02/01/2024
The list that nobody asked for – my probable favourite films of 2023, in no order and missing all the stuff I’ve forgotten about….a great year for horror cinema, with the genre seeing some fantastically creative films, from the experimental to the retro, and getting a very welcome injection of more diverse stories and formats:
HORROR IN THE HIGH DESERT 2: MINERVA (USA, 2023, Dir. Dutch Marich)
THE SOUND OF SUMMER (Japan, 2022, Dir. Guy S. Fragments)
SKINAMARINK (Canada, 2022, Dir. Kyle Edward Ball)
THE OUTWATERS (USA, 2022, Dir. Robbie Banfitch)
TALK TO ME (Australia, 2022, Dirs. Danny and Michael Philippou)
BROOKLYN 45 (USA, 2023, Dir. Ted Geoghegan)
THANKSGIVING (USA, 2023, Dir. Eli Roth)
BEAU IS AFRAID (USA, 2023, Dir. Ari Aster)
WHEN EVIL LURKS (Argentina-USA, 2023, Dir. Demián Rugna)
RAGING GRACE (UK, 2023, Dir. Paris Zarcilla)
Really wanted to see ONPAKU (Hong Kong, 2022, Dir. Shugo Fujii) but didn’t get the chance, best home entertainment release was the AUGUST UNDERGROUND trilogy by Fred Vogel from Unearthed Films(frankly mind-blowing that the films are available in these special editions), and though I’m not really a TV guy THE GLORY (South Korea, 2022, Dir. Ahn Gil-ho) was right enjoyable…..and the older film I watched the most when in varying states of consciousness and perception, and which I totally failed to convince anyone else to get into was THE TAINT (USA, 2011, Dirs. Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson) 😆🥃