The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen (2014 TV Movie) User Reviews

Fun Concept, Bad Execution (Full list in review)

[bosjade · 5/10 · 19 August 2020]

80% of this movie is people, you've never seen (and never want to again) shot in closeup, talking really excitedly about horror films you've probably seen. 10% of the movie is clips from said horror films. The other 10% are still images and the title bumper which I'm guessing where the commercials cut were. This is a made for TV affair. Obviously, if the ratios were switched it would be fun and watchable, but I only hung in for about 10 movies before I just began fast forwarding. Anyway here is the full list (discuss amoungst yourselves)

1 - Black Christmas (1974)

2 - Pumpkinhead (1988)

3 - The Beast Within (1982)

4 - The Night of the Hunter (1955)

5 - Alone in the Dark (1982)

6 - The Descent (2005)

7 - Wishmaster (1997)

8 - Re-Animator (1985)

9 - Let the Right One in (2008)

10 - Audition (1999)

11 - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)

12 - Joshua (2007)

13 - Near Dark (1987)

14 - Alone With Her (2006)

15 - Repulsion (1965)

16 - Visiting Hours (1982)

17 - Alice Sweet Alice (1976)

18 - Ginger Snaps (2000)

19 - Session 9 (2001)

20 - Splinter (2008)

21 - Trilogy of Terror (1975)

22 - Tourist Trap (1979)

23 - Inside (2007)

24 - Slither (2006)

25 - Feast (2005)

26 - Castle Freak (1995)

27 - Hard Candy (2005)

28 - Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

29 - The Funhouse (1981)

30 - Burnt Offerings (1976)

31 - The Exorcist III (1990)

32 - The Brides of Dracula (1960)

33 - Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973)

34 - May (2002)

35 - Hatchet (2006)

36 - Humanoids From the Deep (1980)

37 - April Fool's Day (1986)

38 - The Fury (1978)

39 - Wrong Turn (2003)

40 - Motel Hell (1980)

41 - The Food of the Gods (1976)

42 - The Dentist (1996)

43 - Prophecy (1979)

44 - The Hunger (1983)

45 - Grace (2009)

46 - Valentine (2001)

47 - The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

48 - Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

49 - When a Stranger Calls (1979)

50 - Basket Case (1982)

A stroll down horror's memory lane

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 19 July 2018]

I'll get to the contents of the film's list in a second, but overall, I enjoyed this stroll down horror's memory lane. For me, I've seen the vast majority of these movies. And those I haven't, for one reason or another, I have no desire. The doc moves at a nice pace and the "experts", fans, and insiders are interesting enough. There's no much to complain about the way things are presented. If I had to pick one negative with the way things are presented it would be with some of P J Soles commentary. It's a bit groan-inducing in spots.

It's difficult to put together one of these lists and make everyone happy. What you call a hidden gem, I might have seen a dozen times. Or something you love, I might find retched. So, here are a few of my arguments and agreements with the list of 50 movies presented:

• I'll start with a few of the films I completely agree with. These are films that would easily appear on a similar list if I put one together: When a Stranger Calls, Motel Hell, April Fools Day, Lemora (shocked to see it here), Exorcist III (very underrated), Alice Sweet Alice, Repulsion, Audition (probably my top ranked movie on the entire list), The Descent, and Night of the Hunter (even though I'm not sure it's really horror).

• A few movies I would never put on this list: Valentine (hated it!), The Brides of Dracula (it's good, but there are better, equally obscure Hammer films I would include), Halloween III (who doesn't know about this movie), Tourist Trap (fun enough, but not as good as this doc would have you believe), and Food of the Gods (really?).

I'll end this with a list of 20 films I would add to the titular 50. It's a non-US heavy list, but I've tried to stay away from the better known movies from the likes of Bava, Argento, or Fulci. In no real order:

1. The House with Laughing Windows 2. Eyes Without a Face 3. The Island of Lost Souls 4. Mad Love 5. Le Boucher 6. Onibaba 7. The Curse of the Crying Woman 8. The Plague of the Zombies 9. Spoorloos 10. Alucarda 11. The Black Pit of Dr. M 12. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter 13. Mill of the Stone Women 14. Shock Waves 15. The Queen of Spades 16. The Ninth Gate 17. Mark of the Devil 18. Race with the Devil 19. A Tale of Two Sisters 20. Scream of Fear

Entertaining Enough, But Best Appreciated By Fans New To The Horror Genre

[jrd_73 · 6/10 · 5 September 2020]

This is the type of documentary that is very easy to watch for a horror fan. As the title implies, it highlights 50 worthwhile, lesser known horror movies.

I am unsure who picked these movies. I assume it was a combination of the director (Anthony Masi) and the talking heads who provide comments on the films. These speakers are not necessarily the ones I would seek out for this type of documentary (Michael Gingold, Alan Jones, Tim Lucas, Kim Newman, David Skal, to name a few). I have had a minor crush on Michelle Bauer, Linnea Quigley, and Brinke Stevens since I was a young teen, so it was fun to see them. Phillipe Mora would not be my first (or in the first dozen) choice to represent the older guard of horror directors. As for the younger horror directors, I had not seen any of their films, so their comments didn't mean much to me, ditto the genre scholars interviewed. Onto the choices.

First off, any time one uses the term "best," he or she should be prepared for a heated debate. To my embarrassment, I have seen only forty-one of the fifty (I had fully expected to have seen them all). Most of them I liked, although several would better be labeled "guilty pleasure" rather than "best" (Slumber Party Massacre and The Beast Within would be two of those). Plus a few of the films picked are just bad movies (I have yet to meet any horror fan who liked Valentine).

As for, being obscure ("You've Never Seen"), I pride myself on knowing horror movies, but I can say that I had never heard of two of the fifty movies on the list, which is props to the filmmakers. However, I would argue that at least half of these films would be known by almost horror fans except young, new to the genre horror fans (which may be the targeted audience). I am especially thinking of Pumpkinhead and Wrong Turn, both of which have had multiple sequels. Also, some choices may have been based on ones that people have heard of but have so far skipped (Halloween III since it does not feature Michael Myers).

The documentary is an easy watch. One can stop it and start it at will (I watched it over the course of a day). Film analysis is kept at a superficial level, but that is to be expected. Some of the clips are good.

For the curious, here is my alternative list of fifty good horror movies that you might have missed for one reason or the other (I have left out all of the films in the documentary, even the ones that I agreed with):

(1922) Nosferatu (1932) Vampyr (1934) The Black Cat (1943) The Seventh Victim (1948) The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1957) Curse of the Demon (1957) Quatermass 2 (Enemy from Space) (1962) Burn, Witch, Burn (Night of the Eagle) (1963) The Three Faces of Fear (Black Sabbath) (1963) Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1964) Onibaba (1965) The Curse of the Fly (1971) A Bay of Blood (1971) The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) The Devils (1971) Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1972) Demons of the Mind (1972) The Stone Tape (1972) Tales from the Crypt (1973) The Messiah of Evil (1973) The Theatre of Blood (1974) Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1974) The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1975) Shivers (1977) Alucarda (1977) Rituals (1980) The Changeling (1980) Inferno (1982) Xtro (1982) Tenebrae (1984) Razorback (1982) The Sender (1986) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) The Seventh Curse (1987) Angel Heart (1987) Stage Fright (1988) Brain Damage (1988) Lady in White (1988) The Lair of the White Worm (1989) Santa Sangre (1997) Lost Highway (2000) Shadow of the Vampire (2003) Into the Mirror (2003) Ju-on 2 (2005) The Call of Cthulhu (2006) Severance (2007) Black Water (2008) The Burrowers (2010) The Reef (2012) Here Comes the Devil

Decent Documentary But I'm Sure Most Have Seen These Films

[Michael_Elliott · 17 May 2015]

The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen (2014)

*** (out of 4)

P.J. Soles hosts this two-hour and twenty-minute documentary taking a look, as the title tells you, the fifty best horror moves you've never seen. Countless critics, actors, writers and directors show up to talk about the movies in question and why they love them so much.

Look, whenever a list like this is put together it's mainly for debate. People will take a look at the list and argue about the ranking or argue about what film was left off. These lists are just made to stir up a conversation and more times than not there's not too much thought put into them. As far as this list goes, I'm curious as to who this documentary was aimed at because the majority of the films on here are extremely well-known titles that even your marginal horror fan is going to know about. The film might be beneficial to those who really are unaware of anything outside of HALLOWEEN, Friday THE 13TH or THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE but everyone else is probably going to know of the films.

With that said, the list of films is a little.....over the map I guess you'd say. At first it seems like the list is going for titles from the past thirty years then they quickly do an old Hammer but then there's really nothing else "old" until we get THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and REPULSION. Some might argue these aren't even horror movies but I think the bigger argument is who hasn't heard of these movies? Then you've got stuff like BASKET CASE, BLACK Christmas, THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, THE HUNGER, HALLOWEEN III, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, RE-ANIMATOR, PUMPKINHEAD and AUDITION. Again, most of these titles are very well known.

With that said, seeing something like THE FOOD OF THE GODS making the list is a bit of a head-scratcher. Either way, THE 50 BEST HORROR MOVIES YOU'VE NEVER SEEN is a mildly entertaining documentary that horror fans should enjoy even though they're not going to stumble across anything they probably haven't already seen or at least heard of.

It desperately needs an update....

[brandonchristopher-desig · 6/10 · 16 August 2018]

An actual worth while list of horror movies

I know this looks like someone just trying to post their favorite horror movies, but I would really encourage anyone that loves horror to check out my list. I won't say anything more.

Great lineup even though you may not agree with all choices.

[beemuser-47053 · 7/10 · 1 October 2019]

I was shocked, SHOCKED, that Peter Jackson's Dead Alive aka Braindead was not included here (he also did Heavenly Creatures). This brilliant gem is much less known than Repulsion, Audition or Let the Right One In.

An early Del Toro like Chronos might have been nice too. What about the brilliant Ghost Watch, or Angst, or The Other? I guess I could go on. The choices were also overwhelmingly 'white' and North American, but there were a few that I had not heard of that I definitely want to check out.

A Millennial Review of Horror Films

[sugarmountainf · 2/10 · 15 June 2019]

Well, after what seems like a half-hour of a bunch of Millennials talking quick sound bites about a kaleidoscope of films, we actually get into the countdown. Then we get rapid-fire clips of the movies very generously intermingled with headshots of the Millenials making like, you know, totally Millennial comments about them. Good idea, but poorly executed. Get some serious people who are experts in the genre to narrate the films. We don't need to see their faces every five seconds.

Solid List

[cwcooper66 · 9/10 · 8 October 2018]

Don't watch this if you're expecting to see why the movies listed are on this list. They don't give you the jump scares, or the eerie sensations that the movies listed do. It's just their list that you have to check out on your own. Save yourself the 2+ hours though and just pick from their list below.

#50 Basket Case #49 When A Stranger Calls #48 Silent Night, Deadly Night #47 Slumber Party Massacre #46 Valentine #45 Grace #44 The Hunger #43 Prophecy #42 The Dentist #41 The Food Of The Gods #40 Motel Hell #39 Wrong Turn #38 The Fury #37 April Fool's Day #36 Humanoids From The Deep #35 Hatchet #34 May #33 Lemora #32 The Brides Of Dracula #31 The Exorcist III #30 Burnt Offerings #29 The Funhouse #28 Halloween III #27 Hard Candy #26 Castle Freak #25 Feast #24 Slither #23 Inside #22 Tourist Trap #21 Trilogy Of Terror #20 Splinter #19 Session 9 #18 Ginger Snaps #17 Alice Sweet Alice #16 Visiting Hours #15 Repulsion #14 Alone With Her #13 Near Dark #12 Joshua #11 Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark #10 Audition #9 Let The Right One In #8 Re-Animator #7 Wishmaster #6 The Descent #5 Alone In The Dark #4 The Night Of The Hunter #3 The Beast Within #2 Pumpkinhead #1 Black Christmas

Lame

[mhorg2018 · 1/10 · 2 November 2020]

A list by people who know nothing for those who wish to stay ignorant. The title is so misleading. Half of these had large releases. And the narrator's? So boring as to be coma inducing. The only way a viewer hasn't seen at least half of these is if they were born in the last decade.

Good doc, bad title

[goremaster · 8/10 · 16 July 2021]

The main issue regarding this documentary is the title "The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen". Most of the movies are well known and if you are a horror buff you've probably watched most of them.

The doc should be called "The 50 Best Horror Movies You Have to See" or just "50 Horror Movies You Have to See". Though I don't agree with every movie in the list, it's a good list.

Presuming you've had no interest in horror beforehand

[sharonlynette · 1/10 · 14 March 2021]

Another weak horror documentary that mainly focuses on relatively well known horror, even hugely popular horror films. No Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucia Fulci, Norman J. Warren or Pete Walker films get a mention, hidden cult classics. I could imagine as these are popular directors for horror fans why these wouldn't be mentioned but considering the largely well known movies listed it seems like this was just a poorly produced list, even though P.J. Soles is always wonderful. The real kick in the teeth was hearing someone describe Trilogy of Terror (1975) as one of the earliest anthology horror films when Dead of Night (1945) was the true kick off when it comes to horror anthologies/portmanteaus which then led to many Amicus produced anthology films - Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965), Torture Garden (1967), The House that Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974) all prior to the weak Trilogy of Terror. A really sloppy documentary with questionable choices, if you are already a fan of horror you won't find anything new here and if you're new to horror this is a terrible place to start.

A few things to keep in mind....

[GreyHunter · 16 August 2020]

1) The title needs to be taken at face value. It's not a list of the 50 best horrors you've never heard of, or the 50 best horrors period. It's the 50 best horrors you haven't seen.

2) Clearly some people are going to have seen many or even most of these movies. In the Internet Age, it's pretty much impossible to find gems that nobody has seen. The title is a bit of puffery, but a reasonable viewer should accept that it's meant to convey a certain set of parameters, not )a literal description.

3) It's clearly aimed at people who aren't voracious horror fans. Voracious horror fans can certainly enjoy it for the discussion possibilities (rankings. what got left out, what were you pleasantly surprised to see, etc) but the basic aim of the show is to discuss horror that isn't Halloween/TCM/Saw/Poltergeist/etc. So they're offering alternatives to the ones most everyone can name even if they haven't seen any of them. This is a valid and useful service being offered.

Horror (or any genre, for that matter) fans have to remember that there's a big old world out there, and most of it doesn't share your drive to learn all you can about your genre. It's perfectly okay to reach out to the casual fans too, and teach them a little more about horror films.

This has nothing new anyone who watches horror movies hasn't seen or heard of

[daniel-14284 · 1/10 · 6 February 2021]

So I started to watch this and about after the 4th movie they named I stopped it and tried looking up the rest of the list. Luckily a person on here has written a review with all 50 titles so I suggest going to look for his review instead of wasting your time watching this. If you are a fan or horror movies there is a very small chance you will hear anything new on this that you haven't either already seen or heard of. The fact that black Christmas is #1 is ridiculous that movie is very well known in the horror community even more so now that 2 remakes have been made recently one as new as 2018. They have movies like Halloween 3 on here and pumpkinhead at #2. This must of been made for some tv show or something for vh1 don't waste your time it's over 2 hours long just find the list on here.

Feels like Buzzfeed...

[SJLiam · 1/10 · 23 May 2021]

Talking heads, some billed as Directors, trying very hard to be overly cool, while presenting 50 movies that pretty much every horror fan has already seen. This is beyond a cash grab. It's a glorified YouTube video, only with worse production values (Literally everyone is filmed in front of a green screen in someone's office...). They should have featured some of the films these "Director" presenters did, because THOSE were films I'd never heard of... You'd be better shoving bamboo under your fingernails than watching this thing.

An infomercial passing itself off as a documentary

[johnanthonymazzei · 4/10 · 6 March 2021]

50 of the best horror movies you have never seen---not quite. Some of these were good movies others were not. The reviewing panel loved every aspect of every movie. Hence , an informercial more so than a documentary. Every one of the panelists had an involvement with one or more of the films so they are a biased group. Often talking just to hear their own voices. One line sticks out. "The character is a fourteen year old girl a preteen girl." Didn't make sense even on a second viewing.

That being said it is a good reminder of some older movies you might want to watch. I wrote down three titles to watch and two that I want to look up for more info. and maybe watch. This show did answer one question for me. Colin Hanks is Tom Hanks son, I thought he was his younger brother.

get a life

[coex23 · 1/10 · 15 May 2021]

Instead of watching a documentary ABOUT the films you SHOULD watch, why not actually WATCH THOSE FILMS?

And, if you've seen these films, why are you even watching this dreck?

Oy vey!

Pretty much a collection of pretend it's good promos

[MikeHunt1075 · 4/10 · 18 January 2024]

Honestly this entire list is a bunch of annoying actors pretending the bad horror movies they appeared in once are actually worth watching. They're not.

Most of the people talking about these are annoying, hard to like, conceited, or eye rolling at how bad they're trying to pat themselves on the back for creating, seeing, or being in a bunch of B-grade shock.

This feels like Tubi put it together to aid trick watchers into checking out some of their God awful content... I don't know IF Tubi even make it, but it's currently on Tubi and so are most of these horrible horrors.

It's slightly better than the "50 Worst Movies" documentary, but not by much. It gives little to no insight about the films either, just some nobodies nostalgia memories that any sane person couldn't give a rats behind about.

Boring Tripe

[arfdawg-1 · 1/10 · 14 September 2021]

Fiest of all you've liekly seen 90% of these movies.

Secondly, 80% of them suck.

What a waste of time

Don't bother with this garbage. Even the clips stink.