Some of the best horror movies in history are independent films produced outside of the Hollywood major-studio system. Horror hounds appreciate that these smaller indie films showcase a level of creative freedom not often found in a big-budget studio flick.
Imagine the horror genre today if there were no Halloween, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, or The Blair Witch Project. These seminal fright films all scared up box office dollars outside the studio system and each spawned franchises, spin-offs, remakes, and countless imitators.
MoviVue is a transactional video-on-demand service (TVOD) launching on Friday, September 20, that supports indie filmmakers by curating underseen horror gems such as the 1981 slasher film Madman and the more recent creature feature The Prey. Those movies and the following indie films are must-sees for horror connoisseurs.
Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter's seasonal slasher Halloween is about an escaped mental patient named Michael Myers who returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois to stalk and terrorize babysitters on Halloween. The movie introduced audiences to scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays “final girl” Laurie Strode.
Produced by Compass International Pictures, Halloween cost about $325,000 to produce and made $70 million worldwide. Today, there are a total of 13 films in the Halloween franchise, the most recent entry being 2022's Halloween Ends featuring the final face-off between Michael and Laurie.
Halloween has influenced everything from Friday the 13th to Scream to pretty much every horror movie you've ever watched featuring a masked boogeyman.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez's The Blair Witch Project didn't invent the found-footage genre, but it might as well have. The supernatural horror film is about three student filmmakers who disappeared in the woods while filming a documentary about the Blair Witch in the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland.
The brilliant marketing campaign for Haxan Films' The Blair Witch Project led many to believe that the footage was authentic and that the three student filmmakers were actually missing people. Shot for under $1 million and distributed by Artisan Entertainment, The Blair Witch Project made over $248 million and spawned two sequels as well as countless imitators.
Although the movie doesn't hold up after repeated viewings because the element of surprise is essential to its effectiveness, you'll never forget the first time you saw The Blair Witch Project and the chills felt all over your body during that final scene with one character facing the wall in the dark cellar of an abandoned house.
It Follows (2014)
David Robert Mitchell's terrifying It Follows tells the story of a young woman named Jaime “Jay” Height (Maika Monroe) who, after a romantic rendezvous, is pursued by a shape-shifting, relentless entity that only she can see. The only way to break the “curse” is to have amorous relations with someone else and pass it to them, kind of like transmitting an STD.
Mitchell builds a tense atmosphere that turns into panic as Jay tries to evade the sinister entity that takes the form of different people. What could have been just another low-budget, independent movie about a boogeyman chasing a young woman, It Follows instead brings up questions about guilt surrounding intimate encounters and our fear of contracting diseases from partners.
A sequel titled They Follow is in the works with Monroe set to return.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
George A. Romero directed, co-wrote, and edited the independent horror classic Night of the Living Dead and kick-started the modern era of zombie movies. The black-and-white film follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania as the zombie apocalypse begins outside. Night of the Living Dead is also noteworthy for casting a Black man (Duane Jones) as the lead character in a 1960s horror movie.
Romero made Night of the Living Dead on a budget of only $114,000 and the movie earned about $30 million worldwide at the box office. The groundbreaking indie spawned five official sequels as well as countless spin-offs, rip-offs, homages, and remakes. Popular TV series such as The Walking Dead would not exist without Night of the Living Dead.
Hereditary (2018)
Toni Collette plays Annie Graham — a miniatures artist whose family gets terrorized by supernatural forces after the death of Annie's secretive mother — in Ari Aster's Hereditary. We learn that Annie's mother was a member of a sinister coven determined to find a human vessel for the demon king Paimon, which is why Annie's house itself seems possessed.
A24's Hereditary is one of the scariest movies of the past 10 years because it takes itself seriously and doesn't rely on cheap scares, bursts of humor, or witty pop-culture references. Those things can be fun in another movie, but Hereditary is an indie horror film that gets underneath the skin by making us question if we really know the people closest to us.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Blumhouse Productions' Paranormal Activity is a found-footage horror film about a married couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) dealing with an increasingly threatening supernatural presence in their home.
Paranormal Activity was so successful — it cost $215,000 to produce and made $194 million worldwide — that it launched a franchise consisting of seven films (so far). Although the indie production spawned too many subpar rip-offs that led to audience found-footage fatigue, Paranormal Activity proved that you don't need a big-studio budget to scare the bejesus out of people.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Tobe Hooper's terrifying indie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre introduced the world to Leatherface and his family of cannibals who prey on tourists in rural Texas. Loosely based on the killings by Ed Gein, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre became a cult classic and launched a franchise that consists of nine movies to date.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had a production budget of only $140,000 and made about $30 million worldwide. The movie's indie budget actually works in its favor and gives the horror classic a gritty, realistic feel that makes the experience exponentially more terrifying. The incessant sound of a chainsaw buzzing, the bloodcurdling screaming by leading lady Marilyn Burns, and the crazy camera zooms on her terrified eyes trick your mind into thinking that you see more blood and violence on-screen than what is actually shown.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Sam Raimi's feature directorial debut stars Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams, who vacations with his girlfriend, sister, and friends at a remote cabin in the woods. There the group finds an audiotape containing an incantation that unleashes demons and spirits that try to possess the cabin and its occupants.
The Evil Dead not only became a horror classic that spawned several sequels, a TV series, and a remake, but it also made Raimi a sought-after director and Campbell a horror icon. Although subsequent movies in The Evil Dead franchise lean into comedy more, this grainy, low-budget ($375,000), 16mm indie depicts a haunted cabin that still makes one's skin crawl.
Pumpkinhead (1988)
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group's Pumpkinhead is the directorial debut of special effects master Stan Winston. The movie follows a rural, small-store owner named Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) who seeks out a local swamp witch to summon a demon named Pumpkinhead and exact revenge on a group of reckless young adults who accidentally killed his young son.
Pumpkinhead is an excellent argument for the use of practical effects instead of CGI. Winston's terrifying titular creature looks alive and has realistic movements, which makes the cult movie that much scarier.
Although Pumpkinhead didn't scare up a lot of money during its theatrical release, the movie developed a cult following thanks to multiple home video releases. This led to three sequels and a planned reboot in the works.
Madman (1981)
Joe Giannone's slasher film Madman is the type of indie horror gem curated by MoviVue. Based on the New York legend of Cropsey, Madman is about a campfire story that inadvertently summons the axe-wielding Madman Marz at a camp. Dawn of the Dead actress Gaylen Ross plays “final girl” Betsy.
Distributed by Jensen Farley Pictures, Madman became a sleeper hit thanks to drive-in theaters and has since developed a cult following. Fans of 1980s slasher films will want to check this one out as well as special behind-the-scenes bonus features on MoviVue when it's available.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Set in 1988, Donnie Darko stars Jake Gyllenhaal as the titular teen who narrowly escapes a plane engine crashing into his house thanks to his tendency to sleepwalk. Donnie keeps having disturbing visions of a giant rabbit named Frank who warns Donnie about the exact time the world will end.
Talk of time travel and mental illness adds another layer of intrigue to this arthouse horror movie turned cult classic produced by Flower Films — a production company owned by Drew Barrymore, who appears in Donnie Darko as one of Donnie's teachers. Viewers feel as disoriented and confused as Donnie as he tries to figure out what is going on before time runs out.
Pearl (2022)
Ti West's Pearl is a prequel to X, both starring Mia Goth. In Pearl, which is set in 1918 and filmed like the Gone With the Wind of horror, Goth plays the titular Texas farm girl whose desire for fame results in her lashing out violently against those closest to her.
Goth cemented her scream queen status by playing the '70s adult-film actress Maxine Minx in Ti West's X. In Pearl, Goth delivers an Oscar-worthy performance and unforgettable, cuckoo-bananas monologue that transcends horror-genre expectations. In MaXXXine, the third film in the trilogy, Goth reprises her role as Maxine Minx in 1985 Los Angeles where Maxine tries to become a Hollywood scream queen as the Night Stalker terrorizes the city.
Eraserhead (1977)
Eraserhead, the feature-length directorial debut of auteur David Lynch, is a surreal, black-and-white, body-horror movie about a man named Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) forced to care for his deformed baby in a desolate industrial hellscape.
Although Eraserhead wasn't a blockbuster during its initial release, the successful indie film became a favorite midnight movie and subsequently achieved cult status. If you can watch Henry's infant — which looks like a grotesque, oversized baby bird wrapped in bandages and makes unsettling gurgling sounds — and not feel your flesh crawl, check to make sure you still have a pulse.
