It is still a rough time for horror. I am not a fan of the horror lite Conjuring sequels and tired special effects blow outs and teen movies. Here there are plenty of psychopaths, cannibals, aliens and even mer-maids. So the formula has not be reinvented. Hyper realism worked well this year and I was looking for something different that drew me in. There are a few classic franchises that showed up strong. Some of these the release date on can be iffy in the case of Foreign horror movies. In the past few years foreign horror movies did better than the Hollywood fare , however the tide changed this year as only 3 of the top 10 are foreign . So here are the top 10 horror movies of 2017.
10-the Lure
Almost did not make it and had me in the same debate I was stuck on for "the Shape Of Water" while this one was more malevolent in it's intentions with these mer-maids, and "Shape of Water' could have stood for it's creature to have been more menacing. This was also a musical which complicated things.
9-Hounds of Love
This movie was inspired by true events and I liked how it made you dread seeing how bad things were going to go. It flirted with being trashy exploitative torture porn and I wish it had been more committed to really going there. It handled things almost too tastefully, but it made you feel uneasy about how this was all going down so it gets props for that.
8- The Cult of Chucky
When asked about this movie I found myself saying it is better than it has the right to be. Cult of Chucky in terms of cinematic quality or eye-candy is exceeds the previous film. There a moments of camera that are quite pretty, some slow motion scene and bright vibrant blood. Yet there is never a sense of menace. I am not sure if I just could not get invested in the characters. But the stakes never felt high enough to get scared. This was an entertaining movie
http://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2017/10/movie-review-cult-of-chucky.html
7-Alien -Covenant
I liked this way better than "Prometheus". It was not as massive in scope , but a return to the feeling of the classic monster movies with all the sex and blood of the 80s. It kept Scott's mythos going, explained a few things and kept going. I am not tied to this franchise emotionally so I might be more excepting of somethings than people who need a more slavish canon, if that is you I understand I am that way with comics. This was fun , dark and bloody that what I need from these movies.
6- Raw
Horror needs to make you uncomfortable in some way. There is a tension to the movie. Sometimes they hyper realism, adds to this and makes you feel like you can't look and want to crawl out of your skin, that is success. As far as the French art house fare this can be it certainly succeeds when not being full of it self in the way you almost expect french films to be.
http://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2017/09/film-review-raw.html
5-It
This movie did not limit itself to just being about a scary clown and the bigger more sinister picture is well painted . itself among the some of the better Stephen King adaptations to film, this movie falls short of the Shining or the Mist in terms of scares , but has a lot of heart.This is only the first chapter so if you go in wanting to for them to return to Derry as adults then you better stock up on pop-corn and wait for the next movie.
4-Mother !
This one was up for debate and I finally conceded that I a- liked this movie more than I would admit and b-it works off of the same kind of unease and tension that "Rosemary's Baby" does but in a more chaotic manner. I liked the middle finger it gives Christianity and as a movie think it was more layered and unnerving than "It" which played to a more mainstream lowest common denominator crowd.
http://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2017/10/movie-review-mother.html
3-Life
This movie was a better Alien movie than Alien Covenant. Just a well made movie that also happens to be a horror movie rather than trying hard to be one. The horror hits you on many different levels. It is more of a bleak now you are fucked feeling that builds rather than playing off the same old tired tropes most movies resort to.
2-Split
Not too far removed from "Silence of the Lambs" in terms of the depth of horror. It is a much more intense character study than the Hannibal films. The intent is unclear where Hannibal is more calculated and some of this uncertainty is what makes the movie more unnerving.Pound for pound a better made film than the one occupying the number one spot , but more of a thriller and less horror than the movie taking the top.
1-Leatherface
It did give me what I expected and kept me watching.Reboots, and Prequels are normally not worth a shit. This movie however was fun, well-written and did not re-spin the same shit some of the other Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies have. We have even been done somewhat of an origin story before with the re-make. I think this movie falls in line with the established mythology of the character and doesn’t try to to give it any kind of a spin or shove some modern message down your throat. They gave just enough of the perverse twist this movie needed without trying to hard or playing it too Hollywood. I think the endearing nature of how it respected the legacy of the character helped put it here.
http://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2017/09/movie-review-leatherface.html
