Adrian’s Top 10 Horror Films of 2024
StopMotion:This film was basically Jan Svankmier and David Lynch had a film baby… the imagery was disturbing and romantic in a way…. the actual animation looked like it was absolutely horrifying magic… and the ending was straight out of Lynch’s red room.
Strange Darling: This is feminist horror at its greatest. There have been several examples of Feminist horror this year… but this one was so human. The twists of this film… the out of order storytelling.. Kyle Gallner ( I don’t even love him… yes I do) … the upside down roles. And the ending…. Guys… the ending meant everything… this movie blew me away.
Daddy’s Head:This movie was dark and had a deep folklore roots that made it so beautiful and tragic, it hurts. The scares were not cheap jump scares. And as a stepmother in real life, the ending was a fairytale, which most folk -horror is. This film came closer than any other this year to actually scaring me
Oddity: A mix of Gothic ghost story, and a murder mystery “ who done it?”, that was beautiful. It mixed folklore and mythology, and the director even put an Easter egg in there from Cavat. I figured the whole thing out in less than five minutes and it was everything watching it play out. Absolutely beautiful.
Cuckoo: This movie was so creative and new….. it’s a rare magic to see something like this. It was weird and haunting, and actually almost scared me during the bicycle scene… and it’s hard as Jimminy flipping Cricket to scare me. Only one film this year did actually scare me… but this one came close. The monsters were unique… also… Dan Stevens is a horror god.
The Vourdalak: Guys… this is based on Tolstoy… yes that Tolstoy…. And there is a terrifying vampire puppet… This film….. blew my flipping mind. The scene with the mom. And the vampire child…… I have no words…. The use of puppets!!!!!! And it being terrifying… it’s magic… real movie magic
Abigail: Yup…. This movie was Fright Night on crack. It used a fun, pretty premise, glittered it with modern horror rock stars (have I sung a love song to Dan Stevens yet?) , paid homage to Fright Night and other epic vampire films …especially but not exclusively, the rat joke with Kevin Durand from The Strain. It still has me dying.
The First Omen: This film simply looked like every painting I’ve ever painted in my life… I don’t know what else to say honestly… It looked like my paintings with a story
Starve Acre: This movie was so haunting. This movie seriously made me realize how much I love folk horror. Matt Smith was absolutely haunted and proved my case about good hair and sweaters…but also, this film showed grief in all its forms. It will haunt me for for the rest of my life.. and the song at the end…also Hares guy…rabbits/hares… For my previous HORROR TO CULTURE review of Starve Acre, please see HERE.
I Saw the TV Glow: This film took nostalgia (Pete and Pete) and took the child like obsessions, and made it hurt… the choices we make… the reality we choose… time… all of it is beautiful and painful…
