Listen to the Podcast:
Perhaps there aren’t as many Australian horror Movies as there are from the United States, Japan, or France, but the list exists, it’s interesting, and it even has a film that surprised Guillermo de Toro and led him to want to work with director Jennifer Kent, who was in charge of the film.
When we think of Australia, we think of adventure and epic travel, but also of some of the best actors in Hollywood. Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, and Margot Robbie are Australians, and they are only part of the proof that the famous Down Under also makes good movies.
Read More: Best Movies of Jet Li – The Legend of Martial Arts Cinema
In fact, when it comes to horror, Australia may not be the first country that comes to mind, but there are a few iconic films that have helped transform the genre and present it from a very different terrain, where things like mental health, paranoia, and flesh-and-blood murderers are very realistic and make everything more disturbing.
So you can’t consider yourself a fan or a connoisseur of horror movies without first having gone through some Australian titles.
10 Disturbing Australian Horror Movies You Should Know About
1. Next of Kin
This movie is rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Next of Kin is from 1982 and stars Jacki Kerin, John Jarratt, and Alex Scott, who are part of a story that takes place in a nursing home, where a woman begins to read her mother’s diary and eventually discovers that the events written there begin to happen to her and that the consequences can be dire for her and everyone around her. The film is part of the Ozploitation stream, which is about low-budget movies that were created to shock.
2. Storm Warning
This is another one of the Australian movies with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The story of Storm Warning, starring Nadia Farès and David Lyons, follows a couple who get lost in a swampy area during a storm, so they must take refuge in a nearby farm, where they quickly realize that they came to the wrong place, that it’s worse than the storm, and that they might not make it out alive.
3. The Babadook
This is the Australian horror film that wowed Guillermo del Toro and led him to seek out director Jennifer Kent to do a project together. The film with Essie Davis tells the story of a single mother who has trouble coping with her son, and everything gets worse when they read a storybook that makes them believe that they are being persecuted by the character in the story and that he wants to destroy them, which makes the mother increasingly scared and paranoid, putting her life and her son’s life in danger.
4. The Loved Ones
This movie is kind of a horror comedy with Xavier Samuel and Robin McLeavy. The Loved Ones is a story of obsession that begins when a teenager named Lola invites a classmate to the school dance, but he rejects her, and instead of accepting no, she decides to kidnap him to carry out a violent plan of revenge.
5. Post
This Netflix movie is one of the best zombie stories in recent years. Martin Freeman stars as a father who, during a zombie epidemic that devastates humanity, must cross the country with his baby daughter to try to find a safe place for her and a family that can take care of her when he is gone. It’s not your typical zombie movie, but it has an interesting twist at the end and is emotionally charged.
6. Little Monsters
Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, and Josh Gad star in this zombie-horror-comedy story (a little different from the rest of the movies of this type). The story follows a group of teachers who, when a zombie epidemic breaks out at their school, must help protect the children and prevent more of them from becoming infected and causing chaos before someone arrives to rescue them.
7. Hounds of Love
This film has elements of a psychological thriller and has been called powerful and haunting by critics. Emma Booth and Ashleigh Cummings are the protagonists of this story that takes place in the 1980s and follows a woman who is kidnapped by a couple of murderers and, in order to survive, decides to try to create division between them and play with their minds to create the perfect opportunity to regain her freedom.
8. Relic
Bella Heathcote and Emily Mortimer appear together in this atmospheric and psychological horror film, where a woman and her daughter must return home to care for a grandmother who suffers from dementia. And they must not only deal with their complicated relationship but also with a mysterious supernatural force that is in the house and that intends to trap them there until they are.
9. Patrick
Quentin Tarantino is a fan of this film and has cited it as one of the Ozploitation genres that has influenced his work. Patrick, with Susana Penhaligon and Robert Thompson, tells the story of a comatose hospice patient who uses his telekinetic powers to harass and murder other patients, while nurses and hospital security try to figure it out without much effort. success, what is happening?
10. Picnic at Hanging Rock
This movie is more of a mystery thriller than a horror story, but it is a classic of Australian cinema. The BAFTA-winning film follows a group of students enjoying a summer picnic, but some of them and one of the teachers disappear without trace, and the case leaves their community desperate to find them and find out what happened to them that day, and if the rest of her companions know more than what they are counting.
