10 Underrated Horror Movies That Roger Ebert Loved (and Where to Watch Them) | Features

Due to the much-publicized conversations between Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, especially in the early 1980s, about the moral boundaries of horror films, Roger is often accused of hating the genre. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only did he give top marks to future classics like “Dawn of the Dead,” “Nosferatu,” “The Shining,” “Carrie” and “The Blair Witch Project,” but he was often willing to hit the road. limb for young horror filmmakers or projects that he thought weren’t getting the right amount of attention. Here are quotes from ten such reviews, including early projects from Guillermo del Toro and Lucky McKee, an underrated David Cronenberg, and a low-budget hit that really changed the industry. We’ve also listed where you can watch them.

“Body Snatchers” (1993)

Most importantly, for a horror movie, there are scenes of real terror. One shot in particular, involving a helicopter, is as scary as anything in “The Exorcist” or “Silence of the Lambs.” And the fear is not caused by the tired old slasher trick of someone jumping out of the screen, but by carefully identifying situations where we are afraid, and then our fears are confirmed.

Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“The Dead Zone” (1983)

‘The Dead Zone’ does what only a good supernatural thriller can do: it makes us forget that it is supernatural. Like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Exorcist,” it tells its story so powerfully through the lives of likable, believable people that we not only forgive the tricks, but accept them. There is pathos in what happens to the character of Christopher Walken in this film, and that pathos would never be felt if we didn’t buy the film’s premise.

Streaming on AMC+. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“Don’t be afraid of the dark” (2010)

This is a very good haunted house movie. It milks our frustration wonderfully. The adults are constantly saying and doing the wrong things and making stupid decisions, and Alex is stubborn and Kim is conflicted. And the shadows are deep and dark, and the screws in the flue grate seem to turn themselves, and no one will pay attention to little Sally, and somewhere in the audience will be a kid who gets inspired to make his own horror movies . .

Streaming on Peacock. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“Let Me In” (2010)

It is easy to guess where this will lead. Owen will enter Abby’s life as her next Familiar. She will protect him. One of the things she will save him from is the need to grow up and function like a normal man. She will check everything. Thus, Bela’s sweet masochism will become Owen’s hunger to surrender control. Being a servant is the price of not being a victim. Anyone hoping to see a ‘vampire film’ will be surprised by a good film.

Stream on Tubi. Available to rent on most VOD services for $2.99-$3.99.

“May” (2002)

‘May’ is a horror film and something more and deeper, something disturbing and strangely moving. It starts out as the story of a strange young woman, it goes for the fun and gets ’em, it functions as a black comedy, but then it slips past the comedy and slowly slides into a portrait of madness and sadness. Angela Bettis’s title performance is crucial to the film’s success. She plays a deranged character that could easily go over the top in a parody, making her believable, sympathetic, and terrifying.

Stream on Apple TV+. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“Imitate” (1997)

You don’t go into “Mimic” hoping for more than a few new twists on the enduring old idea; Such films, like thrill rides in parks, always work if they are well planned and constructed. But “Mimic” is superior to most of its cousins ​​and is stylishly directed by Guillermo Del Toro, whose visual sense adds a certain texture that makes everything scarier and more effective. It’s not often that a movie like this can scare me, but I was surprised at how effective “Mimic” is.

Streaming on Paramount+. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“Orphan” (2009)

After seeing ‘Orphan’ I now realize that Damien from ‘The Omen’ was a model child. The Demon Seed was a bumper crop. Rosemary would have been happy with this baby. Here’s a shamelessly effective horror film based on cinema’s most diabolical criminal: a child.

Streaming on Paramount+. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“Paranormal Activity” (2007)

‘Paranormal Activity’ is an ingenious horror short, so well made it’s genuinely scary, that arrives claiming to be real. Without any sort of conventional opening or closing credits, it begins by thanking “the families of Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston” and closes with one of those “current whereabouts unknown” title cards and a copyright notice screen. This was apparently a movie made without a director, writer, producer, grips, makeup, sound, catering or honey cart.

Stream on Max. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“The Possession” (2012)

‘The Possession’ is a serious horror film about supernatural possession that relies on more than loud noises to scare us. Like “The Exorcist,” the best film in the genre, this film is inspired by a degree of religious scholarship and creates believable characters in a real world. The fact that religions take demonic possessions seriously makes them more fun for us, the have-nots.

Streaming on Peacock. Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.

“Wolfs” (1981)

‘Wolfen’ develops a strong, angry theme about ecological and human waste. We learn that the wolves have their headquarters in a destroyed part of the South Bronx that resembles a bombed-out wasteland. Their original victim, the politician, had just visited there for a groundbreaking ceremony, promising to ‘renew’ the area. By killing him the wolves are merely exercising their territorial duty. What’s perhaps most interesting about “Wolfen” is that the story remains plausible, given its basic assumptions, of course. This is not science fiction, fantasy or violent escapism. It is a provocative speculation about the conditions under which we share this earth with other beings.

Available to rent on most VOD services for $3.99.