Videos
I have a few movies from 2021 that really stood out to me, so I thought I’d talk about them. Please mention your top picks as well! Always looking for good, new horror.
Werewolves Within - not only does it have a wonderful cast, the quick witted dialogue mixed with the camp of the town and it’s inhabitants makes this movie a goddamned delight. The pure ingenious of the group of writers with the film (also, all respect to the VG as well) makes this movie easily one of my favorites of the year.
Malignant - sticking with the theme of camp, this movie stepped outside of what I expected from what the trailer had shown and from Wan in general and ran in a gloriously hilarious, creepy, and all around badass direction. I never thought I could like a fight scene so much, and love the catty shade thrown at amnesia tropes within the genre.
False Positive - A24 film written by and starring Ilana Glazer, need I say more? While the twist isn’t difficult to predict, it’s still wholly disturbing once revealed. The movie breaks your heart time and time again while keeping you entirely on edge.
The Night House - I anticipated this movie for months. We didn’t get it in theaters here so god bless prime am I right? Phenomenal acting from Rebecca Hall with a plot that doesn’t assume the audience is an idiot with hand holding but instead lends a hand to subtle plot devices and indications. Wonderfully filmed and written, it carried itself beautiful and was incredibly haunting. I’m still staring at the furniture in my house hoping I dont see humanoid shapes.
Censor - I know most of you agree (I’ve seen it mentioned here a lot) but it’s too good not to put on my list. Holy shit that movie is so good and could easily fly under a horror fans radar simply by hiding on Hulu. I can’t even begin to pick apart anything about it, and it and the night house easily jumped to being two of my favorite horror films of all time.
Also two fever dreams I can’t help but mention are I’m Just F*cking With You and We Need To Do Something. While they don’t necessarily make my favorites for the year (not even close, really) I love a good horror film that leaves my brain spiraling from the sheer “what the hell did I just watch?” madness these both left me feeling.
I’m excited to see what 2022 has in store for horror!
What about you guys? What horror movies did you love that came out this year?
I absolutely loved the night house! I dont see too many horror movies that actually ‘scare’ me these days, but I was thinking about that one for a few days after.
Ill have to take a look at ur other suggestions!
How it's looking right now:
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Mad God - Phil Tippett's experimental flick that I'd call "horror" in the sense that it's just unrelenting in its dark imagination. It's Svankmajer and Brothers Quay and fairy tale and the cthonic mythic. A labyrinth of monsters in bleak violent scenarios brought to life with puppets and stop motion and pixilation and every old-school trick around. One of those flicks like Baraka or Fantastic Planet, where you need to see it because you'll never see anything else like it.
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Malignant - you nailed why.
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Werewolves Within - you nailed why.
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Last Night in Soho - I need to rewatch to see how that third act plays knowing how the story ultimately unfolds, but what precedes is such stylish fun.
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VHS 94 - Not my favorite VHS, but the most reliably entertaining one, in that there are no stinkers (apart from the wraparound). Hail Raatma!
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Old - Wish the end twist wasn't there, that really hampers what's otherwise a genuinely interesting riff on age and features some remarkable set-pieces. (My favorite is the absolutely insane pregnancy sequence; just buck wild that Shyamalan actually made that story development work.)
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Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin - Really surprised that critics didn't vibe on this one, since it's a fun synthesis of a lot of found-footage classics. Like someone jammed The Sacrament, As Above So Below, and even some Rec into a blender. Hardly a classic, but I was entertained.