American-made horror movies

October 22, 2014 12:18 PM

Asking for a friend who is looking for recommendations of any/all American-made horror movies in the last decade that:

• are not a franchise
• are not a remake
• are not a sequel
• not torture porn
• not SAW

Cabin in the Woods, The Sacrament, House of the Devil were all good suggestions meeting the criteria. What else has the hivemind got?
posted by ish__ to Media & Arts (53 answers total)

The Conjuring, Mama, Orfanato
posted by asockpuppet at 12:21 PM on October 22, 2014

When you say "not a franchise" does the first film in what later becomes a franchise count? V/H/S (2012) is an brilliant horror anthology film which has a sequel. But again it's an anthology film so the sequel is basically unrelated.
posted by griphus at 12:22 PM on October 22, 2014

Oh, yeah, and if you don't count the Conjuring as a remake, I'd recommend that as well.
posted by griphus at 12:22 PM on October 22, 2014

Response by poster: Mama is Spanish-Canadian and The Orphanage/Orfanato is Spanish.

Just to reiterate (not threadsit) - looking for American/American-produced films.
posted by ish__ at 12:22 PM on October 22, 2014

When you say "the last decade", do you mean "any time after 2000"? Because if you do, Session 9 (from 2001) scared the complete bejesus out of me, and you never even saw any incident of violence.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:23 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Oh, and Session 9 is definitely American-produced.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:24 PM on October 22, 2014

Response by poster: Ideally 2004 onward, but 2000 onward would be solid enough to pass along I think.
posted by ish__ at 12:25 PM on October 22, 2014

Session 9 was really good.
posted by jbickers at 12:25 PM on October 22, 2014

I'm not 100% sure that these are all American productions, so pardon me if I blow this:

The Conjuring

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Descent (might be a UK production, though....)

The Strangers

Frailty

Drag Me to Hell (or was that a sequel?)

Insidious
posted by magstheaxe at 12:30 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I like Splinter.

*the director is a friend.
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:33 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

How far can we stretch the definition of "American"? Because the first movie that came to my mind, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, turns out to have been produced in Canada, although the writer/director is American.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:33 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Red State
posted by humboldt32 at 12:36 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

You're Next
Stoker
John Dies at the End
The Bay
The Innkeepers
The Woman
Stake Land
Trick R Treat
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:38 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

The Yellow Wallpaper, based on the 6,000-word short story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Logan Thomas-directed version. I don't think it's at all faithful to the Gilman work, but it's very atmospheric. The ending might let it down a bit tho.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 12:40 PM on October 22, 2014

Phil Tippett's Mad God
posted by jillithd at 12:44 PM on October 22, 2014

Europa Report
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:49 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Drag me to hell is interesting.

30 Days of Night has moments.

Cloverfield is not scary but I enjoyed the conceit.

Don't be afraid of the dark (Film American)

I enjoyed John Dies at the End. But it's pretty silly. Same with Bad Milo!

Stroker is one of the worst movies ever.

I would say Beautiful Creatures (Emma Thompson) but it may be more supernatural thriller than horror and may not be american and appears to be a series.

Skeleton Key.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 12:51 PM on October 22, 2014

Response by poster: From my friend:

I should say, it can be the start of a franchise. I just want to avoid some of the solid remakes (halloween, Jason, Texas chain saw) and the films that are remakes of European or Asian horror, this is about America.

Thanks all, keep them coming.
posted by ish__ at 12:51 PM on October 22, 2014

Oh, if it can be the start of a franchise, then definitely include the first Paranormal Activity and Quarantine.
posted by jbickers at 12:55 PM on October 22, 2014

The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Scared the shit out of me.
posted by essexjan at 12:56 PM on October 22, 2014

Quarantine is a remake of [REC], though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:57 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Let Me In is technically a remake, but only in the sense that it's an American version of the Swedish film Let the Right One In, which was awesome.
posted by JimBJ9 at 12:57 PM on October 22, 2014

Would Kevin Smith's Red State count?
posted by radioamy at 1:02 PM on October 22, 2014

Slither
posted by Sticherbeast at 1:07 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

Final Destination
posted by candyland at 1:09 PM on October 22, 2014

You're Next, the movies of Ti West (he did house of the devil, I believe), The Shrine, Detention.

All very, very good from a guy who loves some smart horror and all are on Netflix or were recently at least.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:18 PM on October 22, 2014

The Others
posted by Sassyfras at 1:19 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

If Cabin in the Woods was acceptable and a more comedy leaning is ok too then Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil might fit the bill.
posted by Captain_Science at 1:19 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

V/H/S was a very good and very weird horror anthology.
posted by Slap*Happy at 1:23 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I quite like Orphan but acknowledge I like it more than most people. The people who don't like it fixate on the twist ending, I guess, but I'm fine with it. You could also split hairs and say it's more of a thriller than a horror film.

Reeker is not very good, but I think meets your other criteria.

Detention is more of a black comedy that uses some horror conventions, but maybe I'll add it.

And if we get to stretch American enough, Pontypool.
posted by RobotHero at 1:23 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

BLACK SWAN is a good, solid American B-horror.
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:24 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Also in the goofy-yet-scary mold is "Behind the Mask - The Rise of Leslie Vernon" Robert England has a pretty good cameo role in it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 1:25 PM on October 22, 2014 [4 favorites]

Willow Creek
posted by bobafet at 1:26 PM on October 22, 2014

Pontypool is Canadian, not American. But it's so freaking outstanding (and, I would add, widely beloved by MeFi's horror fans) that if your friend hasn't seen it, they should do that right away.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:30 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I really liked The Last Exorcism.
posted by Requiax at 1:43 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Cannibalistic : Will was a vegetarian pacifist trying to forget his flesh eating past. But when the citizens of this small town pushed him too far, he went CanniBallistic!
posted by Gungho at 1:59 PM on October 22, 2014

Since we're drifting - Warm Bodies really did it for me.

Keep 'em coming, people, some of us are updating Netflix right now.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 2:02 PM on October 22, 2014

Oculus
posted by figgy_finicky at 2:11 PM on October 22, 2014

Ravenous is great fun. But is it American? Not sure.
posted by Handstand Devil at 2:31 PM on October 22, 2014

Resolution is a great horror/scary film. Super low-budget but very (at least for me) memorable.
posted by Fister Roboto at 2:38 PM on October 22, 2014

Teeth
The Woman
May is from 2002 but excellent
American Mary
posted by nicwolff at 2:46 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Absentia
Oculus
The Den
Grave Encounters
Odd Thomas
posted by ejs at 2:53 PM on October 22, 2014

Call Girl of Cthulu
posted by josher71 at 3:33 PM on October 22, 2014

Not a film, but American Horror Story is consistently fantastic.
posted by Hatashran at 3:40 PM on October 22, 2014

The Pact
Absentia
The Woman
posted by Fiorentina97 at 5:05 PM on October 22, 2014

The Battery
posted by anansi at 5:34 PM on October 22, 2014

This one, The Tripper, hits all your checkboxes - and it's got Jason Mewes AND Paul Reubens. It's also got some great backstage memories for me, I was there during the filming, I might have even worked on it...
posted by dbiedny at 6:32 PM on October 22, 2014

I'm going to 2nd and 3rd The Pact and Absentia. I loved both.
I also really liked The Innkeepers, The Possession, Dead End (2003), Haunter, The Den, Pandorum, Sinister, Devil's Pass, Honeymoon, TRICK 'R TREAT, Under the Skin...
posted by anoirmarie at 7:50 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Mulberry Street, from the same team as "Stake Land".
posted by soundguy99 at 10:36 PM on October 22, 2014

I haven't watched it yet, but my sister recommended "I Am a Ghost", and the trailer looked suitably creepy.

"The Hamiltons" was a super low budget but ultimately fun take on an easy horror staple.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 11:36 PM on October 22, 2014

Most of these have already been mentioned, but my list would be:

Orphan
John dies at the end
30 days of night
Frailty
Ravenous
Hard Candy
Pontypool (yeah, yeah, it's canadian)
Skeleton key
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:10 AM on October 23, 2014

Oh, also The Dead Girl
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:12 AM on October 23, 2014

Entrance
posted by Chenko at 1:23 PM on October 23, 2014