In horror, dawn tends to be the most pivotal time for survival. When the sun rises, the evil that thrives in the dark is forced to retreat. The sun is a reprieve from unrelenting terror. All you have to do is survive until dawn and you’re home free. The dark is a scary place to be, which is why so many horror movies are set at night. From a technical standpoint, the dark makes it a lot easier to craft scares and hide any creature imperfections, too. Which is why daylight-set horror is such an interesting niche.
Creating atmosphere and chills is so much trickier to pull off under the blazing sun. When it’s done well, not much is as inherently unnerving as horror set in the broad of day; where can you escape to if even the rising dawn won’t give you shelter from horror’s worst? Ari Aster’s sophomore follow up, Midsommar, makes a bold gamble by setting itself in the far North of Sweden where the sun doesn’t set at all during June. If the trailer is any indication, that bright sunshine makes things seem even more sinister.
While we wait to see just how nightmarish Midsommar will be, we look back at some of the best sun-soaked horror movies.
The Wicker Man
When you think of Pagan horror or daylight horror (or both), The Wicker Man is nearly always the first one to pop in mind. Police Sergeant Howie travels to the remote island Summerisle in search of a missing girl after receiving an anonymous letter. Howie, a devout Christian, is disturbed to find that no one on the island seems to know the girl, but he’s even more disturbed by the islanders’ Pagan celebrations of May Day. Of course, the true terror comes with the iconic closing moments of the film, where Howie discovers the horrifying truth about his summoning to the island. Based on David Pinner’s novel Ritual, and starring Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle, The Wicker Man is an unsettling summer hellscape for poor Howie.
Jaws
The opening moments of this seminal summer set horror film might take place during dusk, but the vast majority of the runtime is set over the bright Fourth of July holiday weekend. For police chief Martin Brody, professional shark hunter Quint, and oceanographer Matt Hooper, tracking and stopping the massive man-eating shark swimming the crowded waters of Amity Island is much easier by day. It is when the shark is going to be most active, thanks to the summer crowd buffet, after all. Steven Spielberg made audiences afraid to go into the water, and it had nothing to do with the dark.
Piranha 3D
A somewhat remake of the 1978 film, Piranha 3D lets loose a school of prehistoric man-eating fish on unsuspecting spring breakers partying on Lake Victoria. While the original film also counts for great sun-soaked horror, Alexandra Aja’s take injects a lot of humor and gore to the proceedings. Starring Elizabeth Shue as Sheriff Forester and Adam Scott as the seismologist investigating the earthquake opened a chasm that unleashed the carnivorous fish, this one is an entertaining summer gorefest. Look for fun cameos, like Jaws’ Richard Dreyfuss, and a rare film to embrace the 3D format (hello severed member).
Predator
Not all daylight set horror takes place at the beach or at Pagan festivals; sometimes they take place in the jungle. Sure, Arnold Schwarzenegger might have had his final face off with the alien creature after the sun sets, but much of the film takes place during the day, under the blazing sun that left much of the special ops team drenched in sweat. Until they were picked off one by one in brutal fashion, anyway. Seeing a group of highly lethal men get eviscerated so quickly and easily by an unseen creature, during a time of day with they should have an advantage, is a large part of why this film works.
Race with the Devil
This underseen gem is an action horror hybrid that crosses Satanic horror with a car chase movie, all set under the scorching Texas sun. For business partners Roger Marsh and Frank Stewart (Peter Fonda and Warren Oates), an RV road trip to Colorado with their wives turns into a harrowing fight for survival when the men stumble upon a Satanic sacrifice across from their campsite in central Texas. Looking to keep their coven a secret, the Satanists set out to silence the group permanently. While there are some night sequences, the bulk of the movie is set during the day, with Marsh and Stewart trying to out drive the enclosing Satanists. There’s nowhere safe for them to turn, either.
Death Proof
Like Race with the Devil, Quentin Tarantino’s half of the 2007 Grindhouse double feature showcased car chase horror set during the Texas sun. After a visceral scene that demonstrates the “Death Proof” part of Stuntman Mike’s car at night, the movie skips to fourteen months later where we meet a new group of ladies targeted by the murderous stunt driver. He closes in for the kill while the girls are test driving a car to play game of “Ship’s Mast,” resulting in an intense cat and mouse chase. Both the vehicles and the stunts/action deserved every bit of that bright sun spotlight.
Tremors
Perfection, Nevada is an isolated ex-mining town set in the Sierra Nevada mountains. In other words, it’s a pretty tiny desert town with a miniscule population. So, there’s really no outside help to fall back on when strange underground creatures start picking them off one by one. Perfection is a town filled with personality of its own, and leads Valentine McKee (Kevin Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) bring a buddy comedy sensibility to this fantastic creature feature. But it’s Tom Woodruff Jr.’s Graboid design and creation that delivered one of the most unique movie monsters and inspired an entire franchise. For the residents of Perfection, the underground monsters proved extra problematic thanks to the scorching desert sun.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
If there’s one thing this list makes abundantly clear, it’s don’t come to Texas during the summer. If the scorching heat doesn’t kill you, something else will. In this case it’s the cannibalistic clan Sally Hardesty, her brother Franklin, and their friends cross paths with when they decide to visit the old Hardesty home after stopping by their grandfather’s grave. While the traumatic climax takes place at night, which sees Sally flee toward the infamous house only to suffer as the guest of one brutal dinner party, much of the film takes place under the grueling summer sun. Including one startling introduction to the iconic Leatherface.