Editorials
10 Sci-fi Movies You May Have Missed in 2016
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
Let’s Play Pretend and Give Academy Awards to 2016’s Best Horror Movies
Every year, blockbuster science fiction movies drive ticket sales for the industry and get us all flocking to the cinema. But for every Arrival or Rogue One, there are many smart and inventive sci-fi films that go totally unnoticed.
Here we’ve assembled a few of our favourites from 2016 that are worth catching up with before 2017 gives us even more.
Synchronicity
Jacob Gentry’s Synchronicity deserves credit for its mind-bending plot and a slick noir aesthetic. A throwback to 80s sci-fi, the film feels like an unearthed Trimark Pictures release, and certainly Ben Lovett’s Moog-drenched soundtrack is Vangelis to the max, up there with the best synth scores of the year including S U R V I V E’s Stranger Things and Clint Mansell’s work for The Neon Demon.
In Synchronicity, a physicist who invents a time machine must travel back to the past to uncover the truth about his creation and the woman who is trying to steal it.
ARQ
Netflix dropped two sci-fi flicks in 2016, ARQ and Spectral, and despite having a blast with Spectral‘s “gritty Ghostbuster” vibe, I found ARQ to be much more engaging and full of surprises. Perhaps that comes down to taste, but for me ARQ proves that an inventive screenplay can sometimes trump big budgets and massive set pieces.
In ARQ, written and directed by Tony Elliott, a couple gets trapped in a time loop, fending off masked home-invaders while protecting an invention that could save humanity.
Approaching the Unknown
From Moon to The Martian, Eurpoa Report and Gravity, there is a rich tradition of space travel done awry. Approaching the Unknown is a similar tale.
The film stars stars Mark Strong as Captain William Stanaforth, who prepares for a one-way mission to colonize Mars. In what is essentially a one-man-show, Strong gives a bravaura performance as an astronaut slowly losing it as he faces insurmountable odds and stresses on a perilous journey.
Kill Command
Boasting some truly great production and robot designs as well as taking its story cues from James Cameron’s Aliens, Kill Command is a fun, military sci-fi film that’s a B movie through and through. And that’s okay!
In Kill Command, an elite army unit travels to a remote island training facility to investigate a problem with a new robot prototype. Engage killbots!
High-Rise
Ben Wheatly (Kill List) dystopian High-Rise is an impenetrable fever dream of a film that takes no prisoners in its portrayal of free market ideology run amok. Adapted from the dystopian novel by J.G. Ballard, High-Rise tells the story of the inhabitants of a new, state of the art high rise apartment complex that engage in a sort of class warfare.
Full disclosure, as much as I found this film to be haunting overall, by the second act I think it devolves into a big mess. However, what’s good about it works. It’s gorgeous;y shot, and the needle-drop soundtrack is killer.
Into the Forest
Evan Rachel Wood may have captured the zeitgeist with her role as Dolores in HBO’s Westworld, but that wasn’t her only great sci-fi role in 2016. Into the Forest is a harrowing tale of two sisters (Wood and Ellen Page) who find themselves out in the wilderness during an apocalyptic event. As they work to survive in a world slowly crumbling around them, the bond betweem them grows stronger.
Similar to other sci-fi dramas like the recent Z is for Zachariah, Part sci-fi drama, part thriller, Into The Forest emerged as one of the year’s biggest surprises.
Tank 432
Produced by Ben Wheatley, Tank 432 is the directorial debut of that director’s long-time cinematographer, Nick Gillespie. With a resume that includes such psychotropic flicks as A Field in England and High-Rise, it’s no surprise that his first film is equally as trippy.
In the immensely claustrophobic movie, a group of mercenaries come under attack and hole up inside a long abandoned Bulldog tank. But, while they try to keep the forces outside at bay, the real enemy is already among them, locked inside the ‘Belly of the Bulldog’.
Midnight Special
Jeff Nichols crafts a heartfelt tale of a father trying to protect his son that can only be described as “Spielbergian”. In it, Michael Shannon races across the country to save his gifted son who may have supernatural powers.
Ultimately, the film is a rumination on how difficult it is to allow a child live and learn on their own. As a father myself, I can certainly relate to the conflicts at the center of the film. And even though I felt some of the mysteries of the film fell a bit flat, overall Midnight Special feels like a singular experience.
Terminus
A polarizing film that seems to have sci-fi fans either hailing it as an original gem or calling it a piece of crap, Terminus is really neither of those extremes. What it it, is a compelling and smart sci-fi indie from Australia with some good performances and an original concept.
In the film, following a near-fatal accident, David Chamberlain makes an unprecedented discovery that will not only determine the fate of his family, but of mankind.
Evolution
If you didn’t see Evolution in 2016, don’t panic! It only got released at the end of November so you’re not that behind. Easily one of the most striking films of 2016 visually, it is also one of the most compelling science fiction films of the last few years. Some are calling it Horror, but Evolution straddles genres in the sci-fi in the same way that H.G. Wells’ “The Island of Dr. Moreau” does.
In Evolution, 11-year-old Nicolas lives with his mother in a seaside housing estate. The only place that ever sees any activity is the hospital. It is there that all the boys from the village are forced to undergo strange medical trials that attempt to disrupt the phases of evolution… then sh*it gets weird.
2016 definitely saw a number of interesting science fiction experiments emerge that flew under the radar. Looking back over the year, it seems strong for genre overall. But don’t let the smaller films slip through the cracks.
Okay, now it’s your turn. What sci-fi films did you llike in 2016 that seemed to go unnoticed?
From child-eating witches to village-burning dragons, fairy tales have always had a foot in the horror genre. That’s why it makes sense that, for every The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are also darker and more adult-oriented stories about magical worlds inhabited by ravenous monsters and cruel villains.
Funnily enough, these sinister tales were precisely the ones that I gravitated towards back when I was a kid, and I was reminded of this while watching Netflix’s recently released I Am Frankelda, Mexico’s first ever feature-length stop-motion animation and one hell of an entertaining parable about the intersection between fiction and reality.
In honor of this special kind of horror-adjacent fairy tale, today I’d like to share this list recommending six Dark Fantasy films that horror fans might enjoy.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Dark Fantasy as fantastical stories that don’t shy away from the more macabre elements that fuel classic fairy tales. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grim favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I’m fascinated by bizarre attempts at blockbuster filmmaking – especially when the resulting movies are somehow still fun despite their corporate-mandated origins. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is precisely one of these strangely compelling studio projects, as this surprisingly successful action-thriller boasts a lot of heart (and tongue-in-cheek humor) for a CGI-heavy creature feature.
Directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Witch Hunters re-frames the classic fairy tale as an origin story for a duo of badass monster-slayers. Of course, it’s the flick’s anachronistic aesthetic and overall visual flair that make it stand out from other action-horror endeavors from around the same time.
5. The Wolf House (2018)
Made in the tradition of faux cursed films in the same vein as Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, the eerie backstory to 2018’s Chilean animated flick The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo in the original Spanish) already makes it a nightmarish experience before the flick even really begins.
After all, the movie is presented to us as a faux propaganda film produced by the leader of a death cult (heavily inspired by the real life Colonia Dignidad), with this hybrid animated feature using complex movie magic to simulate a single uninterrupted shot as it tells the story of a lazy young girl who runs away from an isolated colony and encounters a creepy old house in the woods.
4. The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Out of all the Monty Python alumni, Terry Gilliam has had the most interesting career outside of the original comedy group. From fascinating canceled projects (such as his scrapped adaptation of Watchmen) to dystopian parodies that feel more relevant by the minute (1985’s Brazil), even his “lesser” films are still intriguing in their own way.
2005’s The Brothers Grimm is one such project, with this peculiar movie attempting to combine the comedian-turned-filmmaker’s unique visual style with a more blockbuster-oriented plot reimagining the titular brothers as con-artists rather than mere writers. The end result isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s still a legitimately fun ride with plenty of memorable monsters and wonderful performances by both the late, great Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
3. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010)
2010’s Dante’s Inferno game may have a reputation as something of an unapologetic God of War clone, but I’d argue that the now-obscure game was aesthetically unique enough to deserve a bigger fanbase. However, while the title remains trapped on the seventh console generation, its highly underrated anime adaptation is a lot easier to get a hold of!
Animated by 6 different studios in order to make the 9 circles of hell feel unique from each other, this may not be a completely faithful adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s poem, but it’s still one heck of a great (not to mention gory) time that I’d highly recommend to fans of Netflix’s take on Castlevania.
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
My personal favorite entry in the Underworld franchise, Rise of the Lycans, is a highly ambitious prequel that actually works better if you haven’t had the story spoiled to you by the previous Underworld films.
While the rest of the series features plenty of urban fantasy elements as the movies combine machine guns and modern environments with gothic storytelling, Patrick Tatopoulos’ prequel fully embraces its fantastical origins and tells a classic tale about a doomed romance between a werewolf and a vampire amid a medieval uprising.
And the best part is that we get a lot more Michael Sheen as the fan-favorite Lucian.
1. Solomon Kane (2011)
One of my personal favorite movies on this list, MJ Basset’s criminally underseen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s other iconic warrior is thoroughly steeped in horror ambience and features plenty of memorable monsters. However, it’s also a classic origin story for a swashbuckling hero that wouldn’t feel out of place in a tabletop RPG.
While I’ve already written about how the film deftly combines both horror and fantasy elements without breaking the bank, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the bizarre movie where James Purefoy expertly plays a puritan John Wick.
It’s just too bad that we never got the other films in this intended trilogy.
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