I have always wanted to talk about horror movies as they have been a massive passion of mine, so as part of my new years resolution, (starting early) I thought I would start a blog to talk about them, starting with my favourite horror films of 2017.
As an immense horror fan I thought I would share some of my thoughts on my favourite horror films (from various sub genres) of the year. Some films I haven’t yet seen but I am keen to see include The Killing of a Sacred Deer, 1922, and Life, so if there is a film you think should be on here but isn’t it’s either one of them, it hasn’t come out in the UK yet, or I just didn’t like it.
#7: Mother!
Darren Aronofsky is a polarising figure in cinema and Mother is great example of this, many hated this film, whilst others (myself included) loved it! Mother is a slow burn to begin with before getting much more intense and that is all I will say, as I honestly feel this film is worth seeing knowing as little as you can going in. Incredible performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem and a very powerful message hidden underneath it all.
#6: Alien: Covenant
I am a huge Alien fan, so I could not wait to see Covenant and despite not pleasing everyone, I loved it! The exploration of lore as well as the in depth look in to David’s (Michael Fassbender) madness was deeply captivating for me, and the entire section of the film that focuses on the Neomorph was a stand out for myself.
#5: Gerald’s Game
Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil) has yet to disappoint me and this incredibly chilling Stephen King adaptation continues his hauntingly strong streak. Carla Gugino gives such a fantastically tortured performance as she descends in to insanity, the direction was spot on and the moonlight man (pictured) is one of the scariest looming figures I have seen in film this year. I deeply enjoyed this film!
#4: Annabelle: Creation
I have an immense love for The Conjuring franchise (in big part to James Wan’s work) so despite the first Annabelle film being a huge disappointment to me (and many others) I wanted to give Creation a chance and I am so glad I did! David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) did an incredible job directing this film and Lulu Wilson (Ouija: Origin of Evil) is becoming a horror child actor powerhouse. The atmosphere in this film was outstanding and I can’t wait to return to the Conjuring universe again!
#3: Split
Update: I forgot this fantastic film came out this year.
Shyamalan (Signs, The Sixth Sense, The Visit) continuing his return to form with a mind bending psychological thriller/horror. James McAvoy does an oscar worthy job in bring to life 1 man with 23 different personalities, a handful of which, have very sinister intentions with our protagonist Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy). Taylor-Joy (The Witch) is a stand out actress to me, while only having a handful of roles under her belt, she continuously blows me away as she delivers a perfomance that displays her pain and trauma from her current situation as well as her past to awe inspiring degree . I cannot wait to see more from her, McAvoy and Shymalan in 2019’s Glass!
#2: IT
Words can’t describe how excited I was for this movie, I loved so much about the IT mini-series and I cherish it despite many aspects not holding up so well. The entire main cast of this film blew me away, all the child actors have such a bright future and I cared so much for their characters, and Bill Skarsgård (Hemlock Grove) as Pennywise was immensely entertaining and very creepy. My only pitfall with this film is I couldn’t help but want more scare factor out of it. I don’t know whether it was myself being to hyped up or all the advertisements relying so much on the scare factor, but while being a fantastic film and a greatly performed story, I just wanted a bit more fear. Non the less, this film floored me as a whole and I loved IT!
#1: Get Out
Get Out caught me off guard in a big way. I heard good things but I was utterly blown away by what I saw. Jordan Peele (first time director) absolutely nailed it with Get Out both in direction and writing. The underlying message of the fear that comes in racism is incredibly hard hitting and Peele does a great conveying the real life horror of racism through Get Out. From the opening scene, the atmosphere is chilling, before being introduced to Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose (Allison Williams) where things take amore grounded and comfortable (at first) setting, allowing you to really care for this couple before the story begins to venture further in to the chilling tone set by the opening scene. I could go on. This film had it all for me, great writing, acting and direction, laughs, scares, heart and a something to say. One of the best horror films in years and one of the best films this year hands down!
If you made it this far, thank you for reading and if there was a horror film you think I should check out, let me know! I love horror and I am always looking to watch more.
Movie Night Massacre 