Here it goes, my favorite horror movies of 2020! The silver lining of the pandemic is that I got to watch more movies than ever. Me and everyone else I guess. Even though all productions stopped during the lockdown, a lot of movies came out this year and some of them were real gems.
Obviously there were some movies that I loved but didn’t make the cut; here’s some movies that didn’t make the list but were really fun to watch: The Invisible Man ; The Day of the Lord ; Host ; Anything for Jackson ; Impetigore ; Run ; Possessor and Blood Vessel. The qualities I took in consideration when choosing the top horror movies of 2020 are the following: - Level of entertainment / pace of the movie - Good acting - Original and graphic deaths / quality SFX
12 Hour Shift
This is one of the first horror movies I watched at home right after the first lockdown started, and boy was it a good choice. The movie revolves around a nurse’s 12-hour night shift in the emergency room at the hospital. But this one is a special nurse: she’s high on blow at work and has deals with mobsters to harvest organs for the black market.
The pace of the movie is frantic, everything gets bloody real quick and some situations are very comic which creates a really entertaining movie. Angela Bettis is great in it, and the cameo of David Arquette fits in perfectly. Because of our crazy times, watching the madness going on in the emergency rooms in this movie felt very real.
Hunter Hunter
A family living isolated in the middle of the woods in a wooden cabin, hunting and foraging for survival is by itself pretty scary. If you add to it the fact that they barely make enough money to survive and also the presence of a wolf constantly stalking them, you get a really interesting movie plot. But trust me, there’s so much more to this movie. SO MUCH MORE. Beautiful photography and high-tension scenes are a constant, you will be on the edge of your seat during the whole movie. Hunter Hunter had my favorite horror movie ending of 2020.
His House
This has to be the most powerful horror movie I’ve seen in 2020.
Bol and Rial escape South Sudan, seeing their child drowning in the sea during their escape, and arrive as refugees in England where they are thrown into an empty abandoned house while the system decides if they get sent back or not. This plot is already terrifying as it is, but on top of that the movie has a really dark imagery and great jump scares.
The trauma of their experience plus their situation as illegal immigrants being constantly judged and evaluated makes for a very impacting and top-quality horror movie.
Unhinged
By this point, you probably are aware of my passion for bleak horror movies where violence is abundant and gratuitous. I love it when in a movie the situations escalate crazy fast and the responses from the main characters and antagonists are brutal and out of proportion. Basically the ‘oh, f*ck!’ moments.
I won’t say it’s Russel Crowe’s best performance, but the role does fit him and it is very fun to watch him spiral down (in the movie!). The frantic car chases, special FX and brutal deaths were a real treat for me. You’ll end the movie thinking “Why’d he get so mad again?”.
Becky
I already talked about Becky this year, but a revenge slasher movie starring a pubescent girl should definitely be on this list. The best part of this movie is the gore, of course, but there's also fun dialogues and mysterious elements that make it an all-around fun movie to watch.
But maybe most importantly, Becky shows us not to underestimate anyone and not to piss off angry teenagers. Death by lawnmower, death by boat and death by zipline are just some of the reasons to watch this movie. You can go read my review if you'd like to know more about Becky.
The Dark and the Wicked
When Louis and Michael go back to their parent’s house in rural America, they find themselves facing something VERY dark and wicked, indeed.
Their dad is on his deathbed and their mom is acting very strange, warning them to leave immediately. The ghostly imagery together with the good acting made this one a very solid flick.
His House and The Dark and the Wicked are the most ‘serious’ movies on this list, but where His House feels very ‘real’, this one is way darker and more brutal. If you enjoyed movies like The Conjuring or Sinister, I think The Dark and the Wicked will definitely be worth a watch for you.
Underwater
In my opinion this was the best horror movie of 2020 and one of the best treats for horror fans to come out in a while. There isn’t anything in this movie I didn't enjoy.
Underwater doesn’t waste any time with slow intros, flashbacks or ambience creation. It doesn’t need to. An underwater drilling station is destroyed by an earthquake and the survivors must find their way to the escape pods, having to walk outside at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. But there’s something out there that’s after them. From the first minute there’s non-stop action, amazing special effects, claustrophobic situations and good jokes and dialogues.
Kristen Stewart is great in her lead role, the situations and shots are scary and nerve-wracking, and the monsters are amazing.
As many people have said, the ending in Underwater is the best “aquatic horror movie” ending of all time, and will put a smile on the face of all horror fans.
That's it folks; I know there's some really good horror coming our way in 2021 and I'll try to keep you posted about it. I would like to end this post with one of the movies I watched during this year that I enjoyed the most, even though the movie came out in 2019.
The Golden Glove
If you like gritty movies such as The House that Jack Built as much as I do, just go and watch The Golden Glove right now. I'm not even going to expand on this. Great performance, photography and storytelling. Real life horror right here, inspired by true events.
Happy 2021!
Comments