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10 Underrated Horror Movies from the 2010s That Rule, Actually

Even in modern times, horror films don’t always get the respect they deserve. Let’s change that.
Underrated 2010s Horror
By  · Published on October 1st, 2022

5. The Purge Anarchy (2014) – 57% RT

The Purge Anarchy

The Purge franchise launched in 2013 as an indie action-horror hybrid confined to a single location. Nearly a decade later and it has become one of the most prominent horror franchises of the last twenty years. The series doesn’t always hit, but when it does, the results are spectacular… as was the case with the first sequel, The Purge: Anarchy! The first film to take the Purge to the streets, Anarchy follows Frank Grillo as an off-duty LAPD sergeant looking to get revenge for the death of his son. Instead of getting revenge, Grillo finds himself saving others that are simply trying to survive the chaotic and violent night.

Borrowing from films like The Warriors and John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13, Anarchy is the type of fast-paced, gritty horror that gets the blood pumping and adrenaline flowing. With nonstop action and a variety of creepy masks that have become a franchise staple, Anarchy is a near masterpiece and one of the best post-2010 horror offerings. (Chris Coffel)


4. Drive Angry (2011) – 47% RT

Drive Angry

Welcome to Nic Cage‘s DGAF era. But don’t confuse the attitude with him phoning in a performance. He’s incapable of such behavior. In Drive Angry, Cage escapes from hell behind the wheel of a muscle car. And he’s packin’ Satan’s Godkiller gun with him. His daughter was murdered by Charlie Mustache (Billy Burke). And his granddaughter’s up next on the sacrificial chopping block. No way can Cage allow that to happen. And he won’t let man’s law or Lucifer’s law get in the way. Drive Angry is a violently silly film that succeeds in how damn serious it takes itself. Director Patrick Lussier and his co-writer partner Todd Farmer may have an affection for the seventies, but their film is utterly aughts, punctuating its violence with gnarly, gimmicky 3-D. They put their foot on the floor in frame one and never let up. (Brad Gullickson)


3. As Above So Below (2014) – 27% RT

Medieval Simon
Universal Pictures

Think carefully. What’s scarier: accidentally stumbling through the Gates of Hell in the Paris catacombs OR accidentally stumbling through the Gates of Hell in the Paris catacombs but your leader is that one girl who books it like a bat out of hell when she has too many tequila shots? As Above, So Below might not have intended to posit the latter. But good god if my anxiety doesn’t go through the roof at the thought of being trapped in an infernal maze with Becky Who Goes Missing Whenever We Go Out.

From the man who brought us the American remake of REC (which is, it must be said, pretty good as far as noughties remakes go), As Above So Below tells the story of a Lara Croft-type (complete with daddy issues) who is dead-set on getting some answers to the question that plagued her late father: the existence and whereabouts of the Philosopher’s Stone. After a breakthrough in Iraq leads our high-energy heroine to the subterranean caverns of Paris, she and her law-breaking team of urban spelunkers inadvertently pull a Dante Alighieri. Full of ideas and a genuinely uneasy atmosphere, As Above So Below never really got its day in the sun, dismissed as nothing more than another byproduct of the shaky cam fad. Well, suck on this, losers: this underrated 2010s horror film rules to Hell and back. (Meg Shields)


2. Maniac (2012) – 53% RT

Maniac

Not all horror remakes are created equal. Few second passes manage to bring anything new and spicy to the table. So Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur deserve bonus points for looking at one of the grimiest serial killer films of all time and saying: hey, what if this was shot almost entirely from a first-person perspective? It’s one thing to hang around with the guy, but to witness Frank Zito’s depravity from behind the man’s eyeballs takes things to a whole new level.

Playing against type, Elijah Wood endows Frank with an extremely prescient and unnerving “nice guy” incel vibe that makes his violence against women that much more disturbing. The man can barely be reminded of his lack of a girlfriend without murdering any woman within arm’s reach.

Despite its many boons (including an incredible score by Rob, who would later lend his talents to 2017’s Revenge), Maniac was panned by critics for being, and I quote: “exploitational trash.” (The word you were looking for, New York Post, was exploitative, but whatever). Wood’s casting also proved too distracting for some, while other cowards took issue with the film’s nauseating brutality. Hey, can we put these freaks who want palatable serial murder on a watchlist or something? As far as underrated horror from the 2010s goes, Maniac deserves a spot on your watchlist. (Meg Shields)


1. The Lords of Salem (2012) – 47% RT

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The early 2000s were typified by the torture porn subgenre, the horror world’s reaction to post-9/11 pessimism, and the stories of abuse conducted by the United States government. As we entered the second decade of the 21st century, audiences began craving horror of a different flavor. And wouldn’t you know it, a director who benefited from the brutality of this era – just with a heaping helping of camp – would deliver the goods. Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem reached back into the history of horror cinema to surface a film that engages with themes present in films like Michael Reeve’s The Witchfinder General all the way through to the dreamy supernatural nightmares of Lucio Fulci. Arguably Lords of Salem is entrancing in a similar vein to the horror slate of A24, which uses similar tactics to highlight the beauty and artistry inside the genre’s symbolic terrors. (Jacob Trussell)


Now that we’ve leaped over the low bar of proving that Rotten Tomatoes isn’t the be-all-end-all of taste, check out more 31 Days of Horror Lists! There are plenty of underrated horror movies from the 2010s hiding in our other articles.

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Based in the Pacific North West, Meg enjoys long scrambles on cliff faces and cozying up with a good piece of 1960s eurotrash. As a senior contributor at FSR, Meg's objective is to spread the good word about the best of sleaze, genre, and practical effects.