We have reached the end of the golden horror years, let's drink to that with Willem and Robert, cheers!
Here's my final selection of the best movies produced before the pandemic hit us like an octopus' tentacle in the face, don't forget to watch those you might have missed and re-watch those you enjoyed!
2019
Let's start with something fun, like a game. And if you now thought I'll mention Jigsaw, no, it's not him, there are other sickos playing lethal games, like this rich family.
A beautiful bride is surprised to find out her new rich husband's rich family requires her to play a game at midnight on the day of her marriage, because tradition says so. The kind of game she will be playing is determined by a draw from an ancient box full of cards. It can be something as innocent as chess or bingo, or something more exciting, like hide and seek. She draws the one bad card and that elegant, rich, aristocratic family turns out to be batshit crazy psychos who are out to kill her, unless she can hide until dawn. And they're doing everything to find her, armed with all kinds of guns, pistols, bows and arrows.
Mindless, adrenaline-laden, gory FUN sprinkled with comedic family drama, macabre oops-moments and a shocking and hilarious finale that puts the cherry on the cake.
The Lodge is a seriously dark, sombre flick which chose the right child actors who will go under your skin, a psychological mind-fuck that will keep you guessing who is right and who is wrong.
There was a huge buzz surrounding this movie for its release, and I can't really say I agree with that, this is not a game-changer or so scary it compares to Hereditary or anything, but it's decent horror. I like Riley Keough, and she's really good here.
We follow the Wilsons' who spend the summer at the sea shore when it turns out the mother is very familiar with the beach in this area since she once got lost here as a litte girl and ended up in a hall of mirrors in a funhouse and saw, amongst all her reflections, another little girl who looks exactly like her, and that spooked her out for life.
Us takes twists and turns revolving around the bountiful motives of mirrors and masks; hidden and double identities, society mirroring itself and the many levels of class, justice and upheaval. My favorite of all Peele movies: the choreography, the music, the acting (Lupita Nyong'o should have won an Oscar, yes) all add up to create this masterpiece.
Dani's (Florence Pugh) whole world falls apart when her entire family is killed by her mentally unstable sister in an act of delirium, and she understandably tries to desparately hold on to the only thing left in her life; her boyfriend. Too bad he's not that into her and had been playing with the idea of leaving her for about a year, with the end goal of pursuing women for more sex. While everybody is trying their best to make the situation work, nothing seems enough, and the final blow is a trip to a Swedish commune where the couple and a few friends plan on joining the Midsommar celebrations.
Despite not always understanding everything going on here, I love watching this movie where, in the end, everybody actually gets what they have been yearning for - Dani gets the empathy and compassion she has been hungry for, and boyfriend Christian gets to get laid. But it doesn't happen in a pretty way, it's in fact all very scary in this creepy cult where the reenactment of human emotions in grotesque outbursts is not the only strange tradition.
It's wonderful how everything that is perceived as beautiful and nice turns to horror by way of presentation alone - sex, love, friendship, Nordic culture... All emotions turn into ridiculous husks over here, and they are literally represented as husks, as emptied out bodies, loose skin. Alone the fact that Aster uses Sweden as his setting, with the male characters, like most men I know, drool over the idea of blonde Nordic girls and everything is nice and clean. He plays with the idyllic image and makes that something to be scared of. But all this is rather peripheral to Dani's personal journey in which her whole world falls apart, only to be purged and rebuilt in this strange place.
In a very slow, stripped, serene style, director Eggers tells us the story of two lighthouse keepers and their gradual descent into darkness brought about by dire working conditions, loneliness and alcohol. And possibly mermaids. Alone the acting (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) makes the watch worthwhile, but as I mention above, it's a very peculiar, very original story. It is also shot in black and white, and I generally have a problem with that, so maybe just not mine.
This might be the only movie I didn't enjoy but included in the Golden Films of Horror series because of that thing with the devil and his due and all.
Akın is at the same time a Hamburger, so to say, lol. He is a native of the Hamburg neighborhood (St. Pauli/Altona) in which serial killer Fritz Honka has been killing women in the 70's. So it's by no means surprising he'd be making a movie set in this city, this neighborhood, but my figurative jaw dropped when he decided to shoot an exploitation film.
Der Goldene Handschuh approaches Honka with a lot of empathy yet showcases his disgraceful deeds in a bleak, shocking way which stirs emotions. It's a pretty disgusting film, to be honest, but has something to say and leaves an impression, that's for sure.
During dinner, Emily explains she's planing on joining a grad school program on Astrobiology and explains how that relates to her current studies in Organic Chemistry (this is important!). Oh and she doesn't eat the oysters for dinner.
Later in the evening a fog starts covering the sea shore and it affects them in unpleasant ways.
I have seen this movie during my first ever COVID infection during the second lockdown. All my infections were hard, but the first one was something else, as I was one of the first people around to catch it and I was sick for a month. I was living alone, hadn't seen any human being in a month, except for the paramedics in full hazmat suits and masks. Did I ever mention how dramatic I get when I'm sick? So here I was, convinced that I will die here and the hazmat suited people will find me and disinfect my home and burn my body. And it was definitely not a very good idea to watch this movie during this time, as it focuses on the effects extraterrestrial substances can have on the human body and there's a lot of sickness involved, strengthening my malaise.
I'm so glad that is over, by the way.
2020
The Empty Man is a movie that was slammed when it was first released, but managed to build a cult following amongst bona fides. Considering it starts pretty banal with a stupid game young people play, maybe it is somewhat understandable people reacted negatively, but it develops into something unexpectedly profound, almost philosophical and shows a genuinely unsettling and fresh take. If you ever have some spare time I definitely recommend you watch it, totally worthwhile.
It's not fun growing old, and I'm not meaning 30s or 40s old, I'm talking about 75+ when the hard illnesses start rotting you, and your senses leave you hanging, and pains and aches and depression take hold, and your memory and heart and joints and your body start shutting down. On top of it all younger people find it cool and acceptable to bully you. The horror community does this so much, and I'm tired of de-friending everyone who mentions "boomers" or says old people are creepy or utters some other smartass stigma.
So this movie was a breath of fresh air really, showing nothing and nobody is spared, so we might as well take each other seriously across generations.
If you're at all familiar with the conditions refugees have to live under in western European countries, the camps they are being made reside in, if you know the legislative which restricts their traveling, living, working, even education, the way they are treated by natives, you will be able to appreciate this movie which tries to evenly distribute the horror to both sides; life before and after refuge.
The symbolism is powerful, the aesthetic imposing. A must watch in any case.
A survival flick of a little different sort, in which young Becky who lost her mom to cancer is forced to spend the weekend with her father she hates and his girlfriend she basically loathes. Then they get unwanted visitors.
This, in contrast to some of the other films on this list, isn't really of great artistic or cinematic value as it's a perfect amalgamation of what makes out a standard home invasion movie; a clear-cut good-bad division, everyday troubles that are set aside when the real horror starts and a touch of Home Alone. I still enjoy watching it and would recommend it as a light watch when you just want to spend some time mindlessly staring at your screen.
It's worth mentioning that "King of Queens" Kevin James is stepping out of his comfort zone here to play a villain, and passes this test with flying colors. I was really repulsed and totally bought his impersonation of runaway prisoner Dominick.
So, my friends, these were the Golden Years of horror cinema until the pandemic hit us and the real life horror took over. I might have a couple of honorary mentions, but basically not too many. Possessor maybe? I am really hoping we can get back into that mood and lots of good horror films are still ahead of us. Until then!
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