As a new year begins, it offers an opportunity to look back at the past twelve months that made up 2021. It was another weird year as the world still feels the grip of COVID-19 restrictions but the reopening of cinemas and adaptation to home releases has allowed for more films to see the light of day (including some delayed 2020 releases).
And so, I present my rankings of 2021 horror movies. As with last year’s list, allowances have been made to include films which aired in 2020 film festivals before getting a wide release in 2021.
Honourable Mentions
While the main list is reserved for horror movies (and a thriller now and then if it seems close enough to horror), it’d be remiss of me not to include these two honourable mentions.
Gunpowder Milkshake
This is a crime-action-thriller featuring a great female cast. There are some really funny moments and awesome action sequences that will ensure you never look at librarians the same way again.
Chucky
Creator of the Child’s Play franchise, Don Mancini, has brought the infamous killer doll back to our screens with this TV show. For those who are fans of the original films (especially those who were disappointed by the mess of the reboot) this is well worth a watch. It brings back pretty much all the main actors from the movies (Brad Dorif naturally, Fiona Dorif, Jennifer Tilly, OG Andy Barclay actor Alex Vincent and even Christine Elise as Kyle from Child’s Play 2) and pairs them with some great teenage actors. I cannot understate how much I enjoyed this show. I can’t wait for season 2 to come out.
And now for the main event.
36. Phobias
2021 Defiant Studios
Phobias is an anthology made up of five fear-based segments with a vague connecting thread involving a secret base and fear gas. Each segment was written and directed by someone new and consist of Robophobia (fear of robots), Vehophobia (fear of driving), Ephebiphobia (fear of youths), Hoplophobia (fear of firearms) and Atelophobia (fear of imperfection). However, while each segment was titled, with the exception of the firearm segment and possibly the imperfection segment the action that followed didn’t really reflect their assigned phobias. While this could have been an interesting premise, the weak connections between segments and the lack of consistency across them made it seem more like a slapdash confusing mess of scenes with a few bits that felt like they belonged in a completely different movie.
The Atelophobia section was the most interesting and would make for a pretty good film just on its own but it was also the last one and after sitting through all that came before it, it wasn’t enough to override the mess that came before it.
35. Masquerade
2021 Racer Entertainment
Masquerade is a home invasion film. Art thieves in fencing masks break into a house only to find the owners’ eleven-year-old daughter is still at home. It’s fairly by the numbers, made up mostly of shots of dark figures moving around dimly lit hallways. There’s an attempt at a big twist at the end which would have actually been reasonably interesting and clever except that it’s just not handled very well, just thrown out as an exposition dump in the closing moments.
34. The Devil Below
2021 1inMM Productions
This was a very mixed bag of a film. It had a good set up, a competent female adventure expert character (that the rest of the group actually listened to with only minimal prompting), and it was excellent building up a sense of foreboding by showing the measures the townspeople were going to in order to keep the creatures contained.
Where things sort of fell apart was at the same point they did for the characters – when the creatures that had been trapped in an old mine for years got out. The creatures were somewhere between the aliens from A quiet place and the crawlers from The Descent (darkness dwelling, lack of eyesight, use sound to navigate) except that unlike those monsters, these ones lost a lot of effectiveness as soon as they were on screen for more than the blink of an eye.
33. Things Heard and Seen
2021 Likely Story
Superficially, this is a film about a couple moving into a haunted house that has a rather unfortunate history. As with a lot of films featuring ghostly goings on, this one has a strife filled marriage made up of Amanda Seyfried and a husband who might be the most punchable movie character I’ve seen in a long time.
This film didn’t fall into the standard clichés of haunting based horrors and was interesting in its take on the ghosts and the idea of seances, not automatically portraying their presence as something to be feared. Amanda Seyfried plays a woman who doesn’t spend the entire time running around screaming hysterically, instead after the initial shock she seems pretty relaxed about the ghost. It was less of a haunting film and more just a film that happened to include a ghost, the real focus being the dark rot at the centre of the marriage.
This is a fairly marmite film, it probably won’t be enjoyed by everyone but for those who like slow burns with discussions of spiritualism, it’s worth a watch.
32. A Classic horror story
2021 Netflix Studios
This was another movie that left me with mixed feelings. It’s an Italian film that’s somewhat meta in places. The characters aren’t especially fleshed out, each is given exactly one trait we are made aware of, and at times they are just straight up obnoxious.
The plot is initially somewhere between Wrong Turn and Midsommer before shifting sharply into the meta section of a film within a film. It’s set up reasonably well but the ending (involving the final girl walking into the ocean and a snuff film version of Netflix) was a little lacklustre.
There’s some very solid gore and some excellent use of sound to look forward to if you do decide to give this one a try.
31. The Trip
2021 74 Entertainment
The Trip is a Norwegian film about a very dysfunctional couple. The whole thing felt like a very odd farcical play initially before evolving into a more standard home invasion/slasher type film.
I watched the dubbed version and some of the issues I had may have stemmed from this as it led to some odd line delivery in places. There was also an extended sequence involving attempted sexual assault and at times it felt like it was being played for laughs (this may have been due to the delivery of the dubbed dialogue).
There was some decent gore and some mildly funny moments but overall, it felt far too long, with one of those endings where more and more obstacles are thrown up against the odds (the film Crawl had a similar issue with its ending).
30. Prey
2021 Senator Film Produktion
A German film following a bachelor party who find themselves being hunted through the woods. It mainly consisted of the group shouting at each other a lot with occasional gunshots. There was some excellent scenery and I liked that the film did something different when it came to the shooter as typically in these scenarios they’re usually depicted as men doing it for sport. Prey opted to portray the shooter as a grief-stricken woman instead, never once having her celebrating what she was doing.
Outside of their choice of antagonist, Prey was a fairly standard dwindling party scenario without much to set it apart.
29. Escape Room 2: Tournament of Champions (Extended Edition)
2021 Columbia Pictures
This is an interesting addition to the list as there are two very different version. Normally an extended cut simply has a few extra scenes, maybe longer versions of existing scenes. The extended cut of Escape Room 2 has a completely different beginning and ending, a different person pulling the strings and running the games.
This is a real shame because the opening to the extended cut has one of the best ‘puzzles’ of the movie, taking place in a sauna room. The ending, while not perfect, doesn’t resurrect characters who died in the first one like the theatrical release did (or put a character that the antagonist wants working for them in danger of death) and feels more solid because of it.
Unfortunately, despite these changes, in both the main characters seem to have been dumbed down as they fall for a fairly obvious trap (which results in them getting put in the new escape room to begin with) and most of the solutions to the puzzles seem more based on luck than actual skill.
I enjoyed the original escape room (plus all the other films titled escape room that inexplicably all came out at the same time) but this one scaled up the rooms to a somewhat unbelievable level, seemingly have influence over bits of the outside world (like the New York subway system). Its definitely the weaker of the two and the two very different versions are going to make a third film confusing in terms of continuity.
28. Army of the Dead
2021 The Stone Quarry
Army of the Dead hit Netflix in May, a Zach Snyder film that represented his first return to the world of zombies since his 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. The idea of a heist movie being combined with a zombie film is an interesting one and that pretty much represents the movie as a whole. Interesting ideas… the problem is that most of them were just that. Ideas without any real follow through. Zombie tiger? Awesome. Zombies that can reproduce? Interesting. A perpetual Groundhog Day style time loop? Intriguing. But these are ideas that are just haphazardly thrown out for a single scene or line and not explored any further and it is incredibly disappointing.
It's still an entertaining watch. It just could have been more.
27. Spiral: From the Book of Saw
2021 Lionsgate
In 2010, the world welcomed another addition to the Saw franchise following six years of annual instalments. This film was titled ‘Saw: The Final Chapter’. Seven years later, a new chapter was opened with 2017’s ‘Jigsaw’. And now, in 2021, yet another chapter was added with ‘Spiral: From the Book of Saw’. The latest instalment stars Chris Rock as a police officer who finds himself up against the latest incarnation of the Jigsaw Killer. This is a Saw film that’s not a Saw film but is still considered part of the Saw franchise. It’s somewhere between a sequel and a reboot, very very briefly acknowledging the existence of John Kramer before doing its own thing.
Spiral is many things. It’s the first Saw film that doesn’t feature Tobin Bell or the Billy Puppet. But at the same time, it’s a very standard Saw film. There’s a police storyline, there’s a trap storyline. However, while Saw films have always had police plotlines, they’re usually paired up with a trap plot of equal weight. Spiral chooses to focus almost entirely on the police plotline, with a handful of traps of varying quality.
The overall motivation for the new Jigsaw was a little spurious, focusing on police corruption but ignoring the fact that the one officer deemed honest is literally shown beating a potential witness. It also falls into the trap (haha) of giving away the villain by saying someone is a victim but not showing anything of their death (which always means they’re alive and usually that they’re the perpetrator). It’s decent but when you come into an established franchise, you have to deal with the weight of all the films that came before, and I don’t think Spiral manages. Much like its killer, it’s just a less talented copycat.
26. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
2021 New Line Cinema
Another year brings another instalment in the ever-expanding Conjuring Universe. This one is a little different, as instead of investigating a family being haunted, this focuses on the real-life trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson who claimed possession as a reason for committing murder. It ends up being weaker than the previous instalments for a few reasons. It ups the gore and body count which can be a positive or a negative depending on what you enjoy. The greater focus on the Warrens search for evidence means we don’t really get a chance to get to know and care about those being afflicted by ghost/demon antics, the villain Isla is intimidating but a definite step down from Valak and, depending on your opinion of possession a defence, it can be a little harder to enjoy the sympathetic portrayal of Arne given that real people actually died.
25. The Forever Purge
2021 Universal Pictures
I enjoy the Purge films, but my favourite is the black sheep of the franchise, the first Purge film. And by that, I mean the film that came first and not the film titled The First Purge. The ones that followed kind of blend together into a blur of very heavy-handed social commentary and gunfire. Much like the first movie, The Forever Purge stands apart as a more unique entry into the franchise. The actual purge only lasts for a very short amount of time and the viewer gets to witness the purge aftermath for once. The costumes employed by forever purgers are a lot more interesting and menacing than the Uncle Sam/Lady Liberty masks that pop up in previous instalments. It also makes use of a mix of settings, switching from the city to a more open desert area near the end.
While there is a lot of the standard shooting, the scourge of YouTube kill counters, it also has a few unique moments, like a cage trap that is used against one of the female leads or the arrows made of dynamite late on, which are a great addition.
24. The Unholy
2021 Screen Gems
I liked this movie. It fell somewhere between a witch movie and a demon movie, exploring people’s reactions to perceived miracles (something that most movies don’t bother to do, opting to portray them as being received with positivity or scepticism but not normally combined belief and negativity). The relationship between ‘blessed’ teen Alice and the unscrupulous reporter Gerry was kind of sweet as they developed a paternal bond and the viewer got to witness clear character development from the reporter.
Personally, I felt that the mask worn by the antagonist looked a bit stupid (she also looked quite stupid without it as well) but when that wasn’t on screen, she made a decent villain. There were a few funny moments (like the ‘mutilation’ of a cow turning out to be a Metallica symbol cut into its fur). Generally, it was a decent movie.
23. A Quiet Place II
2020 Paramount Pictures
This is the sequel to the very well received A Quiet Place and while it was released in 2020 in the US, the rest of the world didn’t get to see it until 2021 due to COVID induced delays. It didn’t feel quite as solid as the first one, lacking some of the original menace as the aliens that previously struck at the smallest noise appear to need their hearing checked. Rather than focus on the family as a whole, it opts to split them up which removes some of the emotional weight the first was able to capture. This coupled with a fair number of stupid decisions from the characters (I maintain that having a baby when the danger responds to sound is perhaps the stupidest thing the characters could have done but outside of that there were A LOT of dumb decisions made by previously competent characters).
Despite the negatives, it’s still a fairly enjoyable watch. Cillian Murphy in a surrogate father role (after John Krasinski failed to make it through the last one intact) was definitely a positive addition and the sequences depicting the initial invasion were a highlight of the film. If you get the opportunity to watch it, I recommend doing so (especially given that there’s a third film planned for 2023)
22. Fear Street: 1994
2021 Chernin Entertainment
I spoke about my feelings towards the trio of Fear Street movies earlier in the year. The characters in 1994 were interesting and the gore was solid (BREAD SLICER!), but the plot had a few moments where questionable decisions were made. It’s definitely an enjoyable movie and worth checking out for both established horror fans and those who are newer to the genre.
21. There’s someone inside your house
2021 Netflix
This was a fun film. It follows a group of teens whose peers start to get picked off by a mysterious killer that airs his victim’s biggest secret before killing them. It had a decent level of gore without going overboard and the killer had a unique sense of style, wearing a mask of his victim’s face. The characters were interesting, and the movie took time to actually show them grieving when there were deaths. The killer and the eventual reveal of his identity was a little weak, as was some of the ‘secrets’ he opted to air. While most were fairly significant, there was one in the middle that just seemed really out of place.
If you’re looking for a fun slasher, I’d recommend this one.
20. Wrong Turn
2021 Constantin Film
The Wrong Turn franchise is… not great. However, this latest addition represents a significant improvement in quality (which, admittedly isn’t hard after Wrong Turn 6). This might be because the film doesn’t have anything in common with its predecessors. No inbred cannibals. No increasingly outlandish methods of mutilation. No wildly gratuitous nudity. In short, I have no idea why this has been labelled as part of the franchise and I think the name might be to its detriment.
This film takes its time with the characters and like the previous entry, it allows them the chance to respond naturally to deaths in their party. The setting is gorgeous and contrasts nicely against the gore, which is brutal and grounded. While there are a few moments that use standard horror tropes, mostly it explores themes of prejudice, from all different directions, and it’s this which influences the path that the characters are taken down.
If you've been put off by the name, I really recommend giving it a try.
19. Fear Street: 1978
2021 Chernin Entertainment
While the characters are weaker in this instalment of the trilogy, the plot feels stronger, and this is aided by the more focused single setting. It fleshes out the world of the Fear Street movies, exploring the relationship between the town of Shadyside and its rival Sunnyvale, while paying homage to slasher movies of the era. The pacing feels better in this one, the moments of respite less jammed in and strange (looking at you ’94s sex break). The ’94 framing device is a little weak, but it’s overshadowed by the main ’78 plot and it’s a very enjoyable watch.
18. Werewolves Within
2021 Ubisoft Film and Television
Comedy horrors can be divisive. Werewolves Within is marked as a comedy horror, it’s got quirky characters and opens with a Mr Rodgers quote, which is not something most horrors can say. But I felt that the comedy part was actually weaker than the horror part. It wasn’t gory or packed with jump scares but what it excelled at was a slow steady paranoia which infiltrated each scene. It has a similar premise to The Thing, to an extent. An isolated snowy environment, a handful of people and a creature that could potentially be any member of the community. It leads to mistrust which leads to bloodshed and results in a film that’s surprisingly absorbing and easy to watch.
17. The Swarm
2020 Capricci Films
This is French film saw the light in 2020 but found wide release on Netflix in 2021. For a movie about bloodthirsty locusts, it’s got a good amount of heart as it deals with a struggling single mother starting a new business (locust flour). It ended up not being what I anticipated, which was the locusts escaping early on to begin their killing spree. While there are a few moments of the locusts actively swarming, the body count they cause is fairly small. Instead, it focuses more on the mother Virginie going to extreme lengths to feed the bloodthirsty creatures as her mental state deteriorates, at the expense of her relationship with her children. These include letting them eat part of her own arm. It’s a very visceral scene as Virginie covers her mouth to prevent herself screaming, and the following shot of her pulling locust parts out of her mangled skin is nauseating.
The slow burn nature of the film means that when things do erupt, it produces a very intense climax that barely allows the viewer to catch breath and it closes the movie perfectly.
16. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
2021 Constantin Film
Not entirely sure why there’s already a new live action Resident Evil franchise being started when the series starring Mila Jovovich didn’t conclude that long ago. However, this new addition offers the promise of a far more loyal adaptation. And it did seem to be trying. The plot took parts from the Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 games, focusing on the Spencer Mansion storyline and the Raccoon City Police Department/Raccoon City Orphanage. There were little touches from the games in the sets and at least one sequence that was almost a direct copy of a RE2 cutscene (just with some added conversation and the addition of Claire Redfield).
Where it took the most liberties were with the characters, most notably Leon who was given a rather clueless rookie role. Chief Irons was also altered, his more unsavoury personality traits from the games stripped away.
I would like to see a sequel made (especially if this eventually leads to a Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil: Village adaptations) but if that happens, they really need to work on their CGI as it somehow managed to look worse than the original 2002 movie.
15. Fear Street: 1666
2021 Chernin Entertainment
I loved the first half of 1666. The tortured lesbian love story it spun along with the heavy emphasis on atmosphere is captivating. If it ended in 1666, it would have been higher on the list. But then it switches to 1994 part 2, which isn’t bad just a little repetitive when watched with the first two films as they all follow the same plot beats. The 1666 was the only one that really felt unique, and I really wish they’d taken it a bit further instead of cramming the two stories together.
Still, as trilogies go this is a good ending to the three films and viewers should not hesitate to take this third trip down Fear Street.
14. Censor
2021 Silver Salt Films
This is one of those films where after watching it, you’re not entirely sure what happened. It’s never made clear how much is real and how much is a product of the main character’s declining mental state. There is a sense of unease pervading throughout the film and it’s the atmosphere that really works for it as the plot is quite simple. The chaotic final act, the questioning nature that comes from the main character’s actions and the bold visuals all work in its favour.
Censor isn’t a film that is particularly fun to watch. Did I think it was good? Yeah. Did I think it was interesting? Definitely. Will I watch it again? Probably not.
13. No one gets out alive
2021 Imaginarium Productions
No one gets out alive is not frightening because of the supernatural elements in it. In fact, these are a little bit bizarre, and I wasn’t entirely sure what was actually happening with them. Something to do with a box that had some kind of Aztec Goddess inside (and I know this only because I googled what the box creature actually was).
What was scary about this film was the human element. It’s focused on a young undocumented Mexican immigrant, Ambar, who moves into a cheap room in a house run by two brothers. Even after having visions and nightmares, Ambar is unable to go somewhere safe because there is nowhere else for her. The threat posed by the two men to her and to the other residents is very real and relatable to any woman who has felt intimidated and unsafe. Honestly, I don’t think the presence of a real goddess or monster was needed as the lengths gone to in order to offer these girls up as sacrifices is intense and works just as well on its own.
This is a slow burn film and aside from the slightly strange parts of the third act, I couldn’t stop watching it. If you want a supernaturally charged film, it may not cut it for you but it is worth checking out.
12. Aftermath
2021 Productivity Media
This film did a lot of things. While initially it seemed like a run of the mill haunted house affair it kept switching it up to keep the viewer guessing. Ghosts, paranoia, marital strife, potential gaslighting, possible attempted poisoning. This film had it all and it carried it off right until the end. It toyed with expectations and pulled in a lot of the standard haunting tropes like the evil detecting dog or a bloody history to the house as well as some new things like potentially having ghosts ordering porn (it makes sense in context) to throw off the viewer. Up until the final act I still wasn’t sure what direction it was actually going to settle on.
Leads Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore had enjoyable chemistry, I found myself genuinely hoping that their failing onscreen marriage would improve. Unlike the couple in Things Heard and Seen, these two were largely likeable characters. I underestimated this film and I ended up really liking it.
11. Candyman
2021 Universal Pictures
Candyman continues the current trend of shared name sequels being released years after the original that ignore any other movies that came between (Halloween is another example of this).
Firstly, this film is visually beautiful. There’s a lot of really cool shots and it makes use of reflective surfaces so that the viewer ends up constantly searching for Candyman tucked away in the back of images. I didn’t really like the choice to have the titular killer conduct his murders by having him be invisible in the real world, but it did lead to some interesting physicality during the deaths. There was some very intense body horror (trypophobes beware, this movie is NOT for you).
The idea of having multiple generations of Candymen based on different tragedies was an interesting one but I felt like it wasn’t fully explored, although it did lead to the truly haunting shadow puppet sequences (particularly the one during the end credits). The ending was very rushed and had some moments that didn’t make a lot of sense. I enjoyed it but overall, I feel like the original is the better film.
10. Last Night in Soho
2021 Complete Fiction
There was more to this film than I anticipated, and it went in a direction I didn’t expect. This is another one that has a mentally unstable central character (seems to be a running theme this year!) and as can be expected it makes use of Edgar Wright’s typical sharp style to explore this along with the theme of nostalgia and naivety. The cast is really strong all round, Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie and Matt Smith are all compelling in their roles.
The 60s sections of the film were the more interesting overall as a few parts of the modern storyline blurred together as they involved the main character running around a lot in distress. There’s also a lot of ambiguity in this film as it leaves quite a few unanswered questions, particularly related to how the character is seeing the past events. There’s some inconsistency as to whether she is just an observer, if she’s experiencing them somehow herself or if it’s something else. At least one ‘visit’ leaves a physical mark on her present-day self which is never clarified. I think enjoyment of this movie will be heavily influenced by whether you enjoy that type of ambiguity or not.
Despite some of the plot elements, this film took me by surprise, and I had a good time watching it.
9. Run
2020 Lionsgate
Skirting the edge between horror and thriller, Run is a tense psychological film focused on a paraplegic teenager. The main character is extremely competent and the measures she goes to make this film full of unexpected moments, as it’s never clear quite what she’ll do next. Since the majority of the scenes are limited to just the main character and her mother, played by Sarah Paulson, their relationship and interactions are what carries the film.
This is a straightforward premise done well and I REALLY liked the ending. I recommend seeking this one out on Netflix.
8. The Seventh Day
2021 Good Wizard
I’ve always found exorcisms as a concept interesting, and this film takes a long looks at that subject as it pairs a novice priest with a more experienced counterpart to investigate a potential possession case in a young boy. Superficially this is similar to the Conjuring 3, as they both look at murders that may have been caused by demons. However, I enjoyed this one significantly more. The two male leads play well off one another, and the novice Father Daniel was a likeable character. Their ‘investigation’ is a lot briefer than the Warrens since they’re only really trying to get evidence to conduct the exorcism itself, so it feels a lot more well-paced. There were some suitably creepy moments scattered throughout and I enjoyed the way the ending played out.
7. Bloodthirsty
2020 Voice Pictures
Another film shown in 2020 film festivals before being released in April 2021. The first thing to celebrate about Bloodthirsty is the music. This isn’t surprising as it focuses on a singer, but I really enjoyed the songs. I’ve been listening to one of them repeatedly since I watched this film. Secondly, the two leads. Lauren Beatty as singer Grey brought a wariness to her role, perfectly suited to the slightly unstable character with an uncomfortable past. Greg Bryk as Vaughn managed to make his character deeply unsettling even before he was shown doing anything truly malicious. I was captivated by every scene of the two of them together (which, luckily for me, was the bulk of the movie).
6. Malignant
2021 New Line Cinema
Initially I thought Malignant was going to be a standard ghost story, but it quickly became clear it was much more than that. Every time I thought I knew what was happening, it turned into something else, and I was intrigued by everything it was laying out for me. It was like a police procedural, a ghost story, a demonic possession story and a touch of Carrie got shoved into a blender.
The use of sound was great and there were some interesting shots, like an extended overhead one take or the fantastic action scenes near the end. The reveal shot of the parasitic twin was shocking and horrific and will most likely haunt my dreams as will the brain surgery and… emergence that followed.
The two female leads felt fleshed out and real and were compelling to watch. Annabelle Wallis was excellent, bringing vulnerability and a haunted darkness to her character while Maddie Hason’s role as the younger sister was genuinely endearing.
This was definitely a high point for 2021 and well worth a watch.
5. Willy’s Wonderland
2021 JD Entertainment
This was a really fun film. Nicholas Cage stars as a silent janitor in a chucky cheese style restaurant with possessed animatronics. Fans of the five nights at Freddy’s franchise will recognise this premise and with the promised film stuck in development hell, this is a very good substitution. Cage gives an amusing performance without uttering a single line and the teenage cast are enjoyable to watch. The animatronics have varying levels of menace but they’re all generally creepy and they provide some good fight scenes. The backstory may not be as extensive as FNAFs, but it gives a straightforward concept for the action to build upon.
I really recommend this one if you’re looking for an amusing horror comedy to watch. At the very least, watch for the joy of Cage’s improvised dance sequence while he plays pinball.
4. Halloween Kills
2021 Universal Pictures
Halloween films have a fairly standard format that is unlikely to change anytime soon. Michael shows up, Michael kills, Michael is temporarily put down but in a way that leaves sequel possibility. So, it’s always interesting when something new is thrown into the mix. While the overall format was the same, this one switched things up by having active victims rather than passive victims for Michael to kill and explored the influence of fear on a mob. I enjoyed the shout outs to other Halloween films (like the kids with the Halloween 3 masks on) and the return of previous characters. Michael seemed even nastier than normal (maybe that’s a side effect of being burned alive) and some of his kills were kind of impressive, especially when you remember that by this point, he’s canonically in his 60s.
There were two problems I had with this film, however. One, that the three Strode women who were so capable at the end of the previous Halloween had some of that stripped away from them to make room for Tommy Doyle and the two Johns (who got a lot of screentime for some reason). The second issue is that, although the film tries to do something different with the active hunting of Michael Meyers by the townsfolk, the fact that the next instalment was announced a while back takes away some of the limited suspense about if he’ll finally be stopped.
I do think the positives outweighed the negatives and this was a really solid slasher. I hope that the next addition continues to throw new things in.
3. Antlers
2021 Searchlight Pictures
I was very excited by this film, largely because it features a creature that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the more mainstream monsters – the Wendigo. The steady decay of a character before his transformation into this monster takes up a good section of the movie and its patience pays off, allowing the viewer to get a sense of just how horrifying the process is. Even when the Wendigo is fully emerged and hunting, most of the time it doesn’t appear fully on screen which adds to its effectiveness. The movie also doesn’t shy away from showing the aftermath of its attacks, forming the impression of an efficiently monstrous presence even before we see it.
The film explores themes of child abuse, both in an overt manner through backstory as well as by using the transformation and the fear it inspires in the victim’s unfortunate son as a parallel. I felt the more subtle approach was stronger as the backstory seemed a little jammed in at times. Jeremy T. Thomas as Lucas brings a quiet stoicism of a child doing their best to survive and fearful for their sibling’s safety. This adds greatly to the dark and bleak atmosphere that envelops this film.
Overall, I enjoyed this film and I intend to check out the book it’s based on when I get the chance.
2. Blood Red Sky
2021 Netflix
For a time, this was going to be the number one of the year’s list. It was not only one of the best films of the year, but also one of the best vampire films I’ve seen in a long time. Like Army of the Dead, this film combines a monster with crime. In this case, it’s a vampire on a hijacked aircraft. It had some very bloodthirsty vampires and didn’t shy away from showing them attacking, even those that were positive characters. It played with stereotypes in a clever and interesting way and incorporated the backstory with flashbacks of the main vampire’s origin that didn’t interrupt the flow of the main story.
The protagonists, a mother and son, had a sweet relationship and the son’s capable nature gives greater insight into it, telling the viewer of a boy who has had to grow up too quickly due to his mother’s illness which was a good touch.
This film is exciting and engaging and excellent in so many ways. A must watch.
1. Coming home in the dark
2021 Light in the Dark Productions
Coming Home in the Dark is an indie film from New Zealand. It is understated, riding on the strength of its minimalist cast, and possesses a cruel beauty to it drawn from the bleak empty surroundings it employs. Like air slowly leaking from a punctured tire before bursting entirely, there are long stretches of tense conversation, punctuated by explosions brief intense action which keeps the viewer permanently on the edge of their seat. The antagonistic duo of Mandrake and Tubs complement each other fantastically, with the more assertive and openly malicious Mandrake given contrast by the largely silent Tubs who is able to present a conflicted character solely with physicality and expression.
While all four of the main actors bring intense emotion to their roles, special mention has to go to Daniel Gillies as the talkative half of the antagonistic pair. Having only previously seen him in an antagonistic role in the film Captivity (and that one episode of True Blood) his casual dominance of each scene and the other characters is disturbingly bewitching.
Although the greater emphasis is on the characters rather than the relatively straightforward plot, it continually subverts expectations in both big and small ways, like a speed trap that is established early on being easily evaded or layers to the characters that can flip the viewer’s perceptions (and maybe even sympathies) on their head.
This film offers the viewer a look at a nuanced co-dependency of two men bonded by a barely scabbed over untreated trauma that never fades no matter how much time passes, as well as the septic consequences when that wound is torn open and continually picked at.
This movie is haunting and exquisite. There’s no other way to put it.
And thus we conclude the 2021 wrap up. Until next year!