Netflix Unveils ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ First Look [Trailer]

As we honor those who have given their service, and more, to defend our country, let’s take some time to explore a few horror movies (and characters) that take place during battle. These are not movies that take war lightly. Most of them are stories about how ordinary people are changed after they experience the battleground and the horrors both in combat and beyond.

The list below is not in anyway something that glorifies how humans handle conflict, but a way to remember the real-life heroes who endured, or fell, against the backdrop of tyranny in order to protect people they didn’t know and fight for their freedoms.

To all those people, iHorror thanks you for your service.

Overlord (2018)

Playing with history, Julius Avery’s Overlord is a graphic re-telling of D-Day, one history’s most pivotal war moments and its most heinous criminals. In this fantasy horror movie a squadron of U.S. soldiers are sent to blow up a German church that houses a Nazi radio tower. They get more than they bargained for when they discover the Nazi’s are experimenting on people. Extreme gore and violence ensue in this story of good versus pure evil.

Jacobs Ladder (1990)

This dreamlike movie is probably the saddest of all. No spoilers, but this one is devastating. It follows a young Vietnamn vet played by Tim Robbins who appears to be losing his grip on reality. The truth is far worse than he (or the viewer) realizes, in one of the most twisted endings put on film.

Deathdream, aka Dead of Night (1974)

Much like the above, this movie has a build-up that ends on a shocking note. Bob Clark directed this twisted chiller back in 1974, and it has become a cult favorite among horror movie fans. It’s also make-up artists Tom Savini’s first film. Some of the horror in the movie aren’t the kills, but in its metaphor for what happens to people after they return from battle.

House (1986)

This one has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, but it’s no less an homage to the tragedy of war. Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part 2) directed this psuedo-comedy about a haunted house and a veteran novelist (William Katt) who is writing a book about his experiences in the Vietnamn War. There is a catch; the house won’t let him forget what happened on the battlefield neither will one of his dead comrades. It’s cheesy fun, but again a reminder of the trauma and sacrafice soldiers had to make in order to survive the horrors they lived through.