Looking for a so-called “original” horror movie can be a rough undertaking. Many of the things that make movies scary are a bit overplayed — aliens, paranormal activity, and copious amounts of gore are scary, but can get old fast. If you really want something to terrify you down to your bones, you need to find something that offers a unique twist on these concepts. Consider some of these terrifying basements in horror movies that give a refreshing twist on horror movie tropes.
Misery – Basement Evil Score 1.0
One of the reasons that Misery is so scary is because it doesn’t rely on jumpscares, terrifying beings from another planet, or gallons of blood to make a statement. The scariest thing in Misery is, quite simply, a human being. Annie Wilkes is a woman that looks like someone who could live next door to you, and that’s truly horrifying. She uses her damp, rat-infested cellar to keep the movie’s protagonist from signaling for help.
A Quiet Place – Basement Evil Score 1.2
In A Quiet Place, the villains may look like other horror movie villains, but they hunt exclusively by sound. The most unique part about the movie is that it focuses largely on the way the Abbott family adapts to their new life in hiding from these monsters: using American Sign Language, changing the way they cook and eat, and even hiding their baby in a soundproof underground cellar. Of course, when that cellar floods, it attracts the creatures, leading to some heart-pounding scenes.
Parasite – Basement Evil Score 2.2
Parasite was the first-ever foreign language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and that’s because it pulls off its drama-horror so well it’s nearly impossible to overlook. This movie focuses on issues of class, bringing attention to dramatic class struggles that have been happening in the director’s native South Korea for years. The Kim family lives in a fallout bunker from the 1970s, also called a banjiha, and it provides the perfect backdrop to the story.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Basement Evil Score 3.6
If you’re looking for something that’s more camp than horror, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is for you. Sure, there are some spine-tingling moments, but horror plays second fiddle to a tongue-in-cheek panache that manifests itself as a musical. The main character, Dr. Frank-n-Furter, has a Medusa Transducer in the basement of a British castle, allowing him to turn people into statues.
A Nightmare On Elm Street – Basement Evil Score 6.0
One of the most interesting tropes that A Nightmare on Elm Street offers is the trope of a villain who can only hurt you under certain conditions. Freddy can only kill people in the dream world, but those dream deaths kill people in the real world as well. In the dream world, Freddy refers to his boiler room as his Nightmare Factory because it’s where he tortures and kills many people.
Get Out – Basement Evil Score 9.6
The name of the game in Get Out is subverting horror tropes. That’s why there are so many twists and turns in the movie. Get Out introduces itself as a typical drama, but then turns all the classic tropes on their heads, offering something that lands between a horror movie, a satire, and a dark comedy. In the basement, main character Chris undergoes hypnotism. However, it’s revealed that the hypnotism is intended to transfer his consciousness to another person, and he goes to the Sunken Place.
Conclusion
It can be easy to look at the glut of horror movies with relatively identical plots and fret about how there are no really original horror movies anymore. However, if this list proves anything, it’s that original horror movies can definitely exist. You just have to seek them out.
