UTW Spotlight: Best Horror Movies We’ve Been Watching
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there haven’t been many new movies to hit our screens. While that is unfortunate, there are an infinite amount of movies available to watch on the various streaming services. Lately, I’ve been on a horror movie kick and have had a chance to catch up on some solid indies while also revisiting some of James Wan’s best. Below we’re going to through the best horror movies we’ve been watching lately.
I Trapped The Devil
This is probably the cheapest movie on this list but it’s definitely one of the best. The title of “I Trapped The Devil” is pretty on the nose because the film is about a man who believes he’s trapped the devil in his basement. We won’t dive too far into the plot, but this movie is lean and tense. It has some problems and the ending is slightly underwhelming but there’s a lot of good tension and some genuinely unnerving scenes. The cast is really good and it’s shot well for a film that is so cheap. At a lean 82-minutes, Josh Lobo doesn’t waste a lot of time and gets the plot in motion pretty quickly. It’s definitely worth a watch if you’re looking for some quick entertainment.
Where to watch: Hulu
Verdict: High Witness
The Beach House
This is another obviously low budget but effective little horror film. “The Beach House” is about a couple who decides to spend a weekend at their parents’ beach house in a small beach town that is seemingly deserted. It seems like the movie is going to be one thing and takes an interesting turn. There are a couple of really creepy scenes but it doesn’t have the same amount of sustained tension that “I Trapped The Devil” had. That said, it’s a solid flick.
Where to watch: Shudder
Verdict: Low Witness
Annabelle Comes Home
Alright, we leave the world of indies to talk about a studio horror film. Studio horror films are generally terrible and riddled with cheap jump scares. That’s why it’s so shocking that “Annabelle Comes Home” is actually pretty good. On the surface, it had everything working against it. It’s the third movie in a trilogy that was preceded by two mediocre films. To top it off, it’s directed by the screenwriter of “The Nun,” who had never directed anything before. I don’t know how Gary Dauberman pulled it off, but he did. “Annabelle Comes Home” is a tad overlong but bringing back Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson was a very smart decision. Though they aren’t in the movie a ton, they get it off to a good start. What follows is a series of really fun scares that are creative and don’t feel cheap. This is a great movie to watch with others.
Where to watch: HBO Max
Verdict: Witness
Revisited: Insidious & The Conjuring
Man, James Wan is definitely the king of popcorn horror movies. He’s the only director who seems to get it right pretty consistently. I don’t remember loving “Insidious” the first time I watched it and decided to give it another look. While the movie does have some serious problems, it’s still a lot of fun. Some of the tonal inconsistencies and bad dialogue are really jarring. However, there are a lot of good ideas and Wan is just so good at creating sustained suspense.
“Insidious” is really good but it pales in comparison to perhaps Wan’s best film “The Conjuring.” It’s Wan at his best as “The Conjuring” not only has some great scares, it’s also shot very well and has some iconic performances. There’s not much more to say about “The Conjuring” other than that it’s probably the best studio horror film to come out in the last decade.
Horror Movies Worth Skipping
While we were fortunate enough to find some gems, not everything was a winner. I had a chance to catch Jeremy Gardner’s “After Midnight.” I was interested in the micro-budget indie because it was written and directed by Gardner and also starred him in the lead role. I liked his work in the excellent “Bliss” so thought it would be interesting to see his directing chops. Justin Benson, the co-director of “The Endless” and “Spring,” also had a small role in the movie. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t really work. It’s built as a horror-romance but the horror pretty much disappears in the second half of the movie. The ending is so cringy that I almost had to shut it off. I’m sure some people will love how weird the ending is but it didn’t work for me.
Also, I know I spent a lot of time praising James Wan, but now I have to call him out. I am late to the game but I just recently saw “Insidious: Chapter 2” for the first time and it’s not good. Why they treat Lin Shaye’s character as some kind of horror icon is kind of irritating. Yeah, she was a good character but not an icon. The ideas in the sequel also aren’t very interesting and the film isn’t very scary. It’s probably Wan’s weakest film of the last decade.
