10 Lesser Known Horror Movies That Are 100% Worth Your Time
4. The Loved Ones
Australian horror films tend to have a wholly unique vibe, and that's perhaps no better evidenced than in 2009's riotously entertaining The Loved Ones.
Sean Byrne's astoundingly confident feature debut follows Brent (Xavier Samuel), a young man who rejects the prom invitation of Lola (Robin McLeavy), who responds by teaming up with her dad to kidnap him and throw her own dementedly torturous prom at her home.
With a sick sense of humour, lashings of gore, and a phenomenally twisted performance from Robin McLeavy as every teenager's worst nightmare, The Loved Ones takes a kooky premise and absolutely runs with it.
Even when you think you know what the movie is, it has a couple of curveballs ready to throw out, ensuring that all of its claustrophobic 84 minutes whizz by in a flash.
How this isn't a more prominent cult fave among the general horror fandom is a genuine head-scratcher, because it achieves a genius fusion of sicko thrills and genuine filmmaking craft.