The longer you stay a fan of horror, the more hidden treats and unheralded classics you’re likely to stumble upon in the unending search for top-tier blood, guts, and gore. That being said, one of the most underrated and overlooked minor masterpieces of the modern era is one that nobody ever seems to talk about, despite the high regard in which The Loved Ones is held.
Not only did the subversive 2009 chiller land an incredible Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 98 percent, but it also ranks as one of the 50 best-reviewed titles in the genre’s long and illustrious history on the aggregation site. Unfortunately, writer and director Sean Byrne’s breakthrough feature didn’t make much of a splash at all at the box office, earning a shade over $350,000 from theaters on a budget of $4 million.
However, the bloodthirsty denizens of Reddit are always ready, willing, and able to dust off a forgotten gem and thrust it back into the spotlight, which is exactly what’s happening – and it’s about time. The story finds a high school senior inadvertently killing his father in a car accident when he swerves to avoid a ghostly apparition, sending his family life spiraling into chaos.
He disappears into a weed-fueled haze of loud music and copious amounts of cannabis, before things continue getting even stranger, increasingly bizarre, downright sinister, and unexpectedly terrifying. Calling it a slasher spin on the teen comedy is selling The Loved Ones incredibly short, but perhaps the single strongest aspect of the film is the fact it willingly embraces so many conventions to lull viewers into a false sense of security, only to upend everything you thought you knew in an instant.
