Digital cinema has changed the way in which we watch films. Thanks to streaming services and digital release, there are more movies being released each year than ever before. I remember in the mid-1980’s, when studio film distribution executives started to complain about the market being flooded by upstart independents tapping into the home video market. The executives thought there were too many films in the market.

Fast forward to now, and we are seeing an unprecedented amount of films published each year, and barley a fraction really making the big bucks that you see in domestic cinema release. That means that a lot of films are not making an impact on audiences as they should. Yes, the market is flooded and the waters are muddy, so it can be extraordinarily difficult to know what to watch.

With a mind to educate, showcase and gently push you towards a selection of exploitative and gory horrors, this week I’ve put together a selection of splatter films that commonly go under the radar and have not gained nearly enough notoriety as they deserve. I’ve picked a whole host of different qualities, budget and styles to entertain. This is not a list of the best splatter films, just a handful of rotten seeds that might not have grown during their time. Bless your black horror loving hearts, here are The Goriest Splatter Horror Films You’ve Never Seen (Probably)!

(We don’t find breasts offensive here, but some of you might! So this is a warning that there may be images here that some people may find offensive.)

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)

The Children of the Corn film spawned a franchise the ran for 10 films, with varying degrees of success.  By far one of the most enjoyable sequels is the third offering named Urban Harvest, which transfers the murderous children’s cult of Gatlin, Nebraska to the windy city of Chicago. The film follows two brothers fostered by a city dwelling couple who get more than they bargain for. Whilst the script is an awful nonsensical mess, the film boast some of the goriest scenes in the series. The films special effects are frustrating assortment of amazing practical effects and embarrassingly bad stop frame. But when the gore gets flowing, boy is it good!

Bad Taste (1987)

Long before Peter Jackson was harvesting hobbits, he was an amateur film maker who cobbled together an ultra low-budget film called Bad Taste using a 25-year-old 16mm Bolex camera, a bunch of friends and his mother’s oven. Made over a period of four years, Jackson created a gross-out, special effects laden, sci-fi horror flick that tickles all the right spots. It’s not as glossy and outrageous as Brain Dead/Dead Alive, but it’s a must watch gore-fest that you’ll love!

The Gore Gore Girls (1972)

The low-budget gore epic The Gore Gore Girls tells the tale of a psychotic killer brutally mutilating go-go girls. The obviously fake looking gore might be very dated, but there is plenty of it. The film was a big deal back in the 1970’s, most probably because the story is nothing more than a backdrop to link a series of graphic and sleazy murder scenes. With boobs, bums and eye popping gore, this is unashamedly sleazy film making at it’s best!

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)

Sci-fi films rarely delve into splatter territory, but Yoshihiro Nishimura’s feverish body horror, Tokyo Gore Police, does just that. Set in the future where a mutating virus is rampaging, the film is an explosive gore fest that excels in shocking bloody set pieces that are on par with Peter Jackson’s Brain Dead.  It’s easy to forgive the lack of story and character building, because the major pull for this blood drenched flick is in the name…GORE!

Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

Herschell Gordon Lewis is the god-farther of splatter sub-genre film-making and one of his most overlooked pieces of work is the 1964 horror Two Thousand Maniacs! It’s easy to over look the films of the 1960’s, but Two Thousand Maniacs is a like a ballet of violence, with it’s gory set pieces being set up and played out in a beautiful dance of cinematic magic. Yes, it may be dated and the effects laughable, but it’s a thrill ride nevertheless.

The Burning Moon (1992)

German horror movie director Olaf Ittenbach’s Burning Moon is a 1992 German splatter film that takes on the semi form of a anthology where a a juvenile delinquent reads two highly gruesome bedtime stories to his young sister. Look, lets be clear, this is bottom of the barrel horror, but it’s sometimes fun to dive into the world without glossy visuals, top name actors and epic music scores. Where quality is lacking, the gore is all there in it’s gruesome, nasty ass, glory.

City of the Living Dead (1980)

Lucio Fulci was a  tenacious film maker that visited many genres, but he’s best known for his Giallo sub-genre films from the 1960’s and 70’s. Filled with crazy stories, tremendous atmosphere and buckets of the red stuff, Fulci knew how to put together a fantastic horror. Often under looked is the 1980’s zombie romp City of the Living Dead which is by far some of his goriest work. With people vomiting intestines and heads being drilled, it’s sure to tickle you in all the right places.

Chopping Mall (1986)

The retro-futurist gore film Chopping Mall is the best low-budget movie about killer robots you’ll ever see. The film follows a group of teenagers stuck in a mall and hunted by laser shooting robots. It’s cheap, charming and filled with exploding heads, burning corpse and crazed killer robots. What’s not to love?

Grotesque (2009)

Whilst films such as Saw and Hostel re-ignited the popularity of torture porn in the early noughties, Japanese horror Grotesque is exploitative as they come. It’s twisted and brutally graphic but lacking the nuances of cinema, such as …a story! Yep, the 2009 gore fest is nothing more than an hour and a half of sick torture and buckets of gore!

The Fly 2 (1989)

Going a little more mainstream, The Fly 2 is an easily missed sequel that packs a whopping punch in the gore belly. Whilst David Cronenberg disturbing 1986 horror The Fly was a look into genetic mutation and body horror, it’s 1989 sequel is a disturbing, graphic and extraordinarily bloody sequel that is by far one of the most disturbing films on this list. Forget torture and severed limbs, The Fly 2 shows you a man’s face being melted to the bone in real time, jaw flapping as he screams. It shows you peoples head getting crushed, horrific mutations and dark imagery that will keep you up at night.

“Hello Horror Fans – You know what they say “GORE today.. GORE tomorrow!” There is nothing better a good SPLATTER film and this list is a great selection of often forgotten horrors to get your TEETH into. Why not share you favorite SPLATTER films with us, in the comments below? Until next time HF’s!

Keep Rotten”

“Morti” The Mortician