Independent horror movies are experiencing a surprising surge in popularity lately, with low-budget thrillers like the game-changing Skinamarink going viral and Terrifier 3 winning the box office in its first week. However, there are still many new, creepy hidden gems that tend to get lost in the shuffle among the most recent installments of classic horror movie franchises or the latest Blumhouse thrillers, for instance. Well, allow me to help point you in the right direction to find some of the best horror movies from the last few years that you might not have seen.
In The Earth (2021)
Director: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Joel Fry, Reece Shearsmith
What it’s about: In the midst of a disastrous pandemic, a routine search for supplies in the deep forest takes a turn for the worse for a scientist and park ranger.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: While not as well known some of Ben Wheatley’s other notable films, such as Free Fire or Meg 2: The Trench, In the Earth is one of the filmmaker’s most acclaimed efforts, as a slow-burn that curdles into a something viscerally grisly and thematically unique.
How to watch In the Earth
The Cursed (2022)
Director: Sean Ellis
Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Kelly Reilly
What it’s about: A village begins to suffer a horrifying and transformative event in the wake of a land baron’s unspeakable act in the late 19th Century.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Solid acting performance and inventive creature effects make The Cursed one of the best werewolf movies in years.
How to watch The Cursed
Incident In A Ghostland (2018)
Director: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Emilia Jones, Taylor Hickson, Mylène Farmer
What it’s about: Two sisters and their mother fall prey to two intruders who have invaded their new, remote farmhouse on the first night they move in.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: With its shocking twists and turns, Incident in a Ghostland is a scary and subversive take on the home invasion genre.
How to watch Incident in a Ghostland
- Stream Incident in a Ghostland on Tubi
- Rent or buy Incident in a Ghostland on Amazon
- Buy Incident in a Ghostland on DVD on Amazon
The Hole In The Ground (2019)
Director: Lee Cronin
Starring: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey
What it’s about: A single mother becomes increasingly convinced that her young son is not what he claims to be.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Before Lee Cronin became part of Evil Dead movie history by helming Evil Dead Rise, he broke out with this chilling tale that also boasts a resounding theme of family torn apart by otherworldly circumstances.
How to watch The Hole in the Ground
When Evil Lurks (2023)
Director: Demián Rugna
Starring: Ezequiel Rodríguez, Demián Salomón
What it’s about: Two brothers struggle to do the right thing to prevent an epidemic of demonic possession from going viral.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: At times, watching the protagonists of When Evil Lurks continuously worsen their situation with one mistake after another grows frustrating but that is why this haunting brutal Spanish-language film also works as an effective commentary on how mankind responds to crises.
How to watch When Evil Lurks
The Passenger (2023)
Director: Carter Smith
Starring: Johnny Berchtold, Kyle Gallner
What it’s about: A young man is forced to accompany his unstable coworker on a violent killing spree.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Kyle Gallner (of The Walking Dead, 2022’s Scream, and Smile fame) continues to prove he is one of today’s finest horror movie actors with his chilling performance in The Passenger – an intense, Blumhouse-produced thriller that, unfortunately, never received a theatrical release.
How to watch The Passenger
Suitable Flesh (2023)
Director: Joe Lynch
Starring: Heather Graham, Barbara Crampton
What it’s about: A psychiatrist discovers that her new, young patient’s problem is something much worse than anything therapy can solve.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg praised Suitable Flesh as one of the best horror movies of 2023 for being a refreshingly provocative and unsettlingly dark adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Thing on the Doorstep.”
How to watch Suitable Flesh
- Stream Suitable Flesh on Hulu
- Stream Suitable Flesh on AMC+
- Rent or buy Suitable Flesh on Amazon
- Buy Suitable Flesh on Blu-ray on Amazon
Satanic Hispanics (2022)
Director: Mike Mendez, Demián Rugna, Eduardo Sánchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Alejandro Brugués
Starring: Efren Ramirez, Jonah Ray
What it’s about: The sole survivor of a deadly occasion is brought in for questioning, where he instead recounts five terrifying tales he has witnessed.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro took to X to voice his approval of Satanic Hispanics – an anthology horror movie with stories each helmed by a different Latino filmmaker.
How to watch Satanic Hispanics
- Stream Satanic Hispanics on AMC+
- Buy or rent Satanic Hispanics on Amazon
- Buy Satanic Hispanics on Blu-ray on Amazon
Enys Men (2022)
Director: Mark Jenkin
Starring: Mary Woodvine
What it’s about: A volunteer wildlife worker begins to question her reality while observing the activity of a rare flower on a remote island in 1973.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: The title of Enys Men (pronounced “ennis mane”) translates from Cornish to say, “stone island,” in reference to the setting of this persistently eerie, gorgeously shot meditation on loneliness.
How to watch Enys Men
Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022)
Director: Michelle Garza Cervera
Starring: Natalia Solián, Alfonso Dosal
What it’s about: After her dream of becoming pregnant finally comes true, a woman begins to suffer an unexplainable living nightmare.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Inspired by a terrifying legend of Mexican folklore, the Spanish-language thriller Huesera: The Bone Woman is one of the most intense horror movies about motherhood since Rosemary’s Baby.
How to watch Huesera: The Bone Woman
- Stream Huesera: The Bone Woman on AMC+
- Rent or buy Huesera: The Bone Woman on Amazon
- Buy Huesera: The Bone Woman on Blu-ray on Amazon
Bad Things (2023)
Director: Stewart Thorndike
Starring: Gayle Rankin, Hari Neff
What it’s about: After a young woman inherits a hotel, she and others go there for a weekend that takes a bizarre, horrifying turn.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Bad Things is a recent LGBTQ+-themed horror movie that has drawn comparisons to The Shining for its setting and similarly unsettling atmosphere.
How to watch Bad Things
El Conde (2023)
Director: Pablo Larraín
Starring: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer
What it’s about: Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet decides that, after 250 years of sucking blood and living in hiding, he is ready to die, which attracts the attention of his children.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Winner of Best Screenplay at the 80th Venice Film Festival, the Oscar-nominated, wild political satire, El Conde – also one of the best 2023 Netflix original movies – is unlike any vampire movie you have ever seen.
How to watch El Conde
Willy’s Wonderland (2021)
Director: Kevin Lewis
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emily Tosta
What it’s about: While working as an overnight janitor for a rundown family entertainment center to pay off his car repair, a nameless, silent drifter discovers the goofy animatronics inside are alive and are not too friendly.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: While an official Five Nights at Freddy’s movie does exist, Willy’s Wonderland – a wonderfully zany low-budget horror-comedy seemingly inspired by the video game franchise – is still worth a watch, especially for Cage’s badass performance.
How to watch Willy’s Wonderland
- Stream Willy’s Wonderland on Freevee through Amazon
- Stream Willy’s Wonderland on Tubi
- Stream Willy’s Wonderland on Hulu
- Buy Willy’s Wonderland on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Empty Man (2020)
Director: David Prior
Starring: James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland
What it’s about: The investigation of a friend’s missing daughter leads a former cop to discover a cult tied to a terrifying urban legend.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Perhaps the most vastly underseen and underrated horror movie of 2020 was this mind-bending adaptation of the comic book The Empty Man from David Prior, who went on to helm one of the best episodes of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, “The Autopsy.”
How to watch The Empty Man
Watcher (2022)
Director: Chloe Okuno
Starring: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman
What it’s about: A young woman begins to have deadly suspicions about her voyeuristic neighbor.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Chloe Okuno makes a stunning feature-length debut with the startling Watcher, starring modern Scream Queen and It Follows star, Maika Monroe.
How to watch Watcher
- Stream Watcher on AMC+
- Stream Watcher on Hulu
- Rent or buy Watcher on Amazon
- Buy Watcher on Blu-ray on Amazon
Possum (2018)
Director: Matthew Holness
Starring: Sean Harris, Alun Armstrong
What it’s about: A disturbed man, accompanied by his unsettling puppet, returns to his childhood home to confront his traumatic past.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: In a recent wave of comedians-turned-horror masters (i.e. Jordan Peele, Barbarian’s Zach Cregger), one such filmmaker who deserves more notoriety for such an achievement is British comic Matthew Holness, whose feature-length directorial debut, Possum, is a hauntingly visceral and uniquely poignant nightmare.
How to watch Possum
- Stream Possum on Amazon Prime
- Stream Possum on AMC+
- Stream Possum on Tubi
- Buy Possum on Blu-ray on Amazon
Hellbender (2022)
Director: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Starring: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
What it’s about: A sheltered young woman discovers she has bizarre and dangerous abilities that her mother attempted to hide from her.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Real-life mother/daughter duo Toby Poser and Zelda Adams deserve a place among the top horror movie Scream Queens after collaborating on Hellbender — an irresistibly inventive take on witchcraft lore.
How to watch Hellbender
Soft & Quiet (2022)
Director: Beth de Araújo
Starring: Stefanie Estes, Olivia Luccardi
What it’s about: A simple meeting between a group of women turns grim when its organizer, an elementary school teacher, encounters someone from her past.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Eric Eisenberg named Soft & Quiet one of his favorite movies of 2022 without giving away much about the story, but horror junkies who have sought it out have praised its bold, unapologetic brutality and inventive narrative structure.
How to watch Soft & Quiet
Hatching (2022)
Director: Hannah Bergholm
Starring: Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä
What it’s about: A young girl unwittingly puts her demanding family in danger by hiding and caring for a mysterious egg in her room.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: The horror fans who have sought out the Finnish fantasy thriller Hatching have praised its bizarre, dreamlike imagery and clever symbolism.
How to watch Hatching
We're All Going To The World's Fair (2022)
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Starring: Anna Cobb, Michael J. Rogers
What it’s about: A lonely teenager begins documenting the strange effect that an online role-playing game seems to have on her.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Before Jane Schoenbrun released the A24 horror movie, I Saw the TV Glow, they debuted with We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is a chilling and intriguing analysis of the internet’s recent obsession with analog horror and urban legends known as “Creepypastas.”
How to watch We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
- Stream We're All Going to the World's Fair on Max
- Rent or buy We're All Going to the World's Fair on Amazon
- Buy We’re All Going to the World’s Fair on Blu-ray on Amazon
Deadstream (2022)
Director: Jessica Winter, Joseph Winter
Starring: Joseph Winter, Melanie Stone
What it’s about: A disgraced Internet personality attempts to win back his followers by live-streaming his experience in a supposedly haunted house.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: Deadstream is my personal favorite found footage thriller released in 2022 and one of the most entertaining horror-comedy movies also available with a Shudder subscription.
How to watch Deadstream
Mad God (2022)
Director: Phil Tibbett
Starring: Alex Cox, Niketa Roman
What it’s about: An exploration of an underground world of apocalyptic ruin inhabited by monstrous creatures, as seen through the eyes of a masked loner.
Why it is an under-the-radar horror flick worth your time: I would call Mad God one of the best horror movies on Shudder, but this kaleidoscope of grungy, unsettling, otherworldly imagery without any sense of a linear narrative really transcends genre.
How to watch Mad God
We have our severed fingers crossed that horror movie hidden gems like these still have a shot at becoming legendary classics.
