As one of the most popular movie genres, the horror genre has a lot of variations. Some horror movies keep a slow pace and limit themselves to a small space and a moderate number of characters. On the opposite side of the genre are action horror movies with stories that run forward as fast as the heroes running from monsters.
To combine action and horror into a single movie and still keep the story scary is no easy task, though. As such, some presumed action horrors aren’t horror-like. The good news for all fans of this genre is that there are several awesome action-horror movies that are genuinely scary.
5 Aliens (1986)
The second movie in the Alien series, Aliens is one of the best examples of merging the horror and the action genre. Unlike the first movie which was pure sci-fi horror, Aliens has a more military action feeling to it. This time, the newly awoken Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) will face the aliens with soldiers. As a result, if she wants to lead them in their fight, she also has to win their respect first. Sigourney Weaver gives another excellent performance as an action heroine, and her final showdown with the Alien Queen makes for one of the most memorable action sequences of all time.
The movie also contains a fair number of horror scenes, usually when the aliens are picking off their human victims. After the first Terminator movie, which was also scary at times, James Cameron proved once again that he was talented at blending the genres. The movie was nominated for seven Oscars and won two of them, including an Oscar for best visual effects.
4 Constantine (2005)
Constantine has such an unusual feeling to it that it’s easy to forget it’s a superhero movie, to a certain degree. In this version, John Constantine takes on demons as he solves a particularly difficult criminal case alongside a cop, Angela. The movie combines moments of peace (however rare they are) with scenes full of terror and action in which Constantine has to take on enemies who are physically or magically (sometimes both) stronger than him.
As a result, every punch or wound he suffers in the movie feels all the more real. No matter how different his Constantine is from the comic book character, Keanu Reeves in the titular role doesn’t disappoint. The rest of the cast as well as the powerful visuals of the movie make for a unique horror action experience.
3 Cabin In The Woods (2011)
As one of the most original action horror movies, Cabin in the Woods centers on a group of student friends that have to fight for their lives in the titular cabin and the woods. But while other movies would have created a simple slasher horror based on this plot, Cabin in the Woods offers a surprising twist and an explosive finale in which multiple people meet their untimely end in a brutal way.
The main characters do their best to defeat those who are after them, but they’re at a disadvantage and the action scenes are often brutal and terrifying. The movie is one of the best horror pieces of the last decade and also one of the few movies that had the courage to offer a bad ending in which the Earth is destroyed.
2 Train To Busan (2016)
Zombies are among the most frightening horror creatures. They tend to attack in large numbers, and it only takes one bite or scratch for them to infect humans. What’s more, their taste for human flesh makes them even more terrifying. Let alone when they attack in a limited space from where there’s nowhere to run, such as a train. This is what happened in the South Korean movie Train to Busan.
The main hero travels with his young daughter on a train and has to fight for their survival after a zombie epidemic erupts on the train. The movie offers more than one nerve-wrenching scene as well as action moments when the characters face the zombies, often with mixed results. Train to Busan presents a situation nobody would want to experience in real life, but that’s fascinating to watch in a movie.
1 Ready Or Not (2019)
Despite the fact that the movie is set primarily in a single building, it still has the attributes of an action horror. What’s more, it also throws a dark comedy into the mix. When Grace (Samara Weaving) gets married and visits her new husband’s family, she soon discovers the rest of the family wants to hunt her down in the deadliest hide-and-seek ever. From there on, the movie is a combination of running and fighting since Grace is determined to escape.
Samara Weaving is relatable and fun to watch in the leading role and the movie has a strong cast overall. Its setting adds to the movie’s atmosphere and the viewers soon get captivated by Grace’s fight for survival, making the ironic ending all the more satisfying.