For fans of horror movies, Halloween isn't just one day in October...it's an ax-wielding,
monster mashing, year-round state of mind.
But you don't have to be David S. Pumpkins to enjoy the spookier things in life…
"How's it hangin'?
All you have to do is make sure you watch the very best horror films that movie-making
maniacs have to offer.
Lucky for you, 2018 has already provided you with plenty of horror movies you might've
already missed.
So hollow out that pumpkin and stick it on your head: here are a bunch of horror movies
from 2018 that you haven't seen...but probably should.
"We have such sights to show you…"
Annihilation
Beautiful, awesome, restrained, and challenging, Annihilation is the best film of 2018 that
odds are you haven't seen.
The movie focuses on the aftermath of a meteor strike that's given rise to an inexplicable
phenomenon, with a wide area of Earth enveloped in an ever-expanding shimmer.
When four investigators enter to figure out what's going on, they find a disorienting
pocket world that's slowly remixing itself in gorgeous, disturbing, dangerous ways.
It's a horror premise that creeps up on you, with the implication of the story being nothing
less than the doom of the world.
The second film from Ex Machina director Alex Garland, it's a masterfully creepy movie that
deserves more attention than it got in theaters.
The Endless
Indie filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead have spent their careers putting
together a respectable catalog of genre-bending films, and The Endless just might be their
best.
Casting themselves in the lead roles, the writer-directors tell a story of two brothers
who flee a suicidal UFO cult, returning in adulthood to reevaluate the life they left
behind.
They discover that there may indeed be magic at the heart of the hippie collective but
if it's real, what does the otherworldly force protecting the group want in return?
Made for very little money, you only notice The Endless' low budget because you're impressed
by what they pull off.
With beautiful cinematography and a gorgeous California location, it's among the prettiest
movies on this list, with a sensed-but-not-seen horror at the heart of the story keeping things
tense through the whole runtime.
It's horror by way of H.P.
Lovecraft, with a story that sticks with you.
Lowlife
It's not often that you get to call a movie "unhinged" and really mean it, but Lowlife
more than fits the bill.
A violent, genre-bending almost-farce that straddles the border between horror, high
comedy, and human drama, Lowlife is admirable for being both audaciously plotted and technically
slick.
"Not cool calling me a German.
. You don't know my struggle"
Set in the scummy underbelly of Los Angeles, Lowlife focuses on a number of small-time
criminals whose stories all converge around an organ-harvesting plot gone wrong.
It's a nightmare inspired by Pulp Fiction but unlike most copycats, this one stands
on its own.
The end result is intense, hilarious, and gross.
Despite feeling like it shouldn't work at all, Lowlife is one of the year's best and
most savage thrill rides.
Marrowbone
A quiet, self-assured mood piece of a horror movie set in 1969, Marrowbone introduces a
mother and her four children in the northeastern United States.
After the mother passes away, the children must maintain the illusion of a healthy family
in order to avoid being made wards of the state.
At the same time, there's also a supernatural threat within the walls, threatening to tear
the family apart from the inside out.
Marrowbone received middling reviews from critics, having some controversial late-game
turns in its plotting.
But the twists in the story are elegantly laid out; even if you don't like where the
plot goes, it's still a well-designed movie, accomplishing everything it sets out to do
with patience and reserve.
Downrange
On a road trip down an isolated backroad on a hot summer day, the tire of an SUV explodes.
As the young passengers set about making repairs, they're attacked by an unseen sniper, who
shooter picks off a few victims, leaving the rest to huddle behind cover as they try to
figure out how to survive.
Like all good horror movies, it's a situation you can imagine yourself in, however outlandish
it may seem.
But Downrange is more than just a good concept it's good filmmaking, with quality gore effects
giving every bullet a real impact.
It may devolve into campy territory by the end, but it stays entertaining all the way
through to watch the characters struggle to puzzle their way out of danger if there even
is any.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
Based on the local folklore surrounding a real-life creepy location, Gonjiam: Haunted
Asylum is a Korean horror movie that wears its found footage influences on its sleeve.
Easily among the scariest movies on this list, the concept of the movie is classic.
Forget complex mythologies Gonjiam is about spending the night in a haunted house.
The movie follows a group of filmmakers on a live horror webcast, trying to break a viewership
record as they broadcast live from a notorious hospital.
At first, the program appears to be an exercise in fakery, but the signs of a haunting become
a lot more convincing over the course of the night.
Few horror movies capture a sense of paralyzing dread like Gonjiam does.
If you're looking for pure, terrifying, white-knuckle horror, it doesn't get much better than this.
Veronica
You should never believe hype that says a movie is the "scariest ever" in Veronica's
case, it's not even the scariest movie on this list.
But this story of a young teen girl's possession and slow corruption is a well-crafted descent
into madness, anchored by one strong character and her otherworldly struggle with evil.
Veronica introduces the title character as a caretaker for her younger siblings.
Mature, capable, and kind, you can't help but sympathize as something sinister begins
to wake up around her.
She resists the evil, defending her siblings from harm like a true heroine which makes
the movie's bleak ending such a gut punch.
The overblown hype for Veronica naturally led to a bit of a backlash.
But take the movie on its own terms, and you'll get a well-done, thought-provoking possession
narrative not that scary, but it's good.