10 Most Underrated Horror Anthology Movies | ScreenRant

It is hard to make a great horror anthology movie. While there are plenty of great television shows in that format, the movies are often uneven and have just as many bad moments as great ones. Even the movies that receive box office success or critical acclaims like Creepshow and V/H/S fall short more often than not.

RELATED: 10 Ghoulish Facts About Tales From The Crypt

This also means that often, a great horror anthology series slips under the radar and remains an underrated, overlooked movie that fans only learn about when talking to other horror fans. These offer up more good than bad, and even if still uneven, remain essential viewing for any true horror movie fan.

10 XX (2017) - Available To Stream On Hulu

The all-female-led horror anthology movie XX was uneven, but that can be said for a lot of anthologies. However, it remains highly underrated and deserves much more respect than the 20 percent it received from the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

While the stories are not all that original, with most horror tropes included in this movie, it has a great deal of greatness with the best short bring "The Birthday Party," directed by musical sensation St. Vincent.

9 Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (1990) - Available To Stream On Paramount+

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is often dismissed by mainstream fans thanks to following favorites like Creepshow at the box office. However, it is much better than the rotten ratings it received from critics. Even if it doesn't feature as many great moments as the best scary episodes from the Tales from the Darkside TV series, it is an underrated horror anthology for fans of the horror genre.

The best short in this is "Cat From Hell," where a cat torments an older man in a wheelchair for things he did in the past. With a cast that includes Christian Slater, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, and Deborah Harry, this one definitely deserves a reappraisal.

8 Tales From The Crypt (1972) - Available To Stream On Roku

While most people hear Tales from the Crypt and think of the TV anthology series and the two movies that spun out of it, few seem to remember the 1972 movie of the same name. With an audience Rotten Tomatoes score of 69 percent, it seems more people need to see this underrated movie to appreciate it.

RELATED: 10 Episodes Of Tales From The Crypt That Still Scare Us Today

Just like the HBO series, this is based on the classic EC Comics series. It even includes Hollywood royalty like Joan Collins in a story where she plays a woman who just killed her husband only to find an escaped convict hunting her down.

7 Body Bags (1993) - Available To Stream On Peacock

Released in 1993, Body Bags features some of Hollywood's top horror icons directing a series of horror shorts for this underrated anthology movie. While it is certified rotten by fans on Rotten Tomatoes, where else can you get movies directed by John Carpenter (Halloween) and Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)?

RELATED: Every Movie Directed By John Carpenter, Ranked (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

Body Bags was supposed to be a TV horror anthology series but ended up canceled. Carpenter, a director who helped revolutionize horror filmmaking, put together some episodes as a movie anthology. It even features Carpenter himself as the narrator talking in between each short horror movie.

6 Cat's Eye (1985) - Available To Stream On Hoopla

Released in 1985, Cat's Eye both had Stephen King's name attached to it and a young Drew Barrymore in one of the shorts. This underrated horror anthology movie sits at an even 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with fans but is a must-watch for any fans of Stephen King's TV adaptations.

The first two horror shorts in this movie are King's short stories from Night Shift — "Quitter's Inc" and "The Ledge." There is also an original story here in "General" and all the stories are connected by a traveling cat.

5 Tales From The Hood (1995) - Available To Stream On Starz

Tales From the Hood hit theaters in 1995, and it ended up as a critically panned horror anthology series. This underrated gem ended up getting a sequel 23 years later, showing that it might have gained some appreciation with the passing of time.

The selling point of the movie in 1995 was taking the idea of Creepshow but creating a movie for Black horror fans. There are four shorts here, bookended by a fifth one. Rusty Cundieff (Chappelle's Show) directed all the movies.

4 Southbound (2016) - Available To Stream On Hulu

A more recent horror anthology series hit in 2015 titled Southbound. Critics mostly appreciated it, with an 81 percent fresh rating, but fans mostly dismissed it with a 51 percent rating. All the shorts here shared a theme of demons, spirits, and people seeking salvation but knowing Satan is there at all times.

RELATED: David Bruckner's Movies, Ranked From Worst To Best

What helps this underrated horror anthology stand out is that the movies are all stylistically different, so while they share the themes, they never allow someone to settle in and relax.

3 Kwaidan (1965) - Available To Stream On HBO Max

There is little argument that Kwaidan is a masterpiece, but it is overlooked by so many horror movie fans today that it deserves a chance to find new fans. This horror anthology movie is a Japanese horror movie that offers up four ghost stories based on Japanese folk tales.

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, all four stories in this anthology are gripping and effective, showing regret, vengeance, and terror. Even for fans not used to Japanese horror, this is one movie that should impress any horror movie fan.

2 Three... Extremes (2004) - Available To Stream On Tubi

Three... Extremes brings in some of the top Asian horror movie directors to create three very disturbing and quirky horror tales. These directors include Takashi Miike (Audition), Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), and Fruit Chan.

Fruit Chan created "Dumplings," a short about a woman who buys dumplings from a woman who claims to rejuvenate her youth but then discovers something horrific about the food. Park's "Cut" is a more mainstream horror movie while Miike's "The Box" is a surreal short.

1 Trick 'r Treat (2007) - Available To Stream On HBO Max

There is no questioning that Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat is a good movie. It has an 83 percent fresh rating from critics and only a slightly lower 71 percent from the audience. However, it didn't receive the critical acclaim or the box office that it needed to really take off.

That is a shame because the movie is an immensely underrated horror anthology that offers up monsters, ghosts, and slasher killers, and a great new Halloween icon in the demonic child, Sam.

NEXT: 10 Best-Dressed Horror Movie Villains, Ranked

https://ift.tt/37bpRy1
August 01, 2021 at 12:00AM