5 Horror Movies That Were Made but Never Released

Every once in a while, a film will be shot, only to soon learn that there’s nothing salvageable about the picture. These films find themselves locked away in a titanium vault where no greedy soul can ever attempt to cash in on… well, some pretty trashy material.

What we’ve got for you now is a look at five horror films that were shot, but won’t ever see the light of day!

DARK BLOOD

Unfortunately, River Phoenix passed away while filming this promising post-apocalyptic picture. Not only was Phoenix a special talent, but DARK BLOOD had the potential to inspire Phoenix to tap into the deepest depths of his talent to bring his onscreen character to life.

The film would’ve seen Phoenix’s character take two hostages who happen to stumble upon his path of scorching earth. Obsessed with the woman – not the man – Phoenix’s character gradually loses his grasp on humanity, and while procreation seems to be an inspiring factor, all accounts of the story indicate an entirely dark side of the film’s antagonist, gradually boiling to the surface, a response to isolation and an empty world.

ALL AMERICAN MASSACRE

Back in the late 1980s, William Hooper, son to legendary filmmaker Tobe Hooper, decided to shoot his own film set in the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE universe. The story took place in the ‘70s and served as a direct prequel to the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2. But the early goings didn’t look promising, and when the trailer you’ll see below dropped, an immediate fear swept through creative collectives: the trailer looks like a first-year film student cut it.

Fast-forward a number of years and not even Bill Moseley’s participation as Chop Top could save it. Hooper launched a crowd funding campaign, but too much time and doubt had grown, and the bid to see the film finally funded failed miserably.

Of all the films on this list, you can bet this one has the least chance of one day surfacing.

I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED

Ed Wood once had designs on writing and producing this film, but he passed away in 1978, so that never happened. However, in 1998 someone decided it would be a swell idea to go ahead and film the movie. The result didn’t win anyone over, despite the fact that there was a cool concept of an escaped mental patient chopping his way through anyone and everyone. Hell, appearances from Billy Zane, Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman and Christina Ricci couldn’t rescue the film from cinematic purgatory. Quite simply put, there wasn’t a studio on earth willing to risk their reputations by releasing this… strange one!

WORST CASE SCENARIO

One glance at the trailer for WORST CASE SCENARIO should give you a good idea why the film was never released. It surpasses weird, it surpasses amateur and, well, it underwhelms in the actual entertainment aspect of things. It just doesn’t look like the greatest film out there, and it may have been a wise decision to leave it on a shelf.

Dutch director Richard Raaphorst did all he could to get this one released, but by 2004 when the push was heavy, video games suddenly leapt into the zombie pool, and a series of high-caliber zombie flicks would soon follow. It seems this one was a case of wrong place, wrong time.

KALEIDOSCOPE

Alfred Hitchcock was quite successful in leaving viewers disturbed, and if KALEIDOSCOPE had ever seen the light of day, it would have surprised even those accustomed to being shocked by Hitchcock. KALEIDOSCOPE was said to be chalk full of serial killers, ultra-violence (I’m sure that term had a far different meaning than it does now), nudity and offensive material.

Unlike the other films on this list, KALEIDOSCOPE wasn’t completely finished. Scouting had been completed, as had plenty of pre-production, in addition to filming, but finances fell by the wayside. Today there’s said to be roughly 60 minutes of film in existence.