In recent years, the best horror movies have tended to skip cinemas and
debut on VOD, meaning horror hasn't been as affected by the mess that is
2020 as other genres have been. With Halloween coming up, we thought we'd
highlight our favourite horror movies of the year to date.
Aquaslash
We said: "What makes Aquaslash work is how, director
Renaud Gauthier tells his very silly story with a completely
straight face, never once winking at the audience.
Aquaslash never feels remotely contemptuous of the sort of
cheap thrills it's trading in, nor does it feel like a simple case of a
filmmaker paying tribute to a past era without adding anything worthwhile
of their own."
Aquaslash is on VOD/Digital now.
The Beach House
We said: "For all the existing sci-fi/horror ingredients director
Jeffrey A. Brown throws into his narrative pot, he manages to make
The Beach House a distinctively flavoured chowder of his
own. This is largely down to the human drama that remains centred amid the
apocalyptic extinction event that takes hold."
The Beach House is on Shudder
now.
Carmilla
We said: "Emily Harris has co-directed two features previously, but this is
essentially her feature debut, and it's quite the entrance. Shot in one of
those grand old creaky manors that pepper the English countryside,
Carmilla has the feel of some lost instalment of the BBC's
'70s 'A Ghost Story for Christmas' anthology."
Carmilla is on VOD/Digital
now.
Koko-Di Koko-Da
We said: "Koko-di Koko-da is an unsettling, profoundly sad, but
ultimately uplifting exploration of grief and fate through a folk-horror
lens. Where most backwoods horror movies act as deterrents for rural
camping trips, Johannes Nyholm's film encourages us to get out into
the woods and face our demons."
Koko-Di Koko-Da is on
VOD/Digital/blu-ray and BFI Player now.
Relic
We said: "Relic's supernatural elements are present only in its bookend sequences.
Remove them entirely and it would still function as a horror movie, albeit
one grounded in the all too real milieu of the mental decline of an
elderly person, and the guilt experienced by their child. It reminds us that horror can be the most humane and healing of
genres."
Relic is in UK cinemas and on
Digital from October 30th.
The Rental
We said: "Dave Franco's directorial debut is an impressive first outing behind the camera.
He proves himself as adept at staging stalk and slash sequences as he is
in building realistic characters."
A UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
Rose: A Love Story
We said: "I've always appreciated movies that take time to establish the world
they're set in, no matter how intimate that setting might be. If you go
into Rose: A Love Story asking questions of just how you
might live a day to day life if your spouse was a vampire, you'll find
most of them answered here."
A UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
Saint Maud
We said: "Saint Maud succeeds both as horror and as a moving
psychological study of a sensitive, lonely, troubled mind. It's a truly
impressive, confident debut feature - a daring yet compassionate
examination of psychology and religion, offering several layers of
complexity dressed in horror’s clothes."
Saint Maud is currently in UK
cinemas.
The Swerve
We said: "Creating an affecting and intricate portrait of domestic misery, it is a
feat of genuine humanity and one of this year’s unmissable
films. The Swerve is a subtle, credible affair, balancing its
cynicism with an insistent humanity."
The Swerve is on VOD/Digital
now.
Z
We said: "Z keeps us gripped with just the right mix of slowburn
menace, occasional and effective jump scares, and an earnest performance
by Keegan Connor Tracy. All this helps to paper over how
conventional its narrative really is, but there's something comforting
about watching conventions pulled off with such unshowy grace."
Z is on Shudder now.