Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin”
A wholly cinematic experience of the highest calibre fuses visuals, narrative and performance into a cohesive, compelling and sublime piece of visual storytelling
Ben Steiner’s “Matriarch”
Hamfisted storytelling with terrible dialogue led by an awful performance redeemed only by another great turn by Kate Dickie as the titular matriarch in an insincere horror soap opera
Parker Finn’s “Smile”
Okay pulp horror fable that never reaches the heights of the films from which it borrows being let down by a series of baffling and unconvincing characters
William Brent Bell’s “Orphan: First Kill”
Surprisingly fun pulp prequel with a crackling script by David Coggeshall which has some surprises up its sleeve
Oliver Park’s “The Offering”
With standout performances from Paul Kaye and Allan Corduner, this is a decent horror that should have been great let down by an over-reliance on ineffective jump scares and bland cinematography
Sam Raimi’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”
Fusion of some of the best of Raimi’s work from both his horror and superhero backlog, this won’t convince the uninitiated but will delight existing fans despite being under the shadow of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Gerard Johnstone’s “M3GAN”
Competent but predictable satirical “horror” that never quite rises to the quality of the design and performance of the robot at its centre
Roxanne Benjamin’s “There's Something Wrong with the Children”
Half-baked b-movie horror that fails to get started until the last third would have benefitted from stronger direction and a script that made better use of its first two acts
Kyle Edward Ball’s “Skinamarink”
This sustained atmospheric, psychological horror is like a distilled nightmare summoning childhood terrors that tap into the root of our fears
Mark Jenkin’s “Enys Men”
Those expecting a horror will be disappointed but those willing to allow themselves to be absorbed by the atmosphere of this enigmatic and experimental work will be rewarded
Carlota Pereda’s “Piggy”
This thoughtful and effective film led by a powerhouse performance from Laura Galán crosses genres creating something which effortless slips between drama, comedy, thriller and grindhouse
Lars von Trier’s “Kingdom”
Absurdist, Twin Peaks-inspired Danish melodrama-horror is a deliciously unpredictable joyride so long as you can roll with the insanity
Lukas Feigelfeld’s “Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse”
Earthy and sensual horror debut of quiet potency and staggering beauty
Ti West’s “X”
A well crafted retro-horror that finds time to skewer fundamentalist Christian values and touch on issues of aging and sexual politics while maintaining its lightness
Ti West’s “Pearl”
An outstanding prequel to “X” which is fresh and stands on its own paying homage to Hitchcock in his prime as well as the movies of the period
Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents”
A tense horror on the dark side of childhood which plays like “Lord of the Flies”, Anton Leader’s “Children of the Damned” and Josh Trank’s “Chronicle” with a down-to-earth Swedish sensibility that heightens the stakes
Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde”
Horror of the highest calibre that has more to do with “Revulsion”, “Hour of the Wolf” and “Mulholland Drive” than any true attempt to create a biopic of Marilyn Monroe; a mesmerising though arduous journey worth taking
Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All”
Coming of age romance built around original lore of cannibals is full of captivating performances, beautiful cinematography and an arthouse lens on what is on its surface, a pulp horror story though open to interpretation
Tommy Wirkola’s “Violent Night”
If a "b-movie Die Hard with magic and Santa Claus" sounds like a good idea, you deserve this movie
Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front”
An intense, visceral and beautiful film with an incredibly effective minimalist score and breathtaking cinematography that says as much about inequality as it does war