100 FAVORITE HORROR FILMS: MONTH OF 2020 FILMS

For 2021’s January themed month of film watching I decided that it was best to catch up on films from the previous year that had managed to pass me by, so this was the Month of 2020 Films! This being said, I caught up with a lot of films from every genre which in turn will help me decide my 2020 Best of film lists.

DOCUMENTARIES:

I should start by saying that I (finally) jumped on the band wagon and watched the entire Netflix Tiger King mini-series which also meant that I watched the stand alone special The Tiger King & I. I enjoyed the whole true crime docu-series and this film added to the overall series by placing it in our current quarantine times. Injustice and true crime are appealing subjects for non-fiction films so of course I watched the following films Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo, and Athlete A. Of the three, Athlete A was the best, but they all were eye opening in regard to their subject matter and overall execution. Athlete A is one I recommend everyone watch. The last two documentaries that I watched of the month were Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. Dance Dreams is an amazing look at one of the premiere dance studios in the United States and their production of the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. Crip Camp is overall one of the best documentaries that was released in 2020.

DRAMA:

Only caught up with three dramas this month. Wished I had gotten around to more, but January was not an ideal month for dramas. What I did get around to was an eclectic mix. Watched Hillbilly Elegy, Mank, and Trial of the Chicago 7. Mank was clearly the best of the bunch overall but Trial of the Chicago 7 and Hillbilly Elegy had some stand out performances even though there were other areas that were lacking. Mank is by far one of director David Fincher’s best films in years and deserves the accolades it is being given. I am surprised that Glen Close in Hillbilly Elegy is not being given just as much praise as she is phenomenal but then again, she is phenomenal in most everything.

ACTION:

I only watched three action films in this month and two of them were based on comic books. The first one is Extraction which had some amazing cinematography and action sequences. Some of the best I have seen all year. The two I watched that were based on comic books were vastly different from one another - The Old Guard and Wonder Woman: 1984. Now, I have read the graphic novel on which The Old Guard is based and its pretty much spot on. The film does a better job with bridging all the stories of the characters together and it does an amazing job with setting up the world of the film. There are even whole scenes in the film lifted directly from the comic book. Wonder Woman on the other hand is a mixed bag but it does a great job servicing the young female audience that it was designed to appeal to whereas the typical comic book fan may not be as impressed. Some questionable CGI at the end does take away from the overall film. The funny thing is that I believe all three of them will be getting sequels sometime soon.

HORROR:

The horror genre is what films I ended up watching the most of partially because so many more horror films were released last year than practically every other genre, so I felt like there was a lot for me to catch up with. My Top 5 favorites were The Cleansing Hour, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, La Llorona, The Mortuary Collection, and Spiral, which were all different from one another. Although not your standard horror film, Sarah Bolger gives a phenomenal performance in A Good Woman is Hard to Find. Spiral gives one of the most genuine same sex relationship portrayals in a horror film which elevates the film about the new people moving into the neighborhood that has a supernatural cult in its mist. The Mortuary Collection is one of the best anthology films to come around in several years that also has a great wrap-around segment and The Cleansing Hour is both fun and suspenseful with a fake internet exorcist having to contend with a real demon possession. These are all films I highly recommend.

On the flip side are those films I would not recommend which include The Deeper You Dig and The Beach House which both had interesting concepts but bad execution.

The other horror films that were just okay were Blood Vessel, Castle Freak (remake), Confessional, Death of Me, Lingering, Porno, Scare Me, and The Soul Collector. Lingering almost made the Top 5 and would probably be at #6 and Porno and Scare Me are great fun. Blood Vessel is for those that enjoy vampire films, but I got bored (even though there is plenty of gore and is quite entertaining). The original Castle Freak did not need a remake but at least this version has plenty of gore and takes on an overly Lovecraftian ending that is at least a good payoff. Confessional was an interesting concept that was well done but just did not hold my attention. Lingering and The Soul Collector are equally fine films that delve into their respective cultures and are easily some of the other highlights that I saw.

Overall, January ended up being a great month of film watching and catching up with a lot of films from 2020 that I had missed. There were plenty more that I still did not get to but that will be for another time. In the meantime, I hope you look out for some of these films and I hope my insight will be valuable for you.