TOP 5 HORROR MOVIES OF 2020

HORROR MOVIES

TOP 5 HORROR MOVIES OF 2020

NO.01  THE GRUDGE

THIS IS THE BEST HORROR MOVIE. EVERYTECH This year in film starts with a tricky prospect—a brutal arthouse director handling a studio project (good) that’s also the second American remake of a half-scary 2002 Japanese movie (not promising). Can you recommend a horror movie based on its impressive meanness? Meet Nicolas Pesce’s new and improved take on “The Grudge,” which is often as nasty as you want it to be, its cheesy jump-scares and generic packaging be damned. 

Based on the original script by Takashi Shimizu (who did the 2004 American remake of his film "Ju-on"), Pesce’s script is still about a Japanese home that is cursed by a murder that happened in extreme rage, and the supernatural entity that travels with anyone who has been in the home (in this version, an American woman brings it stateside before the opening credits). More than worrying about who’s-who in a new saga of cursed people, Pesce orchestrates a dense, foreboding atmosphere, where unlucky souls have to manage their own oppressive sadness, along with the shadowy, space-invading entities that pop up in the dark. 

NO.02 THE TURNING

THIS IS THE BEST HORROR MOVIE. EVERYTECH Horror feature films have indeed had the fair share of hits and misses over the years; garnishing spooky tales of a wide variety of aspects to “scare” its cinematic characters as well as its viewers. Stories of spectral ghosts, ancient demons, nightmarish ghouls, haunted houses, deranged psychopaths, and murderous individuals have been the genre’s “bread and butter”, with Hollywood trying new ways of storytelling and trying to entice moviegoers to get lost within these horror flicks. In addition, the adaptation of literary works have also played a part in horror movies by taking well-known / bestselling properties from a range of authors, including Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Thomas Harris, Daphne Du Maurer, Susan Hill, Bram Stoker, and several others. Now, Universal Pictures (and DreamWorks Pictures) and director Floria Sisgismondi present the latest horror motion picture offering with the film The Turning, which is based off of author Henry James’s novella “The Turning of the Screw”. Does the movie find its “scares” with a modern audience or is just another “forgettable” horror feature?

NO.03 THE INVISIBLE MAN

It’s fascinating how skilled Whale is at balancing the camp elements with the more sinister undertones. The eponymous character is, depending on the scene, a playful poltergeist or a murderous ghoul. His mind ravaged by the dangerous chemical passing through his veins, the lead character is erratic and unpredictable. In many respects that’s true of his motivations. Is he hoping to cure himself, or does he want to use his power to conquer the world, or is he simply causing death and destruction for his own entertainment? The film never seems to know, but that’s okay – because it seems like he’s never quite sure himself.

It’s this surreal ability to shift mood that makes The Invisible Man so fascinating, a movie that can go from ridiculously camp to bone-chillingly cold in the space of a single scene. Claude Rains is perfectly cast as Jack Griffin, his voice perfectly able to capture that inconsistency. One minute he seems quite lucid, in another he’s cold and calculating, and in the next he’s fully blown psychotic. returning to the car after causing a panic in an old inn, he jokingly asks if his companion heard the screams. “I had to take some exercise to keep warm,” he jokes. And then he gets serious. “I killed a stupid policeman. Smashed his head in.” It’s a hard enough transition to make for any actor, but Rains does it using only his voice, and without missing a beat.

NO.04  A QUIET PLACE PART

THIS IS THE BEST HORROR MOVIE. EVERYTECH  In the not too distant future, Earth is ravaged and faces a fallout of an apocalyptic nature in the form of mysterious but extremely dangerous and powerful creatures that can only track their prey through sound. Among the sparse survivors are the Abbott family, who is led by Lee (John Krasinski) and has taken the utmost extreme measures in order to stay alive and avoid being detected by these sound-sensitive monsters. After more than year of surviving in this now dystopian reality, the Abbotts continue on with their lives, finding Lee’s wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) preparing to give birth, their hearing son Marcus (Noah Jupe) learning the ropes (i.e. the way to survive) from his father, and their deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is still struggling to come to terms with her part in a tragedy that struck the family several months earlier. Unfortunately, despite their safety plans and making their home fortified with precautions in their daily routines, the Abbotts can only stay hidden for so long with the monsters nearby become aware of their existence. When the family is slit up one day and Evelyn goes into early labor, it’s not long before the creatures descend upon their home, forcing each family member to play their part in protecting themselves and one another. 

NO.05 THE ORGAN DONOR 

THIS IS THE BEST HORROR MOVIE. EVERYTECH  I haven’t been touched by organ donation directly, however researching the film has opened my eyes. For example, I thought you had to die to donate, but any healthy person can donate bone marrow, intestine, a lung or a kidney and still go on to live healthy lives. Most people that I come into contact with that haven’t had experiences with the donor process don’t have this information and with thousands of people waiting for organs, I feel the need to spread that information.As I’ve mentioned before in several review posts for horror movies, I really haven’t been much of a horror fan. Again, not really my “cup of tea” to watch motion pictures of gory, violence, and bloody deaths, but I’ve started to recent come around to viewing several of them. I’ve even like some of them; praising their atmospheric ghoulish presentation and haunted storytelling. So, who knows…I’ve starting to become a fan of these features. I do remember seeing The Grudge a year or two after it come out. Of course, I’m talking about the 2004 version and not the original 2002 Ju-On: The Grudge. Personally, I thought that the movie was okay (again, wasn’t the hugest horror movie fan), but, for what it was worth, it was decent enough, with plenty of scares that certainly ate up attention during the middle 2000s. I didn’t see the other two Grudge sequels until later one (like a few years back from now) and thought they were mediocre, with pretty much the same old nuances to the 2004, but built with a lesser degree.

This, of course, brings me back to talking about 2020’s The Grudge, the fourth installment in this franchise (at least in the US Hollywood iteration). To be honest, I really didn’t hear much about this movie (yes…that is the truth). I didn’t see any announcement about this film on the websites that I frequently visit for movie “buzz” news nor did I even see the film’s movie trailer for it on neither the internet or in my local theater “coming attractions” preview. To be even more honest, I came across the movie a week before its theatrical release as one of the first 2020 movies to be released. As mentioned before, I’m not much of a horror movie, but I’ve started to like a few recent hits; indulging myself in the supernatural spooks variety. Thus, I decided to check out The Grudge and see if the movie was going to be something that I liked. What did I think of it? Well…to put it simply…. it’s not great. Despite a few minor things, The Grudge is just a dated and meaningless entry in this franchise, which is hamper by its lackluster direction and storytelling. There are still macabre elements for those horror fans out there, but you’ll get better kicks by watching one of the earlier entries instead of this bland installment.

THANKS FOR VISITING.