10 frightfully scary movies you might have missed (+trailers)

As Halloween season nears, horror movies set the mood. Sure, you can pop in the scary standards or twisted classics, but if you’re looking for something off the beaten path, here are 10 chilling films you might not have heard of.

▪ “Audition” (1999) – This violent Japanese import is about a widowed man whose movie producer friend stages an audition for a fake movie to find him a new wife. The woman he becomes enraptured with turns out to have a bit of a dark side, to say the least.

▪ “The Babadook” (2014) – A troubled widow discovers that her bratty young son is telling the truth about a monster that has entered their home through the pages of a children’s book. This suspenseful, clever tale makes the most of its sense of dread, and we begin to wonder, just as the characters do, what’s real and what isn’t.

▪ “Blood Car” (2007) – This ultra-low-budget comedy/horror hybrid follows a man whose car is fueled by human blood – and lots of it. It’s just as campy and goofy as it sounds, but it’s also a lot of fun.

▪ “The Descent” (2005) – A group of female friends goes on a caving expedition that goes horribly wrong as they become trapped and pursued by a strange breed of predators. The film radiates a claustrophobic tension.

▪ “Funny Games” (1997) – Michael Haneke remade his own thriller with British actors Naomi Watts and Tim Roth in 2007, but his 1997 original is far more unnerving and uncomfortable, about two psychotic young men who take a family hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic games.

▪ “It Follows” (2014) – This will generate actual chills, about a young woman who is followed by a malevolent supernatural force that is transferred to her after a sexual encounter. The film’s soundtrack pulsates much like the best John Carpenter films and almost becomes a character unto itself.

▪ “Let the Right One In” (2008) – This visually hypnotic Swedish tale was remade in America as the less stunning “Let Me In,” but the original is far superior. It follows a sensitive young boy named Oskar, who is frequently bullied at school. That changes, though, when he becomes friends with a mysterious girl who just might be a vampire. This has one of the coolest revenge scenes ever.

▪ “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” (1971) – The vintage feel of this classic horror tale only adds to its creepiness, following a psychologically fragile woman who grapples with her sanity after moving into a country house.

▪ “The Orphanage” (2007) – The best ghost stories don’t show you everything and let your imagination fill in the gaps, and this Mexican import utilizes that to great effect. It follows a woman who returns with her husband and son to reopen the orphanage she was raised in, and discovers that her son’s new imaginary friends there may not be so imaginary after all. Director J.A. Bayona delivers a slow-burn, atmospheric horror film that rewards patience over cheap scares.

▪ “The Signal” (2007) – A mysterious static-like signal transmitted through TV, radio and telephone airwaves turns people into murderous, violent psychopaths. Told in three parts from three different perspectives, the film is gruesome at times and funny at others, but it’s a solid sci-fi-meets-horror entry.

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 8:41 AM with the headline "10 frightfully scary movies you might have missed (+trailers)."