Tags: Summer horror
As we head into the final scorching weeks of Summer, here are ten essential horror films you need to dive into before things start cooling off.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Morbidly Beautiful! For this week’s list, what better than a list of the perfect movies to watch this summer? Special thanks to everyone who commented on my Instagram and Facebook page to let me know what your favorite summer horror movies were.
It’s been a hot one this year, and this list is filled with great films to watch while sitting in front of that fan. Chill out, cool off and watch one of these horror classics, because the heat can be a killer!
10. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
The definition of a great summer horror must involve water, some sort of camping, and blood. Well, Sleepaway Camp has all those things — and one of the most traumatizing endings of all time. It was less popular than movies like Friday the 13th, but the movie has earned its own cult following over the years. This is mainly due to lead character Angela, played by the beautiful Felissa Rose, and her tragic story. There has been mention of a reboot of the series, and it’s set to release sometime in 2019.
9. The Lost Boys (1987)
This movie is in everyone’s top favorite vampire movies, but it makes a great summer movie, too! Staring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman for the first time in a movie together. The Lost Boys is set around beautiful, sunny California and a small town that is plagued by bikers that just so happen to be vampires. Clearly named after the famous group in Peter Pan, these boys get up to some trouble — leaving dead bodies in their wake. This movie really put Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on the map, and every summer they screen it at the location after sunset in celebration and honor of the film (which highlights many landmarks you can still find there today).
8. Wrong Turn (2003)
Notably one of the scariest movies having to do with going into the woods, Wrong Turn turns up the heat with its West Virginia setting. Nothing says summer like a group of friends backpacking through the woods and being tortured by inbred hillbillies. The cast were somewhat tortured off camera as well, as their chairs had been accidentally set up in some Poison Ivy that had been mistaken as weeds.
7. Piranha 3D (2010)
The next movie on this list can make anyone develop a phobia of water. The idea of being eaten alive bite by bite by little fish with razor-sharp teeth doesn’t sound fun, but it makes for great entertainment. The 2010 remake is quite raunchier than its original predecessor, but it has become a favorite around the horror community for its humor and gore. Shot in Arizona, the heat in this movie is real — and the real life porn stars who make up the cast may make you want to cool off in the shower after you’re done watching it.
6. Lake Placid (1999)
Maine doesn’t seem like a summer hot spot, but you can’t deny that the mosquitoes and the horseflies in this movie are just a little too real for some of us. You can literally see the characters fighting off the urge to swat and slap one another, all the while trying to hunt down a crocodile that is terrorizing Black Lake. This movie is a perfect representation of what summer looks like in Canada. And no, we don’t have a lake with a crocodile in it. We do, however, have a couple of old ladies that act like Betty White though!
5. IT (2017)
One of the newer summer horror movies, IT has become a legend around the horror community. There’s nothing better then a movie with a bunch of kids enjoying summer with their friends and being terrorized by a demented clown. There are so many nostalgic things about The Loser Club that you can’t help but reminisce about your summer adventures as a kid. Again, Maine doesn’t seem like the destination hot spot, but Bill Skarsgard’s performance as Pennywise the dancing clown will have you heating up in no time, as it is one of the best performances in all of horror.
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) & (2003)
These movies were built in the heat. The original and the remake both belong on this list together because there is no denying the amount of sweat that was poured into the movies; with the original being filmed in a over 100-degree heatwave. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is set in summer with a group of kids on a road trip who get attacked by a family of cannibals and a lunatic wielding a chainsaw. What says summer more than rotting food surrounded by flies and the sounds of screams? These are the perfect movies to put on during a hot summer night and with a nice bowl of ice cream to cool off.
3. I Know What You Did Last Sumer (1997)
This movie is considered a summer anthem. Even though it was mocked in Scary Movie, along with Scream, they don’t fail as great summer horror movies. You can’t get a hotter duo than Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Sarah would later go on to marry co-star Freddie Prinze Jr, even though their characters never really had any interaction with each other. This is the only horror movie on this list with the word “Summer” used in the tittle.
2. Friday the 13th (2009)
This movie has all the right stuff to make this a top summer horror movie! A beautiful sparkling lake, heavily wooded area, teenagers drinking, teenagers being brutally murdered by Jason Voorhees. Pretty much any movie in this series is acceptable to watch while trying to cool down from the summer heat! Except maybe Jason X; that movie is just not acceptable in general. Jason will entertain you for hours with his unique killing styles, and I’m sure you can even turn it into a fun drinking game with friends. Example: take a shot every time Jason appears out of thin air.
Before we get to our number one film on the list, let’s take a look at some important Honorable Mentions: Jeepers Creepers (2001), The Ruins (2008), Eden Lake (2008), and The Devil’s Rejects (2005).
1. Jaws (1975)
This movie is the Holy Grail of summer horror movies. Three men hunt down a Great White Shark that has decided to make the beaches of Amity Island an all-you-can-eat buffet. This is a horror movie classic that we’ve all grown up watching and every summer. Because of this movie, we get to enjoy Shark Week on the discovery channel! This movie has sequels as well which are also great to watch this summer — as well as any movies that have to do with sharks, like Deep Blue Sea, The Shallows, Shark Night, and The Meg (coming soon to theaters).
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