Best Horror of 2018 | Karen's Picks

Well another year has come to a close, which means I have been trying like mad to catch up on all the horror movies from 2018 that I haven’t had a chance to watch yet. There are still others I want to see, but I had to call it at some point.

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10. Ravenous

A French-Canadian film. There is no shortage of zombie movies, but this one was just different enough to keep my interest. The zombies don’t act like you would expect and it makes you feel just as unsettled as the characters trying to survive.

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9. Mom and Dad

Only one of the Nicolas Cage movies in my top ten, which is a sentence I never thought I would type. Who knew that he was just a horror star waiting to happen? This movie was a fresh take on the kids trying to kill their parents movie and Nic and Selma Blair played the roles perfectly.

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8. Revenge

This is one of the movies that kept growing on me well after I watched it. There were some gratuitous ‘artsy’ shots that got distracting after a while, but this is a very well done revenge movie that empowers the main character and has the audience cheering along.

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7. A Quiet Place

Why do movies always have to show the monsters? It hardly ever helps and it is definitely the case in this movie. This was a terrifying concept and well-made, but the ending was a bit over the top and that’s why it’s not higher on my list.

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6. Mandy

I predict next year, Nic Cage will be in 3 of my top 10. He seriously cannot be stopped. I had a hard time even picking an image for this because the movie is just so cool looking. It’s a bit longer than I would have liked, but watching Red get revenge for a solid hour was mesmerizing enough to keep my interest.

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5. Terrified

I finally broke down and got Shudder mostly to watch this (and Summer of 84, but meh) and I was not disappointed. An Argentinian horror movie about weird happenings in a neighborhood that keeps us guessing with what will show up next. Very solid practical effects and good acting made this movie stick with me long after it was over.

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4. The Endless

Cults?  Weird time loops? Benson and Moorhead? You had me at cults. I loved Spring and I love these guys. The movie looks awesome and is definitely a fresh take on the cult film. I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

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3. Bird Box

I had very high expectations for this movie as I absolutely loved the book (by a Michigan native and a quick read - check it out!) and I think this was a great adaptation. It was pretty faithful to the book and the things that they changed made sense and didn’t take away from the overall story.

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2. The Ritual

Another film based on a book that I loved. This book kept me up at night and that never happens anymore. This movie has cults, monsters, Norse mythology… what else could you want?

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1. Halloween

If you’re surprised by this, you don’t know me at all. This movie was made for me.

Best Horror of 2017 | Karen's Picks

10. Better Watch Out

Keeping up with the nostalgia trend in movies and television, Better Watch Out is reminiscent of Home Alone but takes it one step further. It features some very promising young actors including the kids that we all loved from The Visit. Better Watch Out is a very fun Christmas movie that had a twist that I didn’t see coming.

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9. The Girl With All the Gifts

I have read a good amount of zombie novels in my time. Any movie based on a book that I loved automatically makes me nervous, which is why I waited so long to watch this. I am pleased to say it was a beautiful, faithful adaptation with great acting and some very tense scenes. It’s on Amazon Prime, so check it out!

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8. Happy Death Day

I was so sick of watching these trailers by the time this movie came out that I had no intention whatsoever of seeing it. Luckily, I mistakenly believed we were recording an episode on it. It was much better than the trailer suggested and such a fun movie! It doesn’t take itself too seriously while still maintaining a certain level of dread.

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7. Creep 2

The first thing I saw Mark Duplass in was The League, which if you don’t know, is a comedy series about a fantasy football league. This is just a tad different. Even without watching the first one, this was great. Sara is a great foil to Aaron and made the movie a lot of fun.

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6. IT

Did you really think this wouldn’t be on my list? Get out of here. There was no way this was going to be as scary as I remember the original being, but I was also way too young when I watched that. Bill Skarsgard did a fantastic job portraying Pennywise (so much drool!) and the kids were great. Excited to see them as adults!

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5. The Blackcoat's Daughter

Whoo boy can Oz Perkins make a pretty movie. I liked The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House but this was a more cohesive story and still so pretty. I have loved Kiernan Shipka since Mad Men and she just keeps getting better.

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4. Thelma

While I wasn’t able to record the episode on Thelma, I heard so many good things that I had to check it out. It is a beautiful coming of age tale set in Thelma’s first semester of college. As if that’s not a hard enough time for any teenage girl, leaving her strict religious home for the first time has some interesting consequences.

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3. Get Out

There is nothing to say about this movie that hasn’t already been said.  I want Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener to be my movie parents and Allison Williams was incredibly successful as their ‘innocent’ daughter.

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2. Split

James McAvoy crushed it in this movie, you could tell which personality was in charge just based on his body language. M. Night Shyamalan is back on his game and I am very excited to see the last movie in the trilogy.

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1. Raw

There was no movie even close to this one for me, it is probably my favorite horror movie of the last 5 years at least. I could watch it every week and not get sick of it. Why are you still reading this? Go watch it now!

Top 10 Horror Movies to Watch With Your Kids

You may not know this, but I’m a proud auntie! I just gained a new nephew and now I’ve even got a niece on the way, too! And like all good horror fans, I’m counting down the days until I can introduce them to the wonderful world of spooky, supernatural, creepy, and fantastical cinema. Here’s my own personal top 10 list of childhood favorites that helped shaped me into the loveable weirdo I am today. I can’t wait to one day share these with my little circle of critters.

10. Beetlejuice (1988)

This is one of the earliest “scary” movies I can remember watching as a kid. The only part that legitimately freaked me out was when those weird talon-hand things reach out of the soup bowls in the “Day-O” dinner scene. The effects are macabre, but cartoonish, over the top, and silly. Plus, didn’t we all have little crush on Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse? Good, me neither.

9. The Adventures of Ichabod (1949)

This one is usually found in a double feature, along with Mr. Toad. It’s a super simple mini-movie from Walt Disney, narrated in a jaunty musical fashion by the famous crooner, Mr. Bing Crosby. I watched this tale of the unfortunate school teacher and his headless horseman foe EVERY Halloween, and it wasn’t truly the fall season until I did.

8. The Wolf Man (1941)

Ahh...another oldie but a goodie! I feel like I can safely assume this one needs no explanation. I do want my nephews and nieces to know the genre roots, eventually. The Wolf Man was (and still is) my favorite classic monster. Maybe the wolf isn’t as emotionally gripping as Frankenstein’s monster, or as sexual as The Count, but he’s got good hair.

7. Coraline (2009)

Before my nieces & nephews delve into this film for the first time, I hope they start by reading Neil Gaiman’s original book. It’s got the creepy, it’s got the whimsical, and it’s got an adorable, stop-motion animated little girl with blue hair. Coraline is a smart and plucky heroine who travels into a scary alternate reality and HANDLES that shit. The dialogue is funny without having to ever play "dumb" for the family audience.

6. Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990-2000)

Obviously, this is a TV show and not a movie - but it's still deserving of a place on my list. Words cannot express how badly I wanted to be in a kick-ass scary story circle like The Midnight Society. That’s probably the dream for all little horror fans. Oh, and what about that one episode with the girl who’s slowly turning into a doll? Fucking frightening, amirite??

5. Stephen King's IT (1990)

I hope that someday my nieces/nephews and I can watch IT, followed by the promising-looking remake. This was the movie that started my lifelong devotion to Stephen King. Telling stories from the POV of the kids is a user-friendly way to get the youth into the genre. Just forward all those therapy bills for the coulrophobia treatments directly to me.

4. The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

Another Disney offering, this little known gem is pure gold, people. Those of us who were raised on this CREEPY af movie form a tight-knit little cult. The basic premise is that an American family moves into a big old house near the woods in England. A young girl, Karen, lived there years before and mysteriously vanished. The “present day” kids begin to unravel the truth about what happened to poor Karen. It’s cheesy fun with visuals that still haunt me to this day.

3. Goosebumps (1995-1998) & R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour (2010-2014)

Since both of these come from the mastermind of R.L. Stine, I counted them as one. I can only hope the children in my life end up loving R.L. Stein’s macabre little world as much as I still do. There’s some kind of creature, ghoul, living dummy, or evil cuckoo clock tale for everyone’s tastes. One of my favorite things about R.L. Stein’s stories? They don’t usually have happy endings. Toughen up, kids! Welcome to horror!

2. The Witches (1990)

Just because an evil witch turns you into a mouse, doesn’t mean that you should give up on trying to destroy them and save the day. Who didn’t get the pants scared off them as a kid after those ladies peeled off their disguises and unveiled their diabolical plan to rid England of all children?! Angelica Huston is a fierce Goddess in this role. Slay, mama, slay.

1. Return to Oz (1985)

I’m sure everyone on planet Earth is sick of me talking about this movie and how much I adore it. Return to Oz shaped my love of horror and dark fantasy. This “sequel” to the classic story picks up with a much younger Dorothy, after she gets back from her original adventure in Oz. She’s about to have her brain fried in a crude psychiatric facility when she’s suddenly transported right back to Oz. There she meets all sorts of mutants, and a wicked witch named Mombi, who can take off her head and exchange it with one of the thirty extras she keeps in glass and golden cabinets. Did I mention this is a kid’s movie? Cool. One of the best parts about this tale is that it suggests Dorothy may just be insane and not an inter-dimensional traveler after all. I’m a romantic, so I choose to believe the former. I am ecstatic at the idea of one day introducing this twisted, fun (and it is really fun), creepy movie to a new generation.

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Honorable mentions:

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Another staple, beloved by many, and also released by Disney. If you haven’t watched and loved this movie, I kindly suggest you stop living under a rock and do so immediately. This one certainly helped fuel my obsession with Halloween, but not necessarily with horror. I’m sure the kids will see this one a million times without any help from me.

The Craft (1996)

I watched this one during my formative years and I mean I watched it a lot. My sister, cousin, and I were OBSESSED with this movie. Now that we’re adults, I’m so happy to see that other people our age binged out on The Craft as well. It was a call-to-arms for misfits who didn’t fit it in at school. I’m getting worried that the film industry doesn’t make stuff like this for spooky teens anymore. C’mon, Hollywood! Prove me wrong and give my nieces & nephews movies like this to grow up on!

~ Sandra (@LilMsMnstr)