6 Sizzling Summer Horror Movies You Haven’t Seen
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Most of us associate summer with sunlight, beaches, long vacations, and ice cream. At first glance, this time of year isn’t a fitting subject for horror films. The best summer horror movies, like Jaws, brilliantly subvert this. An idyllic beach town could easily be the setting for a lighthearted comedy. Instead, it becomes a bloodbath thanks to a killer shark.
I’ve already covered aquatic horror movies and 4th of July horror films, but I haven’t exhausted my summer horror repertoire just yet. Here are six sizzling summer horror movies you (probably) haven’t seen, ranked from worst to best.
6. Madman (1981)
A group of friends set up camp deep in the woods, near the abandoned former home of the infamous Madman Marz, a crazed axe murderer who massacred his family. According to local legend, Marz escaped from a lynch mob and supposedly lurks in the forest nearby. After they accidentally trigger his return, Marz stalks and hacks his way through everyone he can get his hands on.
Madman is a decent entry in the pantheon of summer camp horror movies. It’s certainly not one of my top favorites, but its grungy aesthetic and wildly over the top sound effects will appeal to folks who enjoy cheesy, low budget golden age slashers.
This is one of the few slashers that has its own lyrical theme track for the villain, “The Legend Lives/Beware” by Steve Horelick. The song isn’t great, but I’ve got to give it credit for originality.
Madman is the first of two summer horror movies on this list (both released in 1981, oddly enough) that are inspired by the Cropsey legend.
Where to Watch:
5. Nightmare Beach (1989)
Two college football friends, quarterback Skip (Nicolas de Toth) and receiver Ronnie (Rawley Valverde), go on vacation to a beachside Florida town ruled by corrupt cops and a violent biker gang. The girl-obsessed Ronnie drools over beautiful bartender Gail (Sarah Buxton), but she’s more interested in the shy Skip.
The town’s beaches are teeming with rowdy drunks, making them easy prey for a vengeful killer. A mysterious sadist in a biker outfit electrocutes and burns his victims one by one. Rumors spread that the killer is the resurrected spirit of a recently executed gang member. Gail and Skip try to evade the maniac while being pursued by corrupt cop Strycher (John Saxon).
Nightmare Beach is an Italian production that tries mightily, with mixed results, to imitate American slasher movies. This movie’s Americanism often feels forced, especially the random crazed University of Florida fan who pops up to yell “Go Gators!” every once in awhile.
John Saxon did a lot of horror work in the ’80s. As usual, he plays a cop here, but this character is darker than his normal portrayals. This guy has no problem with framing innocent people. That doesn’t mean he’s the killer, though!
Nightmare Beach is a wild orgy of booze, babes, and blood. It’s a mindless, second rate giallo that never pretends to be anything more than that. If you’re a big cheesy ’80s slasher fan, it’s worth watching.
Where to Watch:
4. Summer of ’84 (20`18)
A serial killer is hunting teen boys in Cape May, Oregon. The so-called Cape May Slayer has evaded police for a decade. Teenage Davey (Graham Verchere) and his friends believe that a local cop is the killer.
The adults don’t believe them, so they team up to take him down. Nikki (Tiera Skovbye), a pretty girl all the boys are enamored with, also gets involved with their quest.
There’s obvious Stranger Things vibes, although there are no sci fi monsters or alternate dimensions to be found here. This movie is nastier and more obscene than Stranger Things, with plenty of R-rated material, especially toward the end.
Summer of ’84 is a fun ’80s nostalgia piece that deserves to be more well known. I think people automatically assume it’s a Stranger Things ripoff, but it’s much more than that. Don’t dismiss this movie out of hand. It’s a solid addition to your summer horror movies list.
Where to Watch:
3. Willow Creek (2013)
Jim (Bryce Johnson) is obsessed with Bigfoot. He’s shooting a documentary about his search for the legendary creature. His girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore), a skeptic, has reluctantly joined him on a journey deep into the northern California wilderness.
The couple’s mission is simple: find Willow Creek, the site where the notorious Patterson-Gimlin film was shot. Despite warnings from the locals, the couple sets up camp deep in the woods, unaware that they’re about to experience the most terrifying night of their lives. Turns out that Jim’s right. There is a monster lurking in these woods – and it’s pissed!
Willow Creek has parallels with Frogman (2024), a cryptid found footage movie that I covered in my Tubi article. This one has its share of humorous moments, but it’s much darker than the satirical Frogman.
This movie isn’t particularly original. Some aspects are clearly inspired by The Blair Witch Project. Still, the nighttime scenes are often genuinely creepy, and the actors – especially Kelly – seem truly terrified.
Where to Watch:
2. The Burning (1981)
Remember way back in #6 when I mentioned there were two ’81 summer camp horror movies based on the same urban legend? This is the other one!
Years ago, Cropsey, a summer camp janitor, was grotesquely burned by a cruel prank gone wrong. He leaves a mental institution and heads back into the woods to take revenge. The kids who destroyed his life are now adults, and some of them are working as camp counselors.
Cropsey is indiscriminate – he’s happy to eviscerate the new generation of teens at the camp, even though they had nothing to do with his demise. The Burning peaks with a shocking and brutal raft scene, wherein Cropsey uses razor sharp shears to dramatically reduce the summer camp’s population.
The Burning is one of the most underrated summer camp horror movies ever made. It deserved a whole bunch of sequels. The production values and acting are far superior to Madman, and the hideous Cropsey makeup is truly unsettling.
This one also takes an unusual move by having a final guy instead of a final girl. Highly recommended for any fan of ’80s summer camp horror movies.
Where to Watch:
1. The Bay (2012)
Death comes to a small Maryland town on the 4th of July. The mayor, in the midst of a reelection campaign, ignores warnings that the water is unsafe. Gotta keep those tourist dollars, comin’ in, after all!
Beachgoers blithely frolic in the bay, unaware that a flesh-eating monster lurks inside. They are mere hours away from excruciating demises as the mutated isopods devour them from inside out.
My list of underrated summer horror movies is capped by The Bay. It’s an ecohorror found footage film framed as a retrospective interview with a journalist.
Inexperienced local news reporter Donna (Kether Donohue) is in town to cover the 4th of July festivities. People begin to fall violently ill. Donna documents the town’s terror as the panic and chaos gradually escalates.
The Bay makes the unusual move of letting us know from the beginning that the protagonist survives. That would be a fatal mistake for some movies, but this gruesome and bleak ecohorror flick still manages to muster plenty of tension and suspense. It would have been easy to make another Jaws ripoff, but the mutant isopods are far scarier than any shark.
Where to Watch:
the surprising variety of Summer Horror Movies
Summer horror movies have several major subgenres. Camp slashers and shark attacks are the most common. Cryptid and ecohorror films are also often set during the season.
It’s interesting that so many horror films are set during the sunniest time of year. In real life, June and July are often slow periods for the genre as a whole (August is usually when we start to see things pick up as October nears).
I think the large number of summer horror movies speaks to horror’s ability to subvert everything. Even – and especially – things that are usually associated with light instead of darkness.
