10 Monster Movies You Should See Before You Die
7. Nailbiter
Sensibly eschewing the found footage, torture porn and generic teen slasher subgenres, Nailbiter gives us a cautionary tale that proves the wisdom of avoiding road trips during tornado season. Forced off the road by bad weather, a family takes refuge in the cellar of a seemingly abandoned house, and that’s where the true horror begins.
Unlike several other recent horror pictures, Nailbiter just wants to get on with the business of storytelling, and director Stephen Rea delivers a lean, entertaining effort that, while not dazzlingly original, still avoids the ‘been there, done that’ feel of most fare.
At no point does any character stop to namecheck George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven etc, nor does anyone experience a ‘Nilbog moment’ and proclaim the blindingly obvious. When finally revealed, the monster does resemble a rubbery Orc in a few shots and the ‘storm’ is clearly being generated by a rain machine, but that’s all.