It’s easy to argue that 2014 was one of the best years in movies since maybe the late 1990s we saw the likes of Birdman, Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, The Raid 2, Locke, Guardians of the Galaxy and John Wick to name a few (yeah that’s right I put a Keanu Reeves movie in there). But if you went to the theaters to find a decent horror flick you were out of luck. Nothing the studios put in to the Cineplex was worth a second look, or even a first for that matter, except say Oculus (but that is even debatable). I just need to recall my summer drive-in experiences trying to choke my way through Deliver us from Evil. I mean sure sometimes you are supposed to laugh during a horror flick, like when they intentionally use humor (a couple of excellent examples to come). Deliver didn’t do that, not even a touch. We laughed, we cried, but only out of the sheer stupidity of the entire film. It was a difficult experience since there had already been several excellent films released and still not a single horror movie worth its pence in blood. So a great year for film in general but the entire horror genre was a wash… Not so fast.
You may not have been able to find decent horror flicks in the theaters but indie horror put out some seriously excellent films and, hands down, 5 of the best horror flicks from last year are all available to stream on Netflix. I have saved you the trouble of finding them yourself and have them all here so you can quickly load up your queue and get to streaming. From genuinely creepy builds, to over the top gore and plenty of well-intentioned humor I present to you the top five horror movies of 2014 (available to stream on Netflix):
- At the bottom of this list is a little indie horror film to squeak out of Ireland: writer/director Ivan Kavanagh’s The Canal.
Now this film in many ways you might argue doesn’t deserve to be placed in this list. It’s a premise we’ve seen over and over and it’s not perfect. A young couple makes a home in a house with a dark past and it slowly begins to break its patriarch. Is our protagonist succumbing to the evils of the house or is it just a slow burn of a nervous breakdown? It’s not that you don’t see the end coming, at least in a general sense, but it will still leave your jaw on the floor as the last ten minutes or so of the film are its most horrific. And there are several somewhat too convenient moments. But Kavanagh makes the film work with very stylized visuals (ala Argento) and a disturbingly effective score. His lead actor, Ruppert Evans does a solid job carrying the psychology of the film and even though you may see the end coming from very early on, he still makes you wonder if what he is experiencing is real or just a man in the midst of a nervous breakdown. This one may not be the best film in the list but the look, sound and ballsy ending sequence landed it here and it is worth a watch. Think of it as Gone Girl having a three way with The Babadook (see below) and Silent Hill (for you gaming aficionados) .
- Next up on the list is Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer’s Body Horror-esque, Starry Eyes.
Cronenberg may not have been present this year (oh wait he was and Map of the Stars sucked, I swear at this point Julianne Moore is only paid to cry) but this indie horror flick from the American duo certainly paid homage to the Canadian horror Maestro. One need only watch the bathroom scene for full body horror effect. The basic premise of the film is a young actress pays her way in flesh and blood to the Hollywood elite for fame and fortune. With a little panache these two film makers carve out a fairly engaging and grotesque portrait of the moral coruptitude of the silver screen. With plenty of great practical make up effects and borrowed tricks from some great directors, Starry Eyes remains engaging and does a solid job of “getting under your skin.” With a solid old school synth driven score this one has a bit of a build but the grotesque and unsettling resolve is worth the wait. It’s a solid sophomore effort and shows promise for the filmmaking duo.
- Coming in at the number three spot is the follow-up to Dead Snow, the 2009 Norwegian horror comedy, Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead
If you are looking for one of those over the top no holds barred comedy gore fests look no further than the Dead Snow sequel. The film picks up right where its predecessor left off and stopping the Nazi zombie army isn’t going to be as easy we thought so a group of inept American zombie hunters flies to Norway to lend a hand in out doing the original in both gore and comedy. For those of you that struggled through the first film because subtitles are just too much for your stoned brain to handle, you don’t have to worry it’s a joint venture with the good ‘ol U-S of A and most of it is in English. If that worries some of the readers, good, but fear not. Not only is this film an absolute blast, it’s a step up from the original and following in the footsteps of Rami and old school Peter Jackson this film delivers everything you want out of horror comedy and then some. I mean a Nazi Zombie army vs. a Russian Zombie army with some nerdy American film school rejects stuck in the middle, it’s like a Scooby-Doo episode for the Jenkem crowd (yeah I know its BS but you get the gaseous balloon filled jist). If you’re looking for a gore filled laugh-fest full of geeky homage you are in for a treat.
- Coming up in a close second (and many might argue the best of the bunch) is actress turned Writer/Director Jennifer Kent’s first feature The Babadook.
Skillfully directed and assisted by a strong performance by Essie Davis The Babadook is by far the best “Ghost Story” to come out in a long time (Paranormal suck my what?). It tells the story of a single mother tormented by the loss of her husband as she tries to battle the fears of her young son who believes the monster from a mysterious book, The Babadook, is lurking in the shadows of the house. Which, duh, of course he is. Although this got no love at the box office, if it even made it to a theater near you, this one got serious props both critically and by word of mouth. Don’t take my word for it go over to rotten tomatoes where it snagged a 98% fresh rating. Where we base our desires on a rating system that uses fruit…no it’s a vegetable… but wait it’s got seeds… okay who cares this movie was creepy as hell and used almost no CGI, lots of old school camera tricks and the fear of the unknown to great aesthetic. This one is not going to gross you out but it has no need to, It’s stark and relentless. With an overwhelming sense of dread that builds to very dark and satisfying conclusion The Babadook does not disappoint. This one creeps up on you and is guaranteed to get you pulling your bed sheet up just a little closer to your chin before you drift off into a restless slumber.
- My favorite horror film of the year comes out New Zealand, it’s writer/director Gerard Johnstone’s Housebound.
That’s right a new horror comedy coming out of New Zealand and following in the big boy shoes of cult horror fav turned blockbuster king Peter Jackson, Johnstone’s Kiwi horror comedy simply nails it (yep its fruity rating tops at 96%). Every nuance in this film is done to genre perfection. The film starts with Kylie the unlikable young adult who is put on house arrest at her family home. She is rude, crude and quite the twat to her poor mother who thinks the house is haunted and insists Kylie is forgetting what growing up there was like. Kylie is soon witness to voices and the things that go bump in the night and may just believe the kooky tales her mother tells of a vengeful spirit. It doesn’t take too long for this film to get its traction and the horror is equal parts fun, gross and at times off-puttingly disturbing. This one is as scary as it is bloody and just when you think it’s going in one direction it flips the sub genres on their heads and does so relentlessly. It’s a little domestic comedy horror mystery and it gets every single part of it right up to its insanely blood soaked end. It really is impressive that Johnstone is able to strike such a perfect balance between the horror and the comedy, making me think of Evil Dead 2 as its American predecessor. Yeah its really that fucking good. Do yourself a favor and make this the first… or maybe the last stop on your 2014 horror movie binge on Netflix. What the fuck else do you have to do you’ve already watched all the Daredevil episodes…twice.