It’s almost the Fourth of July, and here in America, we all know what that means: barbeques and fireworks and lots of red, white, and blue celebrations.
And while holidays like Halloween and Christmas always feel like they’ve got far more horror content, that doesn’t mean that July Fourth doesn’t have its own genre fare.
So for those of you looking to escape the usual revelry, here are four horror films set on or around the Fourth of July that are sure to keep you up long after the last fireworks have gone off.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
There’s nothing like a slasher film to make the summer days feel long and bloody. I Know What You Did Last Summer followed in the wake of Scream’s massive success, reinvigorating the slasher genre for a whole new generation.
A group of teenagers (because it’s always a group of teenagers) are celebrating July Fourth at the beach, but their good times come to an abrupt end after a night of heavy partying, when they accidentally hit a bystander on the way home.
Together, they agree to hide the crime. Flash forward to a year later, and it seems that perhaps the victim isn’t as dead as they thought he was, as the teens find themselves menaced, one after another.
A solid installment in the teen slasher canon and an ideal candidate for a July Fourth viewing.
Jaws
With the recent fiftieth anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, Jaws has been on a lot of horror fans’ minds lately. And for good reason.
This is one movie that has absolutely stood the test of time. And July Fourth serves as a centerpiece of this film and thereby makes the holiday a perfect time for a rewatch.
After a series of brutal shark attacks, police chief Martin Brody (played by the always fantastic Roy Scheider) is pressured by the unscrupulous Mayor Vaughn of Amity Island to agree that a much smaller shark that was recently caught was indeed the culprit for the recent killings.
And why is Brody expected to do this? So the mayor can open the beaches for the Fourth of July, of course. Naturally, nothing goes quite as planned when Bruce the Shark makes an unexpected appearance in the water during the long holiday weekend.
The first true summer blockbuster, Jaws, is a classic through and through, and it deserves a place on your watchlist this holiday weekend.
The Return of the Living Dead
This one might not immediately come to mind as a July Fourth film, since the holiday isn’t as front and center as the previous two movies.
Nevertheless, The Return of the Living Dead does indeed take place right over the July Fourth holiday, which makes it a fantastically cool movie to watch again (or for the first time) this week.
We follow yet another group of rowdy teenagers as they go partying in a graveyard, only to realize far too late that zombies have accidentally been unleashed from some very unpleasant barrels of toxins.
In its own offbeat way, The Return of the Living Dead is a very unofficial sequel to Night of the Living Dead, so consider watching the two films back to back for extra zombie fun this holiday weekend.
Cape Fear
Whether it’s the original 1962 film starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum or the 1991 remake with Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte, Cape Fear is one very gritty, very creepy movie.
Although often categorized as a thriller, there are enough horror elements for it to make the cut for this article. In particular, Martin Scorsese’s remake is such a deeply uncomfortable and dread-filled experience that calling it outright scary is in no way an overstatement.
And it’s also perfect for summer viewing, considering that there’s a Fourth of July parade during the film.
Robert De Niro’s sinister Max Cady spies on his former public defender, Sam Bowden (Nolte), and his family (played by Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis in an Oscar-nominated performance) as they enjoy what ought to be a fun and wholesome summer outing.
The Blu-ray edition of the film even includes a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary about the making of the July Fourth parade sequence, so needless to say, if you’re looking for plenty of disturbing entertainment this weekend, then Cape Fear has more than got you covered.
Featured still from “I Know What You Did Last Summer” via Columbia Pictures.
