Making my way through Shockwaves Podcast’s Top horror films of 2018. Watched some of these throughout the year, but missed out on a good amount of them. The Lists:
Mandy, Hereditary, Halloween A Quiet Place and Suspiria I watched when they were released so I’m not mentioning them here. As for the rest, Allons-y Alonso! (Spoiler free, naturally)
Revenge –
Who doesn’t love a good revenge flick? Hunting down assholes like it’s a hobby. There were at least three instances in this that made me genuinely woozy. At least. I also learned some survival shit. As in said out loud to myself, “would that really work?” and according to Google… yes, yes in theory it would. So should I ever find myself wounded and stranded in a desert, thanks for the survival tips, Revenge. Also, bonus big ups on Jen’s Jem and the Holograms reminiscent earring. Streaming on Shudder
Terrified –
It’s Argentinian. And it’s truly terrifying. This one genuinely made me worry I’d have nightmares. I didn’t. At least not related to the film and not that I can remember. Insanely eerie on multiple levels. Foreign horror really kicks my ass in the nightmare fuel department. Multiple set pieces here that have stuck with me in vivid detail, and probably will always. Streaming on Shudder
You Might Be the Killer –
This is the most light hearted entry on the list so far. A nice break from the utter terror of Terrifier. A mega meta strut through the horror slasher sub genre trope. You know the rules, I know the rules, and Alyson Hannigan’s Chuck is a master of the rules, walking best friend Sam through familiar lore in a way that is pretty fun. Streaming on Shudder
Pyewacket –
This was not what I expected. Angsty teens with a piqued interest in the occult, playing with powers they’ve got no business fucking with sounds familiar enough. Throw in a dead dad, an emotionally unavailable mother and an “I hate you, I wish you were dead” door slam and a monkey’s paw style warning sounds like the rest of the movie pretty much writes itself. But this was a surprisingly more than that. The movie becomes a ride of ramped up anxious paranoia for the audience, right alongside our protagonist. Also, anything that involves something even remotely human like running on all fours, and I’m out. I think my last words on this were, “What. The. Fuck.” Dark. Disturbing. Watch it.
Streaming on Hulu
The Strangers: Prey At Night –
The first Strangers film was hard for me to get through. Personally I’m just not typically a fan of Manson family style home invasion torture and murder or violence against families. I guess it just feels too real for me to enjoy a sense of silly escapism while watching. But this one was an easier watch than the first, and even pretty damn fun at times. More of that good ol’ fashioned slasher style fun.
Watch it for: The water ballet of death set to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and for the soundtrack in general. The music reigns supreme overall. The Strangers don’t speak, and the music becomes a bit of a tongue in cheek character representation that works really well and makes the whole thing feel more fun than daunting. Also dug the Texas Chainsaw finale vibes and maybe even a little nod to slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Streaming on Amazon
Veronica –
Foreign horror really seems to just be chilling as hell. There were a couple of scenes in here that were shot so damn gorgeously and creepily and a couple of scenes that really scared the shit out of me and felt entirely dreadful. I’ve heard some people say this one was slow moving and overrated, but I thought the visuals were nice enough and the inciting action all happened quick enough to keep it interesting. The real dread factor here – whatever you believe in, knowing that the real life events this was based upon resulted in the real death of a 15-year-old girl lends this whole thing a really tragic and ominous air. Sandra Escacena as the title character does an amazing job of conveying a silent, dark desperation.
Streaming on Netflix
Terrifier –
This has all the elements of a so bad it’s good, drunken watch with your friends over pizza and booze flick. Feels like a bit of a love letter to classic slashers, not in a tongue in cheek way, or meta like You Might Be the Killer, but in a very genuine, grab your buddies and make a film kind of way. The sound is not so great in parts, and that almost lends itself to the spirit of raw gritty horror authenticity. There are so many fun elements to this one it’s easy to forgive whatever it might be lacking. David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown was actually pretty damn funny and dare I say, kind of brilliant. The pizza parlor scene was probably my favorite of the whole movie. Definitely could have done without the sawed in half via the vagina kill, but hey, that’s just one Horrorgirl’s opinion. File under – better with booze and friends.
Streaming on Netflix
Ghost Stories –
This one was a super fun and creepy watch. I was drawn it right from the opening sequence. It starts off relatively light and becomes progressively darker. A couple of instances where the fear was deep enough to make me sort of hold my breath and clutch a blanket close to my face. At least one really solid jump scare, and those don’t usually get me because I can always tell when they’re coming. But hey, ya got me. Smart. Eerie. Interesting. Also… why is Alex Lawther consistently the best at being tragic AF?
Streaming on Hulu
Still Need to Watch:
Satan’s Slaves
Cold Hell
Anna and the Apocalypse
Blood Fest
Overlord
Cam
The Ritual
Annihilation
Lizzy
The Predator
The Clovehitch Killer
Horror Girl Problems 