10 Recent Horror Movies That Had No Right To Be This Good

7. A Quiet Place: Day One

As popular as the A Quiet Place franchise is, the recent prequel Day One arrived on a fairly muted wave of hype, many simply lacking the enthusiasm for a third film that goes back in time rather than, well, just giving fans A Quiet Place Part III.

The marketing seemed... fine, but that was about it.

Yet as it turned out, Paramount was basically trying to disguise the fact that writer-director Michael Sarnoski (Pig) had crafted an unexpectedly tender, character-driven film that just so happens to take place at the epicenter of an alien invasion.

While some fans of the franchise were miffed at how little Day One really cares about showcasing the origins of the invasion, it benefitted from a brilliant central two-hander between Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn, and a surprisingly deep examination of a protagonist - Nyong'o's Sam - coming to terms with her own terminal illness.

Given that the trailers suggested a wholly down-the-line, dead-basic sci-fi horror flick, for Day One to be more introspective and emotional was quite the pleasant surprise.