant got much acclaim for his work as the evil Mr. Reed in a flat-out masterpiece, Heretic. Grant killed it in this picture as a man who preys on two innocent religious girls, played by Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher.

Talk about terrifying scenarios, this movie takes the cake when it comes to frightening set-ups.

Don’t think Grant’s creepily effective work in this film is anything less than stellar just because he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for it. He is absolutely bone-chilling in the movie and was certainly snubbed by the Academy for this role.

The real surprise here, however, is that Chloe East takes her central part in the movie and turns it into one for the record books. East plays Sister Paxton, the one who must face off against the terrifying Mr. Reed when Sister Barnes (Thatcher) finds Reed has unjustly defeated her.

What’s great about Heretic is the unnerving suspense that saturates every scene. This one is sure to keep audiences watching, while rooting for Sister Paxton every second along the way. It’s a fantastic movie if you can handle the intensity of it.

3. The Village (2004)

In The Village, M. Night Shyamalan terrifies viewers with the story of a small village where “Those We Don’t Speak Of” reside. These monsters are terrifying to the residents who go into hiding whenever the creatures come out and roam.

Ivy Elizabeth Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) loves Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), but when Lucius is injured, Ivy must go into the woods to get him medicine to keep him alive. Ivy is blind, but her father (William Hurt) agrees to send her into monster-ridden territory.

This film is more fascinating when considering the fact that Ivy is a disabled woman who is called upon to save the life of a fellow resident. This movie successfully shows the ability Ivy finds to overcome the “monsters” as she strives to overcome her own limitations to save the love of her life.

Is The Village scary? When one arrives at the signature Shyamalan plot twist, one will find the story to be even scarier than it originally seemed. This is a moving, emotional journey of a woman who could defeat the demons that surround her through her inability to see them. The question becomes: Do they even exist at all?

4. Joy Ride (2001)

When some road travelers mess with a truck driver named Rusty Nail in Joy Ride, their lives become a living hell. John Dahl’s scary movie is everything one could want in a horror film. It is tense, disturbing and, above all else, entertaining.

Paul Walker, Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski are the performers who play the heroes of the movie. They are pursued by the truck driver from hell. This film is in the vein of The Hitcher.

This movie puts our stars in situations that are so scary, it will have one anxiously awaiting to see how the leads will get out of trouble time and time again. From scene to scene, the action flows in a perfectly edited little horror movie that will frighten viewers right until the last moments.

Paul Walker was a real movie star and the support he gets from Sobieski and Zahn in Joy Ride is first-rate. See this one!

5. Sinister (2012)

Scott Derrickson brings to life, perhaps, the scariest movie on this list with the downright intense, Sinister. If you want nightmares, this movie will provide them for you, no questions asked.

Ethan Hawke plays a writer who moves his family into a haunted house that has a past secret that is so horrible that just discussing it could make one uneasy.

This movie has a spine-chilling soundtrack with music that has elements that are creepy beyond a reasonable doubt. You won’t get the disturbing visions this movie displays out of your head either.

Derrickson builds tension like a roller-coaster ride and it’s not a pretty picture how things wind up at the climax for the family featured in the film.

If one doesn’t want anything with a happy ending, and just loves great old-fashioned scares, this is the way to go for horror that defines the very genre this film is a part of. It’s perfectly scary in the best possible way.

6. Swallow (2019)

Don’t be fooled, Swallow is a horror movie, even though it seems like more of a drama at the outset. Haley Bennett plays Hunter, a woman who has settled into a marriage with a difficult man named Richie (Austin Stowell).

This film features elements that will make viewers wince. That’s because Hunter becomes pregnant and starts to swallow random indigestible objects that shouldn’t be swallowed.

It’s a cringe-inducing scenario that drives the plot of Swallow. Bennett is perfect in the role, conveying loneliness and sadness that will keep the viewer invested in the choices she makes, while wondering all along why she makes them.

There are plot revelations here that will get under one’s skin and there are genuine, realistic elements to them, which make the movie that much more nerve-wracking to behold.

Swallow is the most uneasy movie on this list, and will appeal to people who can think with an open mind. It’s terrifying, thought-provoking and absolutely a character study that analyzes a woman quite unlike any we’ve ever encountered in a movie before.

7. Near Dark (1987)

This is the definitive vampire movie. Near Dark is perfection from visionary filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow.

When Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is bitten by Jenny Wright’s Mae, he is immersed in a world of horrific elements where the new lifestyle of being a creature afraid of the sunlight is just a bit difficult to adjust to.

While the world of the undead is very different for the cowboy, Caleb, it is not without some undeniable freedoms, which, as you would expect, come at a huge emotional cost.

As far as action pictures go, this is one that has those dark horror movie vibes mixed in, making it a true work of originality. As Caleb’s family seeks him out, this road picture becomes a staggering work of depth and genius.

Sunlight becomes the most vicious enemy in this absolutely great picture that never lets up in the true sense of the style of the incomparable Bigelow.

8. Orphan (2009)

Here’s a movie with a Shyamalan-like twist as well. Orphan is frightening and a great time. Isabelle Fuhrman’s Esther is a child who gets adopted by the couple played by Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga.

Orphan beautifully builds suspense like a true masterwork of the great Alfred Hitchcock. Esther is a nine-year-old girl, but the movie turns the character inside out as she orchestrates kills that make one question if there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Of course, there is. This is the movie to see if you want a spine-chilling movie that has the quintessential twist ending that may make one think twice about adoption.

None of this would be possible without Fuhrman, who reprised the role in a sequel that didn’t quite live up to the greatness of this perfectly terrifying horror picture.

9. We Need to Do Something (2021)

Coming right around the time of the pandemic, there was nothing scarier than seeing a movie about a family stuck together, fighting while the elements surrounding their home are worse and beyond their control. We Need to Do Something is a really great IFC Midnight movie.

What’s going on outside the bathroom is scary in and of itself, but the situations that the family experiences from the forces surrounding them make for a genuinely scary movie experience.

Vinessa Shaw and Pat Healy expertly play the feuding parents, but the actress who plays the daughter, Melissa, Sierra McCormick, is even more exceptional.

This movie excels at the way it tackles the elements of the plot, including the presence of a dog voiced by Ozzy Osbourne, who scares alongside the horrors of the premise of simply being alone with a dysfunctional family.

Since there’s no possible way of escaping, the movie makes the viewer ask what, exactly, needs to be done by the characters to get back to any kind of normal?

10. Stigmata (1999)

This film is a downright bizarre, but fascinating, look at a hairdresser named Frankie (Patricia Arquette)’s revealing of the marks of the crucifixion (aka “stigmata”).

Arquette excels as she always does in Stigmata, but the supporting cast isn’t too shabby either. Gabriel Byrne plays the priest who must try to help Frankie. Jonathan Pryce, in another key role, plays a religious official looking to eliminate Frankie’s concerns once and for all for reasons you will discover while watching the film.

This movie combines spiritual beliefs with potential demonic elements that are worked out in surprisingly effective ways, thanks to the delicate work of Arquette, who never met a role she couldn’t tackle head-on.

Stigmata is frightening in the ideas it proposes, but has some plausibility to the way it all plays out. Interesting film-making techniques keep the viewer intrigued, even though the film is admittedly, only for those who can handle its intensity.

Happy Halloween from us here at Eulalie Magazine and let us know what you think, should you choose to watch one of these horror movie recommendations!