Freakiest Horror Films of 2015
written by David Buck
So far, 2015 has been a strong year for fans of scary movies. In addition to the general deluge of sequels and reboots (of which many are fun in their own awful ways), there’s been a serious influx of original content from exciting new directors doing great things within the genre. There’s still a lot more to look out for as we just passed the halfway mark, but these are just a few picks for fans of freaky horror to check out.
IT FOLLOWS
What? You’re reading this site and you haven’t seen this yet? Before you finish this article do yourself a favor and go watch this right now. IT FOLLOWS has been a monstrous success, particularly given its low budget, while receiving universal critical acclaim. The Telegraph gave the film a perfect five-star review following its screening at Cannes and many others were quick to jump on the wagon. The film is a deft exploration of sex, intimacy, and its consequences, and it uses its minimal budget to great effect in crafting a completely creepy film. We expect to be seeing a lot more of director David Robert Mitchell, whose wide-angle shots and sweeping 360-degree camera work is visually compelling and does a lot with very little. It all recalls the early works of Mitchell’s influences, George Romero, and John Carpenter.
THE LAZARUS EFFECT
According to IGN, producer Jason Blum has said the film owes much of its inspiration to 1990’s FLATLINERS, which was enough to get us on board. For those who are unfamiliar, FLATLINERS is a cult-classic horror thriller that starred Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and Julia Roberts. Like it’s spiritual predecessor, LAZARUS boasts great casting that is totally worth the price of admission alone with the ever-lovely Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover (COMMUNITY), and Mark Duplass (THE LEAGUE). Duplass has been doing great work lately in and around the “mumblecore” indie film movement. Just like with LAZARUS, he served as the star and executive producer of THE ONE I LOVE, which was an interesting and unsettling speculative sci-fi study of relationships and intimacy. This is an ideal horror movie to show your friends who are open-minded but not necessarily into horror movies.
director Tom Six
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 3: THE FINAL SEQUENCE
For every resourceful and brilliant film that keeps us hooked on the genre like IT FOLLOWS, we also have the decidedly less original side of scary movies. You know, like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 3: THE FINAL SEQUENCE from Dutch shock Sultan Tom Six. He fancies himself the Millennial auteur of body horror, but he’s a long way removed from David Cronenberg. DEAD RINGERS this is not. Third time seems to be a charm for Six as he goes for broke with his brand of gross-out horror in addition to his casting. This time, the series brings in big name stars like Eric Roberts, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, and former adult film star Bree Olson. Olson’s bio on Adam & Eve indicates that she got her start in the adult film industry in 2006 and FINAL SEQUENCE serves as her first mainstream film since retiring from the adult industry in 2011. While we like to laud people for trying new things, this is hardly a stretch from Olson’s previous career path. Girl’s got a long way to go before she reaches the crossover success of someone like Traci Lords. We suspect our love of this outing comes more from knowing this the finale of Six’s twisted trilogy and we’re speaking out of relief.
THE GREEN INFERNO
We’re jumping the gun on this one, but it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to get excited about a new cannibal movie. Oh, to think back on the mondo days of the ’70s when Italian filmmakers were content to push the boundaries of filmmaking and good taste in one of the greatest creative explosions the horror genre has ever seen. One major sub-genre of the Italian film movement was the cannibal film. The big one is Ruggero Deodato’s CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, which is one of the most messed up movies you’ll ever see. The film was an originator of the “found documentary footage” horror style and it’s no coincidence that Eli Roth’s latest film shares a name with the fictional film within a film from HOLOCAUST, THE GREEN INFERNO. This is the first time Roth has been in the director’s chair since 2010’s HOSTEL: PART 2. We’ve got our fingers crossed that a reprise of the late Riz Ortolani’s brilliant musical theme to the original CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST will make some kind of appearance in this outing.
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Excellent picks my friend! I’m still game to do a little crossover work with you. Maybe throw an article in each others direction here and there. You know we talked through email and I support the shit out of the site. In fact, you’re up for it, we could also do a small banner swap. AddictedToHorrorMovies is FINALLY starting to take off, connecting with a lot of big studios (Blumhouse, Focus, Anchor Bay, etc.) I’d be more than game to see what I can do about maybe helping lineup a few things for you, if you’re not already covered on that kind of stuff.
Anyway, just showing my support to a fellow genre freak and offering a little assistance. You’re a good dude and we’re fighting the same battle!
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Thanks, Matt!! I’m always game for sharing articles with a fellow horror lover!! I’m going o vaca for a week, but hit me up. Here’s my email: anythinghorrorscott@gmail.com Let’s get something planned!!
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While I absolutely loved the feel, tone, directing, music and overall look of It Follows, I simply can’t jump on the bandwagon of folks praising it. Why? Because I’m tired of spending a couple hours of my time on a movie that leaves so many huge, gaping holes. Not only was the ending a complete cop-out, but my housemate and I were left wondering, among other things, how the heck the mythology was passed on. If the guy who gave it to our heroine picked it up from a one-night stand, as he said, it’s unlikely she stuck around to tell him the whole story. Why would she? Who talks to their one-night stand about anything, let alone takes the time to tell the whole mythology? And how would he know some of the details? I was annoyed when I saw several people dub it a “thinking man’s” horror movie. “Only,” I thought, “if he doesn’t actually think too hard!”
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I agree, RichardCharlie. I didn’t think IT FOLLOWS was as great as everyone else thought, but I appreciated its originality. It was nice to see something new, even if there were glaring script problems!!
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