Apologies for the silence that has fallen across the blog for a little while. I have also watched a few films that I’ve not managed to review. This is owing to a hectic personal life schedule and a few things that understandably took priority. As a result, I’m hoping to start afresh in 2024 and return to a more regular publishing schedule.
As ever, the films presented here will sometimes be marked as 2022 releases and some are still on the festival circuit or unavailable to watch (at least in the UK) as of the end of 2023. I’ve also deliberately used the word favourite as opposed to top or best as there may be films throughout the year that I’ve maybe rated more highly but as I’ve thought about them further, either revised my initial rating or simply found myself thinking about those films more.
Not every film is a genre movie and as is always the case with these things, there are films like Femme, Poor Things, How to Have Sex and All Of Us Strangers that are on my list of films to watch but I’ve been unable to watch yet. Still, these lists are always an interesting exercise in reviewing how films change in the mind over time and on a purely self-involved level is useful for compiling a scrapbook of favourites that hopefully help others decide if my review of something aligns with their taste. After all, life is too short for hate watches when there is so much good stuff out there. As a result, on a few entries I’ll note a few honorary mentions from the festival it played at. Yes, this is entirely a way of sneaking a few more names onto the list.
25. The Moor
Super spooky with an arresting conclusion but what I most enjoyed about this was the way that the filmmakers made the area feel like one gripped by grief and fear. It takes something special to really imbue an entire film with that kind of unsettling, deeply felt emotion so this was very impressive.
24. Doctor Jekyll
Eddie Izzard (as credited) brings gravitas to this retelling of a story that has already been told so many times. Her performance is nuanced and provides an emotional weight to the story while also keeping a fun, almost throwback Hammer horror. The pacing is great and the story also makes space for an exploration of Scott Chambers’ character Rob, who would be easy to sideline in favour of more Jekyll/Hyde set pieces.
23. With Love and a Major Organ
This is quite a gentle genre film and it would be an incredible stretch to call it horror, but there are moments of darkness in this that would feel at home within horror. The visuals and how people’s hearts are represented are so thoughtful and often striking (I’ve thought about the red cord around the trees so often since viewing). This will be almost unbearably quirky for some, but the exploration between messy humanity and sanitised perfect technology is frequently moving.
Sometimes it is hard to remember films from earlier in the year when it comes time to do these year-end roundups. However, the visuals of Trim Season have stayed in my memory throughout, with director Ariel Vida using her wealth of production design experience to bring something so vivid and perfect for the subject matter. Intriguing lore and memorable horror moments throughout.
21. M3GAN
After Malignant, Akela Cooper being credited as a writer does attract my attention (aside from The Nun 2 because sorry, but that had enough in the trailer to indicate it was not for me) and something like M3GAN feels like the perfect subject for her refreshingly campy take on mainstream horror. There was a fear that the meme-heavy marketing campaign complete with Taylor Swift soundtracked trailer and dancing M3gans could be guarding a poor film, but the film manages to deliver enough on a concept that could so easily be lost. I really hope Cooper’s work continues to gather steam as one of the most interesting mainstream horror writers.
20. Barbie
Look, I’m as surprised as you are, but Greta Gerwig’s take on Barbieland was a genuinely good time. These things always work best when everyone commits and Barbie really benefitted from that – the world it exists in was perfectly designed and Ryan Gosling’s Ken has given a momentary pause from all method actors seemingly just wanting to be difficult for a while by so fully embracing his Kenergy in the show and promotional materials. Yes, this has entry-level feminist ideas but for some of the kids who just went to see a shiny toy movie that could be the start of something more.
19. Scream VI
The latest Scream entry worked well for me, despite a lacklustre killer reveal. The ‘core four’ felt slightly more established and the switch in setting also helped to freshen things up in the absence of the long-standing cast members. Melissa Barrera really shone for me and the Carpenter sisters were increasingly easy to root for. A shame as her departure from (at the time of writing) the upcoming seventh instalment leaves precious little else for the franchise to explore.
18. Sanctuary
I’m not saying I’m predictable but I am saying you can basically guarantee I’ll watch anything featuring Christopher Abbott. Sanctuary is, despite the initial premise, a lot lighter than I expected in places, becoming a dom-rom-com. Yes, there is an intensity to this, but that tendency toward the rom-com, however dysfunctional, dulls it a little as the film feels like it scrambles toward the end to meet that. Abbott and Margaret Qualley’s chemistry is excellent though, which certainly offsets many issues.
17. Howdy, Neighbor!
This screenlife film finds true horror in fandom. Matthew Scott Montgomery plays Benjamin Caldwell, a former child actor who found fame in a sitcom. As an important anniversary of the show looms, we follow his increasing concern that a fan is too invested in the reunion and Benjamin himself. What follows is a masterfully creepy and inventive take on the obsessed stalker with an endearing cast, strengthened by the screenlife limitations rather than confined by them.
Sohome Horror Festival Honorable Mentions: The quiet beauty and pain of Summoners.
16. Saint Drogo
Since watching the incredible Death Drop Gorgeous I’ve been waiting for the second film from the team behind it. Promising a folk-horror narrative rather than the city setting of their first feature, Saint Drogo follows a couple who take a trip together to a small town during the off-season. Nightmare sequences, lashings of sex and 1970s-style paranoia topped with some of the most striking practical effects of the year make this a must-see.
Soho Horror Festival Honorable Mentions: Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism and Booger. If you want to be angry at reactionary and regressive ideas then Godless is the film for you. At times, the film feels a little like a Hallmark movie but it contains a vital message and delivers on the true horror of so-called exorcisms taking place in contemporary life. Booger is an entirely different kind of film, focused on grief and accountability with a memorable singing scene that struck exactly the right note for me.
It is a shame this film didn’t quite make the horror festival circuit rounds as much as it should have. A limited UK cinema release may have brought some eyes to it but Back Home feels like a horror fan’s horror movie, managing to reference many of the past few year’s big hitters while also presenting genuinely effective scares and an emotional core. Fully indulgent horror that touches on familial trauma, belonging and loneliness.
14. Stopmotion
This would make an excellent double bill with Censor, with a focus on a woman starting to lose her grasp on reality. Robert Morgan’s unsettling stop-motion short films are well known so it is fascinating to see them play a vital role in this tale of obsession and perfection. The art of stop-motion animation and Ella’s (a standout performance from Aisling Franciosi) own concerns merge perfectly and as a debut feature, this is an incredible effort.
Celluloid Screams Honorary Mentions: Slow-burn, ambient Falling Stars sees something from above impact a small community. Compelling and witty What You Wish For presents Nick Stahl’s desperate chef with a fascinating moral dilemma. Loop Track sees Wellington Paranormal‘s Thomas Sainsbury head out on a walking trail that heads in a genuinely surprising direction.
13. Klokkenluider
Neil Maskell’s directorial debut could easily be a play given the focus on dialogue and excellent performances but the camera significantly livens it. Soaring overhead shots make the characters appear like pieces on a chessboard and lapses into slow motion further extend that sense of manipulation that underpins this gripping political thriller.
12. The Seeding
Some are going to find The Seeding slow and this won’t be helped by some attempts to market it as extreme. This is a slow-moving, screw-turning exercise in dread as a man finds himself held captive by a roaming group of children. The description can’t really do it justice as the film itself has a sprawling intensity, taking its time to arrive at a conclusion it deliberately sews seeds for.
FrightFest Honorable Mention: High-action revenge flick, Farang (renamed as Mayhem), boasting the kind of choreography that would be at home in The Raid.
11. Holy Spider
Holy Spider is one of those films that I found incredible but I’ll likely never watch again. A damning portrait of the Iranian justice system and misogyny based on real events. Close-quarters, claustrophobic and unflinching representations of violence that feel intrusive. It will near the exploitative threshold for some but it at least feels like it has something to say about the violence enacted upon these women. A truly uncomfortable watch.
10. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
I don’t think I can name a more charming film from this year. A relatively light-touch comedy despite the dark themes with some laugh-out-loud lines in among the more consistent small laughs. This moves at such a rapid pace that you’ll wish you were in the film’s company for much longer but is perfectly timed, moving without being schmaltzy and contains an utterly beautiful musical number.
David Dastmalcian’s charisma brings this to life as a talk show host takes on the challenge of a live paranormal investigation. There is fun, pathos, scares and a pleasing wraparound for all of it. The 1970s setting throws you into that era of occult paranoia but the film maintains a playful edge, carefully straddling the tones of horror, sadness and fright.
8. Renfield
It is fairly unlikely for me to rank something quite so fun this highly, but sometimes, you really just do need that. This struck the balance just right for me, finding fun in moments of Dracula lore, plus bringing it into modern times. The cast are excellent – Nicholas Hoult is so endearing as Renfield and Nicholas Cage as Dracula is genuinely a joy to watch. The action is diverting and at times, drew a wince or two but it is primarily here because it just feels so easy to watch. Popcorn for the brain with some gags that land.
7. Where The Devil Roams
From the opening poem, Where The Devil Roams sets itself apart in terms of its visual language. Riffing on Frankenstein‘s warning scene, the film soon delves into the lives of a family travelling Depression-era America with their vaudeville act. The Addams family have created such an incredible texture with monochrome visuals and their own music. Each character feels so lived in, so laden with history and trauma that it’s impossible to not be moved by it, even when it veers toward the dysfunctional.
6. Scala!!!
I have only very recently visited Scala and while it was in the capacity of an emo club night rather than a cinema, there is truly something otherworldly about that venue. The ornate stairs, the wear and tear, it all feels like a building that has borne witness to so much. As the documentary details, possibly too much! In any case, Scala is an affectionate, but honest documentary about the magic and danger of the infamous cinema screenings. More than that though, it is an ode to the importance of and need for queer alternative spaces in which people can find one another.
Ask me about the Satanic Panic and I’ll be happy to bore you for hours. This documentary comes at just the right point in time, able to offer an exploration of the hysteria around Michelle Remembers with some of those who knew Michelle and Lawrence Pazder while also operating as a sobering reminder of how these moral panics resurface time and time again. Hearing the tapes is vital, with ridiculous details delivered in a distressing fashion. The hoax perpetuated in the name of protecting children is laid bare here, even without the involvement of the main couple and should serve as a reminder about listening to groups of people looking to create panic around another group.
4. Good Boy
Some films are just instant sells. This low-budget psychosexual thriller is one of them, featuring a woman who starts dating a man who she thinks may break her pattern of lost causes until he introduces her to his rather strange pet: a man wearing a dog suit. What follows is a tense take on power relations, discipline and control, with a side of kink.
FrightFest Honorable Mentions: An actress takes gory payback in Faceless After Dark. In Suitable Flesh, Lovecraft is brought to life via a star-studded cast, lots of sex and a particularly memorable car scene.
3. Red Rooms
While others on this list may be more overtly graphic, I don’t think any other film on this list has made me gasp out loud as many times. Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne is a character that you cannot take your eyes off and the film exploits this to its full extent during a scene that is so skin-crawlingly shocking that it will stay in my memory for a long time. What makes the film so effective is how it marries its critique of serial killer fandom media saturation with refusing to glorify or provide too much detail about crimes while still delivering a completely unnerving narrative
2. Infinity Pool
Brandon Cronenberg’s brand of science fiction is compelling because he can build worlds with a convincing texture – those small details that allow you to slip under the film’s spell and buy into the technology on display. The celebrity obsession of Antiviral and covert assassination technology of Possessor are all made eerily plausible by Cronenberg’s clever design, which continues throughout Infinity Pool’s expanded world. Mia Goth’s standout performance and a fascinating turn by Alexander Skarsgård make this decadent, violent story one to get lost in.
1 . Saltburn
Anyone who has been watching my Letterboxed or social media already knows how I feel about this film so this placement should be no surprise. Emerald Fennell’s debut feature Promising Young Woman made number 3 on my favourites of 2021 and Saltburn proved to be a follow-up that shared the same darkly comic sensibility. Saltburn veers away from the more serious subject matter of PYW, instead creating an erotic thriller that feels purpose-built to go viral in a cultural landscape increasingly shying away from movie sex scenes.
Barry Keoghan’s performance is riveting and his dedication to that elevates what could so easily become a series of ‘shocking’ vignettes into something compelling. The overall presentation including the 2006/2007 soundtrack, fashions and makeup (I am *so* grateful that messy makeup will be on trend marking the first time I have been on trend since 2007) works for my personal tastes. As with any big film the ‘discourse’ has been fairly exhausting on this, especially when the film itself doesn’t take itself all that seriously. It is a pop culture collage, borrowing from low and high art and instilling that into characters that despite being broad, still feel lived in, believable and flawed despite surface charm.
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