joel.'s top 13 horror films of 2018.... #Honorable Mention

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.)

Honorable Mention) 'The Haunting of Hill House'

In my mind, the 'Top 13' list should be films only. However, with the release of Mike Flanagan's 10 episode epic, 'The Haunting of Hill House'.... I'm making an exception. This is a moderately sprawling epic tale of sadness, death and redemption that deserves a mention. It's not without its flaws, but it's creepy, when it needs to be. It's dramatic, when it's called for. Sometimes, it's a bit formulaic in it's creature design and execution, but at the end of the day it proves that it has heart and a heck of a story. It's all the things that it promised and it proves that Mike Flanagan is still a force to be reckoned with. I feel that there's a lot of things I could pick apart about this series, but there's so much more going on that's good, that I'd be doing the uninitiated a disservice by making it sound like less than it was. If you've got 10 hours to spare, it's worth your time.



Suggested snack to eat while watching: tea

joel.'s top 13 horror films of 2017.... Honorable Mention

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.)

Honorable Mention) '1922'

As you'll soon find out, with my full list, this was the year for Stephen King. '1922' is one of the many chapters in this 2017 film going journey. A dark and brooding tale, that just barely missed the mark this year. One of many Netflix originals that set the bar incredibly high for big budget Hollywood films. However, the biggest thing going for this film was Thomas Jane. He produced one of the best characters to fill the screen in a long time. Granted, the story line was solid and the supporting cast and crew were phenomenal. Sadly, there were just too many other great films this year, that it barely missed the cut. However, I would have been remiss, not to at least give it a little time in the sun as it is well worth your time to watch. I don't know what 2018 will hold in store for Mr. King, but it appears that he is back in the limelight again.... as if he ever left.



Suggested snack to eat while watching: ratatouille

Jeff’s Top 13 Horror Films of 2017: Honorable Mentions

It’s the most wonderful time for lists! That’s right, the most important top list of the year has arrived. Welcome to the Creepercast top 13 (plus honorable mentions) horror films of 2017 according to our writing cast. IT is always interesting to see how each of us rates every film of the year and sometimes it breaks out in complete Mayhem. Usually we can be civil enough to Get Out before the blood flies, and sometimes we are Split and every choice feels just like The Killing of a Sacred Deer. But in the end this little Monster Project goes into the books, your favorite cast member commits their opinion to writing, and defensive arguments aside, this is our final testament for the year. Alas, this is our Cure for Wellness, and our addictive Devil’s Candy.

 These lists includes films that we have seen for the first time in 2017, though they tend to include films released within that year they are not limited too or controlled by that rule. That’s why my lists also tend to preview a film you likely haven’t been able to see yet. Though that’s not probably to happen this year since I haven’t had a chance to see The Endless, Death House, and Tragedy Girls yet. But, I have every reason to believe they would have landed pretty high on this list. Well know for sure come next years list. That said, it is always a pleasure to debut films like Raw on these lists in the hopes that you will see them and enjoy them as I have. Speaking of Raw, the cannibal veterinarian from France is strongly dominating many of the lists you see out there this year. See, I told you it was worth it.

 For myself, the real surprise with this list is how many are mainstream films and the inclusion of a film by a director I notoriously profess to despise. Don’t worry, there is plenty of off the wall, cerebral, psychological, eccentric horror on this list. This last year was one of the most prolific for horror and our lists were a challenge to create, but create we must! With no further argument (unless you choose to do so in the comments below) here is Jeff’s Top 13 Horror Films of 2017

The Honorable Mentions:

Never Hike Alone

It use to be that when someone said “hey check out this fan film” you knew what to expect. It was likely going to be some silly misrepresentation of the source material with bad acting, effects, and writing, that while entertaining, does very little to add to the mythos or understanding of the films they wish to sloppily honor. But thankfully there has been swing toward quality homages that includes not only great acting, avoiding cheesy effects, and storylines, with a love for the details and dedication to production values that adds to the mythos in ways one never could have imagined. One such “fan fiction” tale is the fan backed and brilliantly portrayed Never Hike Alone. Which is very sound advice when extreme hiking through Camp Crystal Lake. Brought to us by Womp Stomp Films and director Vincente DiSanti (who also brilliantly donned the mask as well) that promises there are still Friday the 13th stories to tell that don’t include Michael Bay. Please watch the almost feature length gem here and understand why it earns the least I can offer, a 2017 Honorable Mention...

Mosaic

From The Verge (11/08/2017) “In January, HBO will air Steven Soderbergh’s Mosaic as a six-episode series over five nights. But today, you can download a standalone app for iOS and tvOS, and take in its roughly 7.5 hours in interactive form, shifting your perspective among the story’s main characters in a branching narrative. Mosaic most resembles the sort of show you might binge-watch on Netflix — all of its episodes will be available at once — and yet it allows for a level of interaction only possible inside a custom app.”

“It’s not a TV show, and it’s not a movie,” says Soderbergh, “It’s something else.”

Soderbergh may be understating the artistic aspect of Mosaic, but that’s okay since it seems to defy standard conventions. What he definitely doesn’t want us to call this murder mystery with a winding plot is a “choose your own adventure” movie. Even though it feels like one when your clicking through evidence offered and watching scenes play out in ways that seems like you can control the outcome. Of course you can’t, Soderbergh is the only god in this world of sex, death, and secrets. Each scene is gripping and engrossing while the classic Susan Sarandon headlines the cast. Purely due its nature this thriller easily earns this honorary position.

To be continued tomorrow...

And now, for my Honorable mention of 2016: Spectral by William S. Mayfield

Try to imagine taking everything awesome from Aliens, except the Aliens and cross it with some rather nasty ghosts you get the sci fi epic Spectral. This movie came out of nowhere and grabbed me and didn't let go. Its been a long time since I have watched a movie back to back. Every part of this was awesome.

The story takes places in a generic eastern war torn country. Some soldiers in a special operations group have been noticing weird visuals in their new thermal goggles. And when these visuals start attacking the soldiers and killing them, they call in Clyde played by James Badge Dale, who invented most of the new tech these soldiers are testing. So he comes and gets embedded with the soldiers to hopefully find out what these things are. Shortly into their first mission to find a missing squad, things go sideways fast. More of these things show up and pretty much make short work of military. The visuals are amazing and the props are over the top. Clayne Crawford of The Bay Town Outlaws plays Sgt. Toll. Pretty much the Hicks of our story. Bruce Greenwood plays the commander who wants to pull his troops back, but realizes too late that's not a option. Over all this is not Aliens but you can tell the filmmakers definitely had it in mind when they wrote and filmed Spectral. It's showing exclusively on Netflix.

my top 13 "Final Girls".... Honorable Mention

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....

Honorable Mention: Wendy from 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead' played by Kate Graham
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Wendy from 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead'. It's a big, silly, gross out, horror comedy from the minds of Troma Studios and Lloyd Kaufman. Where else can you find Native American chicken zombies in a musical? One of my favorite zombie films and a big reason why, is because of the lovely Kate Graham. She's a "Final Girl" in every sense of the word and needed to included my list somewhere.