I’m pleased beyond measure that Paste‘s #1 horror movie of the year is the one about the killer dress, which incidentally remains a top pick on my personal top 10 (which we’ll get to in the new couple days). Jordan Peele and Ari Aster both dropped their sophomore movies this year, and both movies are about as acclaimed as their debuts; normally, that lends itself to the obvious, and sites stick with the favorites when determining what’s “best.” But Peter Strickland’s In Fabric has an edge over Midsommar and Us, and of course everything else here.
Me, I’m fonder of Daniel Isn’t Real and Tigers Are Not Afraid, but who cares? Think of this as a non-ordered list outside of the #1 spot.
I’ll say this before signing off: I feel kinda ambivalent about 2019’s horror slate. Outside of a few pictures that didn’t make it here – Crawl, Bliss, Ready or Not, Head Count* – there’s not a lot in the year worth embracing or that we’ll remember years from now, or that has anything to add to the modern canon being assembled in horror’s late-decade boom. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe, say, the Child’s Play remake will achieve classic status and surprise us all**.
In the meantime, you can read the whole list over at Paste Magazine.
*And possibly Black Christmas, which I hear is great but I have yet to see.
**Narrator: “It won’t.”
A Constant Visual Feast 