It has taken me a long time to kind of admit that horror may actually be
my favorite genre. I’m not quite at Stephen King level of “The worst horror films
I’ve ever seen was awesome” – but I do think that for the most part, even bad
horror movies offer something – some moment, some scare, that stick with you.
And horror is such a wide genre – that it incorporates so much – and sometimes
the best ones are the ones that barely get released, so you have to watch a
lot. So, below is my annual report on horror – starting from the worst, and
each section gets progressively better until we get to the top 15. I have expanded
my view on what constitutes horror films – there are a few here that are
borderline (the three that I have seen others list that I don’t is Claire
Denis’ High Life and Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale and Bong Joon-ho’s
Parasite – which I really just didn’t see as horror – not for qualitative
reasons, but other, harder to define reasons). And I should also point out a
few I didn’t see. More so than any other category, I would love to hear from
others about horror films not here that you loved this year.
In terms of being flat out bad we had: Bliss (Joe Begos) is a needlessly provocative, clichéd descent into
drug addled hell, which just proves Begos saw Ferrara’s The Addiction. Captive State (Rupert Wyatt) a
lifeless, sci-fi, horror film that went nowhere. The Curse of La Llorna (Michael Chaves) the worst, and probably
most boring, of the Conjuring films. The
Haunting of Sharon Tate (Daniel Farrands) the downright worst film of the
year – an offensive looking at the final days of Sharon Tate. Hellboy (Neil Marshall) a dull, boring
version of the famed comic book character. In
the Tall Grass (Vincenzo Natali) has some good atmosphere – as you expect
from Natali – and not all that much else. Just
a Breath Away (Daniel Roby) a low budget disaster movie that shows why
special effects are probably needed in a film like this. Lords of Chaos (Jonas Akerlund) a based on real life event, that
used horror movie tactics to no real end.
Possum (Matthew Holness) looked great, but there’s just nothing here that
Cronenberg didn’t do way better a long time in Spider.
Better, but still rather mediocre there was: 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (Johannes Roberts) which gets the job done
of being a satisfying shark attack movie – but just barely. Gwen (William McGregor) a slow burn horror that is too slow, and
not enough burn. Knife + Heart (Yann
Gonzalez) is kind of a horror film crossed with Boogie Nights, if it was
set in the world of gay porn – and its okay, but not as much fun as it should
have been. The Prodigy (Nicholas
McCarthy) is mediocre evil kid horror film for a mainstream audience, which
holds your attention when its running, and then fades immediately. Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer) is
an entertaining time waster of a horror comedy – that is really just a pale
imitation of the original, but the time passes pleasantly enough.
The following films were solid – actually good – without being truly
great, or even approaching it: Annabelle
Comes Home (Gary Dauberman) was the kind of fun Conjuring movie that was
needed after the disappointments of The Nun and The Curse of La Llorna. The Changeover (Miranda Harcourt &
Stuart McKenzie) wants to be the new Heavenly Creatures – and has some
elements that work very well, just not at that level. Child’s Play (Lars Klevberg) is a fun remake of the 1980s horror
classic, with Chucky upgraded for the internet age. Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse (Lukas Feigelfeld) looks great, and
builds tension expertly before going to some truly disturbing places – but is
perhaps too slow a burn. Happy Death 2U
(Christopher Landon) wasn’t quite as much fun as the first film- but you
have to give it credit for finding a way to exist at all. I Trapped the Devil (Josh Lobo) is a no budget horror film about a
man who thinks he has the devil trapped in his basement – and maybe, is right. Piercing (Nicholas Pesce) is a
deliberately provocative film about a man who wants to kill a prostitute – but
gets more than he bargained for. 3 from
Hell (Rob Zombie) proved that the provocateur still has some juice left in
him – making an old man horror movie that is a mix of all of his influences,
but is still pure Rob Zombie. Velvet
Buzzsaw (Dan Gilroy) has a great setup satirizing the art world, but once
it becomes a series of strange, Final Destination-type kills, it loses
something – still worth a look.
Finally, there are the runners-up – the ones that could have made the
list in another year. Body at Brighton
Rock (Roxanne Benjamin) finds an inexperienced park ranger stuck in the
woods overnight, perhaps not alone which is 1980s style fun. Braid (Mitzi Peirone) is one of the
oddest films of the year, and announced a bright new talent – even if I’m not
quite sure it comes together in the end. Brightburn
(David Yarovesky) decides to tell the story of what would happen if
Superman was a horror movie villain – and inventive idea, done well, but not
exceptionally well. The Dead Center
(Billy Senese) is a kind of twist on the zombie drama – that is better in
setup than in the climax, but is still a very effective, very well-acted low
budget horror film. Escape Room (Adam
Robitel) has stuck with me a. lot more than I thought it would – a visually
inventive film about those annoying rooms my wife keeps making me go to. Greta (Neil Jordan) has Isabelle
Huppert going delightfully over-the-top as an obsessed older woman/stalker/killer. Harpoon (Rob Grant) is kind of
comedy/thriller, that gets grisly near the end – and manages those tonal shifts
very well. The Hole in the Ground (Lee
Cronin) is an extremely well made and well-acted and very creepy horror
movie – I do kind of wish it went somewhere less obvious though. Ladyworld (Amanda Kramer) traps a bunch
of teenage girls in a house by themselves, perhaps at the end of the world in a
horror tinged Mean Girls meets Lord of the Flies. One Cut from the Dead (Shin’ichrp Ueda) is a very odd, very funny
zombie comedy about making a zombie movie – it never quite hits the heights of
the one shot wonder of the first third, but it’s a blast. The Perfection (Richard Shepard) is a bonkers, over-the-top Netflix
movie, seemingly designed to generate controversy, and keep you glued to your
seat – and it succeeded. Pet Semetary
(Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer) is a good adaptation of King’s novel –
until it decides to change things too much, and pretty much cut the heart out
of the thing – although it’s still creepy, and Amy Seimetz is great. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Andre
Ovredal) is a new sleepover classic – made especially for kids who are
probably a little too young to watch horror – with some great set pieces that
haunt you. Sweetheart (J.D. Dillard) is
a low-budget creature feature done right – with some truly dark surprises. Tigers Are Not Afraif (Issa Lopez) is a
Guillermo Del Toro inspired mixture of horror, fantasy and real world problems
– it isn’t quite as good as Del Toro’s best, but it’s a great start to a
career, with some killer moments.
15. Ma (Tate Taylor)
You can pick on Ma if you want to – it is undeniably and
unapologetically a cheesy B-movie, and the filmmakers really should have
thought through the racial implications of having a middle aged black woman
terrorizing a group of white kids (then again, it’s the same director as The
Help – so thinking through the racial implications of things isn’t Tate
Taylor’s strong suit). And yet, Ma is such a cheesy good time – and has such a
wonderful Octavia Spencer performance in the title role as a woman wanting
revenge for her awful teenage years by taking it out on a current crop of
teenagers – that I had a blast watching it. This is how you do a mainstream
B-horror movie right.
14. It: Chapter II
(Andy Muschietti)
There’s no denying that It Chapter II isn’t the film that the first film
was – it has so much ground to cover, and so much of it is episodic that it
ends up feeling both truncated and drawn out at the same time – not to mention
the fact that the (understandable) decision to split the film in two – the
first being the kid version of the losers, the second being the adult version –
hurts this film in a way it didn’t hurt the first. And yet – the film is still
effective, still quite scary when Bill Skarsgard goes nuts with Pennywise, and
anchored by some really good performances among the adults – specifically Bill
Hader. Yes, the film is too episodic, but so many of those episodes work
wonderfully well. I still don’t think we’ve seen the definitive version of
Stephen King’s masterpiece – one may not be possible – but these two films will
do (even if the first is significantly better than the second).
13. Luz (Tilman Singer)
Tilman Singer’s debut film was this technically innovative film – with a
stunning opening act, and a haunting conclusion, with a very strange extended
second act. It is a possession story of a sorts – about a pair of young women
who knew each other in high school, who meet up by chance when one gets in the
others cab – and the strange, violent incident that happened there. It’s not
exactly clear everything that happened there, and the storytelling can be a
little sloppy. But it’s such an exciting film for its formal brilliance –
especially in that first act – that I cannot help but admire the hell out of
the film – and cannot wait to see what Singer will do next – hopefully with
more money, and perhaps a slightly better screenplay.
12. Doctor Sleep (Mike
Flanagan)
Easily the best Stephen King adaptation of the year – even if it made
the least money – what Mike Flanagan is able to pull off with Doctor Sleep is
perhaps even more impressive than had he made a masterpiece, which he didn’t.
What is able to do is somehow take Stephen King’s 2013’s sequel to The Shining,
which at times read like a giant middle finger to Stanley Kubrick, whose 1980
film King hates, and turns it into both a fairly faithful (in spirit)
adaptation to King’s novel, and at the time a stunning homage to Kubrick’s
film. The film is genuinely upsetting and scary at points – Rebecca Ferguson is
legitimately great at lead villain Rose the Hat, and the last act of the film
is a treat for those who, like me, have seen Kubrick’s The Shining far too many
times, since it is a masterpiece. It perhaps tries too hard to please everyone
to be a great film – but I really did enjoy it.
11. Climax (Gaspar Noe)
Gaspar Noe’s Climax is only kind of a horror movie – although the film
does completely descend into madness and violence through the course of the
film. It is a 1990s set film about a dance troupe, gathered together in a large
warehouse right before they are about to hit the road to perform – going
through one last rehearsal, then they find they cannot get out, and they have
been drugged, and things start to go horribly wrong. The dance sequence that
opens the film truly is great – and the sustained chaos that Noe is able to
portray throughout the film makes it the provocateur’s best film in a long time
(probably since Irreversible) even if it’s not quite as ambitious as Enter the
Void or as overtly sexual as Love – it’s overall far more satisfying – and a must
for adventurous genre fans those looking for a different kind of horror film.
10. Ready or Not (Matt
Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)
Ready or Not is a viscerally entertaining horror/comedy with a great
performance by Samara Weaving as a woman marrying into a very rich family, who
built their fortune on games, who is forced to play a game on her wedding night
– not realizing it’s the most dangerous game, and she is the prey. The film is
a riot from beginning to end that goes all out, and ends up in the only place
that makes logical sense. This isn’t a deep film – the eat the rich theme is
more stated than explored – but it’s so much fun that you don’t really care.
The film gets as bloody as you would want – and is also hilarious (it’s nice to
have Adam Brody back in a role that puts his particular set of skills to good
use).
9. The Dead Don’t Die
(Jim Jarmusch)
I know a lot of people thought that Jim Jarmusch’s latest film was a
misfire – and if you want to compare it to his last two films, Only Lovers Left
Alive and Paterson (perhaps my two favorite of his films) then sure, it’s
nowhere near that good. What The Dead Don’t Die is though is a very funny take
and update on the George A. Romero zombie films – one of those films for the
age of Trump and global warming – but in a hilarious, deadpan way – led by a
great cast, no one more so than Adam Driver, who is terrific. The film is
wonderfully entertaining and drily hilarious right up until it isn’t – and the
film goes down the nihilistic endpoint that is only natural. No, it’s not one
of Jarmusch’s best films – but it’s a lot better than it was given credit for.
8. Crawl (Alexandre
Aja)
I really enjoyed Alexandre Aja’s Crawl when I saw it in the summer – and
I think I underrated it at the time. This is pure B-movie joy – with a young
woman (Kaya Scodelario) trapped in her basement with her father (Barry Pepper)
during a Hurricane in Florida, with more than one deadly alligator trying to
eat them both. It really is hard to imagine a film like this being executed
better in a mainstream film – the film is gloriously, unapologetically cheesy
and fun, and leans into the un-believability of the premise – and ends up with
a film that is an utter and complete delight.
7. Starfish (A.T.
White)
A.T. White’s debut film is a kind of horror film – it’s about a woman
who travels back to a town she once lived in for a funeral of her best friend,
and then when an apocalyptic event happens, she has to piece together clues
from her dead friend to perhaps save humanity – unless of course she ends it.
The film is really more of a meditation on grief than an out-and-out horror
film – with a great performance by Virginia Gardner in the lead role – who
simply wants to collapse and grieve, but cannot do it. These kind of low
budget, end-of-the-world scenarios can be difficult to pull off – but White’s
film is a complex film, with brilliant sound design, that is moving and
touching and quietly profound. Oh, and yeah, it is a monster movie in its way.
I get it if you don’t think this is a horror film – but if you think it’s a
horror, then it’s one of the best of the year.
6. Little Joe (Jessica
Hausner)
Jessica Hausner’s Little Joe is a very creepy horror film – not one full
of blood, guts or gore in anyway – not even death – but rather just a nerve
jangling atmosphere (helped by the expert sound design and score) and creeping
paranoia. It is about a doctor (a wonderful Emily Beecham – a surprise, but
fine, winner of the Best Actress prize at Cannes) who has come up with a new
flower that smelling will make you happy. But does it work too well – are these
manufactured emotions not genuine, and not worthy? Is there some sort of body
snatcher thing going on here? I understand why people were offended by the
concept and message – but I think Hausner’s film leave enough ambiguity to it
all that it just makes it unsettling and incendiary, rather than just offensive.
It is also just a supremely creepy film that is unsettling creeps under your
skin.
5. The Wind (Emma
Tammi)
Emma Tammi’s debut film is a cross between a feminist Western and a
horror film. It’s about two young couples, alone in the prairie with no one
else around – and what happens when jealously and paranoia descends on them –
and just perhaps, there’s something outside the house other than The Wind. The
film is scary in the way it uses the vastness of the space – the darkness that surrounds
them – and the sound of that howling wind outside. The terror here is more
mental than anything else – how being so isolated and alone in the middle of
nowhere can drive you mad – and how much more that weighed on women during this
time. The two performances by the women – by Julia Goldani Telles as the
younger, pregnant women who first grows mad, and by Caitlin Gerard in the lead
– who tries so hard to keep things together, but is cannot quite do. Emma Tammi
is a bold, brave new voice in horror films – and The Wind is a wonderful
film.
4. In Fabric (Peter
Strickland)
You probably shouldn’t be able to make a horror movie about a haunted
dress – who kills whoever owns it – that moves from one victim to another, and
make it so entertaining, so weird, so scary and so much fun – but here we are,
and Peter Strickland has done it. The film is basically split in two – the
first involving Marianne Jean-Baptiste, a divorced mother of a 20-year-old son
who still lives at home, and an office drone – who treats herself to a nice,
new red dress – and it’s the worst mistake of her life. The dress then moves
onto a young couple (including the wonderful Hayley Squires) – they’ve been
together for years, and are just not getting married – and they both end up
wearing the dress. Add in some strange, Lynch-ian asides in the store where the
dress comes from, and you have one of the strangest, most unique horror films
of the year. It may not quite be as good as Berberian Sound Studio or The Duke
of Burgundy – but its further proof that Strickland is a terrific filmmaker.
3. The Lighthouse
(Robert Eggers)
The Lighthouse is as an overt a horror film as Eggers’ masterful debut –
The Witch (I almost didn’t include it at all on this list) – but it is a film
that is designed to get in your head, and drive you as insane as the two main
characters go – to get inside their heads, into their nightmares. Robert
Pattison and Willem Dafoe are both brilliant as the younger and older men
assigned to take care of an isolated lighthouse – poking and prodding each
other, enduring each other – and then facing the horrors of the lighthouse,
both supernatural and natural, real and imagined. The sound design is truly
excellent – truly terrifying – and the black and white cinematography, in a
narrow aspect ratio, does the same thing. The film started as a “ghost story in
a lighthouse” = and while that isn’t quite what Eggers made, it is a scary and horrifying
film – proving Eggers is as good as any director working in horror today.
2. Us (Jordan Peele)
Jordan Peele’s Get Out was a cultural phenomenon the likes of which we
rarely see – especially with horror film. His follow-up film, Us, didn’t quite
have that impact – but for my money is a better, scarier and more complex film.
The story of one family, beset by a group of doppelgängers who arrive at their
vacation home in order to murder them in many things at once. It is a
legitimately scary home invasion movie – taken on a pure visceral level, it is
violent and bloody and brilliant. As the film progresses, the allegory of
America ability to paper over their past, to exploit and then move on becomes
clear. If you wanted to, you could nitpick the logistical concerns in the film
– but that seems meaningless. This is a brilliant horror film – in almost any other
year, it would take the top place on this list. An absolutely brilliant film –
one of the very best horror films of the decade.
1. Midsommar (Ari
Aster)
Much like Jordan Peele, Ari Aster followed up his brilliant debut horror
film – in this case, last year’s Hereditary – with an even better film in 2019.
Midsommar is a long film – two and a half hours – and is basically a long
break-up movie combined with a folk horror film in the vein of The Wicker Man.
Florence Pugh is great in the lead role – a young woman suffering from
depression, and getting over a horrific personal tragedy, who travels with her
boyfriend (Jack Reynor) and his friends to a remote village in Sweden, where
all the problems in their relationship come to forefront. The film is full of horrific
images – but the horror is really a constant thrum of dread under the surface
as their lives fall apart. It is the opposite film of Hereditary visually –
that film was all darkness and shadow, this one in horror in the blinding
sunshine. But they share that dread – that horror coming from the everyday
relationships that define us. With Aster – not to mention Peele – we have two
of the very best, most promising voices in horror working at the top of their
game in the same year.
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