They say Roger Ebert appreciated all kinds of films and always judged films by their own intention and target demographic. That’s true, that’s what made him special but when you look at it, when it comes to horror films, Roger Ebert was not too easy to please. He rarely gave a horror film his “perfect” 4-star rating and it had to be something like “Halloween” or “The Exorcist” but just check out some slasher you enjoyed from the 80s and the chances are he gave it a negative review. He also strongly disliked “The Tenant”, was mostly lukewarm on “American Werewolf in London”, and “Scanners” didn’t do much for him.

Then again if he didn’t always give four stars to them, he enjoyed lots of horror films, some even much less known than the others. Checking out the iconic film critic’s reviews leads us to some overlooked gems. Here are ten of the fine horror films Roger Ebert enjoyed.

10. Psycho III (1986)

Ebert gave four stars to Alfred Hitchcock’s original masterpiece “Psycho”, saying it works on so many levels because it deals directly with our fears. The first sequel, released in 1983, was directed by Hitchcock student Richard Franklin. It did fine at the box office but received mostly negative reviews. The third installment, however, was directed by none other than Anthony Perkins himself. Ebert noted that perhaps no one understands Norman Bates more than Perkins.

”Psycho” is such a top-tier film that most sequels seem like cash-grabs by comparison. However, Psycho III is surprisingly fun. It’s stylish, full of black humor, has some genuinely great moments, and offers more plot-wise than the second film. The characters are so interesting that it’s easy to get immersed in the story. Perkins does a very capable job behind the camera and delivers some nice tributes to the first film. While it’s nowhere near the original, it doesn’t have to be. Fans of gory kills will also have plenty to enjoy. Interestingly, this is one of the films where Ebert disagreed with Gene Siskel. Though Ebert is known for disliking excessive violence, it was Siskel who found this film disturbing. In this case, it’s easier to side with Ebert.

9. Motel Hell (1980)

Originally meant to be a more serious film, “Motel Hell” director Kevin Connor suggested to producers to add dark humor and play it straight which resulted in a successful satire. It also helped it to not turn out as yet another copy of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as both films were compared because of the chainsaw fight at the end of the movie. It’s as gory as you expect it to be because it’s hard to satirize the things without also showing them sometimes. While many critics were concerned with the violence in back-to-back slasher movies of the era, they all appreciated the sense of humor “Motel Hell” has about it.

Ebert, a man who sometimes gets so appalled by the violence in films that even gave “A Clockwork Orange” a low score, enjoyed it this time. He said “Motel Hell is not nearly as gruesome as the films it satirizes, and it finds the right stylistic note for its central characters, who are simple, cheerful, smiling, earnest, and resourceful cannibals” and he’s right! Rory Calhoun’s performance is particularly strong. Obviously one could do a little more with the material, the script could’ve been tighter and maybe Connor needed to be a little more confident behind the camera but it’s still so much fun. It had a cult following for a long time but seemingly doesn’t come up in conversations recently and that needs to change.

8. Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Ebert was not a big fan of trashy horror, maybe found them a little too violent. It’s also well-known that he disagreed with Gene Siskel on “Carnosaur”, a low-budget horror made to capitalize on the success and promotion of “Jurassic Park”. Siskel enjoyed it for what it is but Ebert did not and there’s a funny reference to it on their joint guest appearance on the sitcom “The Critic” but here this time, “Eight Legged Freaks” is an exception for him. Because it’s not a simple cash-grab, it’s a self-awarely made film that pays tribute to 50s B-movies.

It’s made by people who see the charm and fun of the films of a certain era and while poking fun at it a bit, also deliver a genuinely entertaining film with so much wit and thrills. Though nothing will top Tim Burton gathering all these A-list stars for his own homage “Mars Attacks”, still the casting is also great. David Arquette already had the love of horror fans from “Scream” films and Kari Wuhrer was the gorgeous star of the 90s direct-to-video steamy thrillers. She could’ve given better performances if she got the chance as one can see from a random film like the “Hellraiser” sequel she was in. Also, her daughter is played by no other than Scarlett Johansson here! Ebert compared the movie to another, the bigger release of the year “Men in Black II”, saying unlike that one, it delivers “laughs, thrills, wit, and scary monsters”.

7. I, Madman (1989)

The 80s was basically the golden decade of the slashers. Sure, we got lots of bad ones but many of them were somehow enjoyable too if you enjoy all the clichés associated with the genre. “I, Madman” is one of the surprisingly good ones with a supernatural twist. It has more depth and originality than similar films of its era. It follows a wannabe actress employed in an antiquarian bookstore. She is passionate about an old horror pulp novel called “Much of Madness, More of Sin”. She manages to get her hands on the second and final novel by its author Malcom Brand which is called “I, Madmannd it’s about an insane doctor who cuts off people’s noses, ears, and hair and puts them on his face to please a girl he likes. However, it seems like the book is not fiction at all.

Roger admitted that there were some elements that are easy to find in other films of its kind but he also said: “What’s original about this movie is the fun it has with the thin line between reality and imagination, between what Virginia is reading and what is really happening.” The movie is indeed distinctive for its original sides but it’s also cool because it’s reminiscent of the older type of B-movie slashers like “House of Wax”. The director Tibor Takacs later made mostly direct-to-video type of stuff, which is bit of a shame because here and in some of his other early work, he showed great promise at being capable of doing more.

6. Jack’s Back (1989)

Sometimes you watch a network show and go “Oh, this person used to be in lots of great movies, wish they were back”. Gary Sinise, Joe Mantegna, and Madeleine Stowe to name a few. Their presence in mainstream films is missed. Even more so with James Spader who was one of the most original young stars of the 80s and did some truly risky, interesting work in subsequent years. His performance in “Jack’s Back” is one of his best. One can say it won’t appeal to everyone because of its oddness but then again James rarely went for crowdpleasing rides. Though it’s so unpredictable that you might enjoy its original storytelling decisions.

The basic plot is set in Los Angeles and it’s been nearly 100 years since Jack the Ripper’s killings, and someone starts to commit copycat murders. Spader plays dual roles in the film; he’s a charming medical volunteer and then the curious, more serious brother The film is directed by Rowdy Herrington, who later went to make “Road House,” a much different film, but he previously worked on the sets of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Repo Man,” which shows its influence on this film. He rarely did something worth noting since then but Spader was loyal to him, and collaborated on a few more films including the very entertaining/underseen caper film “The Stickup”.

Ebert was highly impressed by Spader’s acting, also noting about the director Rowdy Harrington that “he has taken the trouble to make three-dimensional characters, and paused here and there to provide scenes that make the characters seem real and complicated, instead of just pawns in a movie formula.”

Next to comedies, more than any other, the horror genre has been historically critically undervalued, perceived unfairly as comic and dispensable. In spite of the validity of its devoted following, harsher critics go so far as to nullify horror’s purpose, snobbishly mocking it. What they’ve failed to recognise is, beyond the arbitrary artifice, these stories are exceptional vessels for wisdom of literary and social significance. Frankenstein (1931) spoke of outsider discrimination. George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) examined racism in the U.S. and Dawn of the Dead (1978) analysed consumerism.

Artists like Romero proved that genre pieces can not only match the importance of so-called high art, ‘literary’ films and books, but they can also outdo them. Alongside delivering essential allegorical messages, they are foremost enthralling pop culture entertainment. As a result of reviewers not always valuing the genre for what it is, many great horror movies have been misunderstood and underrepresented. With the exception of the 7th and 9th entries, which received negative reviews, the titles on this list hold divided percentages on Rotten Tomatoes.

1. Requiem For a Vampire (Jean Rollin, 1971)

The movie opens with a car chase involving a pair of clowns, one of them shooting a pistol out the rear window. Beautiful lovers Marie (Rollin’s frequent collaborator Marie-Pierre Castel) and Michelle (Mireille Dargent) wander through the French countryside until they discover a medieval castle. There, they’re taken prisoner by its vampire residents.

Principally, the erotic Requiem For a Vampire is the quintessential Jean Rollin movie – the supreme effort in the auteur’s especial vampire mythology. It possesses all Rollin’s hallmarks: minimal dialogue, an obsession with castles and graveyards, kinky violence, gothic hyperbole and, centrally, a de rigueur indulgence in lesbian sex scenes, rooted in the director’s sideline as a pornographer. Furthermore, the gorgeously painterly, meditative cinematography distinguishes it as an artistic highpoint in Rollin’s vampire-monopolised career.

These visuals aid in fostering the dreamlike, fairytale tone characteristic of France’s fantastique regional sub-genre (which blurs the line between horror, fantasy and sci-fi). What makes Rollin’s movies interesting and special are their idiosyncratic and visionary attributes, eschewing formulaic commerciality. In similarity to Jean-Pierre Melville’s crime films, Rollin reappropriated genre moviemaking as a platform to express his particular brand of arthouse poetry. For horror fans unfamiliar with Rollin, Requiem For a Vampire is an emblematic introduction to his filmography.

2. Race With the Devil (Jack Starrett, 1975)

2 couples (Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Peter Fonda, Lara Parker) take a vacation in an RV. Stopping for the night at a river in rural Texas, they encounter a cult of murderous pagans who chase them across the state.

Firstly, the insidious, expertly-directed Race With the Devil is a perfect personification of paranoia. This facet is best illustrated when Lara Parker’s character goes swimming in a pool, only to look up and see a horde of people staring blankly at her. The same ominousness plagues the protagonists wherever they visit, implicating everyone as possible enemies. In effect, the trait makes Race With the Devil deeply resonant and truthful, as stirring today as it was in ‘75. This is further underlined by the Watergate-era climate of mistrust in which the film was produced.

The impression of paranoia speaks to a primal fear of others, not knowing who we can place our trust in in a malicious world. Race With the Devil plays like an individual’s nightmare recounted through cinema. With a well-paced, excellently-written screenplay, it marbles action and road movie genres with horror to encompass some of the most awe-inspiring gunfight and explosion-infused car chases of the ‘70s.

The gripping and quotable Race With the Devil may have developed a cult following, but its tremendous quality insists it should be contemporarily acclaimed as a notable horror classic. Its influence can be felt pervading everywhere across the genre, in particular the more prominent The Hills Have Eyes (1977). Race With the Devil is easily one of the best and most underrated horror films of all-time, possessing a spine-chilling ending.

3. Burnt Offerings (Dan Curtis, 1976)

The Rolf family (Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis, Lee H. Montgomery) spend the summer in a remote old house. As more and more strange events transpire, the sentient house begins to possess the family.

What makes Burnt Offering stand out as a truly terrifying movie is how, like slipping into a lucid dream, its grounded reality eclipses into a Dalí-esque, surrealistic nightmare. As a mood-strong slow burn, its refreshing non-reliance on gore is justified by the nuance of its creepy tone and the unsettling alterations to real life. The changing faces of framed black and white photos. The old woman Marian (Karen Black) leaves out meals for but never sees, locked in her room. An amendment to the family members’ behaviours, speech and personalities.

Of this context, the most horrific and memorable scene is when Ben (Oliver Reed) discovers a pair of cracked spectacles on the bottom of the swimming pool. He starts playing happily in the water with his beloved son Davey (Lee H. Montgomery), but an internal force begins to puppet Ben. Seemingly without realising he’s going too far, Ben chokes Davey, holding him under the water for longer and longer. Davey and Elizabeth (Bette Davis) beg Ben to stop but he doesn’t seem to hear them. Ostensibly thinking it’s all still a fun game, Ben laughs, before his face morphs into the sadistic expression of a beast’s.

Scholars have interpreted Burnt Offerings as a critique of consumerism and materialism, as well as being an allegory for the disintegration of the American nuclear family. Metaphorically, it cautions the individual’s obedience of and moral interface with systems of control. With a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Burnt Offerings has been unrecognised as a classic of ‘70s supernatural horror, as good as more famous titles.

4. The Grapes of Death (Jean Rollin, 1978)

In one of his greatest and most undervalued films, Jean Rollin spices the zombie sub-genre with French flavour. In the mountainous Massif Central region, a new pesticide is sprayed on the grape vines. When the locals drink the wine, they mutate into zombies. Élisabeth (Marie-Georges Pascal) must fight for survival as she flees across the countryside to find her fiancée.

Often, the success of a horror film hinges on whether it can cultivate an appropriately brooding aura. The Grapes of Death excels in this department, engendering a bleak, lonely tone assisted by landscapes like 18th century oil canvases. Unlike those of George Romero’s films, though helplessly compelled to murder, Rollin’s zombies retain a certain amount of human conscience and exhibit remorse, attaining pathos.

Thematically, the movie presciently offers a censure of humanity’s environmental ruin. Its French personality is at the forefront, with one instance of the zombies rhapsodising: “je t’aime!” In addition to Marie-Georges Pascal’s “moving” craft, it stars Rollin’s loyal fixture Brigitte Lahaie (Fascination). Ultimately, The Grapes of Death’s an artful, affecting, unsung horror opus – an ideal addition to a zombie fan’s watchlist.

5. The House by the Cemetery (Lucio Fulci, 1981)

The Boyle family move from New York City to an old house in rural New England, so that Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) can conduct research. His young son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) grows aware of a sinister entity residing in the basement. A cocktail of the haunted house, slasher and zombie sub-genres, The House by the Cemetery is steered by director Lucio Fulci’s muse: the under-appreciated Catriona MacColl, who plays Lucy Boyle. She’s supported by Dario Argento’s mystifying confederate Ania Pieroni.

The House by the Cemetery was released the same year as ‘The Godfather of Gore’ Lucio Fulci’s masterwork, The Beyond, and has been overlooked as an epochal entry in his filmography. While it slowly generates a foreboding, mysterious atmosphere, the harrowing, gobsmacking climax makes it worth waiting for. Aesthetically, it captures Massachusetts with washed-out, “melancholic, wintery photography.”

The integration of inexplicable supernatural elements into family banality, such as a little girl whom only Bob can see, renders The House by the Cemetery a mind-bending experience. In spite of his youth, Giovanni Frezza’s technique is powerful, besting adult actors. As with all of Fulci’s work, the camp-gothic House by the Cemetery is charmingly corny. However, today, this mien contributes to the movie’s golden age of horror appeal, rather than detracting from its enjoyment. The material was later reimagined and paid homage to in We Are Still Here (2015).