Top 10 Little Known Horror Films For Halloween.

By Faisal Hashmi on October 26, 2009

Little known treats for a very creepy Halloween.

Tags: Features, Halloween, Horror Films, Top 10

Share this Article

Submit to N4G

First Impressions

My reaction is

7. Session 9

session9

Another low-budget horror feature, Session 9 is a slow-paced atmospheric horror film that is probably the most atmospheric and creepy film you will ever see. If the asylum in the film doesn’t creep you out in a major way by the end, you’re a brave man indeed. They always say ‘fear of the unknown’ is the greatest fear of them all, and Session 9 delivers on that by not showing us the meaty details and leaving them for our own imagination which always conjures much scarier imagery.

The film also makes use of some creepy locations and devices such as an audio taping have never been scary before.

6. Inside

inside

Another French film for the list and it’s even better than High Tension. Possibly the most gory film you will ever see, Inside is a terrifying ride involving a pregnant woman being attacked my a stranger in the house who wants to kill the unborn child at all costs.

There are so many shocking and cringe-worthy sequences that words cannot do justice. The ending is especially disturbing and bloody and I doubt Hollywood will ever dare remake this film for the mainstream audience because they may never be able to handle it.

5. Pontypool

pontypool

A very recent release, Pontypool is a little known horror film that made it’s way to DVD recently and surprised the hell out of me as I was expecting a mediocre zombie film. What I got instead was a taut and gripping pyschological thriller that is possibly one of the most original horror films you will see.

The whole film is set inside one location (the radio chatroom) in a small town called Pontypool late night where a radio host gets reports from the outside about strange and violent behavior from individuals. Slowly, the infection begins to spread on the inside too and havoc ensues. Again, the imagination is used here to great effect as simple descriptions of violent attacks on the radio send a greater chill down the spine than if they would have showed it. I won’t spoil the cause of the infection’s spread for you, but let’s say the scholarly slant the film takes is immensely refreshing in a spate of derivative horror films.

About Faisal Hashmi

Filmmaker and film writer. An ironically strange combination. Follow his tweets on @faisalhashmi for his escapades in film.

More Features

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ new poster sets Gotham on fire

Skyfall Teaser Trailer

First images from ‘Taken 2′ reveal a still bad-ass Liam Neeson

‘Skyfall’ teaser poster is classic James Bond

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green Trailer

The Campaign Trailer

Gangster Squad Trailer

‘Anchorman 2′ teaser poster has a lot of legs

Comments

KHAOS

“Session 9″ was an awesome surprise when I stumbled upon it and “Trick ‘R Treat” was absolute fun. We all have our tastes and we will disagree on things, and that’s a good thing, but “Dead End”? Wow. Sorry, but it was extremely bad. It did however, save itself in being so bad it became a comedic romp.
Koppar

Heard of quite a few films on this list, but have sadly only seen “Session 9″. Which i have to say was quite a disappointment.. I’ll endeavor to watch the rest of them as soon as possible. Heard good things about Trick’r'treat, Midnight Meat Train and Shutter..
joANNE

trick r treat wasn’t that great. maybe i’v watched too many horrors. but it was a meh! going to watch the midnight meat train next and i’l be back
http://tragicbeautiful.com/ Debra Wilson

Seen a few of these, but added all I haven’t except number 1 to my Netflix queue. A few were already on there. I’ve been waiting for Pontypool for ages- thinking I might just cave in and buy it instead- Amazon has it for $12 and free shipping.
Hannah

These all look great. I will have to check them out. Ive actually been meaning to see trick r treat, its preview is on a movie I bought and now everytime I watch the movie I make sure to watch the preview.
tanner

Session 9 is the best of them all
K.rip

I’m going to assume you mean the 2003 Dead End not the 1937 crime drama film of the same name.
Alex

Pretty good list, have seen or at least heard of all these movies. I watched inside all in French with no subtitles, you don’t need words to watch this movie. All the action speaks for itself. Really terrifying!
Liz

dang i wanna watch all of em’ but i bet mom and dad won’t let me watch ONE, dang it but they look like pretty good movies!
andi

Idk about the rest of them, but Midnight Meat Train was a HUGE disappointment. Loved the movie up until literally the last five minutes, which ruined the entire thing for me. It goes from clever to stupid and amateur in about 0.2 seconds. The ending makes seeing the film a giant tease, and so not worth it.
PPPPPPyo.

I’m glad that Dead Ends getting recognized in here. But check out the movie “Carnival”, I was literally crying it was so disturbing.
Rhyan W

Pontypool was great until they explained how the infection was spread. Absolute dumbest thing in the history of cinema. Kiss is kill? No film is dumb.
jack pocko

martyrs is a garbage movie don’t waste your life on it
Fleur

I’ve seen the majority of these. A lot of them are really good. Trick r’ Treat was excellent. If you’re looking for “Gory of all time” though I would suggest ‘Dead Alive’. Midnight Meat Train was not good. I HIGHLY suggest ‘Funny Games’ It isn’t really scary per say.. just more sick and twisted. They made two versions, the original is in German, and an American. Although they are ALMOST identical the German is still better.
Fleur

Oh and I add… Cube was OK. Like Saw, they get worse as the sequels come out… I think they made at least 4 of them. I do say that Shutter was scary. If you can find the movie ‘Dumplings’ it’s Korean(?) watch that. It is AMAZING. Very obscure. Also, try Memento Mori, Don’t Torture a Duckling, and Eyes Without a Face. *These movies are all not going to scare you out of your pants, but are more quite beautiful films… in my opinion. But I find horror films to be beautiful.* Don’t Torture a Duckling is one of my all time favorites.
http://www.stumbleupon.com Kyla

Shutter looks the most scary to me it kinda reminds me of the grudge. The last one looks like my sister’s voo-doo doll. Laaammeeee.
Jo

I watched Dead End on OnDemand on Comcast (so many ‘ons’ @_@).

Oh god.
That movie scared the fuck out of me. Bloody brilliant, but I do not recommend watching it alone and in the dark. Which is how I watch all my horror movies… god damnit why don’t I learn? XD
Rider

Inside is hands down the worst movie I have ever watched. It is so mind numbingly stupid.
Jack

One movie that mustttt be noted is Horror by Dante Tomaselli. It is a low budget cult film, and despite the low production value and rather mediocre acting, it still remains to be one of my all-time favorite horror movies.
Morgan

Thanks for this list. I need to talk my mom into letting me watch all of them. Soon. xD

Except maybe the last two. Dolls are scary in movies. And kids…ah.
Megan

I LOVE TRICK ‘R TREAT!

I rented it from Netflix last Halloween and it was so good!
Liz

Mehmehmeh. I’m a movie snob and my opinion matters more than yours. If you don’t have the same taste in movies as me, then you’re an idiot. You are not entitled to your own opinions and to have your own preferences…’cause you’re an idiot. I am also a grammar and spelling nazi. I like to troll movie lists and make myself look like a douche bag. Mehmehmeh.

Get over yourself, Ogar. Great list!
Colette

I personally did not care for Dead End, and in my opinion, Shutter is the best one out of all of these
Tica

The only movie I’ve seen from this list is Trick R Treat and I absolutely loved that movie. I’m definitely going to check out the others though, since I know number 1 rocks I’ll definitely give the others a try:)
Eric

High Tension was very graphic and slightly cruel, but it had a pretty surprising ending, I watched it over to see where I could have over looked things. [SPOILER]there were a couple scenes where she couldn’t have been in two places at once, but still an ok movie.
TheBJF

Session 9? Anyone who promotes this movie in a positive light is just being an asshole. It’s a constant practice of build up and let down. I felt almost insulted when the credits rolled and I am not a hard man to please.
Anthony

Really dope list. Have seen half of them and really enjoyed them. There’s something great about a low budget horror movie that just works.
http://facebook/aurniastar Leslie

These are great Ive seen 3 of them and plan on seeing the rest. Thanks for the reviews they were superb to say the least!
http://www.thecompostforum.com/blog Kathy R Boyle

Incredible work on this blog. I have been looking for a gardening blog to follow. BTW, I found you using Google.
SeanG

A Serbian Film ought to be on this list.
That shit’s scary.
Chris

This is one of the better list that I’ve seen. Inside was crazy good!
Didacter

Its = correct
It’s = it is

Get it right, PULEEEZE!
Alisa

I’m making my way through this list. Great picks so far. Dead End was a bit cheesy at times, but still scared the shit out of me and I enjoyed its comic moments. The ending was very original and thought provoking.
debbie gibbler

shutter is a joke……
Janine

Just to clarify, in the film Inside, the ‘intruder’ isn’t trying to kill the unborn child, she just wants to keep it for herself. (Will make sense when you watch the film) It’s definitely worth watching
SammieSuicide

Session 9 is one of the best movies I’ve seen even though it’s really slow. Trick R’ Treat is just FUCKED UP. Don’t watch it unless you have a creepy, twisted, fucked up mind. Seriously, you need a strong stomach for it. Not as bad as the Human Centipede..that’s all I’m going to say about that.
lmno

Little known? Maybe if you’re 15 and your idea of horror is Scream 7.
Charlie

Eden Lake scared me more than anything I’ve seen in a long long time.

Orfanato was mentioned, but yea I was expecting to see that on the list. Wasn’t too scared by it.
Charlie

Eden Lake scared me more than anything i’ve seen in a long long time
Sevron13

I’m proud to say I actually own most of these! But it’s a great list, good job!
Joey

1) not a Top 10 by any means

2) since when are these movies “little known?”

3) whoever recommended this for Stumble has be to 14 & have little concept of pop culture happenings.
Theparadox

I liked the cube sequels :<
Zoetroper

Prince of Darkness… try that obscure horror movie out.
Enchilada

I think you have great taste in films. It might help your readers to include headings that name the movies.

http://www.facebook.com/juan.marinho Juan Mariño

Try selecting the upper line of each movie with your mouse. It may be useful.
Faisal Hashmi

The new website designed messed up the formatting. I’ve fixed it temporarily by making the titles red.

Sweetestsadist

I usually dread when I stumbleupon lists like these. But your list is great. There’s no overrated chaff that’s only liked by people who want to pretend they are into indie/foreign horror. Every movie here is excellent and I commend you. I haven’t seen Dead End yet, but am making it a goal because of this list.
echodd

The only one I’ve watched is number 10. Your review makes we want to watch the other 9.
Jynx678

i just saw high tension like a week ago and i loved it! now i’m super curious about inside since you claim its better. and props on trick r treat i love that movie
Missjamie1122

Trick ‘r treat was one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life. It was impossible to follow and made 0 sense.
http://profile.yahoo.com/37OJUMUE2IV4SIEZOOW24BJMJI Ashlyn

Fantastic list, I loved #10, and I’m so glad you put the original Shutter on there. Props!