In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Supernatural small town horror
“Lived any good books lately?”
John Trent (Sam Neill) is an insurance investigator investigating the disappearance of popular horror writer Sutter Cane.
Trent, along with Cane’s editor, Linda, traces Sutter to the sleepy East Coast town of Hobb’s End. The only problem is that Hobb’s End is a fictional town in many of Sutter’s stories.
As they search the town, they discover that this figment of Cane’s twisted imagination is only the beginning of their problems.
Directed by John Carpenter.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Supernatural small town horror
“Heads will roll”
New York City police constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is sent to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of brutal decapitations.
The locals tell him the killer is the undead apparition of a headless Hessian mercenary who’s searching for his missing head.
He’s skeptical until more killings take place and he investigates further.
Directed by Tim Burton.
Disturbing Behavior (1998)
Psychological small town horror
“In Cradle Bay it doesn’t matter if you’re not perfect. You will be.”
The Clark family move to the small town of Cradle Bay, seeking a new start after the death of the oldest son.
Steve Clark (James Marsden) is a new high school senior and is still struggling with the loss of his older brother.
On his first day at school, he meets the school psychologist who suggests he join the Blue Ribbons program, which is a cliquey group of robotic overachievers who rule the school.
Gavin, one of his new outcast friends warns him the group is a murderous cult brainwashed by the psychologist.
Steve doesn’t believe him until Gavin turns up to school one day as one of the perfect Blue Ribbons.
Directed by David Nutter.
We Are Still Here (2015)
Supernatural small town horror
“This house needs a family.”
Following the death of their son, Anne Sacchetti (Barbara Crampton) and her husband Paul (Andrew Sensenig) move to a new home in a small town in rural New England.
Paul hopes the move will stop Anne from spiralling deeper into depression, however she starts claiming that their son is present in the house.
The grieving couple are unaware that their new home contains a family of vengeful spirits and the seemingly peaceful town hides a dark secret.
Directed by Ted Geoghegan.
The Wailing (2016)
South Korean supernatural small town horror
After a Japanese man and his dog arrive in a small village in South Korea, a mysterious illness breaks out, causing the villagers to violently kill their families.
Police officer Jong-Goo (Kwak Do-won) investigates the stranger’s house in the forest and discover disturbing things in there.
When Jong-Goo’s daughter becomes ill, he’s forced to solve the mystery of the stranger in order to save her.
Directed by Na Hong-jin.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
Slasher small town horror
On Halloween night, 2013, the local drive-in theater in the small town of Texarkana shows the 1976 slasher movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The movie was based on a true story of an uncaught serial killer in 1946 dubbed the Phantom Killer.
A few weeks later, the so-called “moonlight murders” begin again.
Is it a copycat or something even more sinister?
Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
Silent Hill (2006)
Psychological small town horror
“We’ve been expecting you.”
Rose Da Silva’s (Radha Mitchell) adopted daughter has constant nightmares about the small town of Silent Hill, abandoned in the 1970s because of a massive coal seam fire.
Rose decides to take her daughter to this desolate town to try to solve the mystery, but as they enter the town, a girl steps into the road in front of her and Rose crashes the car.
When Rose awakens, she’s alone in the eerie fog-shrouded town and her daughter is missing.
Directed by Christophe Gans.
