10 horror hidden gems on Netflix

7. The Void

Fans of Lovecraftian horror will go positively insane for The Void. It kicks off when local deputy Daniel Carter finds an injured and unresponsive man crawling out of the forest, and takes him to the nearest hospital—which is barely operational after a recent fire, and also the workplace of Daniel’s estranged wife.

An awkward reunion soon becomes the least of their worries, as robed cultists surround the hospital and trap its handful of patients and staff inside. But the danger from outside comes second to the danger within, as the people stuck inside start to lose their minds—and then transform into creatures worthy of a spot in John Carpenter’s The Thing.

As a pregnant woman trapped in the hospital begins to go into labor and the creatures and cultists close in, the characters must form an expedition party to explore the bowels of the burnt-out hospital in search of medical supplies, and a way out. But the horror gets worse the farther they go, until the characters are walking through a nightmare with no end in sight.

This movie has it all: body horror, creepy cultists, and terrifying cosmic beings whose nature and form can barely be comprehended by human minds. Packed with callbacks to 1980s horror such as The Thing and Hellraiser, The Void is nonetheless so much more than a simple nostalgia-fest. Though at times the plot can get a little messy, it makes up for it in sheer style. It’s a stand-up example of occult horror, with gorgeously horrific effects rendering the strange creatures in visceral detail. The practical effects are astonishing, and the movie would be worth watching to see them alone.