Connect with us

Editorials

Mr. Disgusting Picks the Best Horror Films of 2016!

Published

on

Mr. Disgusting’s Top 10 Horror Films | Several More Must-See Horror Films | Kalyn’s Top 10 | Trace’s Top 10 | Trace’s Worst 510 Best Posters | Worst Posters | Best Trailers | Luiz Picks the Best Horror Shows | Chris’ Best Blu-rays 2016: The Year Netflix Embraced Horror | 10 Sci-fi Movies You May Have Missed | 13 Most Disturbing Horror Movie Moments |
5 Pretty Good Horror Movies You Might’ve Missed in 2016
[Poll Results] The Bloody Disgusting Readers Chose the 10 Best Horror Movies of 2016
10 Biggest Horror Stories of 2016
Other Year’s Lists: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020


If you could graph out the horror genre like the stock market you would see a massive spike over the past few years. Even with mainstream news outlets constantly crying “horror is dead”, we all know the truth – our genre is on fire. It’s so hot, in fact, that it’s even taken over television. Beyond “The Walking Dead”, there’s “American Horror Story”, “The Exorcist”, “Channel Zero”, “Ash vs Evil Dead”, “Stan Against Evil”, “The X-Files”, “Wolf Creek”, and even Netflix’s “Stranger Things”. It’s everywhere.

For 15 years I’ve put together a list of the best and worst films of the year, only it’s getting harder and harder to dwindle it down; the last two years (2014; 2015) I had to split it into two, while I’ve even been forced to make a special list highlighting the independent films that also blew my mind (it’s hard to celebrate a great year in the genre and leave some titles out). I’m in the exact same predicament this year as I was last, and even the year prior. There’s just an insane amount of good content out there that has to be seen. And unlike previous years, there’s a nice mix of studio films to go along with the independent productions, which is a healthy sign for our genre.

To kick things off, the first batch of films are first presented in no particular order, as usual, with the top ten shared on the next page.


Honorable Mentions

  • HUSH (Mike Flanagan)
  • BASKIN (Can Evrenol)
  • THE INVITATION (D. Karyn Kusama)
  • PROJECT AVALANCHE (D. Matt Johnson)
  • RATS (D. Morgan Spurlock)

THE WAILING (D. Hong-jin Na)

THE WAILING

What really sells The Wailing is the absolutely stunning cinematography that brings the locations to life. It’s a gorgeous genre film that mesmerizes the viewer with a terrifying trip around a small village in South Korea. The fish-out-of-water perspective for the viewer drops them into an unique environment that’s both strange and haunting. It all begins when a man arrives in the town, and a plague begins to spread. A quasi-zombie film, there’s plenty of scares to go along with gore, although what makes this one of the best films of the year is a strong screenplay with engaging characters. If you’re looking for a supplemental film to Train to Busan, The Wailing makes its case as the perfect opener.


IN THE DEEP/47 METERS DOWN (D. Johannes Roberts)

screen-shot-2016-11-22-at-12-05-39-pm

Johannes Roberts has the impossible task of having his In the Deep (possibly titled 47 Meters Down) compared to The Shallows, this summer’s other shark survival film that quietly took a chunk out of the box office. Fans of shark survival horror movies are going to love In the Deep, which is vastly different than The Shallows. In fact, they compliment, if not juxtapose each other into the perfect double feature. With Shallows, Blake Lively is trapped on a rock outside of the water with a great white shark circling to attack. In the Deep takes viewers to the bottom of the ocean floor with many other dangers, while sharks also happen to be swimming around. They’re two completely different beasts that both have their fair share of suspense. Deep is full of bite, and is vicious enough for the hardcore horror audience, while also providing an immense amount of thrills for everyone else. Don’t let this one swim past you.


THE SHALLOWS (D. Jaume Collet-Serra)

THE SHALLOWS

There was a lot of internal debate as to which I liked better, Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows or Johannes Roberts’s Alex Aja-produced In the Deep/47 Meters Down, and I guess I give the edge to the former. Collet-Serra knows exactly what kind of movie The Shallows is and delivers exactly what’s promised; the shark thriller is more of a dumbed-down popcorn muncher that’s just straight-up fun, boasts stunning cinematography, wicked shark sequences, and of course tons of shots of Blake Lively in a skin-tight wetsuit. It was the perfect summer movie that also gifted us with one of the worst posters of the year.


SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD (D. Chris Peckover)

Safe Neighborhood

I loved Chris Peckover’s Undocumented and it kills me that we had to wait six years to see his followup feature, the awesome Safe Neighborhood, a suburban horror in which a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from intruders, only to discover it’s far from a normal home invasion. It’s hard to really talk about the film without spoiling anything, especially since it won’t be released until next year, but what I can say is that it truly is Scream meets Home Alone. It’s not only going to be a new horror classic, but will also be a holiday one as well. Pan‘s Levi Miller gives one of the best performances of the year, alongside The Visit‘s hilarious Ed Oxenbould. What I love about Safe Neighborhood is that the humor is situational, taking the grim out of home invasion subgenre and making it fun (think You’re Next). This is not to say that this slasher doesn’t have its fair share of gore, which come in crowd-pleasing moments that would have theatergoers erupting. This is one holiday horror you’ll be unwrapping every year.


THE BOY (D. William Brent Bell)

THE BOY

I’m not exactly sure what the majority of horror fans thought of William Brent Bell’s The Boy, but I thought it was brave, and thus paid off in spades. Starring “The Walking Dead’s” Lauren Cohan, the film went against the grain, pushing against what you’d expect out of a big studio release, and delivered a “Tales From the Crypt”-esque finale that surely divided audiences. Looking back at the January release, I loved that STX used false advertising (in a sense) to throw off viewers from being able to figure out the ending, which only aided in them landing one helluva punch that made The Boy the first great horror film of 2016.


FOUND FOOTAGE 3D (D. Steven DeGennaro)

FOUND FOOTAGE 3D

I reviewed Found Footage 3D out of the Bruce Campbell Film Festival this summer, calling it, “An absolute riot that’s also quite scary, setting up a multitude of payoffs that deliver a flurry of satisfying punches… Found Footage 3D, about a group of filmmakers who set out to make the first ever 3D found-footage horror movie, is a super-meta comedy that turns into a straight up horror film; if there were a comparison, it would probably be in the vein of Wes Craven’s Scream. The comedy is a bit inside baseball, but the execution makes the overall experience fun enough to reach outside of just genre fans. It truly is a modern indie gem that really, really deserves a place among the greats.”


UNDER THE SHADOW (D. Babak Anvari)

Under The Shadow | image via Sundance

The feature directorial debut of Babak Anvari follows a mother and daughter struggling to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution in a war-torn Tehran of the 1980s. The period setting gave authenticity to this indie horror that juxtaposes fear and paranoia from the war with that of a Jinn. The scares, albeit far and few between, were immensely impactful. Under the Shadow is a welcomed slow burn that’s carried by an outstanding performance by the mesmerizing Narges Rashidi.


10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (D. Dan Trachtenberg)

10 Cloverfield Lane

I forgot that I reviewed Dan Trachtenberg’s claustrophobic 10 Cloverfield Lane, the sister movie to the J.J. Abrams-produced Cloverfield. As I previously wrote, forget the Cloverfield connection, though, what we have here in a masterclass in suspense that can only be described as Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Matheson’s lovechild. John Gallagher Jr. and Winstead’s outstanding performances will, unfortunately, be overlooked because Goodman hits God-level. Goodman is having a renaissance career; his character walks a fine line between sympathetic and terrifying in what could be his coup de grâce. A mic-drop if you will. The early Oscar chatter was fully warranted, and I hope it pops back up in the coming months. Forget all about Cloverfield and just soak in the immense claustrophobia and paranoia that’s so unrelenting you’ll have to dig your nails out of the theater’s armrests.

Up Next: My Top 10 Horror Films of the Year

Pages: 1 2

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

Published

on

leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

Continue Reading