By Dr.LoveGore
To me, 2019 was a decent year for the genre. There were a lot of Horror movies I got excited about. On top of seeing new movies, I also saw a few older ones in theatres.THE BROOD AND PHANTASM were released before my time (same year infact), and it was fuckin fantastic seeing them both on the big screen. Moving on to the new releases of 2019, I again have to compliment; the offerings were surprising, exciting, bloody, and even original! Here I’ve ranked six of my favorites throughout the last 12 months
Let's get started
6. Zombieland: Double Tap
It doesn’t seem this movie was as popular as I thought it was going to be, but I don't really care since my girl and I loved it. Director Ruben Fleischer added cool and interesting characters to his sequel. The laughs were plenty and the gore was pretty… really pretty. I didn't need or want much more from this film. But, on top of laughs and gore, the acting was 100%. The main cast looked exactly the same, even Abigail Breslin’s “Little Rock”. That was obviously in the movie’s favor. It took ten years for fans to get this sequel, but damn, it was given to us the way we deserve it!
5. Us
GET OUT was good. US on the other hand, was a step up, quality-wise in my eyes. US has a plethora of creepy moments and good acting all across the board. I got the humor, I dug the atmosphere... wanted a little more gore, but hey, everything else the movie bashed me in the cranium with made up for it. Tim Heidecker from Tim & Eric surprised me with his role. I didn’t even recognize him the first time I saw it. And Jordan Peele showed once again that he knows his Horror. The nods to genre movies in US I highly respected. I’m super curious what Peele’s going to cook up next.
4. Midsommar
Another director to step it up from their first project; HEREDITARY, was Ari Aster with MIDSOMMAR. This movie has a story similar to other stories told before, but with enough originality to slamdance on whoever’s watching it. Even people I’ve spoken with that didn’t like it could not deny its shock value. Aster is bold and unafraid to do want he wants with his movies. He already has a style that’ll be easy to spot by his next film. Just so there’s no confusion, that is a high compliment. Directors like; Tarantino, Scorsese, Rodriguez, The Farrelly Brothers, all have styles that only they can execute. I predict other directors will try to mimic Aster’s style if they haven’t already. He brought his own recipe to our beloved Horror genre.
3. Crawl
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Alexandre Aja. The man just repeatedly makes good films. CRAWL has some "by the numbers" moments, but then the next scene flips you over, makes you its bitch, then bites your head off! Yeah, I love this movie. The scenes between the father (Barry Pepper) and daughter (Kaya Scodelario) are the heart of this movie. These two actors sell these scenes flawlessly which makes the gator action pack a fiercer bite. CRAWL might even be a bit smarter than one may expect walking into a gator movie. I’ve seen it twice and I liked it even better the second time around.
2. Brightburn
With Superheros flooding cinemas and making big cash, it seems only right that someone would come along and make a movie adding Horror to a Superhero story. And, some people got together and did just that. BRIGHTBURN is a David Yarovesky film, and he plays this story straight. I fuckin love that. Some movies need to be goofy, silly or campy, but this is not one of them. It’s even creepier the second time around… for me it was, anyway. It doesn’t have a ton of death scenes, however, the ones it does have are seriously extraordinary. The cast is perfect. Jackson A. Dunn for sure steals the show, though. His character changes a lot, he handles it and makes it look easy. Without saying too much, the ending is cold and left me wanting more. This is a flick that has franchise potential.
BRIGHTBURN’s a little slow at times, but I actually enjoyed that approach a lot more on my second watch. A movie that takes its time to tell its story usually does so for good reason.
1. Doctor Sleep
Mike Flanagan grand slammed this fuckin movie.
I got to see this a week early, which was a blessing. I needed some good quality Horror in my life when I stepped in to the theatre the night before Halloween. I like most of Flanagan’s work, and even the stuff I’m not crazy about, I can see the talent involved. BUT! DOCTOR SLEEP I did like. I thought it was both bold and strange when I saw the first trailer. I knew Stephen King was on record dissing Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 THE SHINING. But I was also under the impression, King was cool with Flanagn. So, was King ok with the movie version of DOCTOR SLEEP being a sequel not only to the book, but to Kubrick’s film, too? It seems so, King went on to say, in his own words, that he liked the movie. I clearly liked it too or it wouldn’t be number one on this list. It was a refreshing experience, especially in the packed theatre.. I’ll be getting this on Blu Ray when it comes out.
If you want to know more about how I feel about DOCTOR SLEEP, you can read
Honorable Mentions I Also Loved
Happy Death Day 2 U - I liked it better than the first one. It was smarter and funnier.
Ready Or Not - I love the ending.
I liked JOKER a lot, but I wanted to keep this list with full blown Horror.
And I have to say... the CHILD'S PLAY remake actually entertained me.
Hope everyone's enjoying 2020 so far. Thanks for another year of Horror love! Keep it gorey, Beyond The Voiders!!!
Dr.LoveGore is all about the gore, and quality in anything related to Horror. Movies, soundtracks, comic books, novels, you name it, he loves it!
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