Horror Movies You May Not Realize You’ve Never Seen

There are so many iterations of Hellraiser that it's hard to not feel like you've seen them all, but unless you're looking at the Blu-ray on your shelf right now, consider the possibility that you haven't seen the actual original Hellraiser. Young viewers likely got their first taste of Pinhead thanks to Hellraiser III, a film that toned down the psychosexual text and injected more of a straight horror vibe.

Hellraiser III was the first of the films to play on USA (in a heavily edited version), and while it's not really anything like the original, it does give you an idea of what Pinhead's all about. (Having pins in his head, for instance.)

Following Hellraiser III, there were numerous straight-to-VHS/DVD sequels that could be found at Blockbuster in the '90s or on late-night cable. Many of those films repurposed footage from the first film or actively tried to parallel its storyline, so much so that it feels like a lot of these movies blur together. There's even the possibility that you've seen Hellraiser II, which has the same cast and feels the most spiritually similar to the first film. Whatever the case, you haven't experienced pain and pleasure until you've watched the first entry in this very dark series.

The Evil Dead franchise is tricky. Not only do the first two films in the franchise basically tell the same story (with a few major differences), but the third movie doesn't even have the words "Evil Dead" anywhere near it. If you grew up in the '90s, you probably first came into contact with this series thanks to the cable channel Starz running Army of Darkness endlessly, or the numerous VHS and DVD special editions released around the same time. 

The beginning of Army of Darkness recaps The Evil Dead in its first couple of minutes, making it the third film that starts by telling the same story. The previous entry, the one that so many people remember, is Evil Dead 2. When people think of this series, this is the movie they're thinking about. It not only reiterates the first film's narrative, but adds a few extras - like the walls that spew blood, or Ash having a chainsaw for a hand. All in all, it's just a more groovy, better-executed experience than the first entry.

The Evil Dead trilogy hasn't always been easy to find, thanks to various bits of red tape tied around the different films in the trilogy. But if you've seen (and enjoyed) Evil Dead 2, it's definitely worth your while to go watch the first one as well. Just get ready to experience a major case of deja vu.

Leatherface and his family may not be as wide-reaching culturally as some other horror icons, but there have been so many sequels, prequels, and reboots of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that you can feel like you must have seen the original. In 2003, there was a remake of the film that did gangbusters at the box office, and it follows much of the main beats, right down to the meat hook scene. So if it's ever come up in conversation, you've probably thought, "Oh yeah, that pretty good movie with Jessica Biel."

Aside from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (which you definitely haven't seen, although that's your next assignment after watching the original), the rest of the films in this loose canon aren't all that imaginative. They reuse a lot of the setup and scares from the original, but even with higher budgets, they're still not as effective as they were the first time around.

There's also the possibility you were staying up late while watching TNT when you were knee-high to a grasshopper and caught an edited version of Motel Hell and thought it was The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Both films are about running into evil rednecks in the middle of nowhere who like to use chainsaws, so it's easy to see how you could make that mistake.

Of course you know what happens in the first A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger attacks teens in their dreams and wipes them out one by one until he's defeated via sleep logic. If you've seen any of the seven sequels, or watched the remake from 2010, you get the gist of the original film, or maybe you feel like you've seen it because Freddy is still everywhere.

Thanks to shows like Meet the Goldbergs and Rick and Morty putting Freddy (or a version of Freddy that doesn't infringe on New Line Cinema's copyright) in their series, more and more viewers have become aware of A Nightmare on Elm Street lore, further convincing them they've probably seen it. Some may be surprised to go back and take a look at the first film, where they'll find a truly surreal and unnerving experience. Freddy isn't the wisecracking MTV addict he becomes in later films. Instead, he's a genuinely terrifying presence whom you'd really rather not run into in a dark alley - regardless of whether it's all in your head.

There are more [Blank] of the Living Dead movies than you can shake a femur bone at. Aside from the George Romero-directed follow-ups to his landmark 1968 film, there are imitators from across the globe that have taken zombie cinema and made it one of the most watched subgenres of horror. 

You've had a million chances to see bits and pieces of Night of the Living Dead thanks to a copyright error that put the film in the public domain, allowing it to be reshown and repurposed without requiring Romero's blessing. Scenes from the 1968 film show up in various movies and TV shows, and it has been endlessly parodied, referenced, and riffed on since its release.

With the prevalance of zombie-themed entertainment in the modern media landscape, it can feel like you've seen this historical progenitor a million times. You may have even seen Dawn of the Dead, or Day of the Dead, or the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. But unless you've sat down with the shades drawn and your windows boarded up and popped in a copy of the genuine article, there's more than a small chance that this is one classic you never caught up with.

If you say "Frankenstein" to the average person, they're probably going to imagine Boris Karloff -  bolts in his neck, flat head, the whole deal. Universal's depiction of Frankenstein's monster, which first appeared in 1931, has cast a long shadow on the story and character, so much so that it's not out of the question for someone to feel like they know everything about it.

The images of Karloff as Frankenstein's monster, and of Colin Clive as Doctor Frankenstein shouting, "It's alive," are so ingrained in popular culture that it's like the movie never left theaters. Imagery from James Whale's 1931 original is reused and referenced all the time. If you've seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, or pretty much any movie with a mad scientist, you've taken in the greatest hits of Frankenstein.