Halloween, otherwise known as All Hallow’s Eve, a night where it is believed that the dead walk the Earth and monsters prowl through the night. A night where children and adults alike dress up in costumes to ward off ghosts and ghouls and go door to door seeking out candy. 

However, COVID-19 has put many people’s Halloween plans on hold. On a night where usually delighted children run through the streets with bags full of candy, many must now stay in doors.

So what is there to do this All Hallow’s Eve? 

For those who still seek a bone-chilling thrill this Halloween, here is a list of seven lesser-known horror movies on Netflix ranked from best to worst. Be warned, some of these movies are rated for mature audiences.

1. As Above So Below

This movie is not for those faint of heart. 

Presented as found footage of a documentary, this story details a young female archaeologist and her team’s search for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone and their wacky hijinks in the catacombs underneath Paris. And by wacky hijinks I mean, here’s a front row ticket to a series of some the most comically stupid decisions to be made by a group of people.

This movie has something for everyone. Anxiety, trauma, existential dread, some more trauma and some sort of grey rock monster that doesn’t really get any explanation.

If you have a fear of cramped spaces like I do, then you’ll definitely need to brace yourself for this absolute emotional rollercoaster. You should also be warned there are some violent and graphic scenes, so if you faint at the sight of blood perhaps this is not the movie for you.

The references to alchemic and christianized mythology really added a nice touch to the overall plot. However, I definitely saw the Dante’s Inferno allusion from a mile away. I mean the catacombs are literally a mass grave site for nearly six million people stretching about 186 miles directly under the bustling city of Paris, so the whole reference to Hell is kind of a given. But the subtle touches in the characters’ horrific deaths related to the different circles of Hell really took it the extra mile.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I will not be venturing into the Paris catacombs anytime soon. Or possibly ever for that matter.

2. The Golem

The deep-seated mommy issues really jumped out in this horror flick. 

A young Jewish woman living in 15th century Lithuania is coping with the loss of her only child, when a group of outsiders invades their community. So our quirky protagonist decides she is going to create a golem. For those who don’t know what that is, a golem is a being created out of clay that is supposedly meant to protect the Jewish people in their time of need. However, as you could probably guess, everything quickly went downhill. Oh, and the Bubonic Plague was also a thing.

While this movie didn’t have as much of the jump scare factor as the last film, I felt it made up for it with the deep character connections. The breed of horror this film incorporated wasn’t one typically seen in horror films, it relied much more on a sense of dread than one of sheer terror. 

There was also a hint of feministic values thrown in for spice. Because, why not? It’s not like if she actually existed during the time period the story is taking place in she would be burned at the stake for being a witch or anything. Oh, wait. She definitely would be burned at the stake.

However the point of this movie, which stood out from the rest, was how the deep-seated mommy issues actually developed relatable and complex characters. It was able to keep me from getting bored and zoning out half-way through the movie.

3. The Ritual

Have you and your friends made stupid decisions that you will all laugh about later down the line? Well in this case it’s kind of hard if all of your friends are dead.

In this movie, a group of friends are coping with the loss of one of their friends by all going on a nature hike in the middle of the Scandinavian wilderness. Sounds nice right? Wrong. After one friend twists his ankle and the group collectively decides they don’t want to hike for another 14 hours, they decide to take the short-cut through the not at all terrifying forest. 

If you are really looking for that pagan cult genre movie look no further. Because whatever Eldritch abomination is chasing this group of lads through the forest is absolutely what you are looking for, I promise. And there’s the added bonus of getting to see a gutted elk hanging from a tree.

The selling point of this film is the unspoken sense of guilt that divides this group of characters who once used to be close friends. And yes they are being picked off by some massive monster that is then hanging them from trees, but they are also each running from their own weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Can you say exploration of toxic masculinity?

This movie kept me thoroughly entertained and interested in seeing the resolution. This has also left me the knowledge I will never go hiking in the Scandanvian wilderness. 

4. Visions

Oh, wow. Another movie that sent my anxiety through the roof.

In this particular film, we experience the struggles of a future mother-to-be and her husband as they move into their beautiful new vineyard estate. Our protagonist, Eveleigh, begins to experience, you guessed it, visions. These visions terrify her and despite her trying to reach out to those around her, everyone just tells her she’s seeing things.

Ah yes, the subtle undertones of sexism where a pregnant woman is written off as crazy, instead of those around her listening to what she’s saying. We hate to see it. 

Not only is she pregnant, she has a history of PTSD and depression caused by a traumatic accident. So despite her telling literally everyone that something wrong is going on, everyone just blames it on hormones and mental health. 

One of the really great parts of the movie was how in the end it came full circle and brought back subtle details throughout the movie that at the time seemed insignificant but all come back by the end. 

While this movie did make me extremely anxious, I really enjoyed it overall. 

5. Winchester

A really rich old lady predicts things are going to go wrong, and then they inevitably do.

This film is actually based on a real story. Sarah Pardee Winchester’s life was one steeped in misery, seeing as both her husband and child died. In her grief, she sought out a psychic. This psychic told her that angry spirits would come for her and her family. In order to appease them she had to build a massive mansion. So she did. And then she kept building until she died.

But this movie focuses on how Sarah’s mental health comes into question by those working for her company. They send a psychiatrist to give her a mental evaluation and after hearing her start talking about ghosts killing her and her family, the doctor assumes she’s nuts. That is until he starts to see some of the aforementioned ghosts and realizes that perhaps she is not crazy.

This movie certainly utilized the jump scare tactic more than some of the other films. You could almost say they overused it at points throughout the movie. 

The basis and inclusion of some accurate historical facts was actually quite nice. Then there was the whole Confederate soldier thing, which is a little overdone in historical horror films, but that’s just my opinion.

Overall, a rather enjoyable movie. But really, the scary kid in the mirror trope?

6. The Temple

What is it with people in horror movies going to the one place that literally everyone is telling them not to go to? 

The story starts out in a Japanese hospital where an extremely disfigured man is being interrogated about the disappearance of an American tourist after visiting a remote Shinto temple. The rest of the story is told through a series of flashbacks where we are left to piece back together what it all means.

Another story where a merry band of idiots ignores the warnings from literally everyone around them, and does the stupid dangerous things everyone was warning them not to do. Like even after meeting and talking to a guy who literally had his eyes fall out of his head after coming back from the same temple you still want to go there. What even was the thought process?

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what the ending of this was. After watching and re-watching it, I still don’t get it. But, the staging and some of the sequencing made it very interesting to watch unfold.

At the end of the day, this was an overall enjoyable movie, with plenty of plot twists and plot holes to thrill and frustrate plenty of watchers.

7. Priest

Karl Urban’s performance as a hot, dystopian, vampire cowboy is one of the saving graces of this movie.

This action, horror, dystopian, cowboy flick is so bad, that it’s actually kind of good. It’s borderline campy. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood appear to say two lines then promptly die and there were plot holes a mile wide, but that just made it kind of funny.

The story takes place in a dystopian world where the long war between humans and vampires is supposedly over. The Catholic Church is now the governing force of the remnants of humanity. And once great warriors used to combat the vampires called, Priests, no longer have use in society. But of course, the war with vampires really isn’t over, and a kung-fu warrior priest played by Paul Bettany has to single handedly fight off hordes of vampires. 

I think the entire movie was supposed to be a commentary on the Catholic Church or the government, but honestly I couldn’t tell which one it was supposed to be. Either that or something on how society mistreats war veterans. It honestly didn’t make a lot of sense.

To be honest, this movie was pretty bad, but it was highly entertaining. Especially the approximately four minutes where dystopian cowboy vampire Karl Urban is on screen.