So it’s that time of year when we look back at all the great stuff we’ve seen this year.
It’s been another strong year for horror with continued franchises, new amazing films, streaming series, and, of course, exciting foreign films.
The year started off with a film that proved you can still get mileage from found footage with some cosmic dread in The Outwaters, one of the most interesting and strongest found footage films in years.
The Dead Ringers miniseries was stunning, with Rachel Weisz playing twins and the series playing out ideas on fertility and the loss of a fetus being just two heavy issues that Dead Ringers addresses. With nods to the original Cronenberg film, Dead Ringers is disturbing, beautiful, and heartbreaking.
Talk To Me was widely acclaimed and with good cause. An anti party drug allegory with trauma and grief as its centrepiece. The Australian Philippou brothers have got off to a hot start in their film career and if you’ve been following them since their YouTube days then you know how creative these two can be, so there is plenty in store for the future.
When you do something different with a beloved franchise like The Evil Dead, you run the risk of rejection by the fans but Evil Dead Rise managed to keep the majority satisified and really hit that gore quotient hard. Films as gory as Evil Dead Rise don’t normally hit the cinemas, and its rare that they make huge profits. This is a testament to everyone involved, great performances, disgusting and painful looking effects, and a director prepared to just show you everything. It’s a total win, and hopefully, it opens the door for some more nasty, gory, and merciless horror.
Cobweb, ending up on a best of list was a pleasant surprise. A really understated, beautifully shot film that restrained itself until the last act, a wacky (in the best way) performance from Lizzy Caplan and one of the best constructed jump scares in recent memory and a wild ending cemented its place in the best of 2023.
Birth/Rebirth continues the recent influx of pregnancy and motherhood horror films. Birth/Rebirth brings together two very different women over a traumatising event. An unflinching look at how motherhood changes you for the better… or the worse.
Demián Rugna’s When Evil Lurks will end up on a lot of best of lists, and it’s no wonder why. Punishingly bleak with a new take on possession, the film went places few do, nothing and no one was safe. Rural horror that sticks with you.
Lisa’s best of 2023
1. When Evil Lurks
2.Dead Ringers miniseries
3.Birth/Rebirth
4. Talk To Me
5. Evil Dead Rise
Ryan’s best of 2023
When Evil Lurks / Evil Dead Rise / Talk To Me / Cobweb / The Outwaters. Honourable mention Devils.
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