Tag: Halloween

Ranked

RANKED – Halloween

Post author By Mark
Post date October 31, 2021

One of the most well known franchises in all of horror, Halloween has had something of a rocky history on its way to resurgence with 2018’s fantastic reboot. There’s been a robot army spin-off, Busta Rhymes karate kicking Michael Myers through a window, hell the big man has even survived a run-in with the also never ageing Paul Rudd. Even in Michael’s worst outings (and there are more than a few) there is some fun to be had, and we’re taking a look back through the entire 40 plus year history of films. Now cue the Carpenter score and let’s begin.

12. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

After an unsuccessful follow-up to the original behemoth, the creatives behind the Halloween franchise took a completely left turn for the third entry, leaving Michael Myers and the town of Haddonfield squarely in the rearview mirror. In its place we’re left with a strange sci-fi story involving cursed children’s Halloween masks that transform the wearers heads into pest infested pumpkins when a certain television commercial is aired. Now while that might sound like a “so bad it’s good” situation, the final result is anything but; an intensely boring, painfully slow sequel with little to keep you invested in a frustratingly uninspired mystery.

When her father is mysteriously killed in a hospital and the assailant sets himself alight, his daughter Ellie (Stacey Nelkin) teams up with doctor Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) to investigate the circumstances of the death, leading them to the small Irish town of Santa Mira, home of mask manufacturer Silver Shamrock Novelties and its shadowy boss Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy). It takes the film about half of its runtime to even get us to Santa Mira, wasting its time setting up an uncomfortable dynamic between Challis and his ex-wife (played by original Halloween actress Nancy Kyes), which the film feels allows him to be an unrestrained creep for the rest of the film, hitting on any woman that moves before ending up with Ellie, a romantic entanglement that has zero set-up. Michael Myers may not have impressed with his second outing, but even his victims corpses have more life in them than this mess

11. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

A lot of the Halloween films feel dated now, after all the franchise began all the way back in 1978, but none show their age as much as the abysmal Resurrection, the premise of which revolves around a group of fame hungry people locked inside the abandoned Myers house and rigged with cameras in some awful spoof of the reality TV craze of the early 2000’s. Complete with Tyra Banks and Busta Rhymes. Also Busta Rhymes roundhouse kicks Michael (Brad Loree) through a window. This isn’t a joke.

What makes it all so much worse is the absolute cheat that is the marketing, with posters and trailers promising the return of Laurie Strode, only to see Jamie Lee Curtis’s iconic character dispatched within the first 10 minutes. None of the other characters manage to make any meaningful impact (apart from Busta of course) and Michael is once again neutered as a villain; seeing him strung upside down flailing for his life and kicked through windows takes the edge of a killer known for his immovable strength. Despite all this, the movie still manages to muster enough entertainingly awful moments to keep you from boredom, something that the objectively better made Season of the Witch lacks.

10. Halloween II (2009)

If the first film was proof he could adapt the iconic original, then Rob Zombie’s second instalment is him completely let loose, full of over-the-top violence and a visually dirty palette. Picking up years after Michael’s (Tyler Mane) initial terrorising of Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) – after a needlessly gory, elaborate 30 minute dream sequence – we find her struggling with survivors guilt, pushing away adopted father Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) and sister Annie (Danielle Harris). We know she’s not doing well because Laurie spends most of her screen time inexplicably screaming whilst the camera violently shakes and her character has shifted so violently to allow her to hang around the disgusting characters Zombie favours so much because it plays into his wheelhouse.

So extreme is the shift that Halloween II feels like a sequel to one of Zombie’s other films like House of 1000 Corpses or The Devil’s Rejects with Michael simply shoehorned in as a murder machine. It’s the most needlessly violent film in the franchise by a mile, as he decapitates, stabs and eye gouges his way through a washed out, grey looking Haddonfield; a fugitive on the lam running into almost everyone in the county if it means Zombie can extract some more bloodshed. Then there’s the bizarre sub-plot of Michael’s mother (Sheri Moon Zombie) reappearing in dream sequences with a white horse to guide Michael to Laurie – a way for Zombie to keep working with his wife maybe? A dreadful sequel that is so utterly uninterested with furthering the Halloween franchise that the iconic score isn’t even used until the second half of the credits.

9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

A direct continuation of 1988’s Return of Michael Myers, Revenge picks up with a bullet-riddled Michael (Don Shanks) miraculously floating downriver and being taken in and nursed back to health by a kindly stranger… before promptly murdering him and resuming the hunt for Jamie (Daniella Harris), the now mute daughter of Laurie Strode. Jamie’s brutal murder of her stepmother at the end of the previous film is conveniently forgotten and with adopted sister Rachel’s (Ellie Cornell) early death ridding the film of any carried over emotional investment; the weight of the film collapses around her, with a terrible supporting cast providing little assistance.

Donald Pleasence is now a caricature of the ominous psychiatrist from the Carpenter helmed original, violently shaking the little girl and commanding she use her randomly acquired uncle-niece psychic connection to lead him to Michael so that he can end the evil once and for all. It’s a brief respite of unintentional levity amongst forgettable kills, godawful writing and a now boringly unstoppable Michael, who completes his transformation from escaped mental patient to full on Superman, happily shaking off bullets and explosions in his unquenchable bloodlust. The only thing that seems to put a stop to his onslaught? A simple latch that completely stumps poor Michael, prompting him to rip the entire door off in a fit of architecturally challenged rage. We’ve all been there.

8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Following the dismal Season of the Witch, Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) returned (see what I did there?) to Haddonfield in 1988 with a brand new mask and renewed bloodlust; the film wasting no time getting to the carnage as Michael’s demise at the hands of Loomis in Halloween II is quickly retconned and he breaks out of the sanitarium in suitably gruesome fashion. From here we follow Jamie (Daniella Harris) the daughter of the now (assumedly) dead Laurie Strode and her adopted sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) as they attempt to navigate a typical Halloween of trick or treating and boy trouble before being alerted to Michael’s presence by the hilariously unhinged Loomis (Donald Pleasence).

While it starts strong, the film strangely chooses to constantly show Michael in awkward spots. Whether that be awkwardly scrambling onto a rooftop or bumbling, nothing takes the wind out of your spooky sails quite like watching a now middle-aged Michael catch his breath partway through a chase… until he rips a man’s throat clean out with one hand. The wacky tone continues right until the very last scene, with the young Jamie suddenly tapping into some dormant killer genes from her uncle, recreating young Michael’s first kill complete with bloody clown outfit, while a horrified Loomis looks on screaming “No!” for what you can only assume was well after the director yelled “Cut!”. Hilariously bad fun in all the ways that Season of the Witch should have been.

7. Halloween (2007)

You don’t hire Rob Zombie for a carefully nuanced trip through Haddonfield. You hire him to deliver the bloodiest, grizzliest take on Michael Myers (Mane) to date; a film made to take you into the mind and world of Myers like none that had come before in the most disgusting, horrifying to watch way possible. And he delivers on that promise… eventually. So much of Zombie’s reimagining of Carpenter’s classic is spent explaining and that is its downfall. Audiences never needed to know why Michael was mute or learn about his horrifically abusive upbringing and terrible home life for him to be terrifying.

Yet Zombie seems obsessed with exploring every minor detail that could serve to give motivation to Myer’s killings; effectively making a sympathetic character out of him (to a degree); a victim of circumstance who finally succumbed to the darkness around him. It’s an admittedly interesting take on what exactly makes a psychopath tick, it just isn’t right for the character of Michael Myers. When it comes time to deliver on the “reboot” of it all and trace Michael’s hunt for Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton), Zombie has exhausted all of the new he wants to bring to the table, producing an incredibly dull second half that devolves into repetitive hide-and-seek antics with the odd gory kill here and there. All meaningless when we don’t know or care at all about Laurie or her friends.

6. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

The end of the “Thorn Trilogy” The Curse of Michael Myers is a curious entry in the Halloween cannon. Things certainly get off to a good start, establishing Laurie Strode’s babysitting charge from the original film Tommy Doyle as the protagonist (played by a young Paul Rudd in one of his first roles), haunted by his experience and obsessed with discovering what drives Michael’s (Wilbur) bloodlust. He is soon drawn back into the nightmare when he discovers the abandoned newborn child of Jamie (J.C. Brandy), who has escaped from the strange cult that have held her captive for 6 years only to meet her own gruesome end. Teaming up with a now retired Loomis (Pleasence in his last outing), the pair race to protect the last of the Myer’s bloodline from Michael’s wrath: Laurie’s adopted cousin Kara (Marianne Hagan) and her son Danny (Devin Gardner).

For every step the film takes towards restoring the franchise to the height of the original – the small town setting, Michael’s slow burn stalking, Alan Howarth’s renewed use of Carpenter’s score – it also takes one back by doing what every good sequel does: completely ruining the fun through over-explanation. Michael’s motivations go from a deranged killer to a demonically possessed conduit of literal evil who was selected as a child by the same cult that has kidnapped Jamie. There are gross indications that Jamie’s kid might be Michael’s (the franchise was always missing the fun of incest), a bizarre subplot to have Loomis take over the role as leader of the cult and Danny’s unexplained psychic chats with a demon, but thanks to Paul Rudd and Pleasence’s toned down performance it manages to be more memorable than the previous two entries. Far easier to enjoy now knowing that the trilogy was wiped from the timeline with the release of H20: no harm done.

5. Halloween II (1981)

How do you improve upon a genre-defining classic like the original Halloween? Well, in Halloween II’s case the answer seems to be “more of the same”, as Michael (Dick Warlock) is revealed to have survived the events of the first film, hellbent on finishing off the only survivor: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Despite Carpenter’s continued involvement (he returned to co-write the script and co-compose the score), you feel his lack of direction in almost every scene; none of the tension of the original stalkings returns, replaced by cheap jump scares and a higher body count of utterly undeveloped fodder characters.

The shift in location to the local hospital does admittedly provide for some interesting variations on Michael’s usual methods – a nonsensical scalding hot hospital tub and a slow-burn syringe stabbing being two particular highlights – but having this titan of horror fooled by the sound of gas leaking is a unique way to completely neuter your killer in only his second appearance (in addition to inexplicably making him Laurie’s long-lost brother). Thankfully there is some fun to be found thanks to a gleefully deranged performance by Donald Pleasence as psychiatrist Sam Loomis; shouting completely serious nonsense like “You don’t know what death is” and somehow managing to maintain a straight face. Kudos also to Jamie Lee Curtis’ shift in portraying Laurie Strode, ridden with PTSD after her traumatic first run-in with Michael and unable to do much for majority of the film, it is nonetheless a great performance that, in a film full of brash hilarity, feels like a genuine response to the events unfolding.

4. Halloween Kills (2021)

Picking up right where things left off in 2018, Halloween Kills continues the story of Laurie (Curtis) – now bed-ridden in hospital – and her daughter (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak) as they regroup to take on Michael (James Jude Courtney) after learning of his survival. The story expands to the other survivors of the 1978 attack, widening the circle of heroes to include Anthony Michael Hall’s Tommy Doyle among others as the town mobilises to protect themselves, risking their own humanity in the process. Meanwhile the man himself is carving a bloody path through Haddonfield towards a climactic showdown with enemies new and old.

Halloween Kills suffers from being the middle instalment in a planned trilogy, with less development and significantly lower stakes than its 2018 predecessor. Nevertheless the film more than lives up to its name by crafting some of the goriest, most intense kills in the franchise, delivered by a Michael Myers who has now begun to transcend into un-killable, more-than-human territory. There are interesting strides made on the story-side of things too, as writer-director David Gordon Green subverts expectations and suggests that Michael’s rampage might not actually be tied to Laurie (a breath of fresh air for a franchise historically obsessed with their connection) but it ultimately feels incomplete without the final film to tie everything together; a gruesome piece of filler on the way to a (hopefully) more satisfying conclusion.

3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

The combination of Jamie Lee Curtis’ return and the recent success of fellow slasher Scream proved the shot in the arm Halloween needed so desperately needed to revitalise itself, discarding films 3-6 and picking up 20 years following the “death” of Michael (Chris Durand) in the hospital (cleverly conveyed through the reuse of that film’s anthem “Mr. Sandman”). Laurie (Curtis), now headmistress of a private school and living under the name Keri Tate, has been permanently scarred by the events of 1978, leading her to become an overprotective mother to rebellious teenage son John (Josh Hartnett). When Michael returns for revenge on his sister and nephew, Laurie must finally confront the demon from her past once and for all.

The influence from Scream is immediately felt through the Drew Barrymore-esque appearance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt – who is promptly murdered with an ice skate – but extends to the constantly quipping cast of friends that John surrounds himself with and the frequent meta references to the franchise’s history. Along with the (mostly) inventive kills it makes for an incredibly fun return to the story of the Strode’s, free of the complicated lore of earlier entries and with a great performance (as usual) from Curtis, who brings new layers to a more forceful portrayal of Laurie: a final girl turned final woman for the ages.

2. Halloween (2018)

Of all the Halloween sequels, David Gordon Green’s soft reboot/sequel is the only one to recapture the tone and characters while creating genuine fear towards Michael Myers (Courtney). So it’s a good thing then that the story ignores all the sequels and reboots, taking place 40 years after the original and focusing on Laurie (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). There’s endless dramatic tension and emotional depth to be mined from the complicated relationship between these three women, all affected by the actions of Michael in different ways and at odds with one another about how best to move forward. It feels truly great again to have Curtis back in the lead, and although we’ve seen her tackle the PTSD ridden survivor Laurie before, this time it feels more genuine; a fascinating and relevant story of a woman taking back her life.

As for Michael, he is as terrifying as ever and Green wisely utilises a slow burn approach to build that fear back up, focusing on the legacy of the man and the carnage he carried out in 1978. When the kills do start flowing, they are suitably gruesome (without the needless gore of the Rob Zombie films) and effective in conveying the pure strength and immovability of this murder machine – no stumbling, bumbling Michael here, he is all business. Carpenter’s return to the score also lends a huge helping hand in revitalising the franchise; delivering a revamped version of his iconic theme that is familiar but feels darker and heavier, perhaps indicative of the hatred bubbling away in Laurie for all these years. A perfect start to a new chapter in Michael’s history.

1. Halloween (1978)

Was there any doubt? Just about every aspect of John Carpenter’s Halloween cements it as a cinematic horror classic, from the introduction of Michael Myers (Tony Moran) and ultimate scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis to the instantly recognisable score from Carpenter himself. Laurie Strode’s (Curtis) first encounter with evil itself is still the franchises’ high point, revolutionary in its chilling depiction of Myer’s relentless stalking which boils over into a bloodbath. Opting for a less is more approach, Carpenter rarely allows Michael to be seen, utilising shadows and other obstacles to obscure him and create the constant sense of dread that he could be lingering. One minute Laurie spots him ogling her from afar, when she looks back he is gone.

The only insight we get into the killer himself comes from a horrific point-of-view sequence that puts us in the shoes of a young Michael during his first murder, an inventive sequence that pulls the rug out under the audience by revealing the killer to be a fresh-faced six year-old Michael. Sure, there are gorier and more intense slashers that have released since, but Halloween is the defining titan, popularising the genre and providing the blueprint for everything from A Nightmare on Elm Street to Friday the 13th.

Tags Andi Matichak, Blumhouse, Daniella Harris, David Gordon Green, Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Halloween, James Jude Courtney, Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Rob Zombie, Tyler Mane

Ranked

RANKED: Best Horror Films of the 2010s

Post author By Mark
Post date October 13, 2020

It’s October which means that the spooky season is officially upon us! We’ve put together the 10 best horror films of the 2010s to kick things off, including some of the goriest, most nightmare inducing entries to ever grace the genre. So sit back, grab some popcorn or a nice bloody steak and enjoy some or all of the entries on the list; you’re guaranteed to have a blast… or ongoing psychological trauma.

10. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Not in the mood for a really heavy horror film? Feel like something a little light? Then look no further than The Cabin in the Woods, a horror comedy that blurs the two lines between those two genres so perfectly that you’re never without a giant grin on your face. The genre stereotype of a group of teenagers partying together at a secluded house in the woods is given a new lease on life with an added big brother twist that sees a shadowy government organisation attempting to kill our heroes by dropping all manor of nasties into the cabin and surrounding forest. While it is a little light on genuinely scary moments, majority of the fun in The Cabin in the Woods comes from the sense of anticipation it creates as you try to guess what new horror is about to drop into the mix; leading to an absolutely insane and gory finale that might not deliver a satisfying conclusion for some, but sticks to its guns in defying expectations. Look out for one of Chris Hemsworth’s earliest pre-Thor performances, as well as hilarious, scene stealing turns from veterans Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford.

9. IT (2017)

What a monumental task it was to adapt the behemoth of a novel that Stephen King’s IT is and make it palatable for modern audiences. Andy Muschietti did just that with his two-film opus and, while the second film might be a bit too bloated in sections and lackluster in the scare department, the first is absolutely superb in establishing an atmosphere of pure tension and terror upon our seven main children protagonists and the iconic Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard). The film straddles the line between drama and horror, giving you plenty of time with each of the main protagonists to really understand their interplay within the group and what makes them tick; drilling down to their core fears that feed the evil Clown preying on the otherwise peaceful rural town of Derry, Maine. The attachment the film gives the audience to these children means when the scares hit, they hit hard, with particularly powerful performances from Jack Dylan Grazer and Sophia Lillie highlighting just how much more scary things can be to children, sometimes helpless in the world around them when adults turn a blind eye. What knocks the film down a few pegs is its over-reliance on jump scares, particularly in the sound mixing, with a burst of harsh strings blaring out anytime anything remotely chilling happens. It knocks you off balance and lessens the scares considerably as they repeat the trick right throughout, which is particularly disappointing given how utterly terrifying these scenes are without these tricks. Some of the scenes in IT are so ingrained in my brain at this point that I can see them when I close my eyes at night (a particularly annoying bedtime routine) and if that isn’t a testament to how truly frightening the core idea of this film is, then I don’t know what else is.

8. Evil Dead (2013)

When talks began of a reboot of Sam Raimi’s beloved horror comedy The Evil Dead there was a resoundingly mixed response. This was one of the last of the iconic 80’s horror franchises to get the remake treatment and by dropping the comedy aspect entirely to embrace the horrific nature of its story it also becomes one of the best. Gone is franchise star Bruce Campbell, replaced by Jane Levy’s Mia; a college student struggling with addiction who is brought to her family’s secluded cabin by her brother and friends in order to detox from the cocktail of drugs in her system. When the group stumbles upon the ancient “Book of the Dead” and (in typical horror fashion) start reading, all manner of ancient ghouls and evil entities arise to torment the group. Fede Alvarez’ debut English language feature may just be one of the goriest films ever made. We’re talking arms dismembered with bread knives, faces cut open with shards of glass; truly horrifying stuff. Yet everything moves at such a fast pace and the film draws on the audiences fascination with the “Book of the Dead” and the new horrors that are unveiled with every new passage read that you never really get too tied up in any one scene to the point where the violence feels like overkill. Don’t get me wrong – this is definitely not for the squeamish and you should proceed with caution, but those that finish will be rewarded with a completely different take on the original source material that respects what came before while overhauling it for modern horror audiences to terrific results.

7. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Before he burst onto the mainstream scene with blockbuster’s like Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit, Academy award-winning director Taika Waititi was making low-budget horror-comedy gold in his home country of New Zealand with What We Do in the Shadows. The vampire comedy, framed as a mockumentary in the style of The Office, is a masterclass in subtle, nuanced humour that only gets better on repeat viewings as you uncover more and more of the mile a minute jokes that are impossible to uncover on a single viewing. We follow vampire flatmates Viago (Waititi), Vladislav (Jermaine Clement) and Deacon (Johnny Brugh) as they take us on a tour of New Zealand’s vampire hotspots and give us an inside look into the day-to-day activities of vampires. It’s a truly hilarious introspective into what would otherwise be mundane but, when looked at through the eyes of a vampire, take on so much more life. Something as simple as opening the curtains becomes a life and death gamble if the sun is out and a pile of uncleaned bloody dishes in the sink becomes a major hassle when you’re trying to seduce new victims to your house to suck their blood. The core cast are all fantastic, with the witty back-and-forth banter never stopping and the introduction of a colourful cast of supporting characters like recently turned vampire Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) and leader of local werewolf group Anton (Rhys Darby) to flesh out the hilarious supernatural underworld of New Zealand. If you haven’t seen What We Do in the Shadows yet and find you can’t handle the scary stuff, then this is the film for you. Do yourself a favour after and dive into the excellent TV show of the same name currently airing. Thank me later.

6. The Witch (2015)

Production designer turned director Robert Eggers’ debut film The Witch is an enthralling slow burn period piece that seeps into your brain as you watch and quietly takes you into its clutches, building your connection to a struggling New England family before ripping the rug out from under you and sending your expectations hurtling away. Made with an impeccable attention to detail – from the costumes and sets to the true to the time period dialogue – the film transports you to 1630’s New England, where a young family exiles themselves from their Puritan colony to live a devout Christian life, setting up a farm on the outskirts of a forest. If you’ve seen any horror film you can probably guess that there is something not quite right about the forest but that is where the genre staples end for The Witch. Once we arrive at the farm we rarely leave, with Eggers homing in on the hardships of daily life for the family as they toil away simply to make ends meet. This slow build in tension is only compounded once family members start disappearing and accusations of witchcraft start flying, leading to an absolutely nail-biting, balls-to-the-wall conclusion which will have you transfixed and eager to immediately dive in again to uncover the myriad of secrets Eggers has sprinkled throughout the film.

5. The Conjuring (2013)

Big budget studio horror often misses the mark by placing an over-reliance on the tropes of the genre; mistaking loud telegraphed jump scares and disposable paper thin characters for some sort beloved genre element. It’s understandable to a degree, as these films cost significantly more than typical cheap horror and therefore have to appeal to the broadest possible audience to make their money back. With 2013’s The Conjuring director James Wan showed studios and audiences alike that it was possible to make big budget horror with real, lived-in characters that felt authentic and who the audience could really invest in while also delivering bone chilling scares and sequences simply dripping with tension. Demonologist duo Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are excellently fleshed out characters whose motivations to help those experiencing the occult are inherently good and don’t require convoluted explanations, leaving plenty of time for spooks. Wan wisely spends a significant portion of the film with the haunted Perron family, showing the loving and caring relationship between siblings and parents and slowly tearing that away as the fear of living in a haunted house slowly chips away at everyone’s happiness and resolve. Once the film hits its stride and the scares start hitting there is really no stopping, with sequence after sequence demonstrating Wan’s excellent understanding and control of the camera and timing of scares. It’s no exaggeration to say that The Conjuring is one of the most genuinely chilling pieces of mainstream horror in recent years, with some of the most unforgettable sequences in horror. I guarantee you’ll never look at “Hide and Seek” the same way again.

4. Midsommar (2019)

The vast majority of horror films thrive on the darkness. It creates an instant element of dread and foreboding, hiding creatures that lurk in the night and confusing those classic teenage characters stumbling around the haunted house. Ari Aster’s sophomore feature flips that idea on its head, spending almost the entirety of its mammoth runtime in complete, almost blinding light as we follow a group of college students on a trip to an idealistic Swedish colony on the eve of their Midsommar celebrations. Aster’s ability to wring every drop of tension out of the otherwise peaceful situation and slowly build an atmosphere of pure dread is incredible; creeping from mild issues with translation and misunderstandings in cultural traditions to full on cult death rituals and murder plots as the bonds between the group of travelling friends are slowly unwound. Unlike most films of its ilk, Midsommar’s characters are all extremely well written, with interesting interactions and various sub-plots that set them off against each other at a time when the worst thing they could be is divided. Aster plays into the horror trope stereotypes with your typical assortment of characters – the jock, the jerk, the nerd and the final girl – but never dips into the clichés of those characters within the genre, instead poking fun and giving the characters a respectable amount of street smarts that won’t have you yelling orders at the screen. Let’s not forget the absolutely phenomenal performance from British newcomer Florence Pugh, who gives a hauntingly somber performance as Dani, a young girl who has experienced incredible trauma and is slowly coming undone, only to be thrust into this fresh nightmare scenario. It’s a star-making turn that warrants a viewing of the film alone before you even begin to mention the incredible supporting cast, directing and cinematography. Add this to your watch list and let the festivities begin!

3. Halloween (2018)

Another classic horror franchise got the Evil Dead reboot treatment here with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as the most iconic final girl of all time – Laurie Strode – in a new instalment of the Hallloween franchise. Wisely side-stepping the myriad of varying quality sequels, this reboot picks up 40 years after the events of the original John Carpenter classic, with notorious killer Michael Myers safely incarcerated at a mental institution while Laurie deals with a particularly bad case of PTSD. When a pair of prodding podcasters upset the big man with an investigation into the Haddonfield murders, Michael decides to escape his bonds and go on a repeat killing spree in his old neighbourhood; slashing his way through Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson’s (Andi Matichak) friends on the way to a final confrontation with the one that got away herself. Fan service can derail a film of this type by throwing too many Easter eggs and camera winks at the audience, but David Gordon-Green’s film toes the line just right, giving you those moments you’ve come to the expect from the franchise – like a particularly awesome tracking shot that follows Michael through a series of houses on the quest for his weapon of choice – whilst also building the character of Laurie in a meaningful way. This is a woman who was completely traumatised as a young girl and has lived her entire life out of fear and in response to the idea of Michael returning. That’s a fascinating angle that allows Curtis to play with the character and redefine her for a modern age, which she absolutely does as a total badass, ready with all manner of weapons and booby traps to torment her tormentor. This is a prime example of a reboot/sequel to a major franchise done perfectly right; chock-a-block with scares and gore whilst completely justifying its existence by bringing a meaningful and impactful story to these beloved characters. Bring on the rest of the trilogy!

2. The Conjuring 2 (2016)

A follow-up to one of the most successful original horror franchises in recent memory was never going to be an easy win. The history of horror franchises was stacked against director James Wan in that regard. Nevertheless the horror veteran rallied and crafted a perfect follow-up to the demonic hit, following an all new family in Enfield, England experiencing some truly spooky things, who are once again helped by Demonologist duo Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). Wan, admittedly, doesn’t change his style too dramatically and the film has something of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, but when your first film was as successful and genuinely terrifying as The Conjuring was you can’t blame him. Where Wan improves upon the original is in the effectiveness of the scares. They alternate between elaborate, camera shifting anomalies – like teenage girl Janet (Madison Wolfe) sinking through the floor and appearing on the ceiling in the room below – to simple yet extremely effective spooks that rely on camera angles shifting back and forth until something goes bump in the night. The characters are all once again incredibly well fleshed out and the dynamic within the Hodgson family is instantly recognisable and relatable, to the point that they become our main characters more so than the Warrens. That isn’t to say that the Warren’s aren’t key players here and Farmiga in particular is excellent as Lorraine begins to experience visions of future calamities and is slowly unhinged and tormented by a sinister entity. What makes The Conjuring 2 so chilling and memorable is the imagery. There’s a now instantly recognisable iconography of “The Nun” (before the crappy spin-off) and the leather armchair in the Hodgson residence that will make the hairs stand-up on your head whenever you hear the squeak of a leather seat. There’s a reason that the film spawned a myriad of spin-offs on the strength of two of its key scares alone and while those may vary in quality, there is no denying that The Conjuring 2 is one of the most terrifying and memorable films of the decade.

1.Hereditary (2018)

Watching Hereditary in a packed theatre was a simply surreal experience. This may be the singularly most unsettling film that I have ever seen, slowly establishing a feeling of unease that creeps over you and seeps into your bones as you witness the horrifying story of the Graham family unfold. Ari Aster delivers one of the best debut features, maybe ever, in this tale of overcoming grief which follows Toni Collette’s Annie on a journey to discover more about her estranged, recently deceased mother who she keeps seeing appear in the shadows of her home. As horrific events after horrific events begin to befall the family, Annie finds herself on a downward spiral to insanity as she struggles to balance the discoveries she is making with a crumbling family structure, leading to a propulsive final few minutes that you will not forget anytime soon. Aster displays such a mastery over the camera here, fading shapes in and out of the shadows and playing with the intensity of the blackness in scenes to the point where you constantly second-guess if what you are seeing is on-screen or simply a product of your imagination. It’s an incredibly effective way of establishing that primal sense of uneasiness – if you can’t trust yourself and your own mind then who can you trust? – and ensures that when the scares do hit they hit like a blow to the head. There is a scene so truly shocking and unexpected that I found myself physically disgusted and unable to shake that feeling for at least the next hour; it sets the tone for what is to come in such an effective way that you never truly feel safe again until the credits roll. If all that isn’t doing it for you then perhaps the fact that the performances are absolutely incredible will, with Toni Colette putting in a criminally-overlooked, award-worthy performance that belongs in the pantheon of great horror performances. Hereditary is not only the most terrifying and shocking horror film of the 2010’s, it may be one of, if not, the most horrifying film ever made. If you consider yourself a true horror fan, then you really can’t skip out on Hereditary any longer. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Tags Best Horror Films of the 2010s, Evil Dead, Halloween, Hereditary, IT, Midsommar, The Cabin in the Woods, The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, The Witch, What We Do in the Shadows