Greetings, my fellow fiends!
With a worldwide pandemic ongoing and in our faces, I suppose it’s worth reflecting on the fact that it’s a minor miracle to have made it through any given year with a modicum of physical, emotional, and mental health intact. So, if you’re reading this, I offer a cyber-raise of the glass and a toast to a job well done. We made it.
That said, I openly confess that I was barely keeping up with the brightest and shiniest new objects. In fact, I only took in 79 first-time horror Views last year (with the Kryptic Army missions accounting for 23 of those), most bearing a time-stamp well before 2020. So if you’re looking to discover the best of the current crop, I suggest adjusting expectations accordingly. However, that’s not to say I didn’t discover a few “new” gems in the process, and I’m excited to share my findings with you, Faithful Reader.
In time-honored fashion, the titles listed below were encountered by your humble scribe for the first time during the past year and, to acknowledge as many as possible, I've broken them down into various categories in alphabetical order, with my top picks denoted with an asterisk. (*)
And, as has been my wont over the past couple years, I’m including a brief sampling (okay, 35) of my favorite revisits, flicks that felt I was watching with fresh eyes, ones that surprised me and/or reminded me why I love this darn genre so much, and to hopefully prompt you to revisit them yourself or check them out for the first time!
The films don’t change, but we do, and that’s half the fun. In the same way that you can’t step in the same river twice, you can never watch a movie the same way again. So, while we celebrate our mutual hunger for new discoveries, it’s equally important to look at what boxes we’ve already checked and appreciate them again, knowing what we know and seeing what we’ve seen.
Love to hear your thoughts about this year’s bundle of monsters, maniacs, and mayhem! You can either leave a comment below or reach out to me directly at drach101@gmail.com!
Enjoy!!!
BEST OF THE NEW:
Apostle (2018)
Caveat (2020)
Hagazussa (2017) (*)
Hunter Hunter (2020)
Silence & Darkness (2020)
Silent Night (2021)
The Stylist (2020)
Terrified (aka Aterrados) (2017) (*)
The Wailing (2016) (*)
The Wolf House (2018)
HONORABLE MENTION:
1922 (2017)
Bad Hair (2020)
Dearest Sister (2016)
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Gonjian: Haunted Asylum (2018)
Jakob’s Wife (2021)
Kindred (2020)
PG: Psycho Goreman (2020)
MIXED BAGS:
Beyond Skyline (2017)
The Noonday Witch (2016)
The Pond (2021)
The Soul Collector (2019)
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH:
Climax (2020)
FAVORITE HORROR DISCOVERIES (First time views released before 2016)
Amsterdamned (1988)
The Convent (2000)
Curse of the Doll People (1961)
Dr. Caligari (1989)
The Last Days on Mars (2013)
The Red House (1947)
Southbound (2015)
HONORABLE MENTIONS AND PLEASANT SURPRISES:
Alleluia (2014)
The Amusement Park (1973)
The Cosmic Man (1959)
Dreamworks 6 Spooky Stories Collection (2010)
Hostile (2014)
Human Beasts (1980)
No Reason (2012)
One on Top of the Other (1969)
Out of the Body (1988)
Split Second (1992)
The Third Part of the Night (1971)
MIXED BAGS:
Aenigma (1987)
Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2013)
House II: The Second Story (1987)
The Sweet House of Horrors (1989)
Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009)
WHAT THE $$#@%&$% DID I JUST WATCH??? (in the best possible way):
Black Past (1989)
Burning Moon (1992)
Crime in Via Teulada (1980)
Grizzly II: Revenge (2020)
Ghosts of Hanley House (1968)
Horror House on Highway Five (1985)
Mistress of the Apes (1979)
NOPE. JUST... NOPE:
Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie (1984)
FAVORITE REVISITS:
The Beyond (1981)
Black Sunday (1960)
Black Swan (2010)
The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974)
Brainiac (aka The Baron of Terror) (1962)
Bride of the Monster (1955)
La Casa Muda (aka The Silent House) (2010)
City of the Living Dead (1980)
Cold Prey (2006)
Day of the Animals (1977)
The Day of the Beast (1995)
Don’t Go in the Woods (1981)
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966)
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Frightmare (1974)
The Gorgon (1964)
Grabbers (2012)
Grizzly (1976)
The Hitcher (1986)
Horror of Dracula (1958)
The House by the Cemetery (1981)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
Juan of the Dead (2011)
King Kong (1976)
Night Watch (2004)
One Cut of the Dead (2017)
Rare Exports (2010)
Santo y Blue Demon Contra Los Monstruos (1970)
Seytan (aka Turkish Exorcist) (1974)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Starship Troopers (1997)
Sting of Death (1966)
Village of the Damned (1960)
What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)
Zaat (aka The Blood Waters of Dr. Z) (1971)
Be back in a bit with the Civilian Views, final tallies, and stats! Stay tuned....
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