Horror films bear a fascination on some of us – maybe, secretly, all of us – difficult to explain

Horror films are filled with gore, guts, blood, severed splattered heads, pus and screams that haunt our head – whether we like to admit it or not – for the rest of our lives

And we all keep watching horror films - no matter what

I present you 7 gory horror films that – in my personal view – are great and unreasonably underrated

Gory Underrated Horror Films | 7

Nameless

Director: Jaume Balagueró
Cast: Emma Vilarasau, Karra Elejalde, Tristán Ulloa, Toni Sevilla, Brendan Price, Jordi Dauder, Núria Cano, Isabel Ampudia, Carles Punyet, Aleix Puiggalí, Susana García Díez, Pep Tosar, Carme Capdet, Manel Solás, Víctor Guillén
Year: 1999
Original Title: Los sin Nombre

Directed by Spanish master of modern terror Jaume Balagueró, Nameless tells the terrifying story of Claudia – played by a dramatic Emma Vilarasau - a mother devastated by the horrible murder of her daughter Angela. After 5 years of painful grieving, Claudia receives a phone call from Angela. Claudia’s daughter is still alive, and begs Claudia to find her before they murder her. A satanic cult that’s lived in Spain for decades seems to be part of the mystery behind the disappearance of Angela, and Claudia unites forces with  Massera – a down-on-his-luck ex police officer played by Karra Elejalde - and a Quiroga – a young and ambitious parapsychology reporter played by Tristán Ulloa - so they can find her missing daughter before it’s too late

Balagueró directs Nameless as a picture that is constantly bordering on the edge of pure terror, and alternates detective story moments – the search for Angela is filled with clues and crumbtrails – with frightening and at times unbearable moments of horror. Nameless is recommended to anybody looking for an original, refreshing and scary picture – from the director of [REC] and Darkness

Gory Underrated Horror Films | 6

Cronos

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel, Tamara Shanath, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Mario Iván Martínez, Farnesio de Bernal, Juan Carlos Colombo, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Luis Rodríguez, Javier Álvarez, Gerardo Moscoso, Eugenio Lobo, Adriana Olivera
Year: 1993

An old and mild mannered antiques dealer, Jesus Gris – played by Federico Luppi - encounters among his newest antiques shipment an old statue of an Archangel. Hidden inside the base of the statue is a strange mechanical device, to which Gris is attracted irresistibly. Gris starts the device, which produces claws and sinks into his skin, biting. Gris is suddenly tormented by a thirst for blood, which once satisfied grants him energy, power and life. Gris is effectively now a vampire. The device is named Cronos, and was invented in 1536 by an alchemist named Humberto Oganelli. Oganelli designed the diabolic device to gain eternal life. A dying millionaire tycoon named De la Guardia is searching for Cronos, and will stop at nothing to obtain it from Gris

Directed by Guillermo del Toro - director of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth – Cronos is a slow, thoughtful, kind film filled with horror, despair and violence. Starring Ron Perlman - who later also played the title part in Guillermo del Toro‘s Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army – Cronos is a deep horror film, melancholic and disturbing

Gory Underrated Horror Films | 5

Apollo 18

Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
Cast: Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, Ryan Robbins, Michael Kopsa, Andrew Airlie, Kurt Max Runte, Jan Bos, Kim Wylie, Noah Wylie, Ali Liebert, Erica Carroll
Year: 2011

Apollo 18 was produced by Timur Bekmambetov, the genius behind the Night Watch films. It focuses on they story of 3 NASA astronauts sent to the moon in 1974 in a secret & eerily concealed routine mission to make surveys on the moon. The dream of finally going to the moon turns into a nightmare as the 3 realize they were sent there to ascertain suspicions of a strange & deadly alien life-form present on Earth’s satellite planet

Apollo 18 is shot like a fake documentary & features beutiful, seamless CGI effects mixed in a Super 8 grainy 70′s photography. Isolation, fear, cameradism & broken dreams fill this film as the astronauts fall prey of a deadly & pervasive evil which inhabits the dark side of the moon. Apollo 18 is a small film with an ingenious premise, carried out by unknown faces & an even lesser known director – Gonzalo López-Gallego. Apollo 18 isn’t scary but bears a sense of dread & doom that chills to the spine, leaving you truly feeling for the desitny of the 3 ill-fated astronauts

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