Blumhouse Productions has put out some of the most incredible and exciting horror movies of the past decade or so. There has been a great rebirth of the horror genre lately with Blumhouse at the forefront of the trend, putting out the new Halloween trilogy along with the Paranormal Activity movies, The Purge franchise, and reboots like The Craft: Legacy. The production company's knack for both adding to existing franchises and creating new content is impressive.
While there are many famous Blumhouse horror films that fans can't stop talking about, there are so many out there that some get lost in the shuffle. These scary movies are worth checking out and should get a lot more attention.
A House on the Bayou (2021)
The 2021 horror movie A House on the Bayou is underrated as its release was fairly quiet and not a lot of people have been talking about it. The premise sounds like enough to draw horror fans in: Anna (played by Eternals star Lia McHugh) goes on a trip with her mom Jessica (Angela Sarafyan) and dad John (Paul Schneider). They've had some trouble and get more than they bargained for when their trip turns terrifying and supernatural.
John is hiding a big secret that comes to light, and while saying too much would spoil the turn that this film takes, the movie does a good job of making audiences wonder what will happen next. It's hard not to want the family to survive and find a way to be happy again. A House on the Bayou might not be quite on the level of other Blumhouse horror movies but it does have some high points.
Ma (2019)
Octavia Spencer's Ma character is fascinating and totally carries the 2019 horror movie that deserves a lot more attention. When Maggie (Diana Silvers) and her friends want a place of their own to hang out, Ma offers up her basement, and all seems well... until Ma's unhinged and scary personality emerges.
Ma succeeds for several reasons, from developing every character properly whether they're a teenager or adult to showing a small town where dreams tend to go nowhere.
Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)
Unfriended is a fresh take on a horror movie, but the 2014 movie definitely gets more praise than the 2018 sequel, which is another underrated movie from Blumhouse.
In Unfriended: Dark Web, another group of friends are dealing with a terrifying situation that results from discovering an old computer. Matias (Colin Woodell) starts using someone else's laptop and starts getting freaked out when someone named Charon IV starts chatting with him online. The film goes in a direction that is absolutely impossible to predict, which is a huge deal considering how many horror movies use the same ideas and storylines. Unfriended: Dark Web still has well-drawn characters who have interesting relationships, including Matias and his girlfriend Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras) who he is trying to fix things with.
Delirium (2018)
Delirium features a strong performance from Topher Grace as Tom Walker, a man who leaves a mental hospital and starts living in his dad's house. Right away, strange things start happening and audiences learn more about Tom's awful relationships with his relatives, including his brother Alex (Callan Mulvey), who sneaks into the house.
Delirium is a smart thriller that tells a haunted house story and does the typical thing of asking whether Tom is making things up or actually seeing things that are truly happening. There are no easy answers here, but Tom does say that the house belongs to him at the end of the film, and it seems that he has been on a journey that has taught him some lessons. The movie makes people think and even though it can be confusing, that seems to be the intention, so it works.
Ouija (2014)
Many people remember playing with a ouija board when they were in high school, and the mystery and questions surrounding this supernatural game are the heart of this 2014 horror movie. Though more people might say the Mike Flanagan-directed prequel is superior, the original still has plenty to offer.
While Laine (Olivia Cooke) and Debbie (Shelley Hennig) loved using the ouija board when they were younger, Debbie lets Laine know that something creepy is going on now, and then she kills herself. Laine is left to pick up the pieces and figure out what happened to her friend and why people who use the ouija board are acting so weird. The movie succeeds on a few levels as audiences can tell that Laine and Debbie's friendship means a lot to both of them, which makes it easy to go on Laine's journey with her, and there are plenty of scares as people become possessed by the ouija board. The movie is a underappreciated teen horror film and might not be the most exciting movie in the genre but will satisfy fans.