Horror is one of the most creative and progressive genres in modern cinema. It can not only tickle your nerves and delight with impressive spectacle but often surprises with its depth, symbolism, and the importance of the themes it tackles. For these reasons, in 2022 we decided to dedicate a separate top list to horrors, to pay tribute to the many great films that rarely get the attention they deserve in end-of-year best-of lists.
10th Place — Speak No Evil
"Speak No Evil" is an aesthetically beautiful, yet maximally uncomfortable, frightening, and provocative Scandinavian horror straight from the Sundance Festival.
The plot centers on a family who unwillingly become hostages of a pair of real sadists. The tension grows with each passing day, and everything that happens threatens to turn into something terrible and unpredictable. But the guests simply cannot run away because they are used to agreeing with everything their interlocutors say.
Danish director Christian Tafdrup slowly and mercilessly gets under the viewer's skin with relentless attempts to explore the depths of human submissiveness and servility, making one of the scariest slow-burners of the year without even resorting to genre mysticism. His film penetrates the subconscious, shocks, intimidates, repels, and attracts all at once. The main question of the film sounds fundamental: "Constant compromise or life?" Unfortunately, all the heroes make the right choice, literally looking into the face of darkness. What if it gets upset?
9th Place — Smile
"Your smile is contagious, it makes me want to smile too" — this phrase takes on a literal meaning in the horror film by Parker Finn. The idea of turning one of the main symbols of happiness and joy into a source of death and tragedy has a powerful effect, simultaneously making you laugh from cringe and shudder at the madness of what's happening. If The Joker from Gotham were a film, it would probably be like this.
"Smile" captivates with its audiovisual component. Sound and picture as one envelop the viewer, dulling their alertness and immersing them more and more into hallucinations and psychosis. And even if Finn Parker uses jump scares in the film, he does it skillfully and effectively. Plus, he doesn't mess up the ending, which horror makers often do.
8th Place — The Black Phone
Do you love Stephen King with his teenage heroes, mysticism, and good drama? Do you adore encountering references to film adaptations of his novels? "The Black Phone" will give you all that and even more. Which is not surprising, as the plot is based on a story by Joe Hill — the son of the legendary writer.
Scott Derrickson's intimate film (creator of the magnificent "Sinister") reflects, though not deeply, on the nature of violence and madness. Visually, his film is the creation of a cinephile who treats the aesthetics of the frame, 70s pop culture, and King's legacy with care and attention.
In Stephen King's stories about terrible things, paranormal forces, and human cruelty, children have long been the main characters. Filmmakers borrowed this method in their time. And
Open materialEthan Hawke shines here in the role of a crazy maniac, playing with just his eyes and voice, while young Mason Thames puts up an unchildishly powerful fight against the forces of evil. And, perhaps, after watching, you'll start avoiding black telephone handsets (if you can find any in the age of smartphones).
7th Place — Nope
A not entirely successful attempt by Jordan Peele to step outside his own comfort zone. Ambitious as a spaceship, lightweight as a sneeze. And yet — one of the most truly interesting films of the year, overloaded with unnecessary symbolism, mixing the canons of 50s sci-fi with reflections on the nature of the observer, breaking genre conventions only to ultimately reaffirm them.
FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully spent 11 seasons trying to figure out if aliens exist and if we can contact them. Jordan Peele needed
Open materialThis cinema is not afraid to be disliked, and although, as is customary for Peele, it talks about systemic racism, it also focuses on far less obvious things. Here Peele plays on the territory of the great experimenter John Carpenter, falling short, of course, but to his credit, it must be said – this strange spectacle (a cowboy, a cameraman, a jump scare in the spirit of "it's alive") captivates just as much as the flying saucer hanging over the horse breeders' house. An extra point for the best use of a monkey in cinema since "2001: A Space Odyssey."
6th Place — Barbarian
Tess (Georgina Campbell) booked accommodation in one of the suburbs of Detroit through the Airbnb app. Arriving at the rented property, the girl finds out that a guy, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), is already staying in the house. The young man suggests she stay and spend the night, as finding a hotel room at such a time is impossible. She agrees, not suspecting what this decision will lead to.
The horror film was directed by Zach Cregger, who gained fame as a member of the comedy group The Whitest Kids U' Know: the comedians initially performed in New York, and in 2007 started making sketches for television. In cinema, Cregger hasn't made much noise yet: over his career, the creator worked on the comedy "Miss March," nominated for a Golden Raspberry, and the historical film "The Civil War on Drugs."
'Barbarian' has been released online – a maximally brisk, terrifying, and simultaneously funny film from the director of comedy sitcoms, Zach Cregger. About why this horror will enter the TOP-3
Open materialThe director was inspired to create the horror by the book "The Gift of Fear," part of which is devoted to female intuition. The central characters of "Barbarian" are Tess and Keith: finding themselves in the basement of the house, the girl, unlike the man, is in no hurry to act, guided by inner instincts. The screenwriters depict the difference between the actions of both genders, creating not only an ideal complement to "Mankind" but also one of the best genre films of the year.
5th Place — Bodies Bodies Bodies
In short, "Bodies Bodies Bodies" from our beloved A24 studio is the most brazen and witty slasher of the year. Moreover, it achieves this status thanks to its final plot twist, which is absolutely brilliant in its absurdity.
At certain moments, the film can simultaneously remind you of all known teen slashers, where an unknown (or known?!) maniac sends victims to the afterlife in inventive ways, until the "final girls" finally defeat the evil. But at the same time, director Halina Reijn repeatedly veers off the beaten path, pitting her characters against each other, while reflecting on the nature of female friendship, bullying, envy, and other vices. All this happens easily and unobtrusively, and that very "plot twist" literally makes you laugh out loud. A wonderful reimagining of a genre in which, it seems, the last word has not yet been said.
4th Place — Pearl
After watching this film, even Martin Scorsese couldn't sleep. The master also added that "in Ti West's films there is an energy very rare these days, charged with pure, undiluted love for cinema." And who are we to argue with a Hollywood legend?! Even though both of West's horror films released this year ("Pearl" and "X") are not only connected plot-wise but also united by that very devotion to our beloved art, even if the means of expression chosen to demonstrate these feelings are completely different.
This disturbing story revolves around a young farm girl who dreams of becoming a star, and getting in her way means risking your health (and not just mental!). West spices up the extremely trivial plot with a surprisingly effective mix of stylization after colorful 50s costume dramas (with corresponding acting, dynamics, and dialogue) and hard, uncompromising horror. And the cherry on this crazy cake is the nearly outstanding acting performance by Mia Goth in the longest and creepiest monologue of the year.
3rd Place — Watcher
doesn't offer anything substantially new in terms of cinematic language or genre, but it is that honest genre cinema that is somehow desperately lacking. It's another genre paraphrase of the great 'Rear Window' (even this year there was at least the wonderful 'Kimi' on the same theme), but at the same time it is talented and remarkably straightforward. Alfred Hitchcock's film was about how any cinephile is a voyeur by nature, and that the line between detective investigation and paranoia is thinner than window glass. Debutante Chloe Okuno doesn't particularly develop these ideas, but in the trials of Maika Monroe across Bucharest, there is a certain clarity, obviousness, and elegance.
'Watcher' resembles most variations of Hitchcock's 'Rear Window.' But, unlike them, it doesn't end up being a secondary hollow thing, but cleverly uses genre clichés to tell a story
Open materialThe latter is owed to its scream queen – Monroe in Romania simultaneously resembles the heroine from "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" and simply all of us – lost, confused, drinking wine with a barely known neighbor just because she understands English. In short, a weighty statement on the pros and cons of relocation. But the main thing in the film is probably not that, but the creepy realization that when a stranger is watching you, it's creepy, but if you see it, it means you are watching him too.
2nd Place — Fresh
When you watch this horror, you involuntarily recall the saying: "Anything but a hunger strike" :)
The debut directorial project of Mimi Cave is shot in the thriller genre with overtly black humor. And Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan shine in it.
And you know, it all looks like a breath of fresh air for both the audience and the actors themselves. Sebastian nailed the role of a powerful, charismatic psycho and maniac who loves gastronomy. Only his tastes are very specific. Stan seems to be resting in this role from his Marvel character, whom you know well.
Cave and the Edgar-Jones-Stan tandem gave us a high-energy, tense, and stylish thriller. Some frames can safely be paused and uploaded to Pinterest as an aesthetic declaration of love for food. Also, don't forget about the film's thematic load. Even though it's simple: "Don't judge a book by its cover." But we all sometimes fall for that cover. Especially when we're looking for attention and love.
1st Place — X
from A24 studio is made in all the traditions of experimental cinema: it's neither a classic genre example (in this case a slasher), nor an homage to past hits (although the references are visible even to the least seasoned horror fans), nor can it be called a film about cinema (and what, porn, which is being filmed here, is also a kind of cinema).
The film 'X' is like crossing 'Deep Throat' with 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' and accompanying it all with a cinephile meta-commentary. The result is something sexual, brutal, fun...
Open materialThe plot setup begins like a typical slasher with a group of carefree friends who head to a musty country house with their "mission." Naturally, the warning signs around are screaming danger from the very first minutes.
But smart characters aren't that interesting when the audience demands blood, gore, and a pinch of classic humor. And "X" is, first and foremost, an evening's entertainment for those planning to feel nostalgic for 70s slashers, search for a hundred references, and guess who dies first and who dies last.
At the same time, A24 wouldn't be itself if it didn't saturate the film with meaningful subtexts. If, during and after watching, you thought about what really scares you, what the real price of success is, and why society considers sex and violence taboo — the film worked 100%.
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