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Any 2022/3 horror/thriller movies that anyone would recommend?
Hey everyone!
I love a good horror/thriller type movie and tend to binge on them every few months. I am however behind on releases over the last year or so :<
I'd love to get some recommendations from the wider community to add to my list of must sees!
Thank you in advance!!
I highly recommend Barbarian, with the caveat that you shouldn’t read anything about its plot beforehand. Just throw it on and let the tension build. Seeing this in theaters totally unprepared yielded one of my favorite movie-watching experiences last year.
And if you want a straight-up slasher, go with Terrifier 2. It’s about an extremely violent killer clown terrorizing a family on Halloween. Half of this movie’s modest budget must have gone towards fake blood — it’s that gory. FWIW I haven’t seen the first Terrifier movie, but I don’t think I missed anything because of it.
Agree on Barbarian! I went in blind and was pleasantly surprised. Not many horror movies freak me out while watching but that one had my heart pumping for sure. Big fan.
Thank you! Definitely love a good unexpected ending/turn about, on the list it goes.
Oh... you have to see the first one. Also the prequel "All Hallows Eve". Also, it looks like that third installment is on the way. Haven't watched "Barbarian", but now I'm totally going to!
If you haven't watched "Nope" I think it's pretty great. Thriller is a good word for it because it's not really that scary but it's a great film regardless. Worth watching and rewatching
Oooh I'll have to give it a watch, something about the title already grabs me. Thank you!
I really enjoyed "Nope", I think I enjoyed it because I didn't see what was coming.
I left the theater being pretty disappointed in Nope. Primarily because it didn't seem to have a larger conversation, or at least a clear one, like Peele's other work. However, on rewatching, I found myself thoroughly engrossed, entertained, and able to pick apart the finer details that pointed to the larger conversation I missed the first time around.
I'd contribute missing them the first time to the film's on-the-nose spectacle in which the more subtle themes seemed to get lost. But that film has really grown on me since the theater.
I'll have to give it another watch, I wasn't a fan the first(and only) time I saw it. Just seemed lackluster compared to his other offerings.
I second the recommendations of Barbarian, Terrifier 2, and Nope.
Others: The Menu, Scream 5 & 6, Knock at the Cabin, M3GAN, The Black Phone, Prey, Pearl, X, Evil Dead Rise
Seconding the recommendation for The Menu. I appreciated that it rode the line between thriller/suspense and dark comedy instead of getting gratuitous - it had fun with its idea but didn't become indulgent.
So many to add to my list! Thank you!
I'd be really curious to know the thoughts of someone who watched X before Pearl, vs someone who watched Pearl before X.
I haven't actually watched it but Skinamarink seems to be something that every horror person I know either loves or hates, and they all agree there's not much else out there like it.
I do know if you're looking for a more traditional slasher style thing it's not going to be up your alley, but beyond that I haven't found a common trend among the people who do like it (which is hobbled by them not being able to spoil since I'm also behind on my viewing)
Yeah the Skinamarink discourse is mostly loved-it-or-hated-it, and I wasn’t a fan of it myself. Thought it would have been much better off as a 20-30 minute short film. To be fair, I watched this with friends on Shudder, so we were prone to making jokes and talking in a way that we would not have in a theater, which is where this probably played to audiences best.
Anyway, here’s a very funny Sopranos take on Skinamarink I saw the other day: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqoIYC7gWEF/
Not sure if you're aware of Heck, but it's the short film that led to the full length
I haven't seen Skinamarink either, however if a movie is love it or hate it...I think it's worth watching. I would rather that than ambivalence.
Thank you! I'll give it a look! Sometimes the controversial ones are excellent.
Personally, I found Skinamarink to be rather unsatisfying, even boring. But if you view the film as a sort of 'proof of concept' for a certain aesthetic, it's potentially very exciting. A lot of the aesthetic techniques and principles that it uses could definitely make for a really engaging horror film, if they were sufficiently balanced or dialed-back.
I think when it comes down to it, many of these techniques boil down to 'ways of limiting what the audience sees or knows'. To wit: the grainy, degraded analog VHS aesthetic; odd camera angles with slow, unidirectional panning; slow-paced scenes meant to heighten the impact of composition; rarely highlighting human faces or natural human movements; anti-jump scares; vague dialogue clarified by subtitles; minimalist plotting with no clear main thrust; juxtaposing long scenes with abrupt cuts; etc.
All of these are geared towards taking away information that the audience would normally have access to. Taking away information can be scary because, conversely, it's comforting when we know exactly what's going on. Indeed, this what most modern horror does, to a much lesser extent. But Skinamarink throws so many of these techniques together, that it takes away too much information, leaving the viewer unable form the rudimentary understanding of danger that is required to experience horror/terror to begin with. Still, I think the techniques themselves are sound, and I bet if you were to 'split the difference' between Skinamarink and standard horror fare, you would end up with something really great. I'm certainly curious to see what the filmmaker does in the future.
I actually loved Skinamarink, and in large part for the very same reason you find it exciting. So much was left open in my imagination and in my experience by the filming techniques. I thought those techniques, as well as the voice-acting/dialogue, added a great deal of tension throughout the film that made the movie feel like a never ending countdown that doesn't reach 0.
I would say, perhaps, it's that same lack of resolution that a lot of people don't connect to with the film.
Lots of good recs here, I second the new Scream movies, Evil Dead Rise, and Pearl/X. If you're okay with something a little more experimental check out Mad God, it has some of the most fucked up imagery I've seen in a while.
I'm curious about the new Evil Dead, where does it come in stylistically? The only thing I’ve seen about it so far is the poster... no reviews or trailers.
Considering how much the franchise changed since the first movie, would you say it bears any similarity to anything before?
The poster made it feel kinda like it went back toward the roots, more horror than the comedy it evolved into, but more polished than the cult classic, which makes me think it may be more of a knockoff of other recent franchises than actual Evil Dead.
Did you see the 2013 remake? Rise is in a similar camp, The spirit of the first two movies with modern budgets. Rise has a little bit of that pitch black humor from two, but not enough to undermine the gruesomeness. I love both of the newer films, they have enough of a distinct style that separates them from other horror series imo.
Completely forgot there was another in 2013, I was just remembering the first three from way back. Glad to hear the newer movies kept some originality, will check them out now.
For me it wasn’t a must see, but it was definitely a gory romp and I don’t regret seeing it. I think this movie (like so many others of late) leans a little too heavily on CGI for some things that could have been really impressive practical effects.
I really enjoyed the cheeky telegraphing at the beginning of the movie too; lots of Chekhov’s guns in the first act.
I think my favorite part though is that they really captured the “meanness” of the Deadites — lots of mocking/roasting/demoralizing the living with very targeted insults. It’s fun to see the juxtaposition of humans fighting for their life vs immortal beings just having a little fun.
Excellent, my list is ever expanding! These are sure to scratch the itch.
I’m sorry it’s not 2022/23 but I will always and forever recommend Calibre. It was on Netflix when I watched it and I think it still is. I’m a huge horror fan and I’d put this in the top 3 thrillers I’ve ever seen in terms of genuine suspense and anxiety the entire way through. I don’t want to spoil anything about the story, I’d say do what I did and go in completely blind don’t even read the description. Just be ready to be biting your nails with every new development.
I haven't heard of it, so I might be even more behind in my movie watching endeavours than I realised. On the list it goes, thank you! :D
Not heard of this one but will check it out, thanks!
I really liked The Black Phone, although its more of a thriller
Men (2022, dir. Alex Garland) is a really underrated horror film, imo. It seems like it mostly got middling reviews, but I think you could chalk this up to how uncompromisingly weird it is. Some of the visual imagery and the ways the characters are written kind of remind me of a typical David Lynch film. Overall, it is highly unsettling, with several really memorable scenes. It also definitely has elements of 'social commentary', but I felt like its message was more subtle and up-to-interpretation than other films these days.
I'll also echo what other users have been saying - Barbarian (2022, dir. Zach Cregger) is worth a watch. This is genuinely a piss-your-pants scary film, yet it is also oddly humorous. I think both of these features are amplified by the film's complete refusal to follow a normal plotline. That said, I wasn't crazy about the ending. But overall I think the film is very good, and I'm excited to see what else Zach Cregger will do in the coming years (this was his directorial debut).
Additionally, while it's not a traditional film per se, the YouTube VFX artist 'Kane Pixels' has an awesome series based on the Backrooms internet meme-legend. You can watch the whole playlist and it basically plays like a horror film. It is extremely creepy, found-footage style (mostly) stuff. Really unpretentious, and also incredibly impressive because Kane Pixels is only 17 years old, and did the entire thing using mo-cap and 3D modeling in Blender. Recently, A24 actually tapped him to collaborate on a full-length Backrooms film, and I'm also looking forward to that.
I haven't seen anyone else recommend it but Deadstream was a very pleasant surprise in how charming it was and had a lot of fun spooks. Highly recommend it!
I really liked Vivarium, Apartment 1B, Get Out, Cabin in the Woods, Split,1922… just off the top of my head.
I wanted to like Vivarium and I do think it was a cool concept. I didn’t even dislike it, but even after a rewatch I think I’m just a little to dim to understand it all the way. I get what it is trying to say, but I don’t think I fully get the message.
Thank you!! I am loving how many titles I'm being recommended, my next few months will be full indeed. <3
Please check out 2022's Smile (available on Prime Video). It reminds me of It Follows in technique, creepy factor, and indie cred. Great "oh, no" payoff in the ending too.
Man I feel like I'm the only person in the world that did not care for that movie. I thought it was trying to borrow from It Follows and The Ring, and managed only the worst of each.
It had good visuals towards the end and used a respectable amount of practical effects, but otherwise yeah I thought it was pretty ho-hum.
It was a pretty good movie that set its atmosphere up front really well. I'm just so annoyed that the best jump scare was literally in the trailer.
spoiler
Talking about the scene where someone walks up to the car and their head swings down.I really dug We're All Going to the World's Fair. It's got a cool, low budget, DIY type feel, and handles its subject matter in a pretty smart way. I'm not particularly a horror guy, but that one wound up being one of my favorites of last year.
I just watched and thoroughly enjoyed The Popes Exorcist last night. Not going to top any lists, but it was a very fun time.