We've meticulously selected our top picks of underseen horror films from the past decade. Have you watched any of these? Do you agree with our choices? (Dir. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala)
An opulent house, with expansive glass windows, stands radiant in a secluded Austrian forest. Inside, a mother (Susanne Wuest) is recuperating from cosmetic surgery, her face concealed by bandages resembling a balaclava. She closes the blinds and stockpiles frozen pizza, determined to shut out the world. However, within this isolation, a sinister seed sprouts from an unresolved trauma: her twin sons Elias and Lukas (Elias and Lukas Schwarz) begin to suspect she is an imposter.
This film, the directorial debut of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, gained a cult following for its twist and set the stage for their subsequent folk horror-infused works (The Lodge, The Devil's Bath) with its stunning gothic cinematography. It also introduced two themes that would define much of the decade's horror: motherhood and trauma. The contrast between the beautiful, brightly-lit home and the dark, unknown forest outside reminds us that the places we once thought safest are often where life's greatest horrors emerge. Warning: Cat lovers, this gets rough.
Other 2014 highlights include The Babadook; A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night; What We Do In The Shadows; The Falling. (Dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović)
Over three films, from her 2004 debut Innocence to 2021’s Earwig – her English-language debut about a girl with teeth made of ice – Lucile Hadžihalilović has established herself as one of French cinema's most distinctive voices. However, it's her sophomore feature, Evolution, that stands as her strongest calling card. Part creepy arthouse movie, part disquieting exploration of adolescent sexuality, Hadžihalilović’s second feature follows a young boy, Nicolas (Max Brebant), who lives on an island with other boys and their mothers. No men are present, and the children are regularly hospitalized for experiments by their anaemic-looking caretakers. Nicolas starts to challenge his passive existence and question his purpose on the island when he discovers a dead boy with a red starfish on his stomach near the shore...
A transfixing nightmare ensues. Evolution might be too enigmatic for those who prefer their horror less ambiguous; however, for anyone curious to see what an eerily intoxicating nature documentary spliced with aesthetically gripping body horror would look like, search no further.
Other 2015 highlights include The VVItch; It Follows; Green Room; The Invitation. (Dir. Julia Ducournau)
2016 was a standout year for horror, but one film that stands out is Julia Ducournau’s debut film Raw. Five years before becoming the first woman to win the Palme d’Or solo for her face-melting achievement Titane, the French writer-director gave us an unflinching and at times nauseatingly tactile statement of intent. Following Justine (Garance Marillier), a young vegetarian who embarks on her first year at veterinary school – the same one her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf) attends - Raw is an immersive coming-of-age film about primal urges. Ducournau makes it evolve into a modern metamorphosis story which deals with sisterhood, sexuality, and inherited familial trauma, all executed with measured excess. She employs cannibalism to comment on nonconformity and acceptance through unconditional love, and rare are films that buttress their allegorical strata with such visual verve and wicked humor.
Other 2016 highlights include The Untamed; The Wailing; The Love Witch; The Autopsy of Jane Doe; Prevenge; Train to Busan; Under The Shadow; The Eyes of My Mother; Hounds of Love; Personal Shopper... There's no disputing it: 2016 was a banner year for horror. (Dir. Demián Rugna)
Home is where the tall, naked slenderman crawls out from under your bed to watch you sleep in this deeply unnerving paranormal horror debut from Argentine director Demián Rugna. Set in a rundown neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the homes of some local residents are creaking, cracking, and leaking with the presence of something sinister. Gurgles echo from kitchen sinks and cutlery clings to cupboards; the haunted house is no longer a mansion atop a crooked hill, but instead the seemingly innocuous four walls people inhabit daily.
Other 2017 highlights include Get Out; Happy Death Day; Thelma; Revenge. (Dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Dance is a fascinating element of horror. Rooted in obsession that flails with emotional erraticism to the observer, it feels symbolic of an entire genre built upon unpicking our innermost anxieties - in particular, the terror of losing control of ourselves. Nowhere is this captured better than in Luca Guadagnino’s reboot of Dario Argento’s Suspiria. Instead of attempting to recreate the technicolour terror of the original, it’s a rare example of a remake that feels so new and unique in its vision, layering historical texture and focusing on the dance elements in particular to elevate meaning.
Other 2018 highlights include Annihilation; Climax; The House That Jack Built. (Dir. Rose Glass)
As you can tell from our list so far, some of the most memorable horror films of the past decade come courtesy of female voices. And it’s a pattern that continues. Nay, thrives. Whether it's the aforementioned Lucile Hadžihalilović and Julia Ducournau, Coralie Fargeat (Revenge, The Substance) and Hanna Bergholm (Hatching) or Nathalie Erika James and Prano Bailey-Bond (more on these two filmmakers in a bit), there is an exciting new wave of female directors who have been bending the rules and broadening the scope of the genre.
Other 2019 highlights include Swallow; Us; Ready Or Not; The Hole in the Ground; After Midnight. (Dir. Natalie Erika James)
Japanese-Australian filmmaker Natalie Erika James’ 2020 debut is an emotionally bruising chiller of the highest order, one which understands that the scariest things are not always ghosts or supernatural entities but often part of everyday life. In this case, the inevitable march of time and the fear of succumbing to dementia. There are several films that have tackled this topic – Iris, The Notebook, Amour, Still Alice, The Father – but what James does is remarkable in the sense she strikes the right balance between telling a heartbreaking story, while embracing horror genre coda.
Other 2020 highlights include The Invisible Man; His House; La Llorona; Possessor. (Dir. Prano Bailey-Bond)
The year is 1985 and the place is England, UK, in the wake of its "video nasty" scare that saw a total of 72 horror films banned under the Video Recordings Act 1984. Enid Baines (Niamh Algar) is working for the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) as one of their censors, evaluating gratuitous gore and violence day in and day out. She appears numb and detached to it all, her hair tied back in a tight bun and collar buttoned up to the top in a superficial pretence of control.
Other 2021 highlights include Titane; Lamb; The Innocents; The Sadness; Last Night in Soho. (Dir. Christian Tafdrup)
People pleasers, beware. On the surface, this Danish psychological horror sounds like it could be a “fun” vacation movie: A family of three befriends another family of three on holiday and are invited to stay with them. What ensues, however, is not slapstick antics and Adam Sandler in sliders, but rather a horrifying tale of hidden human evil and how we might allow it to happen through (dangerous) politeness.
Other 2022 highlights include Mad God; Nope. (Dir. Demián Rugna)
Something is rotten in rural Argentina. A bed-ridden bulbous male body, to be exact, swollen with tumorous skin and oozing pus, about to give birth to something awful. Two brothers discover him amidst a sudden sinister spread of death and decay in the local area - learning he is what is known as a “rotten”, possessed by demonic evil.
Other 2023 highlights include Infinity Pool; Vincent Must Die; Talk To Me. (Dir. Damien McCarthy)
It was a toss-up between Irish writer-director Damien McCarthy’s Oddity and French writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, but considering we’ve already waxed lyrical on the latter ever since its Cannes premiere this year, time to shake things up a little. (FYI: At no point was the bafflingly overhyped and shrug-worthy Longlegs in consideration, a film which through the power of marketing and social media buzz had a whole portion of the internet losing their collective shit for very little. More power to you if it was your scariest film of the year, but we hope you broaden your horizons and seek out this Irish gem.)
Happy spooky screenings!
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