# Good recent horror releases? (Already on home-video) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099 "2012-12-15T07:58:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/1 "2012-12-15T07:58:10Z")
I work at a video store, and my personal areas of expertise are action-comedies, dramas and family films. My knowledge of horror films is _extremely_ limited; the only ones I’ve ever gotten into are the _Nightmare on Elm Street_ films. They’re just not my cup of tea. But I have a lot of customers asking about them, and I’d like to be able to tell them something other than “umm, I’m not really a horror fan.” So I turn to my fellow Dopers. What are some good, relatively recent horror films already out on home video, and why do you like them? (Feel free to update the thread over the coming weeks/months as new titles become available). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/2 "2012-12-15T08:04:39Z")
My favorite recent horror film is Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me To Hell.” It’s two or three years old, but very good, funny, yet scary horror. Also, there is a movie called “John Dies At The End,” by Don Coscarelli. I haven’t seen it yet, but judging by his past work, it’s got to be good. I don’t know if it is on home video yet, but it’s been playing the film festival circuits for about a year, so it might be. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/3 "2012-12-15T08:11:57Z")
I don’t like Horror either, but I do occasionally watch one if it seems like it might tickle my fancy. Both _Tucker and Dale vs Evil_ and _Cabin in the Woods_ take standard slasher films and twist the formula in interesting and amusing ways. _Shaun of the Dead_ is great for that, too, though it’s a Romantic Zombie Comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/4 "2012-12-15T13:07:07Z")
I don’t watch them much any more, but I did enjoy Cabin in the Woods a lot. I also liked the newer The Hills Have Eyes, but that’s about 5-6 years old now. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/5 "2012-12-15T15:35:12Z")
I thought Insidious was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/6 "2012-12-15T15:51:11Z")
Another one for Cabin in the Wood, that was an amazing movie. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/7 "2012-12-15T16:23:50Z")
The Bay was pretty scary. I watched it On-Demand a few weeks ago ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/8 "2012-12-15T16:41:08Z")
I loved “The Orphange” (2007). And no thread about recent horror movies is complete without a mention of “Let the Right One In” (2008). Not only one of the best vampire films but, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/9 "2012-12-15T16:41:33Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > I thought Insidious was pretty good. I’ll second _Insidious_. It’s a hodgepodge of utterly standard ideas, but it’s very well executed. It’s still about 2 years old though. The only actually recent horror film I can remember being good was the remake of _The Woman in Black_. I thought it had pretty decent atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/10 "2012-12-15T16:55:34Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > I’ll second _Insidious_. It’s a hodgepodge of utterly standard ideas, but it’s very well executed. It’s still about 2 years old though. > > The only actually recent horror film I can remember being good was the remake of _The Woman in Black_. I thought it had pretty decent atmosphere. I strongly second both of these. I would also recommend _The Uninvited_, which is a decent remake of the incomparible Korean film _A Tale of Two Sisters_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/11 "2012-12-15T17:08:39Z")
_Daybreakers_ came out in 2009 and it’s a really good movie. It’s a vampire movie that inverts the standards of the genre - the movie starts with pretty much everyone in the world already having become a vampire. And now society is trying to deal with effects of this change - including the growing scarcity of the human beings they need as a source for blood. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/12 "2012-12-15T20:34:51Z")
I agree with most of the above, and I’ll add the following: _The Descent_ - about a group of friends who go caving and find horrors underground. **REC** - this is a Spanish “found-footage” film. It has two sequels–I’ve seen REC2 and it was okay, but not as good as the first. There is a US remake of REC called _Quarantine_, which is okay but not as good as the original. It has a sequel, too, which I haven’t seen. _The Final Destination_ series is hit-and-miss, but I think the first and the fifth are the best. _Triangle_ is pretty cool, very similar in some ways to the Spanish movie _Timecrimes_. _The Crazies_ - virus causes the infected to become homicidal. Stars the always-good Timothy Olyphant. _Rubber_ - very unusual, “meta” horror movie _Primal_ - low-budget Australian horror flick _Jeepers Creepers_ and its sequel are fun monster movies. _Chronicle_ - another found-footage movie, about some teenage boys who become super-powered. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/13 "2012-12-15T20:58:24Z")
_Stag Night_ and _Chernobyl Diaries_ - Nothing at all original here; the plots are paper thin and ludicrous, but hey, they’re horror movies, and as far as running-chasing-hiding-killing-in the dark-slasher flicks go, they tag all the bases. _Piranha 3D_ and its sequel, _3DD_ are even more ridiculous, but they are aware of what they are and are actually quite entertaining in a Troma-esque, intentionally-way-over-the-top kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/14 "2012-12-16T00:12:31Z")
I recently caught and enjoyed Splinter from 2008, a very competent movie that almost seemed like a adaptation of a short horror story. Special effects are good and its almost a new take on the zombie genre. A couple going camping runs into another couple on the run from the law and a strange “splinter” parasite, they get trapped inside a gas station and it proceeds from there. > **[Splinter (2008 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splinter_%282008_film%29)** > > Splinter is a 2008 American horror film directed by Toby Wilkins and starring Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, and Jill Wagner. It was filmed near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It had a limited theatrical release on October 31, 2008. HDNet Movies aired the film two days prior to its theatrical release. > At a sleepy gas station, the pump attendant is attacked by a splinter-infected animal. The attendant's body contorts. A young couple, Seth Belzer and Polly Watt, drive for a romantic camping trip in the f... ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/15 "2012-12-16T00:38:33Z")
_Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon_ is a _fantastic_ film for anyone who has watched and loved slasher movies. It is a slasher movie comedy/mockumentary. There honestly isn’t a description I can give it that will really do it justice, but in brief it takes a look at the other side of slasher killers. You get to see them from their own point of view as a documentary camera crew follows and aspiring slasher around preparing to make his debut. It’s very smart, well constructed, and lots of fun. It has a good blend of genuine slasher horror, silly comedy, and insightful commentary on the horror genre and why people love the genre. Also, it hold us to repeat viewings really well, in fact I would suggest that it gets better with a second viewing. On the other end of the spectrum. _Funny Games_ (either version) is also an examination of the genre, and well made, but it takes the point of view that…well it’s a bit more hardcore and less loving than behind the mask. One of the few movies that I have ever seen that has legitimately changed me. I don’t know that it’s a good thing, but it did genuinely fuck my shit right up. Neither are super new, but both are on the less well known side of the spectrum. I also strongly recommend Guillermo Del Torro’s two Spanish language horror flicks \*The Devil’s Backbone \*and _Cronos_. A ghost story and a vampire movie (sort of) respectively. Lastly _Old Boy_ for Japanese horror. Just a good movie, though hard to watch at times. Probably technically counts as torture porn, but a way better movie than something like _Hostel_. That should cover you for a few different genre’s of horror movie that haven’t already been mentioned. I’ll also throw in a second for _Cabin in the Woods_ _Drag Me to Hell_ _The Crazies_ and _The Orphanage_. All very different, but all really well made and fun (if you like that sort of thing). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/16 "2012-12-16T00:48:50Z")
_Splice_ - sci-fi horror: genetic engineering goes wrong and the results are alluring yet very creepy. Reminiscent of early Cronenberg. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/17 "2012-12-16T04:50:39Z")
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions so far! (This is by way of saying that I’m subscribing and paying attention to the thread, so these aren’t falling on deaf ears). ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/18 "2012-12-16T08:46:11Z")
If you’re okay with the found-footage genre, I really enjoyed [V/H/S](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2105044/). I do caution that if you have any desire to watch it, avoid the trailer at all costs: it has spoilers. I agree wholeheartedly with NAF1138’s list. I found Funny Games to be a bit disturbing, which is no small feat. As NAF pointed out, the version is irrelevant, the director took pains to make the US version identical to the original. I also liked [House of the Devil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172994/). It revives the old-school slasher flick where suspense is the prime element instead of gore. Oh. And [Trick 'r Treat](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862856/) is just good, wholesome, Halloween fun. It’s reminiscent of Tales From The Crypt, except all the stories are tied together. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/19 "2012-12-16T16:47:17Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > **REC** - this is a Spanish “found-footage” film. It has two sequels–I’ve seen REC2 and it was okay, but not as good as the first. There is a US remake of REC called _Quarantine_, which is okay but not as good as the original. It has a sequel, too, which I haven’t seen. > > _The Crazies_ - virus causes the infected to become homicidal. Stars the always-good Timothy Olyphant. I liked “Quarantine” a lot, saw the sequel and it…well, really does come across as the crappy low-budget semi-sequel. The Crazies was good, but lacked the creepiness of the Romero original. Crazy equals volence, in the original Crazy equals just flat out crazy. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099/20 "2012-12-17T00:29:41Z")
I really liked A Perfect Getaway…maybe it’s more thriller than horror, but it’s a good tense movie with nice-looking guys (and girls, too) in Hawaii. Can’t go wrong there. Also recently watched Joshua…decent creepy-kid movie. And…was it Home Movie? With TWO creepy kids? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-horror-releases-already-on-home-video/644099.md?page=2)