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Brad Picks the Best Horror Films of 2018!

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*Keep up with our ongoing end of the year coverage here*

Other Year’s Lists: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020


After a less-than-stellar 2014, the past few years have been sensational for horror. While years prior found me struggling to create a top ten, the past few have forced me to omit some truly deserving films that ended up on the back end of a massive list. Our genre is so potent right now that it’s been carving up big numbers whether it’s in theaters, on VOD, or streaming on Netflix. And whether you know it or not, we are currently in the midst of a true horror renaissance. These past few years are nothing short of special and a time that we’ll look back on fondly. Seriously, take a moment to soak it all in and appreciate the gifts we have been given.

Interestingly, there’s been so much horror content that it’s actually causing a divide. It feels like there’s a micro-war between fans who prefer a trip into nostalgia, those who want popcorn entertainment, and the ones that prefer arthouse. It’s disheartening to this horror fan to see such negative energy and hatred spewed across various social platforms as if there’s a correct answer as to what kind of horror is horror. Why do we have to choose sides? Why can’t we have our cake and eat it too? What the hell is wrong with enjoying a film like Halloween and also basking in the artistic nuances of Hereditary? We’re getting it all right now and I personally can’t consume enough of it.

So without further adieu, here are my picks for the best horror films of 2018.


Honorable Mentions:


Bonus. Annihilation (d. Alex Garland; Paramount Pictures)

A few years ago I included Gravity in my top 10 and have regretted it ever since. While the horror genre bends into so many different subcategories, it’s hard to really justify including some of these sci-fi thrillers/dramas when there are so many other straight-up horror movies deserving of celebration. Still, these kinds of films deserve a mention; especially Annihilation, which carries very strong accents of horror. Mesmerizing, thought-provoking, and intensely thrilling, Alex Garland‘s film is not only emotional, but also apocalyptic. Featuring gorgeous cinematography and even more stunning visual effects, Annihilation is this generation’s Contact by way of the late H.R. Giger.


10. The Ritual (d. David Bruckner; Netflix)

David Bruckner’s feature-length debut is a solid old school slow burn that ramps up to a ridiculously satisfying conclusion. The creature and accompanying effects work are astounding. The film rides on the back of gorgeous exotic locations that help in creating the brooding atmosphere. Interestingly, The Ritual carries a slight An American Werewolf in London vibe, but more so Blair Witch the anything else. Hailing out of the Toronto International Film Festival, The Ritual was quietly released on Netflix to very little attention, which makes this one of the best hidden gems of the year.


9. The Predator (d. Shane Black; 20th Century Fox)

The Predator

I had an absolute blast with Shane Black’s The Predator, which was smashed by critics. As much as I love highbrow horror, sometimes I just want to have a good time, and this film delivers in full. Black is specialist when it comes to character development and somehow turned the ultra-vanilla Boyd Holbrook into an extremely likable badass. And even though we already know how great of an actor Sterling K. Brown is, his performance in The Predator is on another level. Save for some rushed shoddily rushed CGI, this film is also extraordinarily bloody and violent, and offers up some wild set pieces. It’s one of the better Predator movies (maybe even second best?) and would be a welcomed conclusion to the franchise if Disney were to bury it for good.


8. Overlord (d. Julius Avery; Paramount Pictures)

While the mythology and potential are never fully realized, Overlord is a ridiculously fun, over-the-top splatterfest that pulls from classics such as Predator, Re-Animator, and even the “Wolfenstein” games. The characters are the film’s anchor, led a by a scene-stealing John Magaro, and followed by charismatic performances by Wyatt Russell and Jovan Adepo. The filmmakers do a sublime job in making the villains extra hateable/unlikable (one spits on a kid’s baseball and tosses it to him), which gives all of the interactions and fight sequences additional punch. The film never quite hits ten, but it’s such an action-packed blast that you never really stop to ask any questions. If anything, let’s hope for a sequel where they can up the ante and build onto the mythology.


7. Mandy (d. Panos Cosmatos; RLJE)

It’s hard not being instantly seduced by the works of Panos Cosmatos, who first enchanted me with his Beyond the Black Rainbow. With his follow up, Mandy, I found myself melting in my chair as I allowed the film’s visuals to wash over me. Mandy is pure nightmare fuel, a surreal hallucination that feels as if Salvador Dali directed Hellraiser. Cosmatos takes his extreme visuals and injects it into this fever dream that allows Nicolas Cage to embrace his crazy side that we’ve all grown to love (Cage fans are going to lose their shit when he hulks out). While the film lives and breathes on Cosmatos’ visual feast that’s akin to stargazing, Mandy is all heart, and much like Hereditary, it really takes the time developing the characters. Cosmatos soaks the film with pain and suffering, and it’s excruciating. While Mandy never quite delivers the high it promises, it still leaves its mark on the indie scene with a unique and impactful experience that’s about as anti-Hollywood as you can get. This is Panos’ nightmarish playground where anything can happen, including a cheddar goblin.


6. Cam (d. Daniel Goldhaber; Netflix)

A metaphor for identity theft, Daniel Goldhaber‘s chilling and haunting Cam is basically a feature-length “Black Mirror” episode that will make the viewer feel as violated and helpless as the victim. Madeline Brewer stars and delivers an exceptional performance that shouldn’t be overlooked. Thoroughly engaging and suspenseful as hell, Cam is one of the year’s biggest surprises that is guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Up Next: My Top 5 Horror Films of the Year

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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

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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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