Hidden Gems of Horror (Part Four)

by ELINOR EPPERSON
Contributor

A weekly list of horror movie recommendations to celebrate Halloween.

Creature Features

Movies starring a hostile organism span several genres, from action to sci-fi to horror. They’re excellent crowd pleasers, although they tend to follow a formula like any big-budget horror film. These hidden gems go beyond the formula and provide some good scares, too.

Underwater

2020 | R

Kristen Stewart continues to put distance between her breakout role in “Twilight” and her real acting acumen. This survivor horror tale embraces its unsophisticated premise: a deep sea oil rig falls apart with its inhabitants still on board. There is no plot, there is very little backstory, and minimal effort to show compelling protagonists. 

Yet, it works. It is 90 minutes of tense, white-knuckled foreboding as you watch the survivors navigate what remains of their drilling station. There isn’t even any prologue–just a few minutes of Stewart brushing her teeth before the walls explode. 

Content warnings: Violence, brief gore, dead bodies, jump scares

The Descent

2005 | R

A group of adventuring young women visit North Carolina to go hiking and spelunking in the Appalachian Mountains. Sarah, still grieving a terrible loss from a year before, hopes the trip will renew her love of outdoor exploring. Instead, the friends find themselves in an uncharted cave filled with rusted climbing gear, bones, and a monstrous predator. 

Content warnings: Literal pools of blood, gore, cannibalism, child death, very poor spelunking decisions

The Faculty

1998 | R

This is an absurd, campy, high school version of “The Thing.” “The Faculty” stars Elijah Wood and Josh Hartnett (remember him?) as two high school outcasts who discover an alien plot to take over the world. An ensemble cast makes up the teaching staff of the high school (Salma Hayek, Jon Stewart, Famke Jemisen, Piper Laurie), who start to act stranger than normal. If you don’t take it too seriously, “The Faculty” will take you on a horrifying adventure through late-90s American puberty. 

Content warnings: Brief nudity, blood, violence, a severed head or two, homophobia (including slurs)

Attack the Block

2011 | R

Jodie Whittaker (“Dr. Who”) and John Boyega (“Star Wars”) become an unlikely duo in this alien invasion horror-comedy that takes place in a South London tower block (the UK equivalent of project housing). It features repulsive gorilla-dog aliens and Nick Frost playing the local weed dealer. The movie is genuinely funny but doesn’t skip out on the horror elements–be warned, some of Boyega’s friends do die. However, “Attack the Block” balances these disparate elements incredibly well, and even makes some still-relevant social commentary on race and class.

Content warnings: Violence, blood, child death, animal death, 9-year-olds cursing

See “hidden gems:”

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

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