Horror as a genre stirs up trauma-inducing scenes of blood, sweat, and tears. Movies that cause and celebrate fears are a twisted labor of love. To even think of the sinister scenes is enough to put one into a panic. Nothing makes you feel alive like the overhanging threat of death. Psychological horror plays tricks on the eyes. Body horror makes the eyes involuntarily vomit. Any form it takes on, horror has a little bit of everything to satisfy and realize the deepest, darkest dangers imaginable. In the unlikeliest places, horror can be found, even in the kitchen. From the busser to the chef, a customer’s dining experience all depends on the quality of a restaurant. The wrong ingredients cook up a toxic recipe for disaster. The stomach churns, appetites are lost, and a full-course meal of machinations are served. The only tip waiters get is the tip of a knife sinking into their backs. Restaurants in horror movies have horrible service and even worse menus.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
8 The Hitcher (1986)
Tri-Star Pictures
Rutger Hauer is murderous hitchhiker John Ryder who kills drivers for sport. He tells his next victim Jim his sadistic intent, chasing each other like a cat and mouse down the road. Ryder meets Jim pit stop after pit stop, both eventually escaping police detention. Ryder corners Jim at Roy’s Motel and Café on Route 66. He taunts Jim, who confiscated a revolver, telling Jim the chambers are empty. The tension of a motiveless killer over breakfast makes it the most important meal of the day.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 American Psycho (2000)
Lionsgate Films
If Patrick Batman joins you for a date, and you suggest meeting at Dorsia, consider it your last supper. The masked sociopath from American Psycho resents his yuppie circle of coworkers. The mere sight of a custom business card puts him into a jealous, silent rage. Christian Bale as Bateman needs to be different from everyone else with no release or punishment in sight. He is the product of an indifferent society. He creates his own personal hell in a rat race that no one cares about. A plate at an exclusive restaurant isn’t worth sitting across the table from a serial killer.
6 The Invisible Man (2022)
Universal Pictures
A modern spin on the novel by H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man details the gaslit relationship from a supposedly deceased boyfriend and optics engineer. His abuse was hidden from the loved ones of his girlfriend Cecilia, played by Elisabeth Moss, who is convinced he still lives, forcing events in her life to go awry. Her fears are substantiated when she has dinner with the only person she trusts, her sister Emily. The killer slashes Emily’s throat and gives the knife to Cecilia, framing her for murder. A waiter that you can’t see doesn’t exactly scare up good Yelp reviews.
5 Slugs (1988)
New World Pictures
An outbreak of killer, radioactive black slugs terrorize a small town. Local health worker Mike Brady is taxed with stopping the slow-moving slaughter. He discovers that the slugs have become carnivorous and crave the taste of meat. Inside a restaurant, one patron lost more than his lunch. A slug’s mucus contaminated his drink, causing a more than fatal allergic reaction. The man suffers a grotesque mutation and molds into a bloody pulp. Needless to say, this restaurant failed its health inspection.
4 Fresh (2022)
Searchlight Pictures
Tired of the online dating scene, Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) meets Steve (Sebastian Stan) at the grocery store in Fresh. They hit it off and have a date at Steve’s house where Noa learns she has been drugged and imprisoned. She also learns from Steve that he is a cannibal who also sells female human meat to wealthy clients. Noa decides to win Steve’s trust by tasting human flesh, but the meal doesn’t agree with her.
3 Motel Hell (1980)
United Artists
Vincent Smith is the farmer and restaurateur of Motel Hell. He curates meats harvested from travelers (his specialty is human sausage) who book a stay. When business is slow, he sets up blockades of painted, cardboard cows on the highway and leaves ads in the newspaper. Smith then buries his victims in his secret garden up to their necks until they are ready to be smoked. Plenty of vittles to go around!
2 Blood Diner (1987)
Lightning Pictures
First they greet you, then they eat you at the Blood Diner. Two brothers are brainwashed by their deceased uncle’s brain in a jar. He tells his nephews to butcher women for the resurrection of the Lemurian goddess Sheetar. They use their vegetarian restaurant as a front in order to have their blood buffet.
1 The Menu (2022)
Guests at a celebrity chef’s restaurant sit down for a dinner that puts a bad taste in their mouths. Secrets and scandals are revealed about them by the kitchen staff with every course they eat. The guests are rich socialites and business partners who mooch off the success of the restaurant. They get to pick their poison as punishment in The Menu, with revenge being served just as cold.
