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[BEST & WORST ’13] Evan’s List of the Best Horror Films of 2013!

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2013 was an absolutely killer year for horror films. There were so many movies that were on my mind while making this list that I had a genuinely hard time leaving a lot of them off. From amazing horror comedies like This Is The End to straight up brutal fare like Maniac.

In fact, there were so many great films I had to add a much longer honorable mention section than normal! I really feel like horror fans were blessed in 2013. With so many wonderful films that were amazing for totally different reasons, it felt weird to rank them in order from 1-10. So this is a list presented in no particular order.

Head below to check it out!

Mr. Disgusting (Best/Indie) | Evan Dickson (Best) | The Wolfman (Festival Favorites) | Patrick Cooper (Best)
Lonmonster (Best/Worst) | Lauren Taylor (Best/Worst) | Ryan Daley (Best Novels)
Best Posters | Best Performances | Best Trailers

EVAN DICKSON’S BEST FILMS OF 2013
Warm Bodies (Feb 1st; Summit)


There are so many zombie movies out there that seem content to repeat the same ideas, with little flair and to no effect. Not only does Warm Bodies have a new take on it – Zombie as a metaphor for the inability of the young male of our species to communicate romantically – it’s also incredibly well made. It may be too sweet and too PG-13 for some of you guys, I get that. But for me it’s still a great time.

This Is The End (June 12th; Sony)

A hilarious movie that spends just as much time dealing with exorcisms and giant demon cocks as it does skewering celebrity entitlement. Part of me expected to hate This Is The End, but it wound up one of my favorite films of the year. Hilarious and totally rewatchable.

Stitches (April 1st; Dark Sky)


Stitches could have very easily gone down the wrong path with bad clown humor. But writer/director Conor McMahon is able to make those gags totally organic to the story by using them as the ingredients for a series of kills that grow more clever in their inventiveness with each passing beat. It’s also a remarkably economic narrative with no flab to be found.

Evil Dead (April 5th; TriStar)


I know a lot of you are mixed on this. Could the first act have used a bit more finesse when it came to setting up the characters? Sure. But once this film gets going it totally flies. The largely practical effects are great and the gore flows freely and cleverly. This movie is a total crowd pleaser.

The Conjuring (July 19th; New Line)


If James Wan really has left the horror genre, he did so at the top of his game. After several good to great films, The Conjuring reveals him to be a true master of the genre. It’s the best supernatural horror movie in over a decade and I suspect it will be seen as a classic in years to come.

The World’s End (August 23rd; Universal)


From my review, “I’ve always loved the air-tight swiss watch quality of Wright and Pegg’s screenplays, but this is the first time one of their films has been able to sting with such regularity. While Shaun built to an utterly heartbreaking moment where our hero is forced to kill his mother, there’s a constant familiar desperation to Gary’s plight that leaves our defenses weakened. The film jabs at us and then gets back to making us laugh with an admirable swiftness.” And for those of you who doubt that this film is horror, it has elements that give Invasion Of The Body Snatchers a run for its money. Also, there’s nothing scarier than an alcoholic friend hitting rock bottom.


Hey, it came out this year and I’ve never written any kind of opinion piece on it! So in celebration of upgrading my UK Blu-ray with a US version (which boasts a superior transfer), I’m putting this on my list. All The Boys Love Mandy Lane is a fantastic slasher film. Don’t let the distribution politics that held it up keep you from celebrating this as one of the year’s best.

You’re Next (August 23rd; Lionsgate)


Yes, I know I put this on my “Best Of” list in 2011. But now I’ve switched only including films in the year that they were released. You’re Next obviously qualifies in that regard and it felt like I’d be doing the film a disservice to not include it in a conversation about the best horror films of 2013. Because it’s one of them.

+1 (Sept 20th; IFC)


I’m in the minority here, but I find Plus One to be a rewardingly daring film. I think one of the issues is that it subverts almost every expectation, which I can totally see being frustrating for audiences. But, on its own terms, I found it to be one of the more engaging theatrical experiences of the year. Score another one for Dennis Iliadis. If you haven’t seen it, please give it a chance. Put your phone down and pay attention.

Maniac (June 21st; IFC Midnight)


Franck Khalfoun’s remake of Maniac is, as I’ve said before, the Drive of horror (both in style and in narrative). I mean that as a total compliment. It glides along viciously on its pungent neon atmosphere abetted by a great performance from Elijah Wood. The whole thing will leave you utterly unsettled.

Stoker (March 1st; Fox Searchlight)


Chan-wook Park’s English language debut brings his visual mastery to the screen fully intact. But it also feels impressively “American,” as though he skipped the more mainstream elements of our cinematic culture and went right for the hermetically sealed type of world usually reserved for someone like Wes Anderson. Of course there’s a lot more f*cked up shit here than there normally is in an Anderson film. This is a highly sexual, emotionally violent meditation on the concept of “bad blood.”

The Battery (June 7th; O Hannah Films)


I was a bit late to the party on this one but I’m so glad I watched it before pressing “publish” on this list. Writer/director/star Jeremy Gardner delivers a near masterpiece of a film on a scant budget of $6,000 dollars. While the film certainly doesn’t look expensive, it’s still able to pack a cinematic and emotional wallop. I’m still haunted by the final frames and touched by its portrayal of a reluctant bond forged under the worst of circumstances.

Honorable Mentions

I so badly wanted to put Cheap Thrills on here but it isn’t out yet! I’m pretty sure Evan Katz fashioned a mini-masterpiece out of that film. Look for it on this list after its release next year. I also suspect you’ll be seeing Joe Begos’ Almost Human on there as well.

We also covered Gravity and Catching Fire on the site extensively and for good reason – both were great! I actually think Gravity is a masterpiece of suspense and Catching Fire is one of the best blockbusters we’ve had in years. Both have elements that appeal to our readers, but with so many strong “traditional” horror films this year I decided to focus on those in my list. Also, Bad Milo! may have felt slight, but I enjoyed it so much that it was also jockeying for a position on this list.

Editorials

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

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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.

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