From creeping dread to heart-stopping jump scares,thehorrorgenre is immensely popular and constantly evolving, and one of its biggest appeals is its versatility with underappracited subgenres. However, the most well-known horror movie genres tend to dominate the horror world. There are countless demonic or ghostly tales of terror, slasher movies, andstereotypical horror movie characters. However, there are many more ways to scare people while still telling a good story. Horror has countless obscure and underrated horror subgenres, giving audiences new settings, twists, and scares.
Some of the more obscure horror movie subgenres are inventive and surprising. Some, like art horror, prioritize stunning visuals while the plot keeps audiences guessing.The most creative horror moviesmay have an unexpected villain, like the eco-horror subgenre, or mix horror themes with other genres, like Westerns. Even if a horror movie subgenre is less well-known, it does not mean that filmmakers have overlooked it, and it therefore has few good movies. Many of the overlooked and obscure horror subgenres that are currently lurking in the shadows are packed with movies that you should watch.
10Abandoned Horror
When Being Alone In The World Is Horrifying Enough
Many horror movies can remind viewers ofhow terrifying it can be to feel truly alone, but sub-genres like abandoned horror use this terror as the main theme. One of the earliest and most well-known examples is 1964’sThe Last Man On Earth, which stars Vincent Price alone in a post-apocalyptic world.
The concept was later used to inspireI Am Legendand theunforgettable opening scene in28 Days Later, in which Cillian Murphy wanders around a deserted London. InBokeh, a new couple on holiday in Iceland become the last people on Earth, with no hint as to what happened to everyone else. As the relationship unravels,Bokehstays both haunting and disturbing until the tragic end.
Curve(2016)
Tim Egan
The abandoned horror subgenre doesn’t even need an elaborate set. Theterrifying short horror movie,Curve, places its character alone on a ledge, fighting to stop herself from slipping into the abyss below. It’s an ideal way to isolate a character and increase the tension of the story.
9Suburban Horror
The Monotony Of A Domestic Setting Becomes Terrifying
Suburbia is supposed to be comforting, domestic, and rather monotonous.Suburban horror plays with this expectation to create an “uncanny valley” style sense of unease.The Stepford Wivesmakes a 1950s housewife stereotype horrifying, as the husbands in Stepford turn their wives into subservient robots by implanting a nanochip in their brains.
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele
Don’t Worry Darlinguses elements of the suburban horror subgenre, andresembles an updated version ofThe Stepford Wives. The horror comedy movieThe ‘Burbsis a parody of suburban horror, with Tom Hanks playing a suburban husband who is convinced that his new neighbors are serial killers.
The Stepford Wiveswas first released as a 1972 satirical “feminist horror” novel by Ira Levin, inspiring two film adaptations.
The ‘Burbsparodies the fear of new, “strange” neighbors, which pays off in the movie. However,a more sinister take on this fear is Jordan Peele’s excellentGet Out, which features the “brainwashing” suburban horror theme while highlighting the racism found in many suburban areas.
8Cosmic Horror
A Horror That Cannot Be Put Into Words
Also known as “Lovecraftian” horror after the cosmic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft,cosmic horror centers around existential dread. This, understandably, affects the mental state of many cosmic horror characters, and madness is often a running theme in this horror subgenre.The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, contains an unknown horror for anyone who looks into the lamp at the top of the lighthouse and leaves the mystery around the lighthouse open to interpretation.
Event Horizon(1997)
Paul W. S. Anderson
For monster fans,H.P. Lovecraft’s most famous creation is Cthulhu, who appears at the end of the movieUnderwater.This is an underrated horror movie that resemblesAlienif it had been set under the sea. Alex Garland’s cosmic horror movie,Annihilation, is packed with monstrous evolving animals and unexplained phenomena, anda gorier cosmic horror movie isEvent Horizon,which is set on a spaceship that has been to hell and back.
7Campy Horror
The Horror Comedy Subgenre For People Who Don’t Like Horror
Campy can be a subjective term, with many critics claiming that “they know it when they see it.“Campy horror generally features more fun than fear, but with some horror genre staples like spooky characters and themes. This makes campy horror a good horror subgenre for people who don’t like genuinely scary movies.
Death Becomes Her(1992)
Robert Zemeckis
The Rocky Horror Picture Showhas aliens, a secret laboratory, and kidnapping, but it is a musical with iconic songs and few (if any) scary bits. A slightly scarier but still fun campy horror with a monstrous twist isthe soon-to-be rebootedLittle Shop Of Horrors, with its killer plant, Audrey II, and villainous dentist.
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Campy horror tends to be deliberately exaggeratedso that even the acting is funny in films likeLisa FrankensteinandKiller Klowns From Outer Space.Death Becomes Her, while containing some outdated moments, still holds up as a campy horror comedy about two warring women played to a comical height by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. The CGI was groundbreaking at the time, but its dated look adds to the comedy now.
6Eco-Horror
A Horror Subgenre With A Lesson To Teach
Many horror movies are set in the forest, butthe forest is often the villain in the eco-horror subgenre.The Ruinsis one of the most disturbing and memorableeco-horror movies, especially when watching it for a second time. The villainous vines are in the shot almost from the first moment, before they are revealed to be dangerous.
Many eco-horror movies feature a morality tale as part of the plot, casting humans as the villains while nature is defending the planet.
The Ruinsbrings body horror to the eco-horror subgenre, and the alternative ending makesThe Ruinseven more disturbing. Other eco-monsters were the villains in films likeThe Thing From Another WorldandThe Guardian.Many eco-horror movies feature a morality tale as part of the plot, casting humans as the villains while nature is defending the planet.
The Happening(2008)
M. Night Shyamalan
The quintessential eco-horror movie is 1978’sLong Weekend, in which a couple with no respect for nature go away for a weekend, during which nature fights back. In M. Night Shyamalan’s eco-horror movie,The Happening, plants develop a defensive toxin that targets humans, forcing them to kill themselves. It’s an understated but effective kind of scare.
5Art Horror
Horror That Is Both Beautiful And Terrifying
Art does not have to be joyful, and while the art-horror sub-genre is often difficult to define,art-horror movies are generally both visually stunning and horrifying. The controversial butinfluential horror director Lars von Trier’s movies are often described as art-horror, withMelancholiacentering on two horrors at once.
The story follows the depressed Justine, played by Kirsten Dunst, as she faces an impending apocalypse. Both depression and the world’s end are treated as equally horrific, and yetMelancholiais beautiful to watch.The Cellis an underrated art-horror movie that sets many scenes within a disturbing and fantastical landscape in the mind of a serial killer, which child psychologist Catherine (played by Jennifer Lopez) must navigate.
Suspiria(1977)
Dario Argento
Art-horror often combines brutality with stereotypical beauty, andThe Neon DemonandBlack Swanboth do this by combining female grace with body horror, as does the iconicSuspiria. However,Black Swancenters on ballet and leans toward psychological horror, whileThe Neon Demonis about models, and is much gorier.
4Techno Horror
When Technology Turns On Humanity
Techno horror, at first, sounds like science fiction, with movies likeThe Matrixfocusing on technology, not to mention action movies likeThe Terminator. However,thetechno horror subgenre embraces the horror aspect of technologyrather than venturing into action movie territory.
10 Modern Horror Movies That Prove Body Horror Is Back
Body horror films are still alive and well in the modern era, with many movies earning their place in the increasingly popular subgenre.
The Ring’s scariest sceneuses the frame of a television screen to great effect, with the unforgettably jerky VHS-style image of Samara crawling out of the TV screen being the defining image in the movie.eXistenZis a techno horror moviebyacclaimed horror director David Cronenbergthat uses his signature body horror in new ways, as characters test a potentially dangerous videogame that plugs into the user’s spine.
eXistenZ(1999)
MEGAN(2022)
Gerard Johnstone
WhileeXistenZ’s videogame is not as malevolent as its creators, the computer virus in Jim Sonzero’sPulseis.Pulsecasts a computer virus as the agent for the destruction of humanity, and the concept was successful enough to inspire two DVD sequels.Other horror movies likeUpgradeandMEGANhave filtered tech concepts through horror.
3Screenlife Horror
The Modern Answer To Found Footage Horror
In the screenlife horror subgenre, all the action takes place on a screen. This genre is relatively new, butscreenlife horror is growing in popularityand is a modern alternative to the found footagehorror subgenre. One of the more disturbing screenlife horror movies is 2011’sMegan Is Missing, which focuses on the disappearance of a teenage girl.Megan Is Missingdoes not end well, and serves as a warning against internet predators (as does similar films like 2023’sMissing).
Missing(2023)
Will Merrick & Nicholas D. Johnson
Many screenlife horror movies are torture-heavy, butHostwas based on a viral jump scare prank. It has a more supernatural theme and is both filmed and set over Zoom during the 2020 pandemic lockdown.Hosthas a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score, many jump scares, and is about friends who hold a seance over Zoom, summoning a supernatural entity who begins killing them one by one. Other memorable screenlife horror films likeUnfriendedhave set up entire franchises, whileDashcamexplored the other ways the subgenre could be reimagined.
2Childhood Horror
A Horror Subgenre That Ruins Your Childhood Memories One By One
The childhood horror subgenremakes beloved childhood memories and characters into something terrifying. As the rights to the characterWinnie The Pooh became public domain, it was only a matter of time before Winnie starred in a horror movie.Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honeywas a critical failure, earning just 3% from Rotten Tomatoes critics. However, the premise was too fun not to make a sequel, and, surprisingly,Blood And Honey IIwas an audience success, earning a 74% positive rating.
Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey(2023)
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2(2024)
Brothers Grimm(2005)
Terry Gilliam
Childhood horror is not confined to the Twisted Childhood Universe Franchise, which madeBlood And Honey.Sigourney Weaver starred inSnow White: A Tale Of Terror,which is dark, bloody, and underrated. The disturbing experimental childhood horror movieSkinamarinkwas a viral sensationand took a different approach.Skinamarinktook a normal-looking childhood home and family and warped them into something monstrous and unexplainable. Other films likeBrothers Grimmtwist fairy tales into nightmarish creations.
1Western Horror
Western Settings Make Surprisingly Versatile Horror Movies
Western movies are a genre of their own, but the settings and tropes that make a good Western movie lend themselves to the horror genre.Western horror movies have often been overlooked, but the critical success of the terrifyingBone Tomahawkhas brought a new wave of interest to the subgenre.Bone Tomahawkbegins as a typical Western movie, with a kidnapping and a good-guy sheriff, played by Kurt Russell, before turning into a disturbing and brutal monster horror.
Western horror movies have often been overlooked, but the critical success of the terrifyingBone Tomahawkhas brought a new wave of interest to the subgenre.
Other western/horror fusions likeOrgan Trail,Place of BonesandThe Burrowershighlight how well the genres come together.The Pale Doortakes another Western movie trope - a heist - and combines it with a common horror movie villain: witches.
The Pale Door(2020)
Aaron B. Koontz
InThe Pale Door, outlaws find themselves at the mercy of witcheswho were once burned at the stake and now demand to keep one of the men. The story may not be as creepy as some horror movies and it lacksBone Tomahawk’s horrifying death scenes, but it is a fun and scary blending of genres. These subgenres of horror don’t get enough attention, and deserve a greater showcase.
