joel.'s top 13 horror films of 2018.... #11

Every year, you never know what the horror genre is going to unleash upon the world. You have an unsuspecting audience, just waiting to have their deepest and darkest fears manipulated.... all in the comfort of an air conditioned theater or their home. Not every year has been full of winners, some have proven to be better than others, but 2018 has yielded some very interesting genre fare that is full of a little bit of everything under the sun. My fellow creeps, I've put together what I feel (in my humble opinion) to be the best of the best for this year. There were a few that were nudged out by only inches and that's not a bad thing. It just proves that there are more stories to tell and makes me dream about all the amazing scares yet to come. So, without further adieu, I give you my top 13 horror films of 2018! (based on release dates and not the years they were filmed.... although some may be in the last quarter of 2017.)

11) 'The First Purge'

I have no shame in my love of 'The Purge' franchise. The first one didn't show us enough of the world that was built. The second and third, took us out into the open and slowly shifted to a more action based horror film. With a TV show and the fourth film, the series felt like it could be bordering on over saturation of the market. Once I finally saw this entry into the series, I felt like things were still alive and well. Despite mixed reviews and some hate being thrown its way, I felt like this kept the story moving forward and was worth being counted as a continuation of the series. What makes this all work, is that the world today is creepily close to reaching this outcome. I hope we never come to that, but in the meantime, it just cranks up the tension and makes this that much more frightening.



Suggested snack to eat while watching: something to binge on, before you purge

joel.'s top 13 horror films of 2017.... #11

Every year, you never know what the horror genre is going to unleash upon the world. You have an unsuspecting audience, just waiting to have their deepest and darkest fears manipulated.... all in the comfort of an air conditioned theater or their home. Not every year has been full of winners, some have proven to be better than others, but 2017 has yielded some very interesting genre fare that is full of a little bit of everything under the sun. My fellow creeps, I've put together what I feel (in my humble opinion) to be the best of the best for this year. There were a few that were nudged out by only inches and that's not a bad thing. It just proves that there are more stories to tell and makes me dream about all the amazing scares yet to come. So, without further adieu, I give you my top 13 horror films of 2017! (based on release dates and not the years they were filmed.... although some may be in the last quarter of 2016.)

11) 'The Axe Murders of Villisca'

This is the dark horse of my list. Think of it as the 'Little Film That Could'. Written and directed by Tony E. Valenzuela, a man who's resume is full of television credits, he was a bit of an unproven talent in the film world. I came across this one through a connection with Sean Whalen on Facebook. He was promoting the film and the plot intrigued me. My expectations were fairly low, but by the end of it and having time to process it, I realized how genius it was. I've already written a full review on it, as it spoke to me and could potentially speak to a lot of other horror film fans as well. This is one of the new generation of more thoughtful horror movies, a kin to the 'Deathwave' movement and one that has me hopeful for whatever Mr. Valenzuela has to offer in the future.



Suggested snack to eat while watching: a bottle of wine and some peanut butter

my top 12.... 'Friday the 13th' films - number 11

With the upcoming release of the new 'Friday the 13th: The Game', on Xbox One, it's had me thinking a lot about one of my favorite franchises. Granted, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure, Jason has always held a soft spot in my heart among the horror icons. With a new film seemingly in development hell, there is a bright spot with the fan made 'Never Hike Alone', currently in production. However, there's 12 other feature films that have been released since 1980 and I thought it might be fun to rank them, according to which ones I consider to be the best. So here we go, my personal top 12 'Friday the 13th' movies....

Number 11) Jason X

There was a brief period in horror, where when a franchise had lost steam, the best idea anyone could come up with was.... "Put them in space!" So, we ended up with a few horror icons being launched into orbit and in this case, it was Jason. Not the worst of the series and one that I actually saw in the theaters. While it was kind of a fun take on the character, it was still 2 out of 5 stars, at best. Re-watchable, but not the first one to put into the DVD/Blu-ray player.

my top 13 "Final Girls".... #11

What's a 'Final Girl' you might ask? She's the last woman standing at the end of a horror film. Usually the one who defeats the killer. In this list, I'll give you my top 13 'Final Girls' in horror of all time. Without furtur ado....

#11: Angela Vidal from '[REC]' played by Manuela Velasco
One of the best examples of the viral/plague subgenre, '[REC]' introduced us to Angela Vidal. She came in as a reporter and ended up being a sole survivor. She may not have kicked as much butt until the later films, but she still earned her place on my list.