Two Young Kids Fight for Their Lives in This Relentlessly Chilling Cat-and-Mouse Nightmare on Shudder

In horror, kids often fall into set archetypes, like being creepy conduits of a supernatural entity, or annoying side characters in an adult's story. But every now and then, children take center stage in empowering and refreshing ways. Shudder's 2020 release, The Boy Behind the Door, follows two pre-teen boys trying to survive in a surreal life-or-death situation—being trapped in a dark, ramshackle, North Dakota house that's essentially a pedophile's brothel. The majority of horror fans are really decent at heart, no matter what our parents think; we love the gore, but child or animal abuse is often enough to take a star off our ratings. This film, written and produced by David Charbonnier and Justin Douglas Powell, hints at the worst possibilities without breaking our hearts.