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| Topic | Board 8 Ranks 2010s Horror Movies - The Final Chapter - *THE RANKINGS* |
| Snake5555555555 05/26/22 2:59:58 PM #118: | Overall, I really, really liked this. I might be a bit more tentative recommended this to people than I am other top tier films on my list. Like, it really, really worked for me but I wouldnt be surprised to see this pop up in the bottom half of some peoples lists here or even in the bottom five of others. I could see some people being bored by this, and I wouldnt even really debate them on that assessment. But everything here was just so good outside of maybe a bit of an unsatisfactory ending and I loved the acting and the way it was filmed and the atmosphere and I just thought this was a really, really good movie. It definitely stuck with me and I found it to be one of the most unsettling movies on the list. Fortybelowsummer - Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? Something about the 15th century Puritan times is just inherently creepy. I think its because everything was dark and grimy and depressing, but mostly the idea of things like the Devil and witchcraft seemed so prevalent. The VVitch capitalizes on that, creating a cloudy candle-lit nightmare that provides a real sense of dread throughout. I appreciated that right from the start you see what youre dealing with. It isnt something ambiguous in the deep dark woods. It's a real honest to goodness witch that will snatch your baby and grind up his delicate little body. Yikes. Excellent music, imagery, and performances create an unforgettably disturbing tone, and whether its all real or just paranoid delusions fueled by fervent religiosity, I think its the scariest movie on the list. Johnbobb - I called it, upon seeing this movie for the first time in 2015, that Anya Taylor-Joy was going to be huge. In an already impressive film by one of the best horror directors currently working full of great performances and terrifying imagery, Thomasin STILL managed to stand out far above her family. Now seven years later she's taking a stab at becoming my favorite actress. Tom Nook - This ranking is where the heavy hitters start landing for me. First truly great movie so far. The VVitch is solid as a drama film, dealing with settlers struggling in the harsh conditions; a world where there isn't much joy, as they worry mostly about survival. And to occupy their mind, they focus a lot on religion to get them through, as their one form of hope. This leads to the movie feeling bleak, even before horror elements are added. Seeing horror in this setting makes it all the more nasty. In some ways, I wish this one had been longer, because it feels so short for its setting and pace. I'd have liked this as a 2.5 hour film! The actors do great, featuring a couple small Game of Thrones people too, one of which is Kate Dickie who is apparently contractually obligated to have creepy breast feeding scenes in every role she plays. Black Phillip is also one of the GOAT movie villains, and seeing him transform at the end was such an excellent scene. Inviso - Given that this is a more artistic kind of horror movie, going for a more serious tone, I wasnt expecting to enjoy it at all. Yet somehow, throughout its entire runtime, VVitch never got boring. The characters all felt fully-realized in a manner that made for an interesting plot. From minute one, were teased with a plot about a hyper-religious man whos so devout that hes willing to drag his whole family into the wilderness, rather than humbly remain part of the congregation. And from that point on, we have varying levels of faith on-display, leading to some interesting inter-family dynamics. Overall though, Thomasin is the heart and soul of the film, and I couldnt help but feel awful for her by the end of the movie. She didnt choose to live in the wilderness; that was her father. A witch stole her baby brother and let her take the blame. Her father lets her take the blame for her mothers family heirloom going missing (which directly leads to her brother getting lost in the woods and abducted by a witch). Shes accused of witchcraft because she made a joke towards her obnoxious, disobedient little sister. And then her whole family ends up slaughtered at the hands of the devil, or her mother trying to murder her. She only turns to witchcraft after her whole life has been destroyed. I cant blame her for that. And the fact that I can think that is, in and of itself, a solid example of storytelling. Lightning Strikes - Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? A spectacular debut for Robert Eggers and one of the defining horror genre-blends of the last decade. This film combines a fairly straight historical drama about settlers that are cast out of their community on religious grounds with a nightmarish supernatural horror. What is also interesting is that not only does it combine the two, it actually takes quite a while to reveal itself. The film is exclusively a period drama for quite a long time, then it slowly seeds in the horror elements before it launches into an insane festival (literally) of memorable horror imagery. This is punctuated by Robert Eggers vervent style that makes scenes like the peekaboo with the disappearing baby or the Black Thomas scene at the end much stranger and much more creepy than they would have been with more typical direction. There is also a terrific performance by Anya Taylor-Joy that makes one of the most chilling endings I have seen even darker. Whats impressive about this film to me is that it covers a huge amount of narrative and thematic ground while also soaking in a creepy atmosphere in just 90 minutes. This is a short film but has a lot more to it than many films half its length. This helps make the fact that the film does not truly show what it is up to until near the end much more enjoyable as it doesnt keep you waiting too much. Unfortunately, I do not think that the two parts of the film, while well balanced in terms of pace, are equal in terms of quality at all. The horror parts are much more engaging to me, I found the historical drama elements a little dry. While this will of course be a matter of personal preference, I am not necessarily a diehard horror fan and I love a good period drama so to me that shows that they do not work as well as each other. With that said the whole thing is still a unique, mesmerising experience with an ending I wont soon forget. 4/5 Biggest scare: The whole ending. What else is there to say? Snake - Still one of the darkest and most miserable entries in the 2010s horror canon. And its DELICIOUS. The best horror films of the decade played on family - to what extent are our parents responsible for the way we turn out, how parents pressure and blame us even when things arent our fault, how parents are no more infallible than anybody else. The VVitch pushes it to faulty extremes - the whole film balances on a tightwire act of misery, pushing the familys limits of their happiness straight into the dark depths of hell. At the center of it all, Thomasin, played to perfection by Anya Taylor-Joy in what I still think is her best role yet, a rather hapless young woman who doesnt deserve anything that happens to her yet gets treated badly regardless. Its the frustrating plight of anyone who ever tried to just live their life normally but get no reward for it. Like the unfortunate victims of the Salem Witch Trials, Thomasins progressive and free-spirit nature is unfit for the cruel surroundings and time of the world she grew up in. A perfect period piece, The VVitchs attention to detail is nothing short of a marvel; authenticity enhances the piece and goes a long way towards building believable dread and atmosphere to make the proceedings work as well as they do. Its a film Ive adored from the start, and I only wish this list wasnt better so I could raise it higher. FFDragon - BLACK PHILLIP --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. https://www.instagram.com/horror_obscurities/ ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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