Favorite Horror Films
2018
2018
10. Cold Hell
9. Terrified (Aterrados)
We all remember those haunting images from horror films that are somehow singed into our subconscious; the little boy floating outside the window in “Salem’s Lot”, the ghastly nun standing down the hallway in “The Conjuring 2”. Imagery is a powerful tool in cinema and for the horror film, it’s what separates the memorable from the mundane. Director Demián Rugna arranges some moments of nightmare fuel with the film “Terrified”, a loosely structured haunted house film with some of the best scares of 2018. It’s raw, gruesome, and filled with moments that are bound to keep you awake at night.
8. The Ritual
7. Anna and the Apocalypse
Who would have thought that in 2018 we would get a bouncy, humorous zombie comedy musical? Who would have thought it would be so good? Well, John McPhail’s new film “Anna and the Apocalypse” is an absolute blast that combines humor and horror with some very fun and memorable musical numbers. Hopefully, this film will find its audience in the future because it has all the makings of a new Christmas cult movie that you could sing-a-long with.
6. The House That Jack Built
Silence is a powerful tool in cinema, it can heighten a scene of drama, play a critical role for a punchline in comedy, or rattle the nerves in horror films. “A Quiet Place” is a simplistic story that is accommodated by its impeccable design. All the best horror films understand that fear is more than scary monsters, it’s a culmination of different emotions that contribute to the power that fear has over the mind. Director John Krasinski effectively plays with the different aspects of emotion in clever ways through the character design, the sound elements and secluded atmosphere of the film, which help in crafting some truly exciting and terror-filled moments.
4. Mandy
3. Revenge
The “rape-revenge” subgenre of horror is hard to watch and oversaturated with an abundance of bad films. These assumptions were present when the trailer for Coralie Fargeat’s film “Revenge” dropped. Instead of clichéd narratives, one-dimensional characters, and exploitive sexual elements, Ms. Fargaet’s brilliant “Revenge” offers a view of this often-grotesque subgenre with a powerful grasp on narrative structure, particularly the aspect of feminism and point of view of exploitation, but also on cinematic tone which is handled with biting humor and buckets of blood.
2. Suspiria
1. Hereditary
Horror films have utilized the family dynamic, mostly broken beyond repair, to build visions of invasive family structure terror. Think of films like “The Omen”, “The Shining”, or even more recently “The Conjuring”. What makes director Ari Aster’s first feature film different from most is the structure concerning the family, specifically the historical structure and the ongoing trauma and despair that has permeated the foundation of this family’s ancestry. “Hereditary” takes the viewer into horrific aspects concerning grief, trauma, and ultimately despair before unleashing the supernatural threat, it’s why the film is so effective. It’s this journey into the emotion that ultimately makes the visions of horror resonate so strongly.
The Rest of the List
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