2022 has been a particularly rich year for excellent horror films. Here are the top 10 according to RollingStone.
2022, terrible year? In any case, a year of horror, with many great films and a lot of variety. Arthouse films rubbed shoulders with big budget films and independent films. Elements of horror films found their way into everything from animated films to blockbusters (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness by Sam Raimi is nothing but a movie evil Dead which ended up in the MCU).
Here are the 10 horror movies that made us lose sleep in 2022, knocked us out of our comfort zones, made us scream in the dark next to other people in the room, and reminded us how powerful gender can be.
(Honourable mention to some of the other scary movies of the year: Dashcam, Flux Gourmet, Fresh, The Innocents, Mad God, The Menu, Smile and A Wounded Fawn. And if we hesitate to recommend » a film as twisted and unpleasant as The Sadness, the South Korean zombie flick that has even jaded horror fans swooning, we have to admit it does exactly what it set out to do. Use extreme caution with him).
10 – Scream
Do you like horror movies about horror movies that poke fun at other horror movies while paying homage to them? In that case, the latest installment in the meta-horror franchise has probably taken you to seventh heaven. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (the same duo that gave us the equally cheeky Ready or Not) update the series Scream for the era request of the franchise and the era of toxic fandom, featuring Neve Campbell, Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) and plenty of Gen Z actors in a hall of mirrors of the genre. And even if the filmmakers have an idea in mind, they do not forget the pleasure of seeing Ghostface wielding a giant knife and eliminating the teenagers one by one. Yes, you can do something sarcastic and scary in 2022 without selling off your streak.
9 – Boop
In this film, Jordan Peele asks the question: what if the mothership of Dating of the Third Kind was actually the shark of the Sea teeth ? A review of blockbusters, the writer-director’s third feature isn’t nearly as groundbreaking as get-out or as scary as Us. Yet his update of 1950s horror/sci-fi is still ominous and brilliantly conjures up a sense of dread every time his quintessentially predatory flying saucer soars from cloud to cloud at searching for new prey. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer turn their hunt for proof that aliens are among us into humanity’s last stand, while a subplot involving former child star Steven Yuen and a chimpanzee on the loose is sheer terror . It gets better and more disturbing with each viewing.
8 – Bones and All
No, the beautiful love story between young cannibals by Luca Guadagnino is not to everyone’s taste. Too sweet for splatter lovers and too extreme for mainstream Oscar-seeking audiences. Yes, it turns Camille DeAngelis’ teen novel into the most romantic horror movie of the year. Taylor Russell’s outcast and flesh-hungry teenager hits the road in search of information about her long-lost mother, only to uncover an entire community of ” eaters living on the fringes of Reagan-era America. She also meets Lee (Timothée Chalamet), a handsome kid who shares her illness and who quickly becomes her traveling companion. You might think it is a Twilight for carnivores, but the film has some gut-wrenching sequences.
7 – piggy
Sara, a shy, plump young woman masterfully played by Laura Galán, works in her parents’ butcher shop and endures constant taunts from the local clique of mean girls. The sudden appearance of a scruffy tramp (Richard Holmes) and a few unexplained disappearances suggest that a serial killer may be rampant in his small village; the question is whether this is someone who might kill Sara or be her guardian angel. Director Carlota Pereda, who made her Spanish television debut, plays with both the revenge thriller and the tropes of gore horror and maniac on the loose, but she also gives us reason to take the side. of her heroine, whether she’s trying to escape this visiting psychopath or becoming his apprentice. The scenes of literal torture are nothing compared to the humiliations Sara endured. And the image of Galán covered in blood on an isolated road immediately became iconic.
6 – Soft & Quiet
What’s scarier than Freddie, Jason, Chucky and Michael Myers all together? How about a cabal of neo-Nazi middle-aged white women? Beth de Araújo, in her first experience as a screenwriter and director, brings you an American nightmare, which unfolds in real time thanks to an elaborate one-shot staging, which forces you to put yourself in the skin of a group of women indulging in hatred on Instagram. The natural and light side of their toxicity and the way a newcomer to the group (Eleanore Pienta) is so easily persuaded to spit racist comments is a little too close to reality to be comfortable, and when the scene is set for As these restless people put their words into action, you know things are going to go from bad to worse. The final 30 minutes of this independent film, which turns a home break-in into a hate crime, are so tense they’re almost impossible to watch. Take that as a compliment and a warning.
5 – Men
Alex Garland’s allegory about the evil men do (we’re talking about male humans here) was greeted with a wave of hostility upon its release. Allow us to suggest that this is the most unfairly disparaged horror film of the past 12 months, and one that it more than deserves its place on this list. A recently widowed woman named Harper (Jessie Buckley) travels to the English countryside in an attempt to grieve and heal. One day, as she is walking, she sees a sinister, naked figure that seems to be following her. She calls the police, who don’t seem to be much help. No more than most of the men she meets in town. We quickly understand what Garland is up to, and the evidence of its message on the systematic misogynist drift is matched only by its disturbing character, especially when the last act ventures into hallucinatory territory. Buckley and his partner Rory Kinnear both deserve kudos for their work, as does the visual effects team.
4 – Do not say anything
A father (Morten Burian), a mother (Sidsel Siem Koch) and their young daughter (Liva Forsberg) are on vacation in Tuscany. In their villa, this Danish clan meets another family of three. The patriarch of this trio (Fedja van Huêt) couldn’t be more sociable and his wife (Karina Smulders) seems just as friendly and outgoing. Their son, curiously, said nothing. The parents explain that he suffers from a birth defect that affects his tongue. A few months later, the Danes are invited to visit their new friends at their home deep in the woods. And with this simple premise, director Christian Tafdrup sets up a middle-class descent into hell. Your new favorite European horror event.
3 – Barbarian
A horror hit of 2022, this smart, funny, genuinely scary, and extremely brutal (when needed) film from director Zach Cregger is a twist on the good old “don’t go in the basement.” It seemed to come out of nowhere, without much noise at first. (It topped the US box office in its opening weekend, which was considered a win by default, with late summer being a dead zone for new releases). Then word of mouth started to grow, and even those who don’t usually like horror movies started to notice. A woman (Georgina Campbell) rents an Airbnb in a tough neighborhood. When she goes there, another tenant (Bill Skarsgård) already occupies the residence. It is out of desperation that they agree to share the place. And then, in the middle of the night, she hears a strange noise….. Even when you think you know where this is going to take you, Barbaric keep pulling the rug out from under you. We can’t wait to see what Cregger does next.
2 – Prey
And now, something completely unexpected. Director Dan Trachtenberg’s contribution to the Predator universe isn’t just an intriguing expansion of the franchise. This is a B-movie masterpiece, a survival thriller, a horror movie that, like its iconic alien and native tracker, is extremely good at what it does. Sending everyone’s favorite interstellar fighter to the Commanche nation in 1719, this film brings new blood to the series by taking a step back (not forgetting to draw a parallel between all sorts of invaders in the ” New world ”) and gives us a top notch action heroine in the form of Naru, played by Amber Midthunder. Plus, it makes a famous creature even scarier by adding a skull to its armor and stages a to-die-for climax. 10/10, full stop.
1 – X
Tons of movies pay homage to Chainsaw Massacre, but this movie is one of the few that feels like it was featured on a double poster with Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece at the time. A film crew travels to a remote Texas farm to shoot the Lone Star State’s biggest porn movie. The pious elderly couple who own the property barely tolerate the presence of their guests. Still, the film’s star (Mia Goth) seems to stir something in the house matriarch, and that’s when things get bloody. West naturally soaks up the grungy vibe of horror classics and gratifies us with a scene involving headlights and blood spatter that is simply stunning (you have to go back to the early seasons ofHannibal to find something so grotesque and beautiful at the same time). But he also adds something unexpected to his repertoire: an emotional resonance. And thanks to Mia Goth, he found not only a perfect scream queen, but also an outstanding collaborator; his work here and in the companion film to X, Pearl (which she co-wrote with West), helps weave a character study through all the on-screen carnage. We are going to see this film for the adrenaline rush linked to sex and violence. We come out of it having witnessed an event that brings together the lowest impulses and art… in more ways than one.
david fear
Translated by the editor
We would love to say thanks to the author of this write-up for this incredible content
The 10 Best Horror Movies of 2022