My top 3 Fourth of July Horror Movies
If your fireworks get rained out, might as well watch something festive
The Fourth of July should be a day filled with swimming, barbecues, friends, and family, and a night filled with fireworks. But there’s rain in my area’s forecast for tomorrow, and lots of it, so it’s a good chance all of those traditional activities will be a no go. In my head after my birthday (6/30) and Independence Day are over it may as well be Spooky Season, so I figured if we’re going to be stuck inside if it storms we should have some festive movies to watch. Here’s my top three, Fourth of July themed horror movies:
3. Uncle Sam- This one was released in 1996 and it’s bad, like so bad I wouldn’t even call it campy. I remember going to the local video store as a kid and picking this one out, I didn’t get the overall themes of it then, but the Uncle Sam costume definitely creeped me out. The plot is a kid idolizing his soldier uncle (Sam) who died in war, the soldier's body is sent back to his hometown near the 4th of July for funeral preparations, the body reanimates itself and seeks revenge on anyone in town he deems not patriotic enough. The kid struggles with mourning but has to learn the hard way his uncle wasn’t a hero at all, just a psychopath that joined the military because he wanted to kill people. Spoiler: There are some fun kills in this, one guy's head gets thrown onto a BBQ grill. It’s cheesy horror at its best (worst?) but it’s definitely the most on theme for the 4th of July horror movie I’ve found thus far. You can stream this on Amazon and Apple TV for a small fee. Honestly, I wouldn’t pay for this one unless you’re just into bad horror movies,there’s absolutely no way you’re taking this seriously and thinking it’s a cinematic masterpiece lol. I’d also recommend skipping this one if you have any kind of PTSD.
2. Jaws- Released in 1975, It’s just an absolute horror classic anyways. A giant shark terrorizing Amity Island over a 4th of July weekend, a bumbling, sketchy Mayor, a classic man vs beast tale; what’s not to love about Jaws? Also available to stream on Amazon and Apple TV.
1.I Know What You Did Last Summer- One of my absolute all time favorite teen slasher movies, it was released in 1997. A group of friends with a secret, a killer with a hook, it’s perfect. It starts on the 4th of July 1996 when the friends accidentally hit someone on the road on their way to the beach, and decide to toss the body into the water, and not tell anyone, yet someone knows and starts to kill them off one by one when they’re all back in town for the next 4th of July. It features young Ryan Philippe, Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, not one main cast member isn’t hot in this film. It was great casting, and also an anxiety inducing experience to try to figure who the Hookman was. I like this one even more than I like the original Scream. Stream it on Amazon, Apple TV, or Fandango At Home.