Horror movies are losing their edge - it's a known fact. Every new high-budget horror film is usually riddled with jump-scares and cheap thrills. But there are a handful of little gems that have stood out over the past few years, and a few that I can't easily shake. Films that kept me up at night because there were some terrifying images that I couldn't get out of my head.
I'd like to note that this list is just a reflection of my opinion, I'm also talking about the scariest horror movies, not the best horror movies. I know people who didn't even flinch at a couple of these films, so, just be wary.
N U M B E R F I V E - EXCISION (2012)
Art-house horror films are slowly becoming the new-wave medium of scaring the shit out of people, while also making it look extremely pretty. Excision is about a young girl who is obsessed with anything surgical, and sex. It's a coming-of-age story, but it's really, really fucked up.
The last few scenes stayed with me, for a long time, and the soundtrack is eery, as hell.
To watch this film you need to have an extremely open-mind, some ridiculously dark humour, and have not eaten that day/night.
N U M B E R F O U R - MAGIC MAGIC (2013)
Help. Please. I don't know why this movie scares me so much. It follows a young insomniac who is travelling around Chile with her friends, when strange occurrences start to happen to her. She starts believing that one of the friends wants to kill her, and a bunch of other crazy stuff. It's really hard to talk about the narrative without giving the entire plot away.
There's a real sense of alienation in this film, and the way it's shot, makes you feel like you are going insane. There are certain scenes that show you something that you normally wouldn't find scary, but because of the atmosphere and the direction of the film, you can't shake the immense and overwhelming sense of anxiety that overcomes you.
Help. Why is Michael Cera so creepy? SOS.
N U M B E R T H R E E - IT FOLLOWS (2015)
There's been a lot of people on the fence about this movie. But I stand by it being one of the scariest films of 2015, and one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. While watching it at the cinema, I felt the need to step out for a moment, because I was feeling genuinely panicked about it.
The film is about pre-adolescent Jay, in decrepit Detroit, living a idle life that seems like it is in slow-motion. Her arm in a cast, her friends sneakily smoking cigarettes down the street while slurping on a giant slushy from 7/11, and going on dates at the local cinema. This film feels real, as if we're actually taking a glimpse into somebody else's life.
After Jay has sex with a guy that she has been seeing, she starts being stalked by a malevolent thing. You don't know what, or who it is, but it is following her, no matter where she goes. If it gets to her, it's going to kill her, painfully.
There are certain scenes in this film that I won't ever forget, with a soundtrack that is worthy to purchase a physical copy of, because it is so well curated.
I stand by this film, always, as one of the best horror films of the decade, it'a a must must-see.
N U M B E R T W O - INSIDIOUS (2010)
Fuck this movie. Fuck it. It didn't let me sleep for a long, long time. Fuck you James Wan with your ingenious filmmaking skills, and adept way of scaring people.
Insidious follows the story of a young boy who has the power of leaving his body during his sleep (astral projection). Although, one night, he gets lost and cannot return to his body in the morning, leaving a shit-tonne of dark spirits around his body wanting to inhabit it.
Imagine this shit, in regular horror films the house is haunted, or a creepy-ass doll, but in Insidious, it's the fucking son. You can't just burn him and run away, or get an exorcist to take the demons out, because there are too many around him trying to get in.
There's a handful of scenes that still make the hairs on my neck stand stiff. I don't want to spoil the film for anyone, but yes, please see it. It's terrifying.
N U M B E R O N E - THE CONJURING (2013)
Nope. No. Nuh-uh. Nup. Nah.
The Conjuring, I don't even know where to begin. I haven't seen the movie since I saw it in the cinema, and that really says something about my personality. Usually I'd run home and tell everyone about the fantastic film I just watched and how excited I was to get it on DVD. But with The Conjuring, I returned home, and lay in bed, already scared. It wasn't even night-time and I was dreading going to bed because I knew that I would be replaying some of the shit I just witnessed on the screen, in my head.
So when I saw the trailer to the film, I really didn't expect much. I knew that it was going to be a hugely successful film because it was directed by James Wan (fuck you, James), and that it had an enormous budget. Also, any film that says "based on true-events" is usually going to draw in a pretty large crowd.
So, like I said, I went into this film with low-expectations of scares. But if you put yourself into my body while watching the movie, you would feel all kinds of fucked up. There are scenes in the film that I have never seen in any other horror movies, ever. Scenes that I'm still trying to forget about because they keep me up at night. And scenes that shape this film to be the scariest damn thing of the last five years, if not the scariest thing ever made.
The performance of Vera Farmiga is worth the price of the DVD/Blu Ray or whatever, she was genuinely fantastic.
If you wanna see it, good luck to you, but I'm not watching it with you.