The Year's Best Horror Flicks, According To A Louisville Film Critic

While I love arthouse and classic film, well-made documentaries and tight action flicks, my real cinema love is horror. The expression “may you live in interesting times” is often labeled a curse, attributed to the ancient Chinese, though that origin story is false. Interesting times also breed good horror films. We are more than halfway through 2024, and everyday our slow boil society seems to be getting a little hotter, the steps taken by officials and civilians a bit more, well, insane. With most of the summer releases out, it’s a good time to pause and take stock of where horror fits into the film landscape, and get braced for the spooky season right around the corner. Maybe the stories being told in these films also reflect a little of society back at us as well.

While the year started with a few strong and highly anticipated titles like the low-budget throwback film “Late Night With the Devil” (Shudder) and the nun-centric films “Immaculate” (VOD) and “The First Omen” (Hulu), those titles were more serviceable than groundbreaking, and there were plenty of disappointments too. Small films like “Night Swim,” (Peacock) “Watchers,” (VOD) and “Stop-Motion” (Shudder) had promise with original ideas from first time feature directors, but fell short in general and at the box office.

But tides turned when “Abigail” (VOD) dropped and took the mantle as most fun of all this year’s horror films (so far). From the directors of the equally delightful “Ready or Not,” it is only missing a Nicolas Cage cameo to put it on par with horror comedy delights like “One Cut of the Dead” or “Slither.” Riding a nostalgia wave, “Lisa Frankenstein,” (VOD) and “I Saw the TV Glow” (VOD) are both films that call back to earlier times, with Diablo Cody’s LF pulling up a dayglo 80s that never existed, and Jane Schoenbrun’s TV mining a Buffy 90s sensibility to explore themes of gender and transitioning.

But enough with the streaming choices, let’s make sure to highlight the films that should get you out to watch a film with other people! Playing now are three of the most highly anticipated horror films of the year, Ti West’s blood-soaked Giallo sendup “Maxxxine,” the film with the most misleading promotional campaign “Cuckoo,” and my personal favorite, “Longlegs.” None of these films are perfect, but the cast and crew understood the assignment, each of them. “Maxxxine” concludes a trilogy of films who were made within the constraints of their respective horror homage. While its ending is the weakest part of the entire film run, the first 2/3 of the film is a pitch perfect vehicle for Mia Goth, and another nostalgic look back at the 80s, complete with a kickass video store. The trailer for “Cuckoo” promises a tense and terrifying time, but it is important to remember that any horror movie featuring Dan Stevens will be funny and weird. Period.

But it is “Longlegs” that captured this reviewer’s heart. Shot on less than 10 million, its box office has already hit 50 million at time of writing, making it a bona fide hit. Set in the 90s, it is a film that loves “Silence of the Lambs” but it is more kin to “Twin Peaks” and wears its Lynchian label proudly. It is 100 minutes of bad vibes and a too short Nicolas Cage appearance that takes some viewers out of the experience, but for my money, seals the deal (with the devil).

Still to come this year is “Alien: Romulus” (August 15) which promises to do something that other “Alien” sequels do not do – return to the flavor of the first two films and try to be actually scary. Leigh Whannell returns to Universal Horror cannon, following up “The Invisible Man” with “The Wolf Man,” starring Christopher Abbott, an actor who picks the most interesting projects. Brandy is also back, starring in “The Front Room,” (September 6) based on the Susan Hill story about a young woman who must deal with an estranged, racist stepmom who is horror movie evil too. Films like “Heretic” (November 15) and “Nightbitch” (December 6) are showcasing actors we love like Amy Adams and Hugh Grant.

There is a “Speak No Evil” (Sept. 13) on the horizon that will introduce subtitle avoidant viewers to a story that is sure to be better told in the original Dutch film, now streaming on Shudder. But remakes are not always the worst, and this year in horror will not be over until we fans get out Christmas present. Robert Egger’s “Nosferatu,” is hitting screens on Christmas Day. I will be there, gladly.

If there is a common thread running through this wide gamut of film, it is looking back. Whether its arthouse horror like “The Substance” (September 20), extreme horror like “In a Violent Nature” (VOD), or better than the original prequels like “A Quiet Place: Day One,” (in theaters), these films come to us carrying the past with them. It seems like we still have a lot to process.

Are you a horror fan too? Meet your fellow fans at The Louisville Gore Club, a weekly meetup at Planet of the Tapes. Every Sunday at 8pm, gorehounds meet up to see the best — and the worst — that horror has to offer!

And keep an eye open for local filmmaker Remington Smith’s “Landlord,” shot here in Louisville, and set to release in the next year.

More info at landlordfilm.com