While 2023 may have been a terrible year, it hasn’t been a bad year for horror. In what feels like the first real year post-pandemic, it’s pretty clear that cinema is back on the menu. From indie films to Hollywood blockbusters, we’ve seen some absolute BANGERS. Childhood icons have turned ravenous with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, Joe Lynch came back with a vengeance with the sexy and thrilling Suitable Flesh, Five Nights at Freddy’s killed at the box office, Ted Geoghegan gave us a hauntingly beautiful chamber piece with Brooklyn 45, one of the greatest horror franchises of the new millennium had its final installment in Insidious: The Red Door, Anthony DiBlasi made a reimagining of his own killer film (and somehow made it even better) with Malum, V/H/S/85 did its thing, Hell House LLC Origins told a wild prequel story, and Saw is back in action with Saw X grossing over $100 million worldwide. Oh, and I didn’t even mention there was a horror movie about SLOTHS.
This isn’t mentioning some of the amazing indie festival films from 2022/23 that received not only physical releases but theatrical ones, too! Indie films like Beaten to Death, The Retaliators, Megalomaniac, and Malibu Horror Story, to name a few, have proven that indie horror isn’t going anywhere. Out of all the films this year, I liked a few more than others; here are my top three, and oh boy, was this list hard to make!
Scream 6
Who knew the moment when Sam Carpenter discarded the Ghostface mask that we were getting a finale to the Carpenter sisters? In hindsight, this ending is bittersweet, but fitting. As a HUGE Scream fan, I’m not afraid to admit there have been moments when the series took storylines too far. Now, the reason for Scream 6 being the end of the Carpenters isn’t how their story should have ended, and it’s sad it turned out this way.
That being said, Scream 6 taking us to Manhattan for even more unbridled chaos in this whole bloody affair was the best decision the franchise could have made. As someone who regularly walks the packed streets of Manhattan, it can be daunting not knowing what the hundreds of people on the same block as you are thinking. Taking the viewer out of Woodsboro and plopping us down in a new city elevated the horror of the franchise to heights it hadn’t seen since, well, the first film. Plus anything with Samara Weaving in it gets a few extra points in my book.
Scream 6 is streaming on Paramount+ and Showtime, it’s also available for rent on all major VOD services.
You can read our review of Scream 6 here.
Crumb Catcher
Crumb Catcher is the directorial debut from writer/director Chris Skotchdopole, with story credits by Chris Skotchdopole, Rigo Garay, and the always amazing Larry Fessenden. There have been a handful of completely off-the-wall films in 2023, but Crumb Catcher takes the cake. If you want a masterclass on how to do tonal shifts correctly, then you need to watch this film. From comedy, to home invasion, to action, to psychological horror, Crumb Catcher effortlessly switches tones with the ease of a ten-film filmmaker. Skotchdopole proves, without a shadow of a doubt, he understands film and knows how to make a damn good one. With astounding performances from John Speredakos, Ella Rae Peck, Rigo Garay, and Lorraine Farris, Crumb Catcher is undoubtedly one of the most well-acted horror films of the year.
Frogman
Found Footage films are the hardest films to make well, and the easiest films to make awfully. Just because you have a cheap camera and know how to create a false jump scare doesn’t mean you know how to make a good Found Footage film. Frogman doesn’t only give us a terrifying Found Footage film, it gives us an insight most supernatural films don’t: consequences. Films like The Antares Paradox and UFO Sweden tackle a similar idea, but Frogman does it best. That idea is the consequence of seeing something, be it a cryptid, a ghost, or a UAP. While it may have only recently become ‘cool’ to see a UAP, it has ruined hundreds of lives. Frogman shows us how far someone will go when their life is ruined based on documenting supernatural events. How far would you go to prove something you witnessed was real? The answer for the characters in Frogman is pretty damn far.
What a list, huh? 2023 provided some excellent horror films, and now that the year is over, a new year is on the horizon with tons of horror for us to look forward to sinking our teeth into. So what DO we all have to look forward to? The newest Blumhouse film Night Swim is set to kick off the year at the beginning of January. We’re getting a new Saw film in September. Does this mean we’re going back to yearly Saw releases? I hope so. Radio Silence’s Universal Monster Movie, starring Melissa Barrera, has wrapped and is looking at an April release. Return to Silent Hill is also set for an April release. A sequel to the hit film Smile is ready to go for an October treat. And the third part of the MaXXXine trilogy, MaXXXine, is coming at some point as well.
Not a bad lineup if I do say so myself! What films did you love in 2023? And what films are you excitedly anticipating for the new year?