We did it folks! We made it to March! Somehow making it through the slog that is
January, and seeing some relatively neat stuff in February, we’re in the clear now.
Awards-season is over, the year-end dumping of odds and ends has been completed, and now
we can look forward to some fresh and fun new horror as we rapidly approach the summertime.
That’s not to say that the year has been completely devoid of quality horror flicks.
Far from it! It’s just that the beginning of the calendar
year tends to be slow in the cinema sphere. Fret not! There were some good flicks to grace
the screens big and small. Let’s see if you agree with my evaluation
of the movies thus far. Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the
scariest channel on YouTube: Top5ScaryVideos. I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and
today we’re counting down the Top 5 Best Horror Movies of 2020 So Far.
Keep in mind that I’m actively avoiding flicks that I mentioned on the previous 2020
prediction lists for the sake of variety, and also because I was wrong about a lot of
them. Take that as you will. Before we get started, make sure to give this
video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more spooky, scary celluloid.
Wicked, let’s begin. NUMBER FIVE: BLISS
This flick is a psychedelic trip, man. All about an artist who decides that hallucinogens
are the fast-track to artistic success. Of course, dear sweet surly Dezzy rapidly
spirals into the deep, dark, depths of madness. To say that Bliss is visceral would be an
understatement; you definitely feel like you’re also on whatever the hell Dezzy is snorting.
It’ll leave you reeling, maybe even exhausted. A lot of folks are comparing to Climax or
Mandy, and for good reason. This flick elicits a lot of the same feelings
you get watching those two wild rides. Director Joe Begos elected to shoot on 16mm,
which is always welcome in my books. This choice gives the movie a very lively
feel at the beginning, and foregrounds the insane tonal shift later on as well.
Once Dezzy inhales the bonkers powder, everything changes.
The colour palate becomes eye-scorchingly red and purple, and the cutting becomes frenzied
and jumpy. It’s loud, abrasive, and wild.
Also, there are blood orgies and cannibalistic mayhem.
All while Dezzy makes increasingly inspired art.
It’s hard to pull a clear message from the flick, but not everything needs to be so black
and white. This flick is definitely not in greyscale.
Give it a go, and get taken for a ride. NUMBER FOUR: UNDERWATER
It’s Alien! But underwater! What else could you ask for?
Anyone with a fear of drowning will find this terrifying.
Folks who don’t like lakes and oceans because of hidden creatures beneath their feet will
shudder in despair as well. Now, like I said before, this is a flick doing
its best Ridley Scott impression. This makes it derivative, sure, but that doesn’t
mean it’s immediately bad! Underwater is a solid, mostly effective horror
movie. We’re plunged into the thick of things almost
immediately; an underwater drilling crew gets thrown into disarray when a sub-aquatic earthquake
destroys most of their facility. Cracking glass, bursting airlocks, the whole
nine yards. It’s not long before people start to piece
together the fact that it wasn’t just tectonic activity causing them so much trouble.
This is no disaster movie, if you catch my drift.
Kristen Stewart leads the cast, doing her best Sigourney Weaver.
Level-headed, and solid as a rock, she does a majority of the heavy lifting here.
Other characters are quite flat, both in writing and delivery, and we’re treated to a past-due
performance by TJ Miller doing TJ Miller things. If you liked him in Deadpool, you might find
yourself rolling your eyes a little here. Can’t win ‘em all!
Director William Eubank does a respectable job taking all sorts of parts from the previously
mentioned deep space series and implementing them in the equally unexplored depths of the
ocean. From direction choices, to freaky, phallic
monsters, to some surprisingly similar sound cues, you name it.
The water is always used effectively, thank goodness.
Could you imagine if they made a movie called Underwater and biffed the use of water?
It’s ever-present, leaking and dripping and bursting through in murky torrents, ensuring
that nobody can see too far ahead, keeping the tension high.
If you don’t mind a bit of big-budget schlock, Underwater is a perfectly serviceable deep-sea
monster movie. NUMBER THREE: THE LODGE
If you can trust a distributor to put out consistently engaging stuff, it’s NEON.
Between them and A24, there has been a veritable gold rush of excellent small-to-mid budget
horror, among other indie and arthouse goodies. The Lodge Premiered at Sundance in 2019, but
got released in February of 2020, so we’ll count it.
Any fans of Goodnight Mommy will be thrilled by this next entry by it’s creators.
This is a darkly atmospheric psychological horror that rattles you deep within.
It’s not going for cheap scares, or trying to pay homage to all sorts of classic films.
The Lodge just wants to make you as uncomfortable as possible over a long period of time.
The odd, irresponsible bottleneck plot devices are easy to ignore once you let yourself get
drawn into the weird web of gaslighting and cult activities.
We’re introduced to a man who wants a divorce after a long separation.
He’s found a new woman, Grace, who survived a mass suicide commiting cult.
This prompts his current wife to commit suicide herself, scarring their two children.
Following a period of grieving, the father convinces his kids to spend Christmas with
his new wife at their remote cabin. This, of course, leads to plenty of hostility
between the kids and their new stepmom. They’re rude and indignant towards her,
often outright ignoring her. This takes a toll on poor Grace, who finds
herself in an unfamiliar situation full of proto-religious imagery with people who don’t
like her. Things take a turn for the worse when papa
heads back to the city for work, and inexplicably leaves the three musketeers in the lodge together.
Stuff gets weird fast. Reality is questioned. Is there gaslighting
going on? Or is something truly sinister happening? What happened to the heater? Is purgatory
real? All of these questions compound, and slowly
build towards an insane ending. NUMBER TWO: COME TO DADDY
I don’t want to say too much about this one.
There’s a twist, and everything spirals out of control from there.
Maybe just go watch the trailer. I guess what I will say is that it stars Elijah
Wood sporting a ridiculous haircut. The plot concerns a rich, goofy musician,
who just so happens to be a recovering alcoholic. He’s invited to his estranged father’s
lakefront estate for some catching up after all those years lost.
Things start out pleasantly enough, but soon enough his dad starts acting strange and violent.
He’s constantly making shady phone calls under cover of darkness, and begins to actively
undermine attempts to connect with his kid. One thing leads to another, and some best-kept
secrets are indeed revealed. This all snowballs, and becomes ridivulous
very fast. I suppose I’ll end off by saying that daddy
isn’t who he says he is. Come to Daddy is funny and scary, without
sacrificing one for the sake of the other. It’s a wicked screwball of a movie, and
once it gets going there’s no stopping. Worth a watch for sure.
NUMBER ONE: THE INVISIBLE MAN How could I leave out the breakout horror
of early 2020! Blumhouse does it again! 100 million on a
9 million dollar budget! Directed by Leigh Whannel, and starring Elizabeth
Moss, this is a classic idea done very, very well.
We follow a woman haunted after the death of her manipulative, dickhead partner.
Even though he’s apparently dead and gone, strange things keep happening to her.
She’s passing out at strange times, and her friends are being attacked by invisible
forces, making them assume it’s her doing the deed.
Soon enough, she’s framed for a violent crime, and committed to a mental hospital.
So what is happening! Is she going nuts? Or is there an invisible man creeping around
in the periphery? Well, considering how brank-spankin’ new
this one is, I won’t say much more. But seriously, this flick outperformed my
expectations. The other Universal Classic Monster movies
kinda flopped, right? I was expecting more The Mummy, more Dracula
Untold, more The Wolfman. But by keeping the budget tight, and the outlook
fresh, Whannel and Moss were able to elevate this one above its contemporaries.
The sparkly new take on an older tale does wonders.
The Invisible Man foregrounds the suffering of a woman at the hands of a manipulative
abuser in a smart, non-exploitative way, and it really uses the invisible aspect well to
keep the tension high. Every scene is shot in such a way that makes
you think that the ghostly man could be in the background at any given moment.
It just works. Moss gives a great performance, and Whannel
steers the ship clear of disaster, and towards pristine waters.
This is one that’s getting a lot of talk and attention, so you should probably go see
it if you wanna be able to talk shop with the general public.
Plus now I wanna be invisible so I can mess around with the people I’ve sworn revenge
on. Watch your back, people in the comments. OUTRO
2020’s got a SPICY outlook going forward, but these are five fearsome flicks to keep
you satisfied until the next big thing hits. Also go see VFW, I just couldn’t fit it
on the list after talking about it in another video.
What do you think? Any 2020 flicks that I missed?
What are you most looking forward to in the coming months?
Make sure you let me know down in the comments! Speaking of comments, let’s take a look
at some of your more modern ones from Top 5 SCPS That Are Absolute Jokes:
Coup de Grace says “Lemme guess. You guys couldn’t be bothered to put the procrastination
rock on this list because you… couldn’t be bothered…”
Yeah, I dunno. I figured I could leave it until next time. No sense doing it now if
I can just get to it later. Phantom Ironhide says “I’ve been a joke
all my life, yet no one seems to laugh. Not even the audience.”
I’ll laugh for you, Phantom Ironhide. Hahahahahahaha. Does that make you feel better?
Java Bpalace says “Lucy - sticks to the point. Little joke here and there. Keegan
- jokes before the videos start. Brings up a topic with more jokes and ends with another
joke.” I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe cry
more? Grace says “I HAVE THAT PEEP”
Then you better stay the HELL away from me and my family! YOU HEAR? That thing is an
abomination and I want nothing to do with it.
Musical Melanie says “Helloooooooo” Well helloooooooo to you too.
And that’s all the time we have for today! Before I try to take a bear cub away from
its mom, make sure to give this video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more popcorn-spilling
pop culture! Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!