Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2021

2020 has been an absolutely crazy year in just about every respect, and movies have been no exception.  The vast majority of major releases got pushed back to 2021, including several horror films that had the potential to be big hits.  Thankfully, 2020 is almost over, and it looks like there might finally be a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel.  That's great for a lot of reasons, but for the purposes of this blog, it means that we might actually get all the movies we're looking forward to next year.  It feels like the last time that happened was a lifetime ago, and it's great to have some realistic hope that it just might happen again.  To celebrate the end of this dreadful year and the hope of a better 2021, here are my ten most anticipated horror films of the coming new year.

Morbius

Morbius isn't what most people normally think of when they think about horror, but I'm putting it on this list anyway.  It's based on a Marvel Comics anti-hero named Michael Morbius, a scientist who unintentionally turns himself into a kind of living vampire, and it hits theaters on March 19.  Horror is my favorite genre, but I'm also a huge fan of comic book movies, so if you make a comic book movie about a horror character, I'm totally in.  What's more, while the movie is part of Sony's new Spider-Man universe (which started with 2018's Venom), the trailer seems to imply that it's also connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so I'm just chomping at the bit to see what treats this film has in store for us.

A Quiet Place Part II

Next, we have a movie that needs no introduction.  A Quiet Place is one of the most popular horror films of the past few years, so obviously the sequel is going to land a spot on this list.  It comes out on April 23, and it follows the Abbot family (the people from the first one) as they venture out into unexplored territory.  The early reactions (it was originally supposed to come out this year) say it's another winner, so I can't wait to see what new silent horrors John Krasinski has in store for us this time.

Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Soho is probably my least anticipated movie on this list, but I'm still looking forward to it.  It's a psychological thriller with some sort of time travel element, and it comes out on April 23, just like A Quiet Place Part II.  We don't know much about this film, but it's going to be directed by Edgar Wright, the guy behind the zombie classic Shaun of the Dead.  That's enough to get me intrigued, so while I'm admittedly not going crazy with excitement for this movie, I'm definitely interested to see what Edgar Wright does with his next foray into horror.

Godzilla vs. Kong

Going from my least anticipated movie on the list to my most anticipated movie in any genre, Godzilla vs. Kong is exactly what it sounds like.  It's Godzilla fighting King Kong, and it hits theaters on May 21.  I'm a huge kaiju fan, and in my opinion, Legendary Pictures has been doing an amazing job with these two monsters in the past few years, so I absolutely cannot wait to see them pit these two giants of cinema against each other for the first time in almost sixty years.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

I think The Conjuring is the best horror movie of this millennium, and I think The Conjuring 2 is one of the best horror sequels of all time, so of course I'm excited for the third entry in the series.  However, I have to admit that my excitement for this one is a bit tempered.  James Wan (in my opinion the best horror director working today) is stepping down from the franchise to work on other projects, and I'm not convinced that the new director will be able to continue the magic of the series.  But I'm willing to give it a shot, so I'm still going to be first in line to see The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It when it comes out on June 4.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Sure, sequels made multiple decades after the originals are notoriously hit or miss, but that doesn't mean I can't be optimistic about a new entry in the original Ghostbusters series.  Afterlife is a new sequel to Ghostbusters 2, and it comes out on June 11.  I'm a big fan of both of the original movies, so I'm crossing my fingers and praying really hard that this new one honors their legacy and shows a whole new generation "who you gonna call."

Candyman

I'm not a huge fan of slashers, but one of the few slashers I really like is the original Candyman.  It's about way more than just a guy going around killing people, so it gives us some real narrative substance, something this subgenre often lacks.  I don't know if this new reboot/sequel is even going to come close to the original, but since it's produced by Jordan Peele (who wrote and directed Get Out and Us), I'm willing to give it a shot.  It comes out on August 27, and hopefully it can capture at least some of the same magic that makes the original so much better than your typical by-the-numbers slasher.

Halloween Kills

Another slasher that I really like is the original Halloween, and while I'm not a big fan of the rest of the franchise, I think the 2018 sequel is fantastic.  Sure, it has some stupid teen slasher tropes, but it also tells a really compelling story about Laurie Strode's lifelong struggle with trauma after her encounter with Michael Myers.  I have no idea what they're going to do in this new one to make it stand out from the slasher pack, but I trust that the guys who made the only good Halloween sequel can do it again.  Halloween Kills comes out on October 15, just in time for your, well, Halloween viewing pleasure.

Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley is a new Guillermo del Toro movie that's supposed to come out some time in December of 2021.  It's a psychological thriller about a carnival worker who gets by on deception and manipulation, but one day he meets a woman who's even more dangerous than he is.  Other than that basic plot synopsis, I don't know too much about this film (it's based on a book, but I've never read it), but the fact that it's directed by Guillermo del Toro is enough to pique my interest.  I don't like every movie he's ever made, but I do like most of them, so I'll always be excited whenever he comes out with a mysterious new project.

Malignant

The last movie on this list doesn't have a release date, but it is supposed to come out at some point during 2021.  We don't know much of anything about Malignant except that it's directed by James Wan and that it's supposedly a giallo film (a precursor to slashers, this style was popular among Italian filmmakers in the 60s and 70s).  I'm not much of a giallo fan (I like them even less than slashers), but I'll watch any horror movie James Wan directs.  Like I said before, I think he's the best horror director working today, so even if he's dabbling in a subgenre I don't generally like, I'll still be there whenever this movie finally hits theaters.

Catch-Up Review: Sputnik

Sputnik is a Russian movie that came out in its home country back in April, and it was released in limited theaters and on VOD platforms here in the states this past August.  It takes place in the 1980s, and it follows a Soviet psychiatrist who's recruited by the military to examine a cosmonaut who came back to earth with a dangerous alien organism living inside of him.

I went into this movie expecting an Alien-style space monster movie, but what I got was so much more.  It's a very slow burn, and while you do eventually get to see the creature in all its vicious glory, it never turns into a full-blown horror movie.  It's really more of a Guillermo del Toro-esque drama with horror-centric elements, and it's fantastic.

The film takes about a half hour to set up the characters and the plot, and when it finally shows you the creature, it just raises a whole bunch of questions.  Then, after that initial reveal, the bulk of the movie is about the psychiatrist and her military colleagues studying the monster and trying to answer those questions.  You get a few scenes of legit horror, but it's mainly people talking and trying to figure out what makes this thing tick.  It's really intriguing, and the movie keeps your interest the whole way through by making you want to find out more about this creature and what happened to the cosmonaut.

Seeing this all unfold is the best thing about the movie, so I won't say anything more about the mystery of the alien creature.  It's best to go in as blind as possible, and I wouldn't want to ruin the experience for you.  What I can say, though, is that the film grounds this mystery with strong characters that you grow to like, and it even gives you a bit of the cosmonaut's backstory.  By the end of the movie, that backstory becomes an important part of his arc, and it also gives the entire story a bit of an emotional underpinning.

On top of that, I can also tell you that the monster is really cool.  The design isn't the most original thing in the world, but it's good enough.  It'll look pretty familiar to seasoned genre vets, but it's not such a blatant ripoff of other creatures that it becomes distracting.  What's more, when it goes all out and attacks people, the thing is just as brutal as you would expect.  It pulls no punches and takes no prisoners, so fans of monster action will definitely enjoy those moments.

But this thing isn't just a mindless killer.  Again, I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm going to have to be vague.  Suffice it to say, there's more to this creature than just a thirst for blood.  The filmmakers find a way to flesh it out a bit as an actual character rather than simply a force of nature.  It doesn't talk or communicate like an actual person, but it's more than just your typical animalistic monster.

All that being said, I do have to give one caveat about the creature.  It's CGI, and I only saw the movie in standard definition (in case you're wondering, no, I didn't download it illegally; I got a standard def screener), not high definition.  The monster looked fine to me, but I can't guarantee that it'll look great if you watch it in high def.

All in all, I really enjoyed Sputnik.  It wasn't on my radar when it first came out, but I'm super happy that I eventually found out about it and got a chance to watch it.  It has a cool monster, characters you root for, and an intriguing plot, and in my opinion, it's one of the best horror movies of the year.  In fact, unless a slew of great new genre films pops up in the next few weeks, it's going to land a spot on my top ten of 2020, so I highly recommend that you check this one out.

Christmas Horror Movie Recommendations

It's December, which means that just about everywhere you turn, you'll see houses decorated for Christmas, you'll hear radio stations playing Christmas music, and you'll see way too many channels showing Christmas movies.  What's a horror fan to do during this time?  Can we celebrate the most wonderful time of the year in a way that suits us, or do we have to resign ourselves to watching Elf and Hallmark movies?

Thankfully, there are plenty of Christmas horror films, so we can happily get into the spirit of the season without abandoning our favorite genre.  We just need to know what's out there, and that's what I'm here to help you with.  I've put together a list of five of my favorite Christmas horror movies that you can watch this holiday season.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 

Let's begin with the most universally beloved movie on this list.  People of all ages and with all different kinds of tastes love The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Its monsters aren't so creepy that they'll scare non-horror fans away, but they're cool enough that we genre fans still love them.  It's the perfect middle ground in that regard, so you can watch this film with just about anybody.

But it's not just about the monsters.  It also has a really great story.  It's about a monster who's grown tired of constantly being scary, and when he discovers Christmas, he instantly falls in love with it.  In fact, he loves it so much that he kidnaps Santa and tries to do Santa's job himself.  This all goes terribly awry, and he has to scramble to fix it before it's too late.

It's a heartwarming tale about diversity, broadening our horizons, and recognizing that we need other people, especially those who are different from us.  It celebrates the differences among us and tells us that those differences are a real strength, so if you're looking for a fun horror movie that the whole family can watch and learn from, The Nightmare Before Christmas is just the film for you.  

Gremlins

Gremlins is another beloved classic, although it's not quite on the level of The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It's a horror-comedy about a man who buys his son a pet called a mogwai, and the creature comes with a few very important rules the kid has to follow.  Unfortunately, he gets a bit sloppy, and that one mogwai turns into a hoard of mischievous gremlins that run around town destroying things and causing a whole lot of trouble for all the residents.

Unlike the other movies on this list, this one isn't really about Christmas.  It simply takes place around Christmas time, but there are a few scenes that really lean into the holiday setting.  For instance, at one point in the film, a bunch of gremlins show up at someone's front door, and they start singing a Christmas carol.

All in all, Gremlins is quite possibly the best example of a horror movie that's considered a classic simply because it's really, really fun.  It's just a hoot seeing the creatures run around town and cause a mess while imitating normal human life (the Christmas carol scene is just one of many examples), so if you're a fan of monsters, this should definitely be on your Christmas watch list.

Krampus

As you might've guessed, Krampus is about the infamous anti-Santa figure of German folklore.  Whereas Santa brings children presents if they've been good, Krampus punishes kids who've been bad, and in this movie, the main characters have been very bad.  It's about a family that basically hates one another, and Krampus comes to punish them for their lack of Christmas spirit.

Much like Gremlins, this one is also a horror-comedy about a bunch of monsters.  While Krampus himself is obviously the main bad guy, he brings a bunch of minions with him, and they're almost as much fun to watch as the gremlins.  Then, when the big guy himself shows up, he's just as terrifying as you would expect.

But unlike Gremlins, this one doesn't just happen to take place on Christmas.  It's soaked in the themes, imagery, and traditions of the holiday, so if you want a creature feature that truly revolves around Christmas, you should give Krampus a watch.

A Christmas Horror Story

Of all the movies on this list, A Christmas Horror Story is hands down the most purely horror.  It's not an animated children's horror movie, and it's not a horror-comedy.  This is just a straight up horror movie.  It's an anthology film, and all of the stories in it center around Christmas in some way.  For example, there's a segment about a family going to get a Christmas tree, and there's another one where Santa Claus has to defend his home from Krampus.

Like all anthologies, some of the stories are better than others, but there aren't any complete duds.  They all work to some extent at least, so at no point will you find yourself too tempted to fast forward to the next segment.  In particular, the wraparound story stars William Shatner as a radio DJ, and he's a lot of fun to watch.

So if you're looking for a straight up horror movie this December, give A Christmas Horror Story a shot.  It's a bevy of fun Christmas scares that forms a good counterbalance to many of the other films on this list, so it will round out your holiday horror viewing quite nicely.

Rare Exports

Finally, let's take a look at a horror movie that's all about Santa Claus.  Rare Exports is a Finnish movie that reimagines Santa as a demon-like creature that kidnaps and tortures children who misbehave, and a long time ago, he was trapped in ice by the people he terrorized.  However, his frozen prison has recently been discovered, and it's up to just a handful of people to keep him from wreaking havoc once again.

This movie puts a cool twist on the evil Santa trope (he's not just a guy in a Santa costume who goes around killing people), and it creates an interesting mythology in the process.  It's one of the more original Christmas horror films you'll see, and that alone makes it worth watching.

On top of that, it also has likeable characters that you easily root for, so you become invested in the story.  Unlike way too many throwaway horror films, you actually care what happens to these people, and that makes all the difference.  In short, Rare Exports is a creepily delightful Christmas horror movie, so if you're a fan of creative twists on traditional mythology, I highly recommend checking this one out.

New(ish) Netflix Movie Review: Cadaver

Cadaver is a Norwegian movie that came out on Netflix on October 22 as part of their Netflix and Chills lineup.  There was so much new stuff coming out on various streaming platforms around Halloween that it took me a month to finally watch this one, and I'm glad I did.  It has its flaws, but on the whole, I quite enjoyed it.

It's set in a post-apocalyptic world where food is really scarce, and it follows a family that gets tickets to a mysterious dinner show that ends up being way more than they bargained for.  The family wonders how these people have enough food to feed an entire audience, and soon after the play starts, they realize that something isn't right with the event.

I don't want to say much more about the plot because for about half its runtime, the movie is all about the mystery of what exactly is going on.  Once you realize that something is wrong, the situation snowballs and gets weirder and weirder with just about every scene.  This mystery is super intriguing, and it kept my eyes glued to the screen waiting to find out what was coming next.

On top of that, Cadaver is also a very atmospheric film.  It doesn't just show you the mystery unfolding onscreen.  It makes you feel the mystery as well.  You feel all the confusion and disorientation that the main characters are experiencing, and that makes the plot all the more compelling.  It pulls you into the story and makes you feel like you're right there with the characters.

Then, at about the halfway mark, the movie starts giving you some answers.  It slowly pulls back the curtain and lets you in on its secrets, and the explanation is just as sinister as you expect it to be. There's some really nasty stuff going on at this show, and the main characters find themselves forced into in the fight of the lives.

That being said, the second half of the film is a noticeable step down from the great first half.  While I did enjoy the explanation of the strange goings-on at this show, I also thought it wasn't quite as satisfying as the mystery itself.  The first half built it up so much that I was expecting something a bit more interesting than what I ended up getting.  Don't get me wrong, the second half of the film is still good; it just doesn't quite live up to the great setup in the first half.

Aside from the slightly disappointing payoff, the only other real flaw in this movie lies with the characters.  They exist solely to serve the mystery of the strange dinner show, but there's not much to them beyond that.  While they're not terribly bland, they're not particularly interesting either.  They do their job well enough, but they don't really add anything to the movie on their own.

In the grand scheme of things, though, those aren't egregious flaws.  They didn't ruin the movie for me, so I still walked away pretty happy after the credits rolled.  It's admittedly not a must-see film, but it's pretty good.  And it's especially appreciated during this pandemic-induced dearth of new theatrical releases.  While there are a few good movies playing in theaters right now (like Come Play and Freaky), the immediate future is pretty bleak.  Thankfully, we have nice little streaming movies like Cadaver to fill that void, so if you're itching to see some new horror, I'd recommend giving this one a shot.  It's definitely worth a watch.

New Theatrical Movie Review: Freaky

Freaky came out on November 13, and it might very well be the last new movie I see in theaters this year.  If it is, then my movie-going year went out with a bang.  It's a horror-comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton, and it was directed by Christopher Landon, the same guy who did the Happy Death Day movies (which makes perfect sense because Happy Death Day is a horror take on Groundhog Day, and this one is a horror take on Freaky Friday).

Vince Vaughn plays a serial killer known as the Blissfield Butcher who tries to kill Kathryn Newton's character, a high school senior named Millie, but he instead causes them to switch bodies.  The next morning, Millie wakes up in the Butcher's body and he wakes up in hers, and it's just as hilarious as you would expect.

Vaughn is hands down the best thing about this movie.  He does a phenomenal job playing a teenage girl stuck in the body of a middle-aged man, and he's gut-bustingly funny.  He changes everything from the tone of his voice to the way he moves, and it's spot-on.  There are even times when he has to fawn over the guy Millie has a crush on, and those are some of the most amazingly awkward scenes in the entire movie.  Simply put, on the comedy side, Freaky works spectacularly.

On the horror side, the film isn't quite as good, but it still works pretty well.  It's a slasher, and it leans into that subgenre more heavily than you might expect.  This is a gory film, and it has several hardcore kills that are going to really please slasher fans.  Admittedly, this isn't my preferred kind of horror, but even I appreciated how well the movie emulated the classic slashers of the 80s and 90s.  Granted, it's not nonstop gore all the time, but when the Blissfield Butcher kills people, he's brutal.

And not just when he's in his original body.  After the switch, he continues his murderous ways, and Kathryn Newton does a really good job playing him.  She's mastered the sinister look and attitude of a serial killer hiding in someone else's body, so she really makes you believe that she's the Blissfield Butcher.

On a similar note, Freaky is also a love letter to the slasher genre.  It makes some really great use of the slasher tropes we all know and love, and it has some cool callbacks to classic slasher movies like Halloween and Scream.  Even some of the weapons the killer uses are very reminiscent of the most famous killers the genre has to offer.

All that being said, the movie isn't perfect.  For example, as funny as it is, it also has several jokes that fall flat.  Luckily, there's almost always a really funny joke soon afterwards that makes up for it, but I did notice a number of bad ones.  More than that, though, I'd say that the worst part of this movie is probably the family drama between Millie, her mother, and her sister.  Millie's father passed away a year before the events of the film, and her family is still reeling from the loss.  The movie tries to make something of this, but it ends up feeling generic and halfhearted.  It's not bad enough to really take away from the film, but it doesn't add anything to it either.  It's kind of just there as a narrative thread that you notice without caring much about either way.

But those are relatively minor quibbles, so on the whole, I would give Freaky a big thumbs up.  It works well on both the comedy and horror fronts, so it gives you pretty much everything you want from it.  It's a really fun time at the theater, so if you're itching for a night out or you just want to see something new on the big screen, I'd definitely recommend checking this one out.

Classic Movie Recommendation: The Monster Squad

The Monster Squad is a 1987 horror comedy that's basically The Goonies with monsters.  It's about a group of kids who love monsters so much that they have their own monster club, and one day they have to defend their town from real-life monsters who want to take over the world.

This movie is a love letter to the classic Universal Studios monster movies of the 30's, 40's, and 50's.  It features Dracula, Frankenstein (the monster, not the doctor), a werewolf, a mummy, and a gill-man (the monster in Creature from the Black Lagoon), and it treats these horror icons with the love and respect they deserve.

The filmmakers didn't have the rights to Universal's creature designs, so they had to come up with their own looks for the monsters, and they did it almost flawlessly.  They found a way to make the monsters look different enough to avoid a lawsuit but still similar enough to pull at fans' nostalgic heartstrings.

Similarly, while some of these monsters have meatier roles than others, they all get their moments to shine.  For example, there's a funny scene where the mummy hides in a kid's closet, and when the monsters mount their final attack, the gill-man has a cool scene where he gets to show just how dangerous he really is.

Of all these classic characters, though, the heart of this film is undoubtedly Frankenstein.  He gets a great character arc with an emotional climax that's almost as powerful as the end of Bride of Frankenstein, and actor Tom Noonan gives arguably the best performance in this role since Boris Karloff.  If you're at all a fan of this monster, you will absolutely love this incarnation of him.

But Frankenstein isn't the only standout of this movie.  Dracula also shines, due mainly to actor Duncan Regehr's great performance.  He plays the count with the suave class of Bela Lugosi and the cruel bloodthirstiness of Christopher Lee, so every time you see him onscreen, he's exactly what you expect Dracula to be.

After the monsters, the other strengths of this film are hands down the characters and the dialogue.  Child actors are notoriously hit-or-miss, but these do a really good job.  They play their roles quite believably, and they have great chemistry together.  Several of them even add some real emotional depth to their characters, so by the time all hell breaks loose in the third act, you're really invested in the story because you genuinely care about whether they make it out alive.

This film also gives us some of the best one-liners in horror movie history.  While most comedies lose their laugh-out-loud factor after you've seen them a few times, there are a few moments in this film that always make me laugh no matter how many times I see it.  These jokes call back to previous events in the movie, so they have an added punch that goes beyond mere cleverness.  They piggyback on your love of the characters, so because the characters are great, the jokes are that much better.

All in all, The Monster Squad is just a super fun monster team-up movie.  It's basically The Avengers for monster fans, and it has the great characters, great one-liners, and great emotional beats to go along with that description.  If you're a fan of these classic monsters, you should definitely check this one out.  You will not be disappointed.

New Theatrical Movie Review: Come Play (No Spoilers)

Last week, I wrote about The New Mutants, the first movie I've seen in theaters since the pandemic started, and this week, I want to talk about the first brand new release (The New Mutants was already two months old when I finally saw it) I've been able to see.  Come Play is a supernatural horror film that came out on October 30, and it's about a non-verbal autistic boy who encounters a monster from another dimension that comes into our world through technology like cell phones and iPads.  He says he just wants to be the kid's friend, and he's willing to kill anybody who gets in his way.

This movie was written and directed by first-time filmmaker Jacob Chase, and while this debut has its flaws, I'm excited to see what Chase follows it up with.  The film starts with an intense scene that builds up dread and suspense just about perfectly, and throughout the rest of its runtime, Chase proves that the opener wasn't just a fluke.  In particular, he does a great job of using various tech devices in really creative ways to create some very spooky scenes.  This guy knows how to do scares and tension, so he has a bright future ahead of him.

Along similar lines, the monster was pretty cool too.  The creature design was good, and it's actually a fairly fleshed out character.  Unlike most movie monsters, he's not simply an evil being that does evil things.  I don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say this: Jacob Chase manages to turn this creepy monster into a genuinely sympathetic character that's more interesting than most villains in any genre, let alone horror.  This adds a narrative layer that you don't normally get in horror movies, and it's really cool seeing a monster done in this unconventional way.

As good as the horror elements are, though, the best thing about this movie is by far the main character.  I work with autistic kids, and let me tell you: Come Play does a fantastic job of portraying autism.  It captures some of the telltale signs of the condition in a realistic and believable way, and child actor Azhy Robertson does a fantastic job of bringing that all to life.  If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that he really was autistic.

What's more, Robertson also does a fantastic job of portraying his character's emotions without talking.  Since the kid is non-verbal, Robertson has to convey what he's feeling through facial expressions and body language, and he does it brilliantly.  Simply put, this might be the best performance I've seen by a child actor since Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense.  It's just that good.

All that being said, Come Play isn't perfect.  The main flaw is that the human drama isn't nearly as strong as the other elements.  In particular, it has an undercurrent of familial dysfunction, but that didn't really add anything to the movie.  It felt generic and halfhearted, almost like it was just an excuse to show off all the good things the film does.  It didn't exactly detract from the movie, but it definitely didn't help either.

That's a fairly big flaw, and it keeps this movie from being as good as it could've been.  If the story were up to par with the scares, this film would've been great.  As it is, it's merely good, but that's good enough.  Even if we weren't experiencing a dearth of new theatrical releases, a good new movie is always a treat, and it's all the more welcome at a time like this.  All in all, I was very happy with Come Play, so if you want to go back to the movies and see something creepy, I'd definitely recommend checking this one out.