13 Days of Halloween – 10 Great Modern Horror Movies To Watch This Halloween (That We Think You’ve Never Seen) – 2020 Edition
Open up your browser and type into Google ‘horror movies to watch this Halloween’ and stare in horror at the insane amount of options available to you. Everyone, from the largest to the smallest of websites has done this list and most hit up all the usual suspects. You know what movies are making these lists. The staples of horror, normally capped off with Halloween itself.
We’re not knocking these lists. They can be fun to read and fun to write and this Halloween we decided to do our own one. However, focus instead on the more modern aspect of horror. Not only that, we’ve also decided to look towards the indies and find ten modern horrors we think you’ve likely not seen and should see this Halloween.
The Dinner Party (2020)
From writer/director Miles Doleac comes The Dinner Party. Starring Bill Sage, Jeremy London, Anne Williams, Mike Mayhall, Alli Hart and Ritchie Montgomery. A classy, sexy, stylish and violent horror that takes many a surprising turn. Held up by strong performances, top effects and a gleeful finale.
Stairs/The Ascent (2019)
Don’t go down.
Stairs is a smart, interesting and satisfying horror thriller. The concept alone enough to interest but the execution is almost perfect. The idea of a unit of hardened and battle-ready soldiers trapped on an endless staircase trying to keep ahead of an ever-encroaching evil is different. While not scary per-se, it’s thrilling and expertly paced.
The Night Eats the World (2018)
Not just a good modern zombie flick but possibly one of the best for a very long time. The Night Eats the World is an emotionally captivating and often terrifying movie based off French novelist Pit Agarmen’s La Nuit a Dévoré le Monde.
Directed by Dominique Rocher and starring Anders Danielsen Lie, it tells the story of one man’s isolation in a Parisian apartment block during a zombie outbreak.
We Are the Missing (2020)
We Are the Missing’s story surrounds a missing person named Riley (Chantel Little) who effectively just vanished one night. Her parents, distraught and confused have done everything possible to try and find her but she’s just… gone.
Through interviews, footage and more, the story surrounding Riley grows in scale to become something much more sinister and ominous.
If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.
Room for Rent (2019)
Lin Shaye the reason you should watch this movie. She is phenomenal giving us Joyce, a recently widowed elderly woman who is feeling the sting of loneliness. She is part sympathetic, part fearsome. Her situation and circumstances make you want to root for her but her mood swings and manipulative behaviour make it tough at times.
The Good Things Devils Do (2020)
Written and directed by Jess Norvisgaard, The Good Things Devils Do has an all star cast that includes horror icons; Bill Oberst Jr., Linnea Quigley and Kane Hodder as well as David Rucker III, Mary Katherine O’Donnell, Kelley Wilson Robinson and Veronika Stoykova.
Congratulations is in order for every single person involved in The Good Things Devils Do as they have crafted an excellent horror movie. One with a super-strong cast, a tight and well-told story, characters that are all really likeable and a ton of graphic gore.
It’s a wild ride of a movie. Once it really kicks in, it doesn’t stop, and you’ll be left breathless by the end.
Racoon Valley (2018)
We have a woman played by Terri Czapleski (she has no name) who happens to be deaf. A plane crashes causing her town to be quarantined as it was carrying bio-hazardous material. Everyone but a small number are evacuated before the town is closed off including the woman as she is unaware of what took place.
At first, she just goes about her life as her deafness keeps her pretty alone anyway but slowly, she begins to notice things aren’t right.
Racoon Valley is an effective movie that slowly builds in horror as we share the loneliness and isolation of the main character. It has a hopelessness about it but is surprisingly engaging considering very little actually happens. It’s also got an absolutely brilliant score that heightens every scene.
Terrifier (2018)
All Hallows Eve, released in 2013 introduced us to Art the Clown, a homicidal clown. An average anthology, it was the violent & psychotic killer that stood out. Seemingly aware of that, writer and director Damien Leone has taken the character & based an entire film around him. Terrifier puts the maniac front and centre in a slasher horror that bucks the modern trend by being very entertaining.
The Void (2017)
The Void is a movie that you don’t want spoiled. What occurs over its 90-minute run can be best described as a non-stop thrill ride. It combines the monster effects of The Thing, with the madness that comes from Clive Barker’s mind with a little 80’s horror style sprinkled over it.
Extremely graphic & violent, what might seem like an over the top, tongue in cheek horror ends up being a harrowing & realistic watch. Visually it’s very hard to fault The Void. It transforms mundane scenes into memorable & tense filled moments.
Butterfly Kisses (2018)
Have you heard about the legend of the Blink Man? After watching writer/director Erik Kristopher Myers’ Butterfly Kisses, you will be a lot more familiar with it. Although that might not be a good thing.
Let’s get this clear from the start, this film is excellent. Regular readers will know that we have a deep-seeded hatred of found-footage horror. Having seen what was once innovate and interesting descend into farce and be used as an excuse for poor quality horror. While we’re always willing to have our minds changed, it so rarely happens. Inevitably each new found-footage we see falls into the same traps. Making the same mistakes as the many that came before it.
We went into Butterfly Kisses with trepidation and came out blown away. This isn’t just an excellent found footage, it’s an excellent horror movie. One that does what so few manage to do competently.
