2020 In Film: My Favorite Horror Movies
Every year, I like to look back and take a moment to cherish all the things I have achieved. I am not one of those people who really celebrates the coming of a new year, since I don’t think that changes anything, but it sure is nice to have a moment once in a while to be able to acknowledge what has changed or what has thankfully stayed the same, among other things. In my case, my favorite thing to do when this time comes is to look back at the movies I watched. I usually write down a list with my ten best rated movies of the year, which I still do, but since I am here now, I decided to do the same with all those movies that could be somehow classified inside the horror genre (spoiler: the term here is rather loose). Though I haven’t watched a lot of horror movies this year, and some I watched were really bad or were movies I should’ve probably watched last year or so, I think it is always cool to offer a list of what I think are the best of the best, all things considered. Though there were not many releases this year due to COVID-19, I feel like I have watched quite a bunch of amazing movies. Some of them, I believe you shouldn’t miss. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Although I will tell you about these movies in no particular order, I refuse to start this list with a movie that is not Hereditary. I am well aware that most of you have already probably watched it—especially considering it came out in 2018 and it became an instant classic, like pretty much all the movies I will tell you about. However, I had never had the time—nor the chance—to watch it. And I’m so sad it took me this long to watch it, because to say that it is an amazing movie is definitely an understatement. I don’t know what’s with all these new horror directors that have released their first efforts in this last decade or so, but damn, they are something else.
Hereditary is not only a movie with an intriguing and refreshing plot—a family haunted by a strange presence after the grandmother’s death—but the cast, the imagery, the photography and the script are so good there are no words that can do them justice, and it is even more impressive when you know this is Ari Aster’s first feature film—before Hereditary, the director had only released seven short films. I have read several film critics compare this movie to others such as The Conjuring and The Babadook, both movies that I have also watched this year for comparison, but I don’t think none of them come even close to the experience that is Hereditary. Sometimes I feel there is a fine line between horror and comedy and not a lot of movies can make me scared anymore: this is not the case with Hereditary. It is so frightening, but in such a primitive way, as if Aster managed to somehow look inside your brain and found all the things that used to make you shiver when you were little, turning them into things your adult self is not ready for either. If you are a horror movie fan that, like me, hasn’t had the chance to watch this movie: please, do yourself a favor and try to put an end to that wrong as soon as possible. You will not regret it.
Yet another movie I should’ve watched way earlier in life and that also became an instant classic is the stunningly impressive The VVitch, directed by Robert Eggers and released in 2015. I actually have an explanation to why it took me so long to watch this movie, even though it is the kind of thing that will make a lot of people mad: I can’t stand it when everyone is telling me about this one thing I have to see for myself, and most people I know were raving about this movie for years. Although this doesn’t mean that I don’t watch mainstream stuff when it comes out, there is something about someone hyping a show or a film (or even a book or a band) up that makes me quite apathetic when it comes to said thing, perhaps because it rarely lives up to the expectations. So, it wasn’t until this year that I realized that I really wanted to watch this film, and not only because I knew everyone really talked the same way they did in New England back in the 17th century.
The film introduces us to this family that lives near a forest where evil forces are said to live there, a belief that gets reinforced once the family’s newborn son disappears and their crops fail. Besides the fact that there are not a lot of horror movies fully set in the 17th century, as it happens with Hereditary, The VVitch is an example of craft and a study of cinematography. Its slow pace is atmospheric and the color palette chosen really puts the whole picture together. Anya Taylor-Joy, who I had previously seen in movies such as Split and Morgan, already shows herself to be a promising star on the rise. It is easy to tell why she is the actress of the moment right now. But everything else in this movie is just simply perfect. Though I would probably pick Hereditary over The VVitch due to its shock value, this is yet another movie I don’t think you should sleep on.
I’m pretty sure I have already said all the things I wanted to say about Little Joe in the article I wrote about it a few months back. Nevertheless, I really wanted to include it in this list because I still think it is a really special movie that pays homage to many of the great horror movies of the century. I invite you to pause this reading for a moment and check out the post on this very website, whose introduction also takes me to the next film I want to tell you about.
I freaking love Brandon Cronenberg. He is not only his father’s son—film legend David Cronenberg—but he has also managed to make me love cinema the way I do today. Antiviral, his directorial debut, marked a before and after in my life and the way I watch movies. Thus, it is not only fair that I watched this movie the very same year it came out, but also that it made it to this list.
Possessor is definitely not for the faint of heart. Though its plot might not give it away—a secret agent who uses brain-implant technology to borrow other people’s bodies, murdering a target while at it—it is incredibly bloody and graphic, weird and creepy. I must admit that there were certain scenes that aesthetically reminded me of its antecessor, but I don’t think Possessor is as slow-paced as Antiviral, while equally atmospheric and visually captivating. As for the performances in this piece, Andrea Reiseborough is a goddess, as per usual.
Do I think this is a movie I can easily recommend to all horror lovers? I most definitely don’t think so, since it is a very dense movie that would horrify even those who watch gore movies on the daily. However, Brandon Cronenberg knows how to remind people of why we call cinema art. And if, like me, you need to be reminded of that, too, just go ahead and watch this movie.
As I mentioned in my article about James Franco’s Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?, I don’t think most people would consider This Is The End to be worthy of this list, but since it is one of my favorite movies that I have watched this year and apocalyptic movies have always been part of the genre for me, here we are.
This Is The End is a really, really stupid movie, yes, but it is also funny as hell—quite literally. Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, it includes a group of actors that you have probably seen together in some other movies before, but whose collective efforts never get old. I am talking, of course, about Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson. If you ever wanted Pineapple Express 2, this is the movie for you. If that wasn’t enough, this movie does not only break the fourth wall, but it just ignores that it exists.
This Is The End starts with Jay Baruchel visiting his old friend Seth Rogen, who ends up taking him to James Franco’s new house, where a big house-warming party is taking place. Even though they are playing characters that answer to their real names, jobs and interests, the actors are clearly playing caricatures of themselves. Not only that, but they are clearly having a blast while doing so, which is one of the things I like the most about this movie and most of the movies these guys make together—they’re being paid for hanging out with friends and have fun and you end up kinda feeling part of the gang.
So yeah, don’t expect a very eloquent explanation. I just liked this movie because I had a lot of silly fun. Also, the amount of cameos and nods to other movies is just ridiculously amusing. Though I am well aware that this type of movie is not everyone’s cup of tea—especially if you are not familiar with these actors’ other adventures—I didn’t want to write this piece without recommending it for those of you who want to watch something light and funny about Armageddon.
On a more serious note, another movie I enjoyed this year is The Love Witch, directed and written by Anna Biller and starring the stunning Samantha Robinson. Though this movie was released in 2016, both the aesthetics and techniques used in it make it look like a Technicolor pulp fiction melodrama from the 1960’s, which is not an arbitrary choice. You can see that Biller, as the feminist filmmaker she is, wanted to pay homage to these movies from back in the day, but with a subtle feminist message and critique of gender relations between the lines. These movies from back in the day were pieces where females were hypersexualized and most of the time just used as objects or plot devices, villains with no reasons behind their acts. While imitating the style with visually captivating results, this movie also tries to make the audience ponder on the never-ending battle of the sexes offered most of the time on screen.
Words can’t really make justice to The Love Witch. Not only do I strongly believe this is a movie meant to become an instant cult classic, but it is perfect to the most insignificant detail—while reading some articles about this movie, I found out that Biller actually studied witchcraft in order to do some research for the movie. Samantha Robinson is not just one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my entire life, but she is also an amazing performer, so poised and with the ability to fill up an entire room with her presence. As Biller herself said about Robinson, she has a quality to herself that not a lot of people nowadays possess, and that makes her perfect for the role.
The Love Witch is listed at number 41 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the Top 100 Horror Movies.
There are a lot of mixed opinions about The Lighthouse, but I belong to that group of people who think that this movie is both a work of art and an impressive performative effort by both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Also directed by Robert Eggers, who I already mentioned when writing about The VVitch, his other breathtaking film, The Lighthouse is settled in a lighthouse in 19th century New England. There, a former lumberjack and an old lighthouse keeper find themselves secluded together to work under harsh conditions, surrounded by bad omens and long periods of hunger and paranoia. Of course, this is just a summarized way of saying it and putting it for you to have an idea what this movie is about. But The Lighthouse is definitely one of those complex pieces that you could easily spend hours and hours analyzing, from all the symbols to the way it is written and shot. From Melville to Kubrick, this New England Gothic masterpiece offers almost a mythical tale of a time long gone and quite the immersive experience into madness and horror beyond your expectations.
Vastly different from this movie, Come to Daddy (Ant Timpson, 2019) is also one of those movies you should definitely check out if you are looking for a fun ride. Starring the never disappointing Elijah Wood, this black comedy introduces us to Norval, a young man dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. He receives a letter from his estranged father inviting him to his home in a rather suspicious location. What could’ve been a wholesome story about a heartfelt reunion, turns out to be a living nightmare—but definitely not what you expect.
I say this a lot, but if there is something that I like even more than horror, is when horror meets comedy. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy those stories that get under your skin to come back to you in the middle of the night—as you can see in this post—but more often that I would like to admit I watch movies to forget about my own existential struggles for a while and there is no better cure for that than a good old laugh. And as I have already said, Elijah Wood is just brilliant, especially when it comes to playing the poor guy who doesn’t know for sure what the hell is going on. Bizarre, funny and surprisingly confident for a director’s debut, I don’t think you will regret it—and I can’t deny it fills me with joy to be able to include an Irish (co) production in this list!
Moving from a fun and wild ride to a wilder one, another film that shook me to the core this past year was The Perfection. Thinking I would watch one of these dumb TV movies Netflix puts on its catalogue from time to time, boy was I surprised. As Trace Thurman from Bloody Disgusting put it, this story of a cello player is "all at once a horror film, a comedy, a revenge thriller, a character study, a trashy grindhouse flick and so much more”. I am not saying that this is objectively a good movie, but it is definitely extremely entertaining and unexpected, self-aware of its B-movie nature—which is also why it surprised me so much to find Allison Williams in this, who you probably know from Get Out or HBO’s Girls, in it.
Just go and watch it. You will understand.
The last movie I wanted to include in this list belongs to a franchise I love very much, and the reason why I hadn’t watched it before was just because sadly it wasn’t included in Spain’s Netflix catalogue—which is where I’m based on right now. However, quarantine gave me loads of time to figure out where to watch it, and so I did. I am talking about, of course, 10 Cloverfield Lane, directed by Dan Tratchenberg—one of the masterminds behind The Boys and a few Black Mirror episodes—and released in 2016.
With a script written by Damien Chazelle, Josh Campbell and Matthew Stuecken, the movie revolves around a woman played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who suffers a car accident and wakes up in an underground shelter with two men. There, she is told that they are some of the few people left alive in the world, since the planet has been affected by a chemical attack. Up to this point, as you might imagine, the story becomes a psychological game where both characters and audience wonders if what the shelter’s owner says is true or if he is just a delusional bastard who is kidnapping people. A rather surprising movie á la Twilight Zone, though I must admit that there won’t be a movie in this franchise that I will love as much as I loved Matt Reeves’s Cloverfield back in the day—but my two pence on why I think Cloverfield changed the horror mainstream game is another story for another day.
I feel like I’ve been writing for ages, so I’m just gonna leave it here. If you are looking for something to watch during these last holiday days, I suggest you give these a try.
However, I would like to end with a question for you: which were your top horror movies that you watched in 2020?
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