Great Underground Horror Films Streaming For Halloween
By Mike Everleth ⋅ October 29, 2013
If you’re in the mood for something really scary — and maybe a little off beat — to watch this Halloween, you’re in luck! A terrific crop of wickedly frightening and ghoulishly grotesque horror flicks that terrorized the underground film circuit have made their way to your favorite VOD streaming service just in time for this All Hallow’s Eve.
Saturday Morning Mystery, dir. Spencer Parsons (Amazon | Itunes) Saturday Morning Mystery is one of the best, most original horror movies in recent memory. The film cashes in on both the modern obsession with paranormal investigating as well as on that classic Saturday morning cartoon, Scooby-Doo. But, this ain’t no kiddie film! Four hipsters and their (non-talking) dog look to solve a good ghost mystery and immediately find themselves way in over their heads. Gory and outrageous in more ways than one, what’s most impressive about this flick is how smart, funny and genuinely scary it is.
The Devil’s Rock, dir. Paul Campion. (Amazon | Itunes) Special effects guru and short film maestro Paul Campion knocks it out of the park with his debut feature film. (The “it” being a severed head, ‘natch.) A pair of ill-equipped Allied soldiers prepare to sabotage a Nazi stronghold and uncover a dangerous secret: A naked woman is being held captive there. Ok, well, she’s more like a blood-thirsty demon who wants to eat their souls than she is a woman. The Devil’s Rock is filmed in one limited location, but the terror that unfolds … that’s unlimited. (Also: Watch Campion’s awesome short film Night of the Hell Hamsters.)
The Millennium Bug, dir. Kenneth Cran (Amazon | Itunes) The Millennium Bug is a throwback mashup of epic proportions. It throws together such great genres such as hillbilly horror and giant monster movies into a high-powered blender set to “whirlwind” that induces whiplash in the viewer. An upscale family head to the woods to avoid the chaos of Y2K and first get trapped by an inbred clan of demented hillbillies then have to avoid being stomped on or eaten by the titular creature. Features fantastic lo-fi special effects!
Chop, dir. Trent Haaga (Amazon | Itunes) Cult icon Will Keenan stars as a regular suburban family man being tormented by a homicidal maniac out for revenge for some perceived slight that occurred once upon a time. While the slim premise sounds like it could fizzle out after about 15 minutes, the truth is that Keenan, Haaga and screenwriter Adam Minarovich continually up the ante in extremely creative ways and keep the action racing towards the film’s outrageous conclusion.
SOME MORE GREAT HORROR FLICKS:
Pop Skull, dir. Adam Wingard (Amazon) Daniel may be a dope fiend, but that doesn’t mean the ghosts in his house aren’t real.
The Oregonian, dir. Calvin Lee Reeder (Amazon | Itunes) A woman running away from her past gets involved in a car accident that throws her entire world into chaos.
Strange Girls, dir. Rona Mark (Amazon) Twin sisters who refuse to speak to strangers are released from a mental asylum and try to adjust to life in a lower class Pittsburgh neighborhood. They also try — and fail — to not kill their neighbors.
Every Other Day Is Halloween, dir. C.W. Prather (Amazon) This documentary profiles Count Gore DeVol, Washington, D.C.’s beloved horror TV host who became a worldwide phenomenon after taking his act to the Internet.
Brain Dead, dir. Kevin Tenney (Amazon | Itunes) group of social outcasts holed up in a remote cabin must defend themselves from an onslaught of local yokels who have been transformed into zombies by an alien parasite.