With 2018 winding down and the holidays starting to go into full swing, I figured this would be the best time to start looking back at the films that stood out for me in 2018. I’ve seen a lot of movies this year, with some being theatrically released and others going straight-to-video or Netflix. It’s been a wild year for movies, with some ranging from incredibly amazing to unbelievably terrible, as well as everything in between. Considering how this year has gone for me, I’m very grateful for the existence of this particular medium as it allows for an escape from reality for a couple of hours. Well, I figure I would start off this month with a look back at some of my favorite horror movies that came out this year. Horror is definitely not a genre you would associate with Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate this month. The genre has had a pretty difficult time over the past few years, because there have been a lot of cheap teenage-scare movies that do only the bare minimum. The films that I’m going to look at today are ones that take risks and are legitimately thrilling and can be disturbing as well. Before I begin, I should mention that I haven’t properly reviewed some of these films, so just be aware. I will be reviewing them at some point, hopefully soon, but I did watch them. Let’s get this party started!
A Quiet Place
I know a lot of folks that refuse to watch PG-13 horror movies because the rating doesn’t allow the film to push the envelope. I find this to be categorically untrue. There have been a number of PG-13 films out there that are legitimately scary. A Quiet Place is one of those films. Certain horror films tend to rely on certain gimmicks to generate scares, i.e. jump scares. A Quiet Place utilizes sound, or rather, the lack of sound to power its tension. The film takes place after humanity was devastated by creatures that are hard to kill and hunt by sound. A Quiet Place focuses on a family that’s trying to survive in a world without making a single sound, because even a pin drop could get somebody killed. The movie dares to up the stakes in the film in the first five minutes with an act of tragedy and that sets up the rest of the film in a rather brilliant way. It is intense from beginning to end and the use of sign language and other methods to avoid making unnecessary noise make for a white-knuckle experience. The acting is amazing and the whole experience is amazing. A Quiet Place is a damned good PG-13 horror movie.
Apostle
Apostle is one of those movies that I decide to go back to Netflix for. It was one of my most highly anticipated horror film of the year, and it didn’t disappoint. The film is about a man, Thomas, who infiltrates a cult on a mysterious island to find his sister, who was kidnapped by this cult. What starts as a typical period piece during 1905 takes a very bizarre turn as soon as Thomas gets to the island. The cult, on the surface, is led by a man named Malcolm, who wants his people to be free from the shackles of Christianity and the rest of the world. The further that Thomas digs, the more he realizes that there is something far more sinister at work. This is not the kind of movie that offers cheap jump-scares. Horror movies are often a mirror for society and how we behave as people, and Apostle takes a shot at religion and the dangers of being a zealot. It’s not going to be for everyone. This is a film that pulls no punches and goes to some very dark territory, but it still ends up being one of the most satisfying thrillers that I’ve seen this year.
Hereditary
This was a rough year for me. After dealing with so much tragedy, watching a horror movie about a family dealing with tragedy should have been the last thing for me to see. I’m glad I did, though. This was a film that I needed to see, because tragedy can bring out demons in everyone and can destroy entire families. Hereditary is about one such family that not only deals with the death of a grandparent, but they are confronted with another tragedy which threatens to tear the family apart. This is a slow-burner of a film, so it takes its time in establishing the characters and slowly upping the tension to the point where it’s almost unbearable. The acting across the board is fantastic, but this is Toni Colette’s film through-and-through. She gives the strongest and the most tragic performance in the film as a mother who is driven to the brink of insanity after dealing with an overbearing mother and a tragic event. The best horror movies are the ones that make it personal, because the film wants you to be able to relate to these people. While the film does take on a bit of a supernatural element later on, the rest of the film feels more like a family drama than it does a full-on horror flick, and that’s what makes this film so impressive. It’s a soul-crushing film for sure, and very bleak, but it is one of the best horror films in the last decade or so.
Hellraiser: Judgment
This one may seem a bit controversial as it is a direct-to-video sequel to Hellraiser. I will fully admit that this film is far from perfect and has a lot of really bizarre issues, but as far as being a Hellraiser film goes, Judgment is perhaps the best entry in the series since Hellraiser V. The film follows two detectives on the trail of a notorious serial killer when they come across a house that hides the legendary demon Pinhead. Considering the outright disaster that was Hellraiser: Revelations, Judgment is a much stronger movie, thanks to the efforts of director, producer and special effects guru, Gary J. Tunnicliffe. He did a really good job with this one. The guy who plays Pinhead this time around, Paul T. Taylor, does a very good job. As far as I’m concerned, Taylor is a worthy successor to Doug Bradley, who refused to continue to be a part of the franchise. I actually love the visual aesthetic of the film, as it kind of drifts between a film-noirish detective story and an other-worldly supernatural fright fest. It introduces a few new ideas that I’ve never seen in the franchise before, and I hope that they expand on those ideas in the next film. If you’re a fan of Hellraiser, I think you should at least give this one a rent.
Halloween 2018
I have a confession to make: I was never really a big fan of John Carpenter’s original film. It came across as cheesy and predictable. It wasn’t until years later, after watching other slasher films, that I realized that the original film was so important to the genre. This new film does something extraordinary: It takes every other sequel and re-make of the franchise and throws them out the window. In essence, this new Halloween is the real sequel to the 1978 film. We see Laurie Strode as she’s been preparing for decades to confront and finally kill Michael Myers, who terrorized her when she was a teenager. While I won’t say that the new Halloween re-invents the genre, it’s still light-years above any of the other film, with the exception of the original. It honesty feels like a natural progression, despite taking place decades later. Jamie Lee Curtis is one of my favorite actresses ever, and she puts in her best performance in years with this film. Her character is not only tough, but she’s also emotionally damaged from the events of the first film, and despite her attempts to reconnect with her daughter and granddaughter, her obsession with Michael doesn’t seem to go away. Yeah, the film doesn’t do anything new and it restrains itself in terms of its violence, but that is in the film’s favor. Too often, we see slasher movies that go so over-the-top, they’re no longer frightening. Michael Myers is the original Boogeyman and he doesn’t waste time coming up with elaborate kills. He just grabs a knife and stabs away. That kind of simplicity and purity has been missing in the slasher film genre for for over twenty years, and it’s nice to see a slasher film actually do some slashing.
Revenge
Revenge is another take on the whole “rape-revenge” genre that’s been a part of the horror genre for decades. While the film definitely follows in the footsteps of other flicks like I Spit On Your Grave, the film doesn’t feel as exploitative as other films in the genre. In fact, the film goes out of its way to avoid directly showing the assault on Matilda Lutz’s character. You can still hear it, and in some ways that’s actually worse. It’s a very uncomfortable sequence to sit through to be sure, but it serves as motivation for the girl to take revenge on the people that took advantage of her. This movie is brutal as hell and while it’s not as gory as some other films, the degree of violence in this one is very startling. There was a point in which even I was wincing, and I don’t wince at ultra-violence. I really don’t. This is a film that has no frills and no extraneous twists or turns. It’s very straight-forward and gets to the point, and that makes it stand out as one of my favorite horror films of the year.
Mandy
I mentioned Mandy before in my post about direct-to-video movies, but it bears another mentioning here. Mandy is by far the the trippiest horror film this year. Nicolas Cage just knocks it out of the park with the craziest and best performance he’s had in years. It’s a simple revenge film, but it’s one that’s clouded in a very ethereal and other-worldly vibe. While the film definitely takes its time getting started, the visual aesthetic of the film can’t be denied. It’s a visual feast. While the film definitely gets violent, it’s Nick Cage that really delivers on that aspect. Cage always puts 110 percent into his roles, regardless of how good or bad the movie might be, but his performance in Mandy is going to be one of his most recognized roles for years to come. It’s a messed up movie that will have you thinking about it long after you switch off the TV.
While there were other horror movies that came out this year, either on Netflix or direct-to-DVD, these are the ones that got my attention, and there’s a reason for that. These horror films are really damned good and offer more than just cheap thrills. This was a solid year for mainstream horror movies, and even better for DTV/Netflix horror. Here’s hoping that 2019 gives us more. I hope everybody enjoyed this post, and stay tuned for more of The Best of 2018.