Halfway Through 2016: The Best Horror Movies Thus Far
The Funhouse Massacre
An awesome nod to insane B-movies of the 80s, The Funhouse Massacre isn’t to be taken too seriously… and it knows it. The flick is really just about relaxing, watching with a few beers, and feeling like you’ve been transported back in time a few decades. It looks old school, and that seems to be just the look that director Andy Powers sought after. Powers has a fine sense of humor and brings plenty of that to the set with him, and apparently it’s infectious. The Funhouse Massacre may be goofy, but it’s Evil Dead goofy, not The Fog remake goofy.
![[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1CrsJgFqkU&w=640&h=360]](https://www.dreadcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Funhouse-Massacre-Robert-Englund.jpg)
The Conjuring 2
The Conjuring 2 was pretty awesome for a few different focal reasons. One, it far surpassed my expectations, which I suppose were a bit low. Two, it looks and feels like a James Wan production. He’s got a certain way with the camera that’s beginning to feel familiar, and that’s the sign of a filmmaker conscious of his craft and looking to leave a mark on cinema. And my third reason really kind of blends into my second, as this one features excellent technical camera work, a lot of slow-build tension, and a fair dose of in your face freak out moments. A surprisingly good sequel and an impressive mashup of emotional triggers.
The Invitation
Oh man, this flick was brilliant. The tension, the paranoia, the wicked, wicked good performance from Logan Marshall-Green. Just a REALLY awesome, well assembled flick. The Invitation could certainly be considered a thriller as opposed to a horror film, and it certainly sprouted up from nowhere with little time to be pushed as a horror film, but I’d argue that the final act puts the nails exactly where they should be in that coffin. This is a standout psychological horror film, and that’s all there is to it.
10 Cloverfield Lane
I’m not going to delve too deeply into this one for fear of uncorking a couple of spoilers. The trick this one has up the sleeve is the kind of trick you don’t want to know the secret to. But know this: John Goodman is just as amazing as he’s ever been, and he’s far more intense in this film than a great deal of the others we’ve seen in the past. It’s another one that puts the characters in front of the action – something of a theme in 2016, and I’m good with that – which generates an atypical but enjoyable character dynamic that we don’t often see in genre fare.
The Witch
The greatest thing about The Witch is the surprise and unpredictability of it all. Very few could have predicted the details of this particular story, and that earns major points in my mind. Without divulging details that will take quite a bit of the steam from the film, I will say that for a period piece shot in an almost arthouse manner, the surprise really doesn’t feel at all out of place, which it certainly could have had this film been shot in more traditional fashion. It’s a good piece of work if you’re fine with slower paced pictures.
Green Room
Once Green Room gets moving, it doesn’t look back, and it shows no mercy whatsoever. Often very brutal, gifting viewers the kind of special effects that’ll leave a stomach spinning, Green Room mixes a strong blend of aggression and character examination. We’re able to invest in more than a single personality here, and knowing their fates are all likely grim, that hits the viewer a little harder. We want the good guy to win, not die. Look into this one if you’re after something a little bit different (it reminded me quite a bit of Asylum Blackout, though they’re two very clearly different films) from the over-produced craziness Hollywood loves to shoot our way.
