A slew of horror movies was released in 2021, with a significant return in iconic franchises such as Candyman, Halloween Kills, Conjuring 3, A Quiet Place 2; the list goes on and on. With 2021 being such a great year with remakes and continuations of fan favorites coming to fruition, other less-known horror movies seem to have gotten the lower hand.
Although not as popular, a significant amount of horror movies were released this year but didn’t see the limelight like others. With so many talented directors, producers, actors, writers, etc. in the world, it sometimes is difficult to see everything. While these underappreciated horror movies from 2021 may not have blown up the box office, they are nonetheless worth a watch.
Updated October 13th, 2022 by Russ Boswell: Tons of horror movies are released each year without much fanfare, which is an absolute shame as some of them are incredibly well done. Whether it's Triple-A releases that simply missed that mark, or something entirely Indie that never gained much traction, fans that don't live and breathe everything Horror might easily miss some of these hidden gems. Thankfully, with tons of Streaming Services popping up and an array of digital marketplaces, it's easier than ever to see films and shorts, no matter how obscure. To shine a better light on some of the best horror films of 2021, the following list has been updated and shows even more underrated releases.
15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot (#1 Will Blow Your Mind)
Blending Horror and Comedy is a fine art. Creators have to straddle the lines of two genres and bring them together to create an experience that appeals to both sides while maintaining true to their original vision. Titles like Evil Dead and Dead Alive did a fantastic job of blending some of the more grotesque tropes of Horror with some awkward and sometimes slapstick Comedy moments. When done correctly, Horror Comedy is just as funny as it is stress-inducing.
15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot (#1 Will Blow Your Mind) is the perfect title to explain this underrated release that follows Youtube culture and satirizes clickbait practices. What starts out as a simple journey to "uncover Bigfoot" turns into a hilarious and sometimes scary ride. This release is well acted, has good comedic timing, and is a great watch for Horror fans that are looking for something lighter to watch.
Horror In The High Desert
There are some great Indie films out there that don't get nearly the attention they deserve. Horror in the High Desert is a fantastic example and one of the best Indie gems to stem from 2021. Although there are some that would argue that the "found footage" genre is a bit overdone at this point, Horror in the High Desert sets itself apart from the pack as one of the best-acted, most realistic-looking, and well-put-together "mockumentaries" ever made.
Although some may consider it a slow burn, it features an engrossing climax, and the "missing persons" style story that unfolds should keep viewers on the edge of their seats as tension builds.
The Feast
Lee Haven Jones’ (The Long Call) feature debut The Feast is a Welsh fantasy horror film that is creepy, eerie, sickly, and gruesome: everything one could want from a horror movie. A wealthy family in the Welsh mountains hosts a dinner party and invites just two guests: a businessman and a farmer, hoping to lock in a business deal. When a mysterious and unnaturally quiet server (Annes Elwy) shows up as their waitress, she slowly but surely wholly alters the family’s lives forever.
The film is visually striking, but the stomach-churning body horror scenes really make the film what it is: a beautifully dreary slow burn folk horror film. Cinematographer Bjørn Ståle Bratberg creates a spine-chilling atmosphere right away with the isolated mansion, beautiful elongated countryside shots, and heavenly scenery, juxtaposed to the unsettling tone of the inside of the house: eerily empty hallways and bearing walls. There’s not a lot of dialogue, but this doesn’t take away from the plot; it actually adds to the creepy tone of the film. Haunting and mysterious, The Feast creates a foreboding atmosphere from the very opening. The anxiety-ridden feeling never strays, with the last shot of the film really bringing everything together. The Feast is the perfect mix of chilling, terrifying, and even being quite beautiful.
The 8th Night
With Korean cinema and television like Parasite and Squid Game being so popular in America, it’s surprising that the Netflix original The 8th Night didn’t get the same recognition. This enthralling horror film was released in July 2021. First-time director Kim Tae-Hyung marks his own personal stamp in this movie, which is incredibly thrilling and mystery-filled. The 8th Night’s premise might seem a little confusing, but once the introduction happens, it gets fascinating.
The film opens up describing a monster who, 1,000 years prior, possessed humans and thus created eternal suffering. Multiple centuries later, Professor Kim Joon-Cheol (Choi Jin-ho) claims that he will hunt down the spirit to prove that the myth is true, thus awakening the monster. Banished monk and construction workers Chung-Seok (Nam Da-reum) and Park Jin-soo (Lee Sung-min) must now work together to try to stop the monster from destroying the world.
The 8th Night does a remarkable job with captivating a mysterious tone, consistently uncomfortable imagery, and disorienting camerawork. Although a little hard to follow at times, the CGI, astounding acting, and thrilled-filled action make The 8th Night extremely fascinating. Also, that creepy smiling girl will send shivers down anyone's spine.
V/H/S/94
There was a time when Horror fans from all over the world spoke about the V/H/S/ franchise, which took the concepts of Horror anthology and amped them up to 11 by offering bite-sized tales of terror. Unfortunately, as time went on, the "franchise" started to see a bit of a dive in quality. Although it still maintained quite the cult following, and V/H/S/2 had its own share of scares, the sequels were hardly as engrossing and horrifying as the first offering.
This all changed with the release of V/H/S/94, which brings the series back with a bang, putting the supreme scares back into the franchise with an offering of anthology-style stories that are truly unsettling.
Oxygen/Oxygène
This French 2021 horror/sci-fi film definitely deserved more light brought upon it. Although a simple premise that has been used before, director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes/Crawl) creates a fresh take. Oxygen is about a woman named Elizabeth (Mélanie Laurent) who awakes in a cryogenic chamber with no memory of who she is or how she got there. All she has is an automated voice named Milo (Medical Interface Liaison Officer) who refuses to open the chamber without the code, which she does not have. The entire film takes place in the chamber, and Elizabeth must uncover her life and memories with the assistance of Milo by looking up pictures, videos, and articles, in which she discovers she is a cryogenic doctor. So, is she responsible for getting herself in the chamber? Watch and find out, as this film has so many twists and turns, it’ll be impossible to turn your head away.
Filmed in July 2020, Oxygen is also the ultimate COVID film. When interviewed for nightmarishconjurings.com, director Aja said what he wants audiences to take away from the film: “I wanted to craft a real intense journey for the audience. Something that will start with a feeling of claustrophobia that will end up with, hopefully, the hope of a better tomorrow. It’s a movie about life, life after death, a movie about a lot of different things. It’s a really intense thriller, but it’s also how sci-fi is supposed to be.”
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
There is nothing more terrifying than being trapped somewhere with nowhere to go. Those who love the trapped and survival movies won’t get enough of Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. The Adam Robitel directed film is about six people who unwillingly find themselves trapped in multiple escape rooms. The group must work together to break out of the rooms, and they learn a lot about themselves at the same time. As the film continues, more and more surprises are thrown at the viewer: the group learns that they’ve all played this game before.
The film is a sequel to the 2016 film Escape Room, with original cast members Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, and Taylor Russell reprising their roles. A mix of horror and comedy, Escape Room feels like Hunger Games on steroids. It’s one of those horror franchises that is cheesy but endearing at the same time.