5. “X/Pearl”
This has been nothing short of a spectacular year for horror veteran Ti West. After releasing several features that have been beloved by many horror fans but never really crossed over to a larger audience, he released not one but two films this year that not only have turned into instant classics but have made the filmmaker one of the most respected horror storytellers working today. It’s hard to separate and rank “X” and “Pearl” against each other. Both are wildly different but intrinsically linked, as they bookend the tragic life of a woman with unrealized dreams of escaping. Telling her story out of sequence, we’re introduced to Pearl as an older woman in “X,” showing a doddering woman who realizes her life has been wasted and wants to take her pain out on everyone around her in a style reminiscent of ‘70s/’80s slashers. The backstory is then shown in West’s follow-up, “Pearl,” which channels Old Hollywood to show the title character as a young woman filled with hope and optimism but also terrible trauma. Both films feature stunning performances by Mia Goth, including a monologue in “Pearl,” which is up there with the best performances by anyone in 2022, period. -CB
(Read our reviews of “X” and “Pearl” here and here)
4. “Nope”
It’s been five-plus years since Jordan Peele shocked the world with the release of “Get Out,” and the director’s debut feature continues to have a stranglehold on horror culture. There’s a reason every new movie is compared to that film -—Peele hit the ground running as a filmmaker and has not looked back. “Nope,” his third feature, is even more ambitious than “Us,” itself a film ready to take the wildest of swings. “Nope” is ultimately many things — a revisionist history of Hollywood, an allegory for cycles of exploitation and opportunism, a love letter to Steven Spielberg — but any conversation about the film begins with some of the standout horror scenes of 2022. From the harrowing attack of chimpanzee and sitcom star Gordy to the rainstorm of blood, Peele is playing with horror imagery at a frankly astonishing scope and scale. At this point, each film that Peele creates is a lock for end-of-year consideration. We genre fans can only cross our fingers and hope that Peele does not choose to branch out in the future. He’s certainly earned the right to make a big-budget period piece or drama, but for as long as his love of the horror genre keeps him here, we will be glad to have him. – MM
(Read Carlos Aguilar’s review of “Nope” here)
3. “Barbarian”
Even now, in the year’s final weeks, one hesitates to spoil the various twists and turns of “Barbarian.” The enduring success of Zach Cregger’s film is as much a testament to its willingness to buck trends as its intrinsic quality as a horror film. But do not be mistaken: “Barbarian” deeply understands what makes horror audiences tick, and the film earns its place as a landmark horror film with no further quibbles about the hybrid nature of the horror-comedy. Writer-director Cregger cut his teeth as one of the founding members of “The Whitest Kids U’ Know,” and elements of that sketch comedy background are peppered throughout the film. Cregger could’ve built an entire feature around his first-act tension, one that would slot nicely into audience enthusiasm for A24 horror. Instead, Cregger broke his narrative into distinct pieces, switching perspectives from Georgina Campbell to Justin Long and crafting one of horror’s most unlikable protagonists in the process. If there are any comparisons to be made between Cregger and Jordan Peele, it’s that both “Barbarian” and “Get Out” feel like scripts that were honed to perfection, stories from a filmmaker determined to do it their way or not at all. – MM
(Read Simon Thompson’s review of “Barbarian here)
2. “Bones And All”
Easily the most heartbreaking film on this list, Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” film is supposed to be a cannibal horror film on the outside, but it’s really a profoundly terrifying and tragic film about those that are unloved, unwanted, and discarded. Starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as a pair of young “eaters” who find each other and flee together on a road trip across the country, the film is a doomed romance about those so desperate to belong, who never will. Featuring terrifying supporting performances by Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny, and David Gordon Green—not to mention an eerie and heart-aching score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that is absolutely unlike most of their work— “Bones And All” is a chilling collision of grotesque depravity, overwhelming loneliness and sadness, and deeply-moving romantic desire. It took my breath away. – RP
(Read Jack King’s review of “Bones And All” here)
1. “Resurrection”
When a horror film is praised on the festival circuit, one always wonders how it will make the leap to more widespread audiences. For months, “Resurrection” was a film that had been whispered about in festival circles, a movie with a killer monologue and a batshit third act that would leave horror fans breathless. In this instance, the movie was not oversold. It is not too much of a stretch to call “Resurrection” the feel-bad movie of the year. Director Andrew Semans entrusts his film to the capable hands of Rebecca Hall, and the twists and turns that follow — the unraveling of a human being as a result of decades of emotional abuse—make the movie one of the hardest watches of any year; let alone 2022. Between “Resurrection” and “The Night House,” Hall has proven herself to be an actor of uncommon ferocity. “Resurrection” is a film that asks much of its audience by forgoing many of the conventions found in horror — even arthouse horror that shares much of its DNA. Our one safety net is Hall, and her complete and utter breakdown as a character — peppered with a few standout monologues along the way and a malevolently chilling performance from Tim Roth— makes this a movie I can’t wait not to watch again anytime soon. – MM
(Read Rodrigo Perez’s review of “Resurrection” here)
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