10 Horror Movies You Probably Hated The First Time Round (But Loved The Second)

4. It Comes At Night

Centered around two sets of people who’re forced to cohabitate a house during a pandemic – how chillingly relatable in retrospect – It Comes at Night was marketed to be one of 2017’s scariest supernatural films. With a title and trailer like that, who wouldn’t expect something tangible and terrifying to appear once the sun sets?

Instead, the eponymous “It” refers not to any sort of paranormal or otherwise unnatural being, but to the paranoia, division, and ruthlessness that infects the characters' minds when they're forced to contend with unmanageable threats and uncertain circumstances.

Admittedly, crowds had every right to feel deceived and upset when it ended, yet a revised outlook permits It Comes at Night to be cherished in a fresh and favorable light.

With its mounting tension, dreamily abstract imagery, and eternally resonant social observations, it’s an engrossing and sobering look at the ugliness of humanity. Plus, its central thesis has been a part of entertainment for decades (for example, The Twilight Zone’s The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, 28 Days Later, and all versions of The Last of Us).

Just because there isn’t a traditional fiend doesn’t mean there’s nothing alluringly – and metaphorically – fiendish to contemplate.