Unk's Year of Horror: 2024

I won't beat around the bush, Coralie Fargeat’s THE SUBSTANCE was by far my favorite film of 2024 and that’s that. This colorful, sometimes humorous film put me through an emotional ringer and the gooey special effects laden conclusion rocked me in ways I haven’t been rocked in literal decades. Demi Moore delivers a career defining tour de force performance and deserves to be pelted with laurels wherever she goes forever. I’ve heard some say the messaging was a bit on the nose but I for one appreciate the clarity. Yes, the entertainment industry is especially cruel to woman in regards to unrealistic beauty standards but the horror of aging confronted in this film is universal if you hang around on this spinning ball of nonsense long enough. This crazy, sad, gorgeous, disgusting, vibrant film left my jaw on the floor where it belongs and I can’t shake its slimy paw hard enough.

Robert Egger’s NOSFERATU is so cheerless, morose, hopeless and depressing that I publicly accuse it of reading my diary. It’s also just absolutely stunning on a visual level and if you have any goth leanings whatsoever it’s gonna float your plague ship. A true work of art stuffed with unforgettable imagery, it also vibrates with what feels like an authentic occult power. This is a perfect match up of subject matter and director and I absolutely love how Eggers utilizes darkness to such incredible effect. All the performances are pitch perfect too; Bill Skarsgard as the titular monster somehow is able to mimic the terrible voice in my head I thought only known to me, Nicholas Hoult is steadily sympathetic and expresses terror perfectly, Aaron Taylor Johnson is fascinatingly broody, Ralph Ineson is his usual stalwart self and chisel cheeked Lily Rose Depp is a revelation in her ability to conjure supernatural hysteria. Most importantly, the cat survives and gets to live with the ever wonderful William DeFoe. This movie reeks of death so of course it left me smitten.

THE FIRST OMEN is so damn good and easily the surprise of the year (second only to my rekindled tolerance of Tim Burton). After the debacle that was THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, I severely adjusted my expectations considering a modern franchise film being able to add anything of value to its source material (particularly in the case of Satanic seventies movies). Me of little faith! Dare I say THE FIRST OMEN is actually on par with the first classic film? Nell Tiger Free is phenomenal as a tortured would be nun reluctantly unravelling a Satanic conspiracy in seventies era Rome (especially when notably channeling Isabelle Adjani in 1981’s POSSESSION) and once again, the great Ralph Ineson is present to provide his signature awesomeness. Director Arkasha Stevenson delivers the perfect dour, paranoid tone and the scenes of horror push the envelope in surprising ways. Subtle where it needs to be, brazen where it aught to be, this sinister flick delivers a full stand alone experience that also beautifully enhances and compliments its demonic parent movie. Kudos and who’d of thought?

Sure ALIEN: ROMULUS sported the wonkiest CGI effect this side of 1999 (what were those translucent ghost teeth about? I see better deep fakes via Tik Tok on the daily) and the dialogue didn’t need to be so heavy handed on the fan service (pulling direct lines from previous films is just plain lazy) BUT, and this is a big BUT, Fede Alvarez brought back the OG’s sci-fi haunted house vibe, brought back the scares and the ick factor and he brought back characters that you really want to root for (BTW: I LOVE the ALIEN films, it’s really just compromising COVENANT that spurs my ire). I dig the world building here, I adore the level of tension and I greatly appreciate the multitude of creative set pieces. If you can just sneak by a couple of its flaws as if they were sleeping facehuggers, this is one of the most rip-roaring, adrenaline pumping thrill rides in the decades spanning series.

Osgood Perkin's LONGLEGS is a fever dream of unbridled weirdness and I may never fully understand its crazy mash up of serial killer thriller and uncanny supernatural horror but I heartily salute its high flying freak flag. The combination of subliminal, haunting, often nostalgic visuals and the stellar above par performances of BOTH Nicholas Cage and the underrated Alicia Witt (the nearly unrecognizable Maika Monroe and Kieran Shipka are no slouches either) made for an unforgettable deep dive into unnerving madness. Hail Satan!

Director Parker Finn impressively carved SMILE 2 into the perfect grimacing sequel. It’s bigger, bolder and more outrageous than its predecessor and beautifully expands its scope of terror. In a year of really incredible performances in horror (see titles above) triple threat Naomi Scott brings down the house as a multi-talented pop star with a drug problem exasperated by an infectious deadly curse. The film’s spectacular grande finale dispatches a demented smorgasbord of grotesqueries that are somehow equal parts toe-tapping and stomach turning. Bravo!

Girls, and especially vampire girls, just want to have fun and ABIGAIL may not be the type of movie that garners awards but it thankfully delivers a grande old, violent, bloody and sometimes giddy good time. There’s a party atmosphere going on here and the guests are a stacked cast of the genre’s finest (THE GUEST’s Dan Stevens, SCREAM V&VI’s Melissa Berra, Kevin Durand, who also killed it in this year’s KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, FREAKY’s Kathryn Newton, STOKER’s Mathew Goode, MAXXXINE’s Giancarlo Esposito) and Alisha Weir (who also excelled in MATILDA: THE MUSICAL) nails the deadly titular character. I agree that the movie would have been more fun if it was possible to see it without knowing its central twist but I had an absolute blast just the same.

Art the clown (virtuoso David Howard Thornton) has been hacking up the independent horror scene for some time but he really hits his stride and straddles the zeitgeist with TERRIFIER 3, a holiday horrorfest that truly lives up to its name. This feral, repulsive movie put me on edge by making it clear from its unrated, unruly start that it knew no bounds and couldn’t care less about playing by the rules. If you’re not a fan of cinematic violence or gore I’d probably stay clear but if you enjoy testing your mettle and feeling like a whimpering kid wondering how much you can withstand, this winking wild card is for you.

MAXXXINE disappointed seemingly many as a trilogy closing conclusion to Ti West and Mia Goth’s collaborative X and PEARL but I found it to be an enticing stroll on the shadowy, sleazy side of the drenched-in-neon block. I’ve got a soft spot for eighties flavored seedy exploitation flicks like ANGEL, VICE SQUAD and THE EXTERMINATOR, salacious and often scary scours of city night life that have become basically extinct thanks to the Disneyfication of our culture. For me, flaws and missed opportunities aside, this tale of an abrasive gal’s touring of the Boulevard of Broken dreams (while evading The Night Stalker no less) was an appreciated nostalgic treat that brought back fond memories of the joy of naughtily staying up late to watch forbidden fruit on late night cable or renting it on VHS.

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE scratched my disaster flick itch rigorously, warmed my creature feature loving heart and nicely ditched its nuclear family clan for more relatable and interesting (to me) square peg outsiders (Lupito Nyongo and Joseph Quinn, both excellent). It even features a lovable yet often anxiety stoking feline who clearly has more than nine lives to play with. Oh, if only the world would end on such a spectacular and less plodding note! Fingers (and beans) crossed!

FRESH VOICES: I thoroughly enjoyed spry squad IT’S WHATS INSIDE, CUCKOO and I SAW THE TV GLOW even though all three made me feel old as hell and maybe not so bright. IT’S WHATS INSIDE is an identity Rubik’s cube that I probably could have used a pad and paper to keep track of but once I got a handle on its language it turned into a challenging and ultimately satisfying CLUE-like old dark house mystery flick. The aptly titled CUCKOO dips Kubrickian chocolate into Cronenberg peanut butter and although I may never fully decipher its Orphan Annie on acid code ring, I dug its gorgeous setting, flashes of razor sharp horror and the incredible performances of Hunter Schafer and the impeccable Dan Stevens- that rare character actor with a leading man’s face. In my head I SAW THE TV GLOW leans more towards coming of age flick than horror (moon face dude and ice cream man are legit scary though) but its florescent visual poetry is stunning, its media addicted characters are relatable and its consistent disquiet vibe is genuinely entrancing.

THRILL ME, LUNATICS!: I got to the point last summer when I believed if I saw the trailer for SPEAK NO EVIL one more time, I too might lose my mind and go full blown postal. Still, James (yikes, EDEN LAKE) Watkins’ tight, taunt thriller about the dangers of keeping up appearances and not knowing when to cut your losses is a true nail biter and nobody but nobody does crazy like James McAvoy. Religion dissecting HERETIC leans toward the preachy itself and its second half doesn’t quite measure up to the first but the gift horse of an evil Hugh Grant should not be looked at in the mouth. NIGHT BITCH defies categorization yet this tale of a disgruntled house wife (an impressively fearless and award worthy Amy Adams) who is either going bonkers or transforming into a dog has enough body horror and borderline Lycanthropy in its kibble to certainly be considered horror adjacent. Surprisingly, for all its foaming at the mouth, it ends up being surprising poignant and inspirational in the (tail) end!

DECENT ENOUGH BUT NOT MY BAG: My Satanic seventies loving heart was really looking forward to LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL but although I loved the set up and the always great David Dastmalchian’s superb performance, the somewhat silly fireworks climax and overall broad, cardboard aesthetic left this Faustian tale in the friend zone for me. I found ODDITY to be objectively atmospheric and spooky at times but thought the story was mundane and that the character’s behavior (and that too convenient trapdoor) were pretty unconvincing. On paper (and in my Trapper Keeper), the Kathryn Newton starring, Diablo Cody-penned, zombie teen romance LISA FRANKENSTEIN should have been right up my fluorescent eighties alley but it lost much of its steam when it killed off its best character (Carla Gugino’s step-monster) early on and the humor never really clicked for me (which is strange since I think Cody’s YOUNG ADULT (2011) is hysterical). I’ve seen these three flicks (especially the first two) on many a “Best of the Year” list so I’m assuming the problem is me and that’s fine. .

THE UNINTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS: No ill will intended but I found both M. Night Shyamalan’s TRAP and Lee Daniel’s THE DELIVERANCE to be so over the top loopy that they were unintentional laugh riots. They may not be well structured films but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t left, for better or worse, entertained. Josh Hartnett is phenomenal in TRAP regardless of the clunky material. He’s a real-deal charismatic movie star and TRAP is a solid reminder. Not so great is the preposterous, reality-defying script and anything to do with would-be pop star “Lady Raven” (Seleka Night, kindly taking some heat off of Sophia Coppola’s performance in THE GODFATHER III). Actors carry THE DELIVERANCE past the finish line too, with Glenn Close revealing sides of herself never imagined while receiving solid back up from the likes of Andre Day, Omar Epps and Mo'nique. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t commit to its possession premise till late in the game and when it does, it comes across as pure camp. Again, I’m not mad at either of these movies, they at least never bored me and they still crack me up.

NOPE, THAT AIN'T IT: Fans of THE STRANGERS & its groovy PREY AT NIGHT sequel deserved so much more than the halfhearted montage of nondescript forest stalking scenes the inconsistant Renny Harlin dumped to the curb (and so did the likable enough leads). TAROT wasted some very impressive creature design on a hoary tale with little bite. Slagging Blumhouse delivered an apparent flop trilogy with NIGHT SWIM, IMAGINARY and AFRAID. I only subjected myself to NIGHT SWIM (so far) and didn’t seem to hate it as much as others due to my chronic Wyatt Russell bias.

That’s about it. A pretty great year for horror with at least two future classics/debatable masterpieces (THE SUBSTANCE & NOSFERATU), rare sequels and prequels that actually delivered (THE FIRST OMEN, ALIEN: ROMULUS, SMILE 2, TERRIFIER 3), a few fun popcorn crowd pleasers (ABIGAIL, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE) and many a singular horror vision (LONGLEGS, TV GLOW, CUCKOO etc.). Now of course, I have not seen everything released in 2024 and nor do I want or plan to. All in all, I’d say the good outweighed the bad by a ton and that’s always reason to sloppily devour shrimp like Dennis Quaid and celebrate. Here’s hoping we have an equally awesome 2025! Pump it up!