From sleeper hits like It Comes At Night to box-office record-breakers like It and Get
Out, 2017 has been a great year for horror.
But for every high-profile killer clown, there are a dozen low-key horror movies that slip
straight onto DVD or — more frequently these days — video on demand.
Here are the under-appreciated horror movies you may have missed in 2017.
The Devil's Candy
Mixing heavy metal and horror, The Devil's Candy follows a struggling artist, played
with an unsettling creepiness by Ethan Embry, who moves his family out to rural Texas.
When the previous owner of their new house starts making sinister nighttime visits, the
family's already turbulent lifestyle descends into terror.
The Devil's Candy made the rounds at horror festivals in 2015, but it wasn't until 2017
that the film got a more widespread release via video-on-demand services.
Written and directed by Sean Byrne, whose previous film was an equally unique horror
flick called The Loved Ones, The Devil's Candy plays with themes from old-school occult films
while confidently slipping into its own modern take on the genre.
"Just the gas?"
The Evil Within
It's impossible to talk about The Evil Within without mentioning writer-director Andrew
Getty, who spent more than a decade meticulously crafting this schizophrenic passion project
before passing away in 2015, two years before the finished film was released.
But he left us with a very well-made, highly visual horror movie that will surely leave
viewers with some very specific nightmares.
"Someone like me."
The Evil Within tells the story of a mentally handicapped man named Dennis, played by Frederick
Koehler, who lives with with his brother, played by Sean Patrick Flanery.
After Dennis's reflection starts telling him to kill people, things go downhill pretty
quickly — to put it mildly.
"Yeah.
Yeah, it's a good way of saying it I guess."
Berlin Syndrome
Stockholm Syndrome is a disturbing condition in which someone who's been kidnapped develops
a sense of affection for their kidnapper.
The film Berlin Syndrome plays with that idea by following an Australian tourist who has
a one-night stand with a man in Berlin, only to find herself locked in his apartment.
The struggle that follows is pure psychological horror that dives deep into the mindset of
survival and the subtleties of psychosis, all anchored by a phenomenal performance by
Australian actress Teresa Palmer and a bone-pounding musical score.
Sometimes touching, sometimes brutal, Berlin Syndrome is definitely a trip abroad that
you won't forget anytime soon.
The Blackcoat's Daughter
Writer/director Ox Perkins' slow-burn possession film The Blackcoat's Daughter was made in
2015, but didn't secure a release until 2017.
Starring American Horror Story's Emma Roberts and Dexter's James Remar, the film centers
on two girls who are left at their prep school after the rest of the kids go home for vacation.
It turns out that both girls are hiding a secret, and events start to spiral out of
their control in the worst possible way.
If you're looking for a gore-fest filled with jump scares, you're better off looking elsewhere.
But if you want to spend your night with an atmospheric horror film that bleeds tension,
queue this one up.
"It's fun to be scared sometimes."
A Dark Song
You couldn't ask for a more powerful directorial debut than A Dark Song, and Liam Gavin — who
pulled double duty as both writer and director on this smart, engaging portrayal of ritual
black magic — is definitely a director to look for in the future.
Gavin crafted a surreal, minimalist film that may be one of the most technically detailed
occult movies of the last decade, if not ever.
There aren't any jump scares, and very little blood, but the build-up over A Dark Song's
100-minute runtime is just as satisfying as the ultimate climax.
Dig Two Graves
Not your typical horror movie, Dig Two Graves is more of a hardboiled revenge tale.
The story centers on a young girl who makes a pact with a group of gypsy mountain men
to bring her brother back from the dead — if she's willing to pay the price.
This indie thriller premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival in October 2014, then quietly
sat in the shadows until it was released online in 2017, but it was certainly worth the wait.
Dig Two Graves blends revenge, thriller, fantasy, and horror themes into one twisted tale of
a girl who may have to make the ultimate sacrifice for her family.
"There are no cowards, there are no heroes, there is only the living and the dead."
Lake Bodom
While it may look like a run-of-the-mill scream-fest, Lake Bodom's twist is selling itself as a
teen slasher flick when it manages to be so much more.
If you've never heard of it, don't beat yourself up.
After a short festival run, this Finnish horror release slipped quietly onto Shudder, a video
on demand service specializing in horror movies, virtually ensuring that only a handful of
people outside of Finland would ever lay eyes on it.
But for horror purists, Lake Bodom is definitely worth tracking down.
The Void
Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski first teamed up to write and direct the 2011 horror
comedy Father's Day, a neo-grindhouse tribute to the ultra-violent "exploitation film" genre
that hit its peak the '70s.
Their 2017 follow up, The Void, uses the same genre-specific cues as that film, only this
time to pay tribute to cult '80s body horror.
The Void is messy, weird, and a ton of fun.
It focuses on a police officer, played by Aaron Poole, who finds himself trapped in
a hospital when mysterious, hooded figures surround the building.
But while staying inside seems safe, he soon finds that the greatest terror is living in
the bowels of the hospital itself.
"It's disgusting, like Carrie levels of blood, like, very gross."
House on Willow Street
Admittedly one of the weaker entries on this list, House on Willow Street may fall a bit
short of the mark in pacing, but the premise and visual design more than make up for its
flaws.
The film is about two crooks who kidnap a young woman in the hopes of getting a ransom
from her rich father.
Little do they know, their victim is possessed, and soon she begins to turn the tables on
her kidnappers.
House on Willow Street doesn't do much to defy genre conventions, but it serves very
well as a bloody fun horror romp for a lazy evening.
The Dark Tapes
At this point, we've had our fill of anthology films.
The fad arguably kicked off with 2012's V/H/S.
"It's not haunted, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation…"
Since then, we've had The ABCs of Death, A Christmas Horror Story, Holidays, and Tales
of Halloween, to name a few.
So when an anthology film comes along that not only exceeds expectations, but shatters
them completely, it's worth a mention.
The Dark Tapes successfully ratchets up the terror while avoiding all the pitfalls that
have doomed so many other entries in this genre.
If you want to be grossed out by alien monsters and scared senseless by paranormal visitors,
The Dark Tapes is the perfect choice.
And while we're on the subject of anthologies, 2017's XX is another quality entry in this
genre — and unlike The Dark Tapes, that one's available on Netflix.
"Wow.
That was intense."
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