A nice single-parter for us today with the letter U, delving back all the way to horror films from1927 with this list, so you are in for a good one!
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
Genjurô and Tôbei are simple farmers who decide during a time of civil war and against the local sage’s advice (never go against the local sage folks) of profiteering during wartime by selling pots. Their greed soon runs the risk of not only their lives but their families as well.
A classic ghost story that really became the foundation of what J-horror became. Sometimes, it’s important to go back a cheeky 70 years and see what was happening in the genre, and films like Ugetsu Monogatari make it worthwhile. From the haunting use of the score and sound to the feast for the eyes that is presented to us, Kenji Mizoguchi has created a masterpiece.
Horror-wise wise, it isn’t just the supernatural aspects from the second act on that work like magic; it’s the tale of the wives of these two idiots. These women are the ones who go through the true physical horror of being second thoughts for their husband’s greed. We can even stretch that to Lady Wakasa and her story too. In the end, they are the ones who truly suffer, and in fact, they are the more sympathetic characters due to the ignorant rush for riches that these men yearn for.
At its core, Ugetsu Monogatari is as emotional as it is unsettling; a film with the most striking camera work of its time is essential viewing.
The Unborn (1991)
A couple who cannot conceive decides to make one last attempt with a fertility specialist. Wonderfully Virginia becomes pregnant and is planning all that good stuff before stupid gender reveal parties became a thing. However, Virginia slowly realises that something isn’t right with her baby, as the specialist likes to play too much with DNA. What has he created within Virginia?
The search to create the perfect human comes for us in Rodman Flender’s The Unborn and on the good scale of later Corman-produced films. The film looks the business thanks to Wally Pfister’s cinematography and a moody Gary Numan score; this is a film that has everything going for it except a budget and a stronger script.
This had all the potential to be something quite special but was hurt by its small budget. Someone get in here with money to burn and make this film as intended, and it will be the most memorable horror of that year. For now, we have a crazy little film that is far better than you would expect due to Brooke Adams and some great practical effects. It’s bonkers but great, an easy one to throw on and watch.
The Unborn II (1994)
The remnants of Dr. Richard Meyerling’s experiments are out in the public, and one woman doesn’t want these mutants living out there with us. She goes around trying to eliminate each child (yep) before they get too old. One may need to be removed from this planet, but it becomes far more difficult a challenge than our crusader imagined.
We get an opening to remember with The Unborn II that is so great (if you have that dark sense of humour for carnage like I do) that the rest of the film could have been someone just describing the film, and I would have called it fantastic. Yes, this one is cheaper than the first, but damn if writers Mark Evan Schwartz and Daniella Purcell didn’t try and forward the story in a far more interesting way than many other sequels ever bother to do.
We are given an endlessly entertaining film that does everything it can to shock us. More young people are dying here than in a Jedi Temple. The fact that The Unborn II keeps up the madness that The Unborn finished with makes the duo a perfect double feature. It’s a film that goes places you don’t expect, and sure, it’s cheap, but it’s boundless fun.
Uncle Peckerhead (2020)
A small punk band has just secured its first tour. They are living the life until they realise their older roadie is, in fact, a man-eating demon.
Much in the veil of modern B-movies like Psycho Goreman, Fried Barry and Slaxx that side more to the practical side of things when it comes to effects, Uncle Peckerhead is a properly blood-soaked blast of a ride. So for those with a par chant for a bit of the red stuff, come this way because Uncle Peckerhead is ready to bathe you in it.
Do not come into this one with lofty expectations of some analytical look into the mind of a demon or the meanings behind, well, anything. This is as upfront as a film can get about what it aims to achieve for its audience, and I love it for that fact. You strap in and have a whale of a time by whatever they throw at you. It won’t win any awards; it’s a horror full of charm, laughs, and a pace that just keeps trucking along; the only thing you will doubt is whether you would believe this trio is punk. Otherwise, it will entertain the life out of you.
Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975)
A deranged mountain man who has a love of kidnapping women and making them his “wives” kidnaps one too many when she forces him to murder all but one of his “wives”. Not content, she makes our stupid mountain man commit more crimes in order to keep her content. This isn’t a wholesome marriage, folks.
Shima Iwashita blows you away with her performance as the controlling “victim” who wants to have the most absurd puppet show ever seen. Equally, Tomisaburo Wakayama plays his role as our mountain man bandit to perfection. At first, he is this angry, powerful being who does what he wants when he wants. Then, the more he is with his human head puppet-loving wife, the more emasculated he becomes. Eventually, we end up with a shell of the man we saw at the beginning of the film. It’s wonderful to witness two actors at the top of their game this way in an utterly horrific story.
What Masahiro Shinoda does with his film is give us a slice of what it is like to have two characters, one we should feel sorry for and one we should hate and eventually despise in equal measure. It’s an odd experience to see the events of the film only in our two “villains” eyes, but it is what he presents to us. It’s a fascinating approach and one that massively compels you as the viewer.
Yet, that isn’t all with this 1975 gem, the visuals alone could be enough to enrapture you towards it. This is a film that not many will have come across, but one you absolutely must watch if you find it. It’s a form of sadism that shocks you to surprise; search for this film as quickly as possible.
Under the Shadow (2016)
It’s the 1980s in war-torn Tehran, and mother and daughter Shideh and Dorsa are just trying to get through each day when one day, a mysterious evil encroaches upon their home, leaving them with no safe place to turn. She must confront the evil that has entered her life.
One of the best horror films of 2016, Under the Shadow, pulls you in with its premise, but it’s the context of the time period the film is set in that keeps you glued to the screen. Our characters cannot simply leave their apartment because missiles and death are bombarding the streets of their city. They are trapped in this situation, so the tension is only heightened more and more as the darkness in their lives takes over the only place they can feel any semblance of safety.
While the trauma is there and intertwines with supernatural horror and fantastically bleak effects, the film still has to scare us as a horror film, and Under the Shadow does that so well. The fact that we do not get the usual haunted house tropes here (something that could have easily been done and as much care and attention was placed into the haunting aspect of the story is a testament to the great work at play here.
It’s a remarkable achievement and, hopefully, not the only horror from Iran to break out.
Underwater (2020)
A crew of researchers at the bottom of the ocean (specifically the Mariana Trench) working for a deep sea (seemingly the deepest sea) drilling company tries to escape their metal tomb when it begins to fail structurally. As they try to get back up to the surface, they realise that they are not alone, and worse, they are being hunted.
A true surprise to me as I had always heard middling things about Underwater, to the point that it put me off watching it. Then, one day, I decided to pull the trigger and watch the thing. The anger I had at realising this is not only a solid sci-fi horror, but one of the best this decade had me at a tipping point. This film sets us up and just keeps going from one horrific nightmare environment to the next and barely takes a breath until the final moments. It’s a true thrill ride of a film that should be on everyone’s lists.
Everything is on top form here, from the score that simply causes you to stay bunched up in a tension-filled ball to the production design and look of the film to the setting. It just works on you immediately. Maybe it’s because I am not a big fan of open water, so being stuck down at the bottom of an ocean is more than enough to freak me out, yet, wow, how could you not be terrified of this situation?
Then, to top it off, we have some stunning performances from Kristen Stewart and Vincent Cassel, who both, in their own ways, break your heart as you watch them battle to get themselves and others home safely. It’s not a perfect film, of course, but it gets pretty damn close to being something special. This is going to be a film revisited by many down the line as something far superior to what critics rated it.
Underworld (2003)
Vampires and werewolves have a slight dislike for one another; they have waged a secret war that has been unbeknownst to us humans for centuries. Yet when vampire warrior Selene suddenly catches feelings for a werewolf who isn’t up for this eternal war, what is she to do?
This is and always has been the Kate Beckinsale show and for good leather suit-clad wearing reason. She was made to be a vampire with a constant frown on her face. Matching her performance is Michael Sheen, who is having a ball with the story and the character, allowing himself to overact to his little Welsh heart’s content.
Sadly, our one true downside is Scott Speedman, who I am not sure could act as a rock if you trained him for a few years. Despite him, this film smashes and is one of those action horror’s that just kicks every single type of ass it can think of. If you want to watch the rest of the franchise, go for it. They are not on this level but a bit of trashy fun.
The choreography for the action scenes is on point and a film that is a bit like The Matrix and Blade are never going to be a bad one in my books.
Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)
Buying used equipment is always noble and, more importantly, cheaper than buying brand new, especially when it comes to laptops, yet it occasionally has a major downside. After buying a laptop that has a cache of files that shouldn’t be seen, a group of friends are unwittingly thrown into the murky world of the dark web, where they realise they are being watched everywhere and on everything.
It’s one of those lovely rarities where the sequel steamrolls the original. While 2014’s Unfriended played for the revenge online ghost idea (I mean, what?)., here we get something that feels a lot more tense for how horribly possible it could be. There is an ominous sinister thread that the film wants to lean heavily on, and while simple, it’s wholly effective.
That said, can it be suggested that the writers didn’t have the fullest grasp of what goes on on the internet? Certainly, and almost at times laughably so. Yet, this is a film that will have you wanting to mask over that webcam and mic on your computer.
The Uninvited (1944)
Siblings who buy a house together get haunted together. The Fitzgerald siblings snap up a mansion by the coast for practical pennies. Soon, they realise that there is a reason why the house sold for so little.
It is a haunting tale that is not only rife with family melodrama but bucket-full of atmosphere. It is something that is usually inescapable in these 1940s films is that they always know how to evoke tension in proceedings in a fantastic fashion. What makes the film work is that it doesn’t lean on one trope or tone for the entire film. It is bold enough and good enough to have range as a story. While the haunting of those at the mansion is the main focus, the subplots also work and, importantly for a horror film, have you actually given a damn about the characters. As we know, some films are completely forgo.
The Uninvited also has a bit of Hollywood history, with some considering it to be the first serious feature-length haunted house film—quite the interesting fact! A more than solid film, The Uninvited is a haunted house mystery with just the charm and intrigue to keep you watching.
The Unknown (1927)
Alonzo the Armless, as he is so elegantly called, is a circus “freak” who uses his feet to toss knives for a living. Worse still, he has arms and is hiding out in the circus to allow the heat of his crimes to simmer down. Soon, he falls for the circus owner’s daughter and takes drastic measures to ensure she falls for him and him only.
Lon Chaney, what a guy. There are probably not enough superlatives to describe Chaney as a performer, but he is sensational in Tod Browning’s silent film. Throw in Joan Crawford in one of her earlier roles, and you will have something special here. Special isn’t the word in truth, as this is a masterpiece in storytelling. Chaney floors you; he emotionally exhausts you in ways few could achieve.
A chilling psychological body horror, this film was once thought to be lost, but thank all that is holy (or unholy) that it was found. It is a classic in every sense of the word.
Urban Legend (1998)
Urban legends, every town has one, hell every part of a town has one. In this American town, there is seemingly a tonne of horrific urban legends to scare the youth that when a serial killer begins killing teens one by one in the same vein as those urban legends, they start to query whether they are urban at all.
The late 90s were a grand old time of teen slasher films that leaned to be a bit snarky, sexy, on the nose and graphic. Bouncing off the acclaim (and profits) that Scream made, we saw a flood of similar films come to the screen; Urban Legend was one of those and luckily tilted to being on the better side in comparison to some of its other contemporaries.
Some toss Urban Legend to the side, but it was always a favourite of mine during this horror wave (impressionable young child that I was). What makes Urban Legend stand out is that it actively tried to be just different enough via its narrative to keep you on your toes. Added to this is just how strong that cast is; there isn’t much of a weak link in the performances, and a cheeky Robert Englund casting will always go down well. A great slasher to spend the dark and increasingly cold evenings with; just try to forget your local urban legend…
Us (2019)
The Wilsons need a break. A well-earned time away in Santa Cruz sounds perfect—except for when four strangers who look eerily like them come knocking with evil intentions.
They say everyone has a doppelgänger. I think I saw mine once in Toronto. I hope he is living a good life. Well, it turns out we shouldn’t all see and especially meet our own, as Jordan Peele tries to ruin the fun of seeing someone who looks like you with us.
Here is a funny story about Us: I took my now wife to watch it, not knowing she had a close to anxiety-inducing fear of having someone like her follow her at night and try and kill her. I also went into the film as blind as an oblivious bat, so I could not even warn her what the film was about. Needless to say, she was not pleased with me when we left…
Anyway, about Us! Peele furthers his abilities with his second film after the great Get Out. Bringing a fantastic idea to the screen that does the job of scaring and keeping you on that high level of uncomfortableness that you are begging for some sort of break or release. So when they do sneak in here and there, they pop you to great effect.
At times it could feel like he has tried to do too much with his story. Still, Lupita Nypng’o holds everything together to perfection with her performances. Shout out to Winston Duke, who ably juggles the emotions of trying to protect his family while also being somewhat the comic relief. A full that satisfies from beginning to end.
Uzumaki (2000)
Shapes and patterns—we love them as a species—but the residents of a small island community have slowly started to become a touch too obsessed with spirals. Maybe they love marching patterns—I don’t know. Soon, Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi start to investigate what is driving their town to obsession and suicide.
Adapted from the manga Uzumaki, it is a fantastically weird film that is one of those films where you try not to look too deeply into it. It’s a B-movie, odd and beautiful in its own spiral way. It’s an over-the-top jaunt that tries its utmost to stay loyal to the vibe of the manga, keeping that almost horror-comedy tone throughout.
As entertaining as a horror film about people loving spirals and trying to become them can be, Uzumaki is a twisting good time. (sorry)
A large shout out to Umbilical World, a nightmare-fueled collection of pure surrealist animation from David Firth. This would have a proper place on the list, but it is obscenely difficult to source for viewing.
To check out our previous letters have a click below! Come back for the letter V, tomorrow.
Horror films to watch: Letter A
Horror films to watch: Letter B
Horror films to watch: Letter B (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter C
Horror films to watch: Letter D
Horror films to watch: Letter E
Horror films to watch: Letter F
Horror films to watch: Letter G
Horror films to watch: Letter H: Part 1
Horror films to watch: Letter H: Part 2
Horror films to watch: Letter H: Part 3
Horror films to watch: Letter I; Part 1
Horror films to watch: Letter I – Part 2
Horror films to watch; Letter J
Horror films to watch; Letter K
Horror films to watch: Letter L
Horror films to watch: Letter M
Horror films to watch: Letter M (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter M (part 3)
Horror films to watch: Letter N
Horror films to watch: Letter N (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter O
Horror films to watch: Letter P (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter P (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter Q
Horror films to watch: Letter R (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter S (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter T (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter U
Horror films to watch: Letter V (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter W (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter X
Horror films to watch: Letter Y
Horror films to watch: Letter Z
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