10 Hidden Gem Supernatural Horror Movies

2. Absentia

House 4
Phase 4 Films

These days, Mike Flanagan is famed for The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Doctor Sleep and, to a lesser extent, Oculus, Hush, Gerard's Game, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. Back before any of those projects, though, Flanagan wrote and directed the independent film Absentia; a film for which he took to Kickstarter to help get funded.

In Absentia, Courtney Bell's pregnant Tricia Riley is left stunned when her missing husband Daniel returns after a mysterious seven-year absence. As for the title of the film, this relates to Tricia finally getting to a point in her life where she has accepted her husband is likely dead, and so is preparing to publicly declare that so - an act known as pronouncing someone as being "dead in absentia".

When her ex-addict sister Callie (Katie Parker) comes to stay, Tricia has her sibling assist her in formalising Daniel's death certificate and help her to move house. As the moving date edges closer, troubled Tricia starts to have feverish nightmares and visions of her hubby that are put down to guilt.

It's only once when Tricia decides to go on a date with a local cop that a barefoot, bloody, painfully thin Daniel resurfaces. With a spooky tunnel, plenty of questions and even an eerie creature at its core, Absentia is totally worth hunting down.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.