The 5 Most Explosive 4th of July Horror Movies
4th of july Horror movies that celebrate the red, white, and blue
July 4th marks the annual America’s birthday celebration, with barbecues, flags, and fireworks. Like many holidays, the U.S.’s Independence Day has been captured in its share of horror movies. Most of the movies below are set around the 4th. Others are included because they capture common themes associated with the holiday, like patriotism and flag waving. Here are the 5 most explosive 4th of July horror movies.
This is the latest in my series covering holiday-themed horror movies.
Five Essential Valentine’s Day Horror Movies
The Best Christmas Horror Movies
The Top Ten Best Halloween Movies (Without Michael Myers)
I’ve intentionally excluded some of the most famous horror movies associated with Independence Day (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jaws, Final Destination 3, Return of the Living Dead). This is because I’ve already discussed them elsewhere on this site. Let’s take a look at some lesser known favorites.
2001 Maniacs (2005)
A group of college students traveling to Florida for spring break are waylaid in a rural Georgia town, where the residents still pledge allegiance to the Confederacy. The townsfolk are led by their fanatical mayor, George Buckman (played by Robert Englund, who looks like he’s having a great time).
They want the South to rise again. If that means knocking off some over-educated Yankee boys and girls, then by golly, that’s what they’re gonna do!
2001 Maniacs was produced by Eli Roth and contains the typical strengths (fast pace, gorgeous women, creative deaths) and flaws (shallow characterization, weak dialogue) associated with his early works. It has a solid final twist that puts a nice bow on the story.
This movie is wildly over the top and certainly isn’t intended to be taken seriously, but the culture clash it depicts remains a relevant part of American culture.
Stream 2001 Maniacs on Apple TV
The Evil In Us (2017)
A 4th of July weekend getaway at a cabin the woods (never a good place to be when you’re in a horror movie!) descends into chaos for a group of young friends. The group unknowingly takes drugs that have been manipulated by a shadowy government entity. They become infected with a rage virus that turns them into vicious monsters.
Their eyes turn red and they experience horrifyingly vivid hallucinations. Friends and lovers turn on each other as the infection spreads. This movie’s story is like a scaled down version of 28 Days Later.
As with all zombie-ish movies, there’s loads of blood and gore. There’s also a subplot involving deadly experiments at a secret government facility. It’s not nearly as good as 28 Days Later, of course, but still worth checking out.
Stream The Evil In Us on YouTube
Frogs (1972)
The funniest thing about Frogs is how solemn it is. An old rich dude, his family, and a local freelance photographer are menaced on the 4th of July by a group of vengeful creatures. The crafty critters inhabit a swamp surrounding the family’s sprawling mansion. They’re apparently upset about the family’s use of pesticides to pollute the area. Frogs has the most unique plot of all the 4th of July horror movies on this list.
This is one of the earliest examples of the ecohorror subgenre, and it remains the only major horror movie about murderous amphibians. If you’re sick of watching monster movies about sharks and alligators, Frogs is for you!
Despite the title, the frogs themselves don’t cause most of the direct harm. They seem to be the overseers of the operation. The snakes, lizards, and butterflies do most of the dirty work. This movie utterly fails to make frogs frightening, but it’s still worth watching. It’s an entertaining, peculiar, and unintentionally hilarious ’70s novelty.
The Purge: Election Year (2016)
None of the Purge movies are set on July 4th, but their themes about political violence make them deserving of a spot on a 4th of July horror movies list. Election Day, the third installment of the series, is about a senator and presidential candidate who is determined to end the annual purges. As a child, she was the only member of her family to survive a purge massacre.
She finds herself trapped in the raging streets of DC on the latest purge night, with only her head of security to protect her. The fascist group that controls the country has declared that the purges are necessary. Their loyal followers are more than willing to follow their lead.
Like its predecessors, The Purge: Election Day features hordes of bloodthirsty psychopaths wearing the red, white, and blue. Many of the antagonists don costumes of famous American icons, like the Statue of Liberty.
The Purge franchise may seem overblown but, the more time passes, the more plausible these movies have become.
Stream The Purge: Election Year on Fandango at Home
Uncle Sam (1996)
If you were a horror fan in the ’90s, you surely remember seeing the VHS tape of this movie at your local video store. It had a great tagline (“I want you…dead!”). Uncle Sam is a cheap gorefest similar to movies like Leprechaun or Jack Frost. The story makes no sense whatsoever, but nobody watches a movie like this expecting logic.
An undead psychopathic vet in an “Uncle Sam” costume rampages through a small town. He targets people that he thinks are delinquents (drug users, people who aren’t sufficiently patriotic, etc.). The movie culminates with a gruesome 4th of July celebration.
Uncle Sam is a brainless farce that should be enjoyed with a cold beer, or preferably several beers. I definitely would not recommend watching this movie sober.
