Slashers and torture films will undoubtedly satisfy your horror crave, but sometimes it’s nice to watch more than just wanton bloodshed in a Halloween movie. It’s an unfortunate fact of film criticism that horror movies are probably the most under-appreciated of all genres. Frequently considered trashy or lowbrow by moviegoers and almost always completely ignored by the Academy, horror movies are typically considered cheap thrills for sadistic viewers.
For years, academics and scholars have repeatedly tried to save horror from its bad reputation by pointing toward the latent feminist motifs throughout the genre and noting the avant-garde aspirations of even the lowest common denominator movies. Meanwhile, true auteurs regularly look toward horror for inspiration and have turned out some of their greatest creations while exploring the darkness within.
With this in mind, we’ve curated a list of under-appreciated arthouse cinema for the more adventurous horror fan.
(Content Warning: All of the movies below depict extreme physical and sexual violence.)
Related Reading
Raw (2016)
Climax (2018)
Antichrist (2009)
Inland Empire (2006)
Suicide Club (2001)
Noriko's Dinner Table (2005)
The Cell (2000)
Videodrome (1983)
Otto; or, Up with Dead People (2008)
Dogtooth (2009)
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