3 Underappreciated Horror Movies

3 Horror Movies that you should see

So it’s Halloween time, and of course this is the time of year in which everyone talks about their favorite scary movies and discusses their favorite killers and series. The best thing about horror movies is the simple fact that there are so many of them, covering a wide variety of sub-genres… if you have any desire to watch something scary… there is a movie out there for you.

Anyway everyone talks about their favorite mainstream horror films, but I’m going to talk about three of my favorite horror movies that are more obscure titles, that no one seems to have heard of let alone have seen if I bring them up in passing conversation. Note: I’m not ranking these just throwing them out there as suggestions for next time you are looking for a Horror movie.

Note: I’m not going to throw out any spoilers, otherwise what would be the point of me suggesting these to you.



1. Kingdom of Spiders (1977)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076271/

Starring – William Shatner


Yep you read that correctly… starring Captain Kirk himself. I saw this movie for the first time this summer on TV, didn’t plan on watching the whole thing but next thing I knew it was the end of the movie and I really enjoyed it. Sure it has some cheesy moments… (There is this little girl that gets tossed around for like the whole movie) but it’s a horror film so you expect that. It also contains… zero special effects, just old school stunt work, which you can appreciate for a film like this one.


The plot involves a small town in Texas, whose livestock are dying… a State Vet comes to town to help the local veterinarian solve the problem… which turns out to be spiders… tarantulas to be exact, behaving in an odd way… they are swarming their victims and soon turn on the whole town.


As I said I’m not going to throw out any spoilers, but I must say… this has one of my favorite endings for a horror movie.



The Severed Arm (1973)*

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070673/

Starring – (no real star)


This movie is included in a DVD set I have of 50 horror movies…. many of the movies in that set suck, lol, and I must say the videography for this film… is horrible. The lighting is messed up, sometimes the you are wondering what the camera what you should to be looking at, and to be honest the sound isn’t always that clear either. So if visual effects are important to you, this probably won’t be that worthwhile for you.


So… you are saying… why the heck would I want to watch something that looks as horrible as you just claimed it to be… Simple. Awesome story. What happens you ask? Well the plot starts out with 5 men, trapped in a cave, who are starving and begin to decide whom they will eat first.** Obviously someone has to lose this, and once the loser is draw they cut off his arm. Only to be rescued moments later. The man whose arm was chopped off goes crazy and the other four miners embarrassed as to what they had done, claim his arm was damaged in the cave in.


However, it’s not several years later and all of the men have went on to live different lives… when one man is mailed a human arm… and they suddenly find themselves hunted down by someone/something….


This movie like the one before also has a great ending, really the ending of a horror movie is where they often fall short, but all three of the suggestions, most notably these first two do really well in there endings and the final film is above average.



3. Spider Baby, or The Maddest Story Ever Told (1968)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058606/

Starring – Again no real star but one of Sid Haigs early works
This is the only black and white movie of my three suggestions, and like most 1960’s horror movies it has no special effects. The story involves the remains of a once powerful family living a quiet life do to a heredity disease that has come to affect them all. Basically they digress after the age of ten into a downward spiral, luckily they have a butler caretaker to cover up their misdeeds and protect them from outsiders.

However, the story picks up when some distant and unaffected relatives learn of the great wealth remaining with the family and come in with their lawyer in an effort to stake their claim on the remaining assets of the family.

It ends up being an interesting story, even though it is 1960’s “scarey” and made on a shoestring budget.






*I know there was a blog, I think back in June 2009, where I also suggested this movie as one that should be remade. Or something like that, so yeah I really do like this movie even if it is filmed poorly.


** Totally off topic, but the whole drawing lots to see whom will be eaten just reminds me of the old whaling ships and how they would actually do this on a not so rare occasion, that made whaling probably the scariest occupation.