Every Horror Film I've Seen In 2021 So Far, Reviewed

I haven’t been particularly active this year, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been seeing movies. I’ve seen quite a few films this year already, and I decided that since it’s now officially October, I wanted to kick off the spooky season with a quick rundown of every horror film I’ve seen this year, whether I’ve already reviewed it or not.

Censor

Censor is the first horror film I saw from this year, debuting in January at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Prano Bailey-Bond’s debut feature is a fun and disturbing examination of the video nasty phenomenon in 1980’s Britain. It stars Niamh Algar in a stunning performance as Enid, a film censor who is unhealthily dedicated to her job, who becomes obsessed with a mysterious film that seems to bear relevance to her forgotten past. The ending seems to have been controversial for many, and the themes of paranoia and repression are a bit simplistic when all is said and done, but... There’s something about this one that I just love. It’s in the tone, the loving homage, the immaculately crafted period aspects. For pure genre fans, this one should be an absolute delight.

Knocking

The second and final horror movie I saw at Sundance this year, Knocking is a perfectly okay film. Directed by Swedish director Frida Kempff and starring Cecilia Milocco, Knocking is a film about mental illness and the gaslight culture we live in. After a nervous breakdown brought about by a personal loss, a woman named Molly is kept in a mental hospital before finally being released. She moves to a new apartment for a fresh start, but soon begins to hear a strange knocking sound that starts growing louder and louder – but nobody else seems to hear it. Knocking is a well-crafted and captivating work, but ultimately it’s a little too thin for its own good. It probably would have worked much better as a short, and in its current form it’s largely forgettable. Still, it gets points for casual queer representation, and it’s worth a watch if the premise interests you.

Willy’s Wonderland

One of the most oddly-hyped films of 2021, Willy’s Wonderland is a must-see Nicolas Cage performance in a film that’s overall exceedingly bland. Directed by Kevin Lewis, this is essentially a Nicolas Cage vehicle masquerading as a bland Five Nights at Freddy’s knock-off. Almost everything about this film is uninteresting until Nicolas Cage comes along and it’s suddenly incredible. His character doesn’t speak and has no backstory, and only exists to do his job and kill the animatronics standing in his way. This is a bad movie that’s at times irresistibly fun because of how well Cage chews up his scenery. If you’re a Cage fan, this is a must see. If not, skip this one.

Psycho Goreman

Psycho Goreman is a modern genre flick unlike any other, and it achieves this status by paying homage to the practical-effects driven cult classics of the 1980’s and mixing it with a contemporary superhero origin story. Directed by Steven Kostanski, and starring Nita-Josee Hanna and Owen Myre, it’s a fun and nihilistic horror-comedy and a heartwarming coming-of-age family story; a hard-R cosmic horror romp and a 1980’s kid’s flick, all a stunning and impossible combination that shouldn’t work but somehow does. The effects work in this one is absolutely top notch, and the whole thing injects some much-needed camp back into the horror genre. This one is destined for cult classic status.

The Vigil

Keith Thomas’ Jewish horror film The Vigil is a flawed but interesting beast. Starring Dave Davis as a young Jewish man who recently defected from his community of faith after experiencing trauma, The Vigil follows its protagonist’s mental journey after being hired as a Shomer to keep watch over a recently deceased man and winds up coming face to face with a Mazzik; an evil spirit straight out of the Talmud. Keith Thomas’s excellent direction keeps this story moored as he knows how to play the darkness against us, but the film ultimately buckles in its third act as it falls into art horror clichés and a simple message about mental illness as opposed to the much more interesting explorations of trauma, identity and the utility and nature of faith. Still, an intriguing and mostly effective story with a fresh perspective.

(full review here)

Saint Maud

Saint Maud was one I had been looking forward to for a while. This debut feature from director Rose Glass was supposed to come out in 2019, but was obviously canceled due to the pandemic. With a killer trailer from A24, I think myself, among others, were hyped up for the next Hereditary or Midsommar. Scanning review sections, it seems some people got it – but it wasn’t really for me. This is a film that’s definitely easier to respect than it is to love. Starring Morfydd Clark as a young, recently converted nurse taking care of a dying dancer, Saint Maud is a story of isolation, religious delusion and obsession. It’s a chilling character study that I may one day grow to appreciate more – but for now, I guess I just wanted… more?

(full review here)

A Quiet Place Part II

2018’s A Quiet Place was an instant cult classic, cementing its place in thriller history with confident, intentional direction, an irresistible hook and strong senses of character, worldbuilding, and tension. I never really thought a sequel was ever needed, and I still don’t, but despite that, A Quiet Place Part II is a fun, satisfying experience. There are a lot more cracks in the formula established by the original this time around, and some of the tension and character interactions are gone, but it makes up for it with some genuinely intense set pieces and scares that are as memorable as anything in the first film. A mixed bag, but more positive than not.

Fear Street: 1994

Leigh Janiak’s Fear Street Trilogy occupied an weekend of my time back in July, as the third film dropped and I watched one of them every night until it was done. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to get, but I know what I got; irresistibly fun and pulpy teenage slasher flicks that both paid lovely homage to the classics of old while updating them for a contemporary audience. The story follows the town of Shadyside, a town plagued by misfortune and a peculiar curse; that of Sarah Fier, a witch who was tried and hanged for witchcraft and cast a spell over the town. Throughout its history, serial killers have appeared in far greater numbers than any other town, and it’s said this is the result of Sarah Fier’s possession. One night, a group of teenagers find themselves at the center of this cursed, being hunted down by a number of undead killers. It’s my personal least favorite of the trilogy, but it’s a fun, spooky, and surprisingly gruesome trip to the 90’s nonetheless – plus, it’s very gay.

Fear Street: 1978

Fear Street: 1978 is, in my opinion, the best of the three. It has my favorite cast of characters and the most fun plot. Set in 1978 instead of 1994, this installment of the trilogy follows a group of summer campers as a sinister plan unfolds beneath them, turning their summer of fun into a summer of murder. Taking its cues from slashers of the early 80’s like Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, Fear Street: 1978 is a bolder and bloodier film than its predecessor, sparing no quarter in the brutality it inflicts upon the teenagers. It’s grippingly suspenseful and ceaselessly fun, and fleshes out the mythology of the series in interesting and meaningful ways. I think this is the series at its best; campy, pulpy thrills and teen drama mixed together for the Netflix age.

Fear Street: 1666

The epic finale of the series is as bold and creative as any of them. I don’t want to say too much about what this one is about, as at this point most of it is spoiler heavy (and I do encourage people to check these out if they interest you) but essentially this entry is about the story of Sarah Fier herself. It’s a creative and brilliant finale that puts some incredible twists in the mix and brings out the underlying themes of class division and otherness in full force.

Candyman

Candyman’s thrilling, stylish and gruesome trailer ended up doing it’s job too well when it comes to this interesting but messy slasher. The film, directed by Nia DiCosta, written by her and Jordan Peele and starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, attempts to revitalize the original pulpy slasher classic from 1992 while making its social subtext text, and the results are as well intentioned as they are mixed. The atmosphere starts off excellent, and the themes are interesting and thought provoking, but it all feels oddly humorless and overly self-serious in a way that doesn’t benefit the central premise at all. I’ve seen plenty of pulpy, campy genre stories that manage to carry genuine themes to it, and the fact that this isn’t one of them is a disappointment.

The Night House

Quite possibly my favorite horror film of the year so far, The Night House takes themes and ideas that have grown familiar over the past few years and manages to squeeze precious life out of them once again. Rebecca Hall is incredible in the lead as a woman whose husband recently committed suicide, trying to move on only to be haunted - literally and figuratively - by his memory, as well as a mystery surrounding him that points to a dark secret she could never have imagined. This supernatural exploration of death, love, depression and grief is among the darkest this genre has brought us in recent years, with a terrifying new twist on its supernatural counterpart that left me shaken to its very core. Director David Bruckner sells this all with some truly chilling and creative visuals and some genuinely effective scares throughout.

Malignant

After a break from the horror genre, James Wan, architect of franchises such as Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring, returns to the genre with his most over the top outing yet. Malignant seems to play itself serious on the surface, but just beneath that is an outlet for pure campy creativity; a scary story so profoundly silly that you can’t help but laugh, but so diabolically nasty that it still works are a horror picture. The way it ramps up the absurdity towards the end has to be seen to be believed, and it's all grounded by melodrama so overwrought that it’s almost charming. It may seem like I’m describing a bad movie, but I’m not; everything about this feels intentional, and while it’s definitely something only a small niche of people will enjoy, I am definitely within that niche.