Sunday, February 25, 2024

Review - Departing Seniors

 Departing Seniors (2024)

Director: Clare Cooney
Writer: Jose Nateras
Stars: Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, Yani Gellman, Ireon Roach
Where to Watch: VOD

Synopsis: Following an act of bullying, witty high school senior Javier develops psychic abilities which he must use to stop a mysterious serial killer targeting his classmates.

Thoughts: Based on the trailer alone, I didn't have terribly high hopes for this high school slasher, which is great news because that meant that my expectations didn't have far to fall. Here's the deal - I really liked these characters. A gay Mexican-American boy with razor-sharp wit and his insightful, brave black girl bff, fighting off bullies and catching a serial killer? Hell yeah. Actors Ignacio Diaz-Silverio and Ireon Roach bring charisma and heart to these characters, which is honestly the only reason to stick around these 90 minutes. Otherwise, the kills are weak and few, and the mystery of who the killer is really isn't a mystery at all if you've seen any slasher movie, ever. The added element of newly obtained psychic abilities after suffering from a fall, feels unnecessary and clunky. I can see this movie working under different circumstances. Up the kills, up the gore, get creative and give us an unexpected killer. There's plenty of slashers making a name for themselves these days, this just won't be one of them.

2.5 out of 5 💀s

Review - Lovely, Dark, and Deep

 Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2024)

Director: Teresa Sutherland
Writer: Teresa Sutherland
Stars: Georgina Campbell, Nick Blood, Wai Ching Ho
How to Watch: VOD

Synopsis: Lennon, a new back-country ranger, travels alone through the dangerous wilderness, hoping to uncover the origins of a tragedy that has haunted her since she was a child.

Thoughts: The woods are a terrifying place. And I grew up surrounded by them - living in a large, (slightly haunted?) house in the middle of the woods in the 1980s. My childhood was spent camping in the woods, walking in the woods, playing hide & seek in the woods at night. And despite the woods being a constant presence in my life, I've always had a respectful fear of them. Of the secrets they keep. Of the power of nature. Of knowing that, regardless of having a native american heritage, that the woods aren't a place where people belong. And I still believe that now, as an adult, more than ever.

Writer/Director Teresa Sutherland (writer of the 2018 historical horror film, The Wind, which I loved) creates a psychological nightmare using the woods as a place *not* to get lost in. Our main character, actress Georgina Campbell, who has become somewhat of a scream queen as of late, starring in Barbarian, Bird Box: Barcelona, and this year's T.I.M. (a Megan ripoff?), delivers a bit of a subdued performance as a park ranger who gets lost and stumbles into a super trippy alternate world (? unclear), full of body horror and ghosts and hallucinations of her past. 

This ultra slow-burn of a film was a very compelling watch. The cinematography is gorgeous. The shots of the woods aren't gloomy and creepy but instead bright and welcoming and beautiful.  But even with the beauty you can feel the claustrophobia of being so small within the endless expanse of the outdoors. Much like viewing a scuba diver in the immensity of the ocean. And the auditory element! Lots of crunching leaves and birds and wind. Which are all used in the normal space of being in nature, until it's then used against your senses and then the nature noises become unsettling and malicious. You can feel the "other shoe" hovering above your head, waiting for it to drop and clobber you. And clobber it does. The film takes an unexpected turn into the weird, into the really fucking weird, and while I was absolutely there for it, I didn't know what the hell was going on. Doing a deep dive Google of the movie, it looks like no one who has watched this movie had any clue what it was about, which makes me feel somewhat better. So this review will end much like the one I wrote for Monolith - was it aliens? was is The Woods? Was it an alternate dimension? I have my theories but they feel about as solid as quicksand. But ultimately this was an interesting watch full of looming dread, and once the weird wraps up, it's got a satisfying though open-ended conclusion that I thought was clever and kind of brave.

3 out of 5 💀s


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Review - Stranger in the Woods

 Stranger in the Woods (2024)


Director: Adam Newacheck
Writer: Holly Kenney
Stars: Holly Kenney, Brendin Brown, Paris Nicole
How to Watch: VOD

Synopsis: Stranger in the Woods follows Olivia and her friends as they go on a vacation. After Olivia nearly drowns with a slit wrist in her bathtub after her fiancé's funeral, her friends suspect that she tried to kill herself, but she believes someone attacked her.

Thoughts: Remember those early 00's horror movies that felt like they still had one foot in the '90s and the other foot in what they thought was a new idea? Well, this is that movie but twenty years later. This makes for a somewhat nostalgic-feeling movie that plays out exactly like you thought it would.

Holly Kenney wrote and starred in her own horror movie. Which is awesome. What a dream! But the problem is she's not the greatest actress. This low-budget, grungy little thriller, and I'm going to call it a thriller, could have benefited from some serious talent as the main actress. Holly is good enough. She is. But she looks like she was snagged from the mall as a thirty-something ex-goth girl who hasn't moved on with her life. The story is extremely basic and the twist ending is one that you can see coming from the start. The most menacing thing about this movie is the cover art. Only a couple people die in this and not in a particularly interesting way. If this were the '90s, this would have gone straight to being a midnight movie on basic cable and wouldn't have seen VHS light of day maybe ever.

Was it a fun movie? Not particularly. And it wasn't even bad in that unwatchable way that tends to happen with contemporary low-budget films. It was fine. A passable excuse for a movie attempting to be horror but missing its mark and instead being a basic thriller warning us about male toxicity. Thanks, we got the memo a few decades ago. 

2 out of 5 💀  s

Monday, February 19, 2024

Review: Monolith

 Monolith (2024)


Director: Matt Vesely
Writer: Lucy Campbell
Stars: Lily Sullivan, Ling Cooper, TangAnsuya Nathan
How to Watch: VOD

Synopsis: A headstrong journalist whose investigative podcast uncovers a strange artifact, an alien conspiracy, and the lies at the heart of her own story.

Thoughts: Lily Sullivan carries this monolithic Australian sci-fi thriller on her lone shoulders as a one-woman show. You may remember her from last year's Evil Dead: Rise as the badass sister, Beth, who battles the dead and saves who she can. Her role here is the complete opposite of the horror movie action hero she portrayed then, but it's no less compelling, as almost the entire movie is just her velvety, slightly gravely voice and close-ups of her talking into a microphone. Trust me, it's riveting. It's a podcast movie about an other-worldly black brick that shows up in people's lives and impacts them in various ways. Our main character is interviewing people who have had these bricks, and trying to unravel the mystery behind them for her new podcast job, Beyond Believable. 

Director Matt Vesely shoots the entire film in sort of a crisp achromatic gloom that matches the misty countryside that the clean-lined sprawling estate is surrounded by. The whole film feels like some ASMR experiment that tickles not only your ears, but your eyes as well. 

The movie creates many paths that it never actually goes down. It touches on government conspiracies, aliens, word-of-mouth illnesses, pandemics creating global mental illness, and more. You could say that the movie doesn't have focus but I saw it more that when you're investigating a mystery, you're going to have a lot of wild theories until it all unravels into that one truth. 

I'm not going to lie, as the third act begins its climb into the climatic ending, I kind of lost the thread a bit. The ending is something to behold and while there is no clear mapping of how we got there, it's a delight to theorize about. Is it an allegory for secrets? Lies? Mental Illness? Or is it all just aliens? I think it's up to us to decide what that black brick means, I've drawn my own conclusions. Give it a watch and tell me yours.   

3 out of 5 💀s


Monday, January 8, 2024

2023 Best Horror of the Year

 2023 was a good year. It was a busy year - both professionally and personally. But somehow I managed to fit in 115 new horror movies. And yet, it never seems like enough. There are still movies I missed - though mostly those little indie movies released toward the end of the year, like Raging Grace, Loop Track, and Everyone Will Burn. I still haven't seen The Nun 2. Or Satanic Hispanics. And a dozen more, that were never checked off my list. Aside from a very poor run in October, this year was an incredibly solid year for horror - both with the mainstream offerings and the indie gems. The year kicked off with Skinamarink and The Outwaters, and I thought, oh hell - people got weird in 2020 and this year is going to be one for experimental horror. Which isn't a complaint but something to brace for. And while I *appreciated* Skinamarink, I despised The Outwaters. The only other film that may fit into that experimental category would be Enys Men. A strange but pleasant movie with a bizarre ending. Out of the 115 new movies watched this year, I liked all but 25 of them. One could say I'm not a very picky movie-goer but I would say that I'm a very forgiving viewer. I rate a movie based on the experience I had while watching it - and not because it was "good" or "bad". Of which there are many, but that's not my rating system. So, let's cut the chitchat and get on with the show. In loose viewing order from oldest to newest -

Sick

Though a little late to the game as far as Covid pandemic movies are concerned, despite its tired topic, it turned out to be a fun slasher anyways. Call me a softy for a masked killer chasing people around with giant kitchen knives, but in a world dominated by supernatural horror, this really hit the spot. It was also directed by John Hyams, a director that made one of my favorite horror films of 2020, Alone, and written by none other than Kevin Williamson - the father of the Scream franchise.

Unwelcome

Set in Ireland this gory, gruesome little number is a fresh take on the "red cap" goblin folklore. The movie plays with themes of who the real villains are here, humans or these devilish goblins, and I daresay the answer is both. 

Megan

I'm still not sure if I genuinely love M3gan or simply find its ridiculousness to be irresistible. I guess both can be true. Regardless I've watched it twice now and both times I found myself still having loads of fun, which frankly is the highest quality in which I measure how a horror film ranks with me.  

Baby Ruby

An allegorical horror movie about postpartum depression that uses paranoia and gaslighting as devices to tell a rather effective, sinister tale of a woman who quickly loses her grip on what is real and what is not, after the birth of her child. I'm still unsure about the weird twist of an ending but I do know that this movie had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

The Pope's Exorcist

My interest in this was so low that I literally turned off its trailer a minute in and declared, "nope. looks terrible." And I would have gone without seeing it too, if not for a friend's interest and proactive rental. So I sat there, mildly judging Russell Crowe's Italian accent, until something strange happened. I started enjoying it. And in fact, the movie kept subverting my expectations turn after turn, right up until the batshit crazy ending that I definitely did not see coming. The conclusion? Hell yeah, that shit was awesome. 

Fear

As previously stated, I measure a horror movie by how much fun I had watching it. Elevated horror is great, and I definitely can get behind all those fancy pants "great" horror movies. But sometimes love is in the eyes of the beholder, which brings us to Fear. Not a great horror movie, but a fun one. And it checked a lot of boxes for me. Vacation horror. Isolated horror. Hotel horror. Burial ground horror. Pandemic horror. Not to mention its predominately black cast, which is still a rarity in the horror genre and like everything else, support the things you want to see more of in this world.

The Blackening

Speaking of all black casts. Damn, I loved this movie. I'm not one for the "Scary Movie" kind of horror comedy, so I was a little dubious going in. But thankfully the tongue-in-cheek style humor is at a minimum, or at least done with enough elegance that I wasn't eye-rolling. Instead I felt like it was more just a straight up horror comedy with some really effective scary killers and a creepy "play the game or die" element. I kind of saw the end coming, which I don't hold against it, but I saw all those '80s whodunit slashers too and yeah, no shocker there. Consider the journey and not the destination. Can't wait for this one to be streaming for a rewatch. 

Clock


This is a devastating horror movie with a heavy social commentary and hot damn was it excellent. The tension runs high the entire time and while I was waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to drop, when it did I was not expecting it to be what it was. There's some disturbing imagery in this that will haunt me for a long while. Not sure if this will hit as hard with male audiences as it will with women, but I will be recommending this one to everyone.

Scream VI

Full disclosure, I seriously disliked 2022's Scream requel. I am a huge fan of the franchise, it is in fact my favorite franchise, and when I saw '22's Scream in the theater I was like, what the fuck is this. They killed the essence of the franchise. Where's the humor? Why is it so dark and violent and the legacy cast is barely in it. And then I watched it again and disliked it a little less. And then I went to the theater to see Scream VI and omg, standing ovation in my heart. They stopped having one foot in the old franchise and one in the new and instead fully committed to this new Scream vision. Taking it out of Woodsboro, not having Sidney Prescott appear, being super stabby with a whole lot of red herrings and gruesome death scenes, and creating a mildly psychologically imbalanced "star", setting her up to be a possible future killer, yeah they really leaned into the new era of the franchise. And I am here for it.

Evil Dead Rise 


Okay, the trailer alone had me. And I'm a huge fan of the 2013 reboot. But holy shit. I did not see this coming. Ya'll it was SO AWESOME. Gritty, horrific, heart crushing, bloody, legitimately scary. Dare I say, shocking. Yes. I want my horror movies so hardcore that I literally have to peak through my fingers to watch it. (though admittedly Terrifier 2 was a bridge too far in some scenes) Evil Dead Rise, cinematically, is gorgeous. The characters are quirky and feel real. The apartment building feels like yet another monster to survive. That elevator scene!!! Beat after beat, this movie is perfection.

Bad Girl Boogey

An indie gem that is as creative as it is poignant. Director/Writer Alice Maio Mackay combines a gory slasher movie with a film about trauma and coping, and an allegory about how abuse and violence become a part of us, easily passed on if it's not stopped. The music is fantastic, the characters feel like real people, and I loved how queer this movie is without it having to talk about how queer it is.

The Breach

A smooth low budget creep-fest of Lovecraftian proportions, this Nick Cutter adaptation (author of The Troop, The Deep, and Little Heaven) is directed by Rodrigo Gudino, founder of Rue Morgue magazine and writer/director of The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh! It's weird, gross, and has some big ideas for such a little indie horror flick. The acting is super solid and elevates this film into something memorable and impressive. And the makeup effects for the body horror conclusion are just, a+ disgusting.

Dark Harvest

Based on the 2006 novel by Norman Partridge, and directed by David Slade - most known for Hard Candy, and 30 Days of Night. I went in blind to this one and was surprised by an intriguing small town mystery with interesting characters, a solid script, surprising gore, and an unpredictable ending. There wasn't a moment of this film that I didn't enjoy. 

No One Will Save You

An incredibly unique, stylish, small town alien invasion movie turns clever survivalist horror, turns... really fucking weird. The 'little grey men' are both terrifying in action and a little silly in looks, but it equals effective thrills, as the brilliantly compelling lead, actress Kaitlyn Dever, gives this performance her all. Also, there is no dialogue in this movie. None. The ending was extremely peculiar and didn't seem to fit the vibe of the movie, but I give it props for being unpredictable!

Deliver Us

An ambitious, gorgeous movie that is riveting and thrilling and at times, very very bloody. There's layers upon layers without getting too tangled within itself, it simply works on every level like a jigsaw puzzle, fitting perfectly, revealing all. I look forward to rewatching this and getting all the small details that I may have missed the first time around.

The Boogeyman

I'm always super down for a Stephen King story horror movie, but for some reason I was in no hurry to watch this one. Perhaps it was because the 2005 adaptation of the same name was so incredibly terrible, that its rotten legacy tainted this one. So when I finally got around to seeing it on its last weekend in the theater, I went in blind, expecting a boring supernatural slow burn. Boy, was I wrong. Boogeyman is a riveting creature feature that does not let up. It's got its fair share of quiet dread, sure. But then it wallops you with that long dark hallway that you just know holds the horrible body of a creature that is going to tear you apart.

Megalomaniac

Damn, Belgium. Putting the "horror" back in horror movie. It's a pretty brutal watch but holy hell was it good. A very bizarre, violent, unsettling movie about, essentially, a family of serial killers. The entire cast of actors are just phenomenal. Portraying unhinged mental illness and the capacity for familial normalcy in one flawless motion. The ending is wild and jaw-dropping and strange and I literally wanted to give this a standing ovation when it was over but was frozen in shock. This movie is NOT for the faint of heart. You've been warned.

Totally Killer

An extremely fun '80s time travel slasher whodunnit! I was worried this wasn't going to be horror enough for me but I was pleasantly surprised on just how "slasher" this ended up being. Throw in a cast of delightful characters, hilarious '80s vs '23 social commentary, and lots of clever dialogue - this movie was a super good time. Will be ranked up there with Happy Death Day for a comedy slasher mystery and added to my cozy horror watch list!

When Evil Lurks


This buzz-heavy movie finally dropped to Shudder after months of anticipation and holy hell. What a film! I loved how the reality of "the rotten" is just dropped into our laps without any preamble. This demonic world is fully formed and we're just asked to catch up to it. Fantastically written and acted and shot. There are some serious jaw dropping moments throughout, and bravo Argentina, for really going there with the kid thing. You've got big swinging balls, I see them, and I respect them. Demián Rugna, the writer/director, also did the 2017 movie Terrified, which was also a phenomenal film, and has another movie he participated in - an anthology called Satanic Hispanics - which I have yet to see but am excited for!

Talk to Me


While I'd known about this movie and its hype for a very long time, I'd managed to avoid a trailer and even a synopsis for Talk to Me. I knew I'd see it. Something inside just decided not to spoil any of it. And holy hell, I'm glad I did because this movie knocked me on my ass. It's not your average polished mainstream jump scare horror movie. It watches like a small cut you couldn't keep from picking at and now it's raw and oozing and inflamed and infected and, yup, you're going to lose that leg. As my husband said, it's a perfect example of, "fuck around and find out". At every turn this movie was surprising in both its creativity and its brutality. It's dark, and sad, and fucked up, and the ending is perfection.

Thanksgiving


Historically Eli Roth is hit or miss for me - love Cabin Fever / hate Hostel. And while I was excited for Thanksgiving because it's a holiday slasher, I was wary because it's Eli Roth. Well. Turns out. It's an easy favorite of the year. I mean, really, you do a smart, gory slasher I'm going to fall in love pretty easily so no real surprise there. But, it's got, SO MANY VIBES. Scream vibes, I Know What You Did Last Summer vibes, Happy Birthday to Me vibes, hell, even Final Destination vibes. It's just horror homage on top of horror homage and I'm here for it. Lots of fucked up kills and gross gore and a "surprising" / not surprising killer. Thanksgiving is sorely underrepresented as a horror movie holiday and I'm super stoked to have such an excellent one get in line to become a staple of the year.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor


Finally. A worthy follow-up to the original Hell House LLC. A movie that I hated upon first watch, but subsequent watches, while alone, in the dark, converted me into a big fan. I've seen all of the Hell House movies and they've all paled in comparison to the original. And while Carmichael Manor doesn't quite live up to the original, it makes a valiant effort. I think the real downfall here is the hysterical nature of the characters when faced with the unexplainable. Here they are investigating true crime and reports of the supernatural and when shit goes sideways they are just a jumble of nerves and squealing and irrational decision making. ASIDE FROM THAT. Which isn't insignificant. This Hell House manages to be creepy and unnerving and furthers the lore of the Tully, Carmichael, and Abandon story. I look forward to more installments in this ambitious franchise that refuses to go quietly into the night.

The Conference


This fun Swedish slasher had a lot of ridiculous characters and great gore. I didn't really care about the "plot" of a big development company building a mall on stolen land, which of course leads to revenge revenge revenge! But sometimes you just want some splatter and murder death kills and this was a satisfying fix. A large cast equals a high body count! Let the bodies hit the floor.

Do Not Disturb


A sexy, blood-soaked, drug-fueled, marriage counseling retreat of free'd inhibitions and primal actions. It's low-budget but with performances so nuanced it feels like you've fallen right into the fucked up mix of this couple's nightmarish vacation. All of the petty, nagging, sniping arguments of a couple who has been together forever and kind of hates each other while still loving each other, is done so authentically it's cringe. So when shit turns sideways and they bond over some really fucked up shit, it's completely believable and actually scary. The allegory of toxicity being all-consuming is prevalent, and one begins to wonder, is this how insanity is born? And sometimes when you've gone too far, there's no going back. And in those times, thank god for that.

There's Something in the Barn


While not as completely apocalyptic as 2015's Krampus, There's Something In the Barn shares many qualities with the now Christmas classic - prickly family dynamics, holiday celebration, ancient mythology built on rules, a fight for survival, weird creatures, and dark humor - which I suppose also applies to Gremlins as well. It was fun, funny, and super bloody when it came time. I'll be adding this one to my annual December watches.



These 25 films were standouts of the year but there are so many not mentioned here that are absolutely worth a watch. Like Killer Book Club, Influencer, Bad Things, All Fun and Games, The Pale Blue Eye, and so many more. Check out my complete 2023 watch list on Letterboxd! And now on to 2024! I'm not sure that I can beat last year's number of 115 new movies watched, but I will at least try to meet that number again this year. Check out the website Upcoming Horror Movies, to stay on top of new releases. And follow my horror movie Instagram dollfaceinthedark to read all of my movie reviews as they happen! And of course you can check back to this site for more blog posts. Historically they are infrequent but like I say every year, I'm hoping to change that in the new year! So fire up your TV, pop some corn, and snuggle in for a night of frights. And don't forget, to watch your horror movies in the dark!

love, doll






Monday, October 30, 2023

2023 Best of the Year So Far Part 2

As of today, I've watched one hundred 2023 horror movies this year. There's still two months left in the year and I've already outstripped last year's total number by 12. I look forward to seeing where the rest of the year takes me. It's been four months since my first "best of the year" post and I have to say, half of these movies that you're about to see on this list, I only just watched in the last week. It's been a "horror movie a day" month of mediocrity so I really needed that glut of good.

10. Bad Girl Boogey

An indie gem that is as creative as it is poignant. Director/Writer Alice Maio Mackay combines a gory slasher movie with a film about trauma and coping, and an allegory about how abuse and violence become a part of us, easily passed on if it's not stopped. The music is fantastic, the characters feel like real people, and I loved how queer this movie is without having to talk about how queer it is.

9. The Breach

A smooth low budget creep fest of Lovecraftian proportions, this Nick Cutter adaptation (author of The Troop, The Deep, and Little Heaven) is directed by Rodrigo Gudino, founder of Rue Morgue magazine and writer/director of The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh! It's weird, gross, and has some big ideas for such a little indie horror flick. The acting is super solid and elevates this film into something memorable and impressive. And the makeup effects for the body horror conclusion are just, a+ disgusting.

8. Dark Harvest

Based on the 2006 novel by Norman Partridge, and directed by David Slade - most known for Hard Candy, and 30 Days of Night. I went in blind to this one and was surprised by an intriguing small town mystery with interesting characters, a solid script, surprising gore, and an unpredictable ending. There wasn't a moment of this film that I didn't enjoy. 

7. No One Will Save You

An incredibly unique, stylish, small town alien invasion movie turns clever survivalist horror, turns... really fucking weird. The 'little grey men' are both terrifying in action and a little silly in looks, but it equals effective thrills, as the brilliantly compelling lead, actress Kaitlyn Dever, gives this performance her all. Also, there is no dialogue in this movie. None. The ending was extremely peculiar and didn't seem to fit the vibe of the movie, but I give it props for being unpredictable!

6. Deliver Us

An ambitious, gorgeous movie that is riveting and thrilling and at times, very very bloody. There's layers upon layers without getting too tangled within itself, it simply works on every level like a jigsaw puzzle, fitting perfectly, revealing all. I look forward to rewatching this and getting all the small details that I may have missed the first time around.

5. The Boogeyman

I'm always super down for a Stephen King story horror movie, but for some reason I was in no hurry to watch this one. Perhaps it was because the 2005 adaptation of the same name was so incredibly terrible, that its rotten legacy tainted this one. So when I finally got around to seeing it on its last weekend in the theater, I went in blind, expecting a boring supernatural slow burn. Boy, was I wrong. Boogeyman is a riveting creature feature that does not let up. It's got its fair share of quiet dread, sure. But then it wallops you with that long dark hallway that you just know holds the horrible body of a creature that is going to tear you apart.

4. Megalomaniac

Damn, Belgium. Putting the "horror" back in horror movie. It's a pretty brutal watch but holy hell was it good. A very bizarre, violent, unsettling movie about, essentially, a family of serial killers. The entire cast of actors are just phenomenal. Portraying unhinged mental illness and the capacity for familial normalcy in one flawless motion. The ending is wild and jaw-dropping and strange and I literally wanted to give this a standing ovation when it was over but was frozen in shock. This movie is NOT for the faint of heart. You've been warned.

3. Totally Killer

An extremely fun '80s time travel slasher whodunnit! I was worried this wasn't going to be horror enough for me but I was pleasantly surprised on just how "slasher" this ended up being. Throw in a cast of delightful characters, hilarious '80s vs '23 social commentary, and lots of clever dialogue - this movie was a super good time. Will be ranked up there with Happy Death Day for a comedy slasher mystery and added to my cozy horror watch list!

2. When Evil Lurks


This buzz-heavy movie finally dropped to Shudder after months of anticipation and holy hell. What a film! I loved how the reality of "the rotten" is just dropped into our laps without any preamble. This demonic world is fully formed and we're just asked to catch up to it. Fantastically written and acted and shot. There are some serious jaw dropping moments throughout, and bravo Argentina, for really going there with the kid thing. You've got big swinging balls, I see them, and I respect them. Demián Rugna, the writer/director, also did the 2017 movie Terrified, which was also a phenomenal film, and has another movie he participated in - an anthology called Satanic Hispanics - coming out soon! I cannot wait to see more from him!

1. Talk to Me


While I'd known about this movie and its hype for a very long time, I'd managed to avoid a trailer and even a synopsis for Talk to Me. I knew I'd see it. Something inside just decided not to spoil any of it. And holy hell, I'm glad I did because this movie knocked me on my ass. It's not your average polished mainstream jump scare horror movie. It watches like a small cut you couldn't keep from picking at and now it's raw and oozing and inflamed and infected and, yup, you're going to lose that leg. As my husband said, it's a perfect example of, "fuck around and find out". At every turn this movie was surprising in both its creativity and its brutality. It's dark, and sad, and fucked up, and the ending is perfection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, there you have it. Those ten are the best of July - October in my opinion. But there's a load of super fun movies that may not have made the list but are worthy of your attention. And they are: She Came From the Woods; Cobweb; The Wrath of Becky; Huesera: Bone Woman; Enys Men; Bad Things; The Unbinding; All Fun & Games; Nightmare; Killer Bookclub; Slotherhouse; Night of the Hunted; and V/H/S 85. 

See you in a few months for my best of the year list. Until then, don't forget to watch your horror movies ... in the dark.

~ doll

Monday, June 26, 2023

2023 - Best Horror of the Year So Far

It's almost the end of June, which means the year is nearly halfway over. This year has had its fair share of horror movie surprises already - like, somehow I actually enjoyed a Russell Crowe movie. And since some of my favorite movies opened in the first half of the year, the bar has already been set high for all that follow. 

Every year there's a clear trend in horror movie topics and this year pregnancy horror is making a comeback, as well as experimental horror, which parenthetically has become a genre in and of itself, paving the way for some more weird shit that I will support but may not always love (I'm looking at you The Outwaters). 

I'm curious as to how the rest of the year will be shaping up, because so far many of my favorites have been mainstream horror, which isn't generally the case for me. So either mainstream is excelling this year, or indie is not. Either way, out of the 42 new releases I've watched this year, here's my top 10 picks for best horror movies of the year so far.

10. Sick

A little late to the game as far as Covid pandemic movies are concerned, but while the topic felt a little tired, it turned out to be a fun slasher anyways. Call me a softy for a masked killer chasing people around with giant kitchen knives, but in a world dominated by supernatural horror, this really hit the spot. It was also directed by John Hyams, a director that made one of my favorite horror films of 2020, Alone.

9. Unwelcome

Set in Ireland this gory, gruesome little number is a fresh take on the "red cap" goblin folklore. The movie plays with themes of who the real villains are here, humans or these devilish goblins, and I daresay the answer is both. 

8. Megan


I'm still not sure if I genuinely love M3gan or simply find its ridiculousness to be irresistible. I guess both can be true. Regardless I've watched it twice now and both times I found myself having a lot of fun watching it, which frankly is the highest quality in which I measure how a horror film ranks with me.  

7. Baby Ruby

An allegorical horror movie about postpartum depression that uses paranoia and gaslighting as devices to tell a rather effective, sinister tale of a woman who quickly loses her grip on what is real and what is not, after the birth of her child. I'm still unsure about the weird twist of an ending but I do know that this movie had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

6. The Pope's Exorcist


My interest in this was so low that I literally turned off its trailer a minute in and declared, "nope. looks terrible." And I would have gone without seeing it too, if not for a friend's interest and proactive rental. So I sat there, mildly judging Russell Crowe's Italian accent, until something strange happened. I started enjoying it. And in fact, the movie kept subverting my expectations turn after turn, right up until the batshit crazy ending that I definitely did not see coming. The conclusion? Hell yeah, that shit was awesome. 

5. Fear

As previously stated, I measure a horror movie by how much fun I had watching it. Elevated horror is great, and I definitely can get behind all those fancy pants "great" horror movies. But sometimes love is in the eyes of the beholder, which brings us to Fear. Not a great horror movie, but a fun one. And it checked a lot of boxes for me. Vacation horror. Isolated horror. Hotel horror. Burial ground horror. Pandemic horror. Not to mention its predominately black cast, which is still a rarity in the horror genre and like everything else, support the things you want to see more of in this world.

4. The Blackening

Speaking of all black casts. Damn, I loved this movie. I'm not one for the "Scary Movie" kind of horror comedy, so I was a little dubious going in. But thankfully the tongue-in-cheek style humor is at a minimum, or at least done with enough elegance that I wasn't eye-rolling. Instead I felt like it was more just a straight up horror comedy with some really effective scary killers and a creepy "play the game or die" element. I kind of saw the end coming, which I don't hold against it, but I saw all those '80s whodunit slashers too and yeah, no shocker there. But consider the journey and not the destination. Can't wait for this one to be streaming for a rewatch. 

3. Clock


This is a devastating horror movie with a heavy social commentary and hot damn was it excellent. The tension runs high the entire time and while I was waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to drop, when it did I was not expecting it to be what it was. There's some disturbing imagery in this that will haunt me for a long while. Not sure if this will hit as hard with male audiences as it will with women, but I will be recommending this one to everyone.

2. Scream VI

Full disclosure, I seriously disliked 2022's Scream requel. I am a huge fan of the franchise, it is in fact my favorite franchise, and when I saw '22's Scream in the theater I was like, what the fuck is this. They killed the essence of the franchise. Where's the humor? Why is it so dark and violent and the legacy cast is barely in it. And then I watched it again and disliked it a little less. And then I went to the theater to see Scream VI and omg, standing ovation in my heart. They stopped having one foot in the old franchise and one in the new and instead fully committed to this new Scream vision. Taking it out of Woodsboro, not having Sidney Prescott appear, being super stabby with a whole lot of red herrings and gruesome death scenes, and creating a mildly psychologically imbalanced "star", setting her up to be a possible future killer, yeah they really leaned into the new era of the franchise. And I am here for it.

1. Evil Dead Rise 


Okay, the trailer alone had me. And I'm a huge fan of the 2013 reboot. But holy shit. I did not see this coming. Ya'll it was SO AWESOME. Gritty, horrific, heart crushing, bloody, legitimately scary. Dare I say, shocking. Yes. I want my horror movies so hardcore that I literally have to peak through my fingers to watch it. (though admittedly Terrifier 2 was a bridge too far in some scenes) Evil Dead Rise, cinematically, is gorgeous. The characters are quirky and feel real. The apartment building feels like yet another monster to survive. That elevator scene!!! Beat after beat, this movie is perfection. Good luck topping this one for me 2023. 

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There's still a ton on my list to watch that's already on other people's best of the year so far lists, and of course more to come for the rest of the year. So a lot could change before the final roundup, and I can't wait! A horror film connoisseur's work is never done. See you back here in six months. Now, turn off the lights, and watch your horror movies... in the dark.

~ doll