Horror Films for 2023

29Oct23

This was the first year in some time that was a struggle. Given that so many of the best horror films of 2023 list films actually from 2022 (like La Huerta the Bone Woman or M3gan).

There was a shift towards comedy horror that seemed prevalent the previous year but with less success. There were some attempts to follow in Peele’s footsteps but also with mixed success (Angry Black Girl with Her Monster, and especially The Blackening). Several attempts to redo the monster film (Boogeyman, Cobweb, Perpetrator didn’t really work for me). Also El Conde is not listed here as it is a dark comedy and not a horror film.

1-Sick

The best film to directly address COVID since Host (2020). Plays well with the seeming randomness of the crazy slasher and the indiscriminateness of virus contagion. Very well paced and the characters are neither too sympathetic nor disposable.

2-No One Will Save You

Mostly makes it because of its lead character though is a fairly nice take on the alien abduction theme (following distantly in the footstes of Signs). Shifts from being a home invasion theme to one of haunting (being rag-dolled by tractor beams rather than demonic forces). Loses its steam a bit in the third act.

3-It Lives Inside

With definite It Follows vibes the film is a slick and nicely paced possession film. It may fall too easily in the reassertion of traditional beliefs to combat the demon though the film gets a lot of credit for being patient with its topic.

4-Enys Men

Somewhere between Dont Look Now, Skinamarink, and The Wicker Man, Enys Men tries to build a feeling of dread more than one of scares, gore, or fright. It becomes somewhat too disjointed and it is too thin on plot to make the later horrors hit their mark though the experimental aspect is much appreciated.

5-Talk to Me

One of my favorite of the year simply because it changes the formalism of demonic possession and makes possession less a metaphor of disease and more akin to teens huffing paint for fun. Sophie Wilde does an incredible job pulling the narrative thread through to the end.

6-Brooklyn 45

A decent attempt to do a locked room mystery with a ghost story. While many claim this is one of the best horror films 2023 I think it doesn’t have enough steam to make it through the third act.

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