Every January, blogs of all types are bombarded with loads of ‘Top Whatever Lists’ and well, FTS is no exception! It’s time to take a crack at the year past by putting together a few 2012 In Review posts. We’ll be taking a look at the best movies in multiple genres, our least favorite flicks, and of course, our Top 10 of the Year podcast. We start off today by giving you our collaborative list of the top 5 horror movies we watched in 2012. Take a look!
Honorable Mention: Lovely Molly
Just outside our top 5 list is this small indie horror film. The story follows Molly and new husband Tim as they try to start their life together at Molly’s childhood home. After a rocky first night in the new home, things only get worse for the new bride as she begins to be haunted by disturbing memories from her past. The movie is a hodge-podge of found footage and video flashbacks mixed into the conventional narrative. Performances are strong and director Eduardo Sánchez (co-director of The Blair Witch Project) experiments with the film medium to appropriately unsettling results. -Lindsay
#5. Silent House
This movie got a lot of flack this year, and it certainly didn’t make a killing at the box office, but we actually liked it a lot. The one take approach was more than just a gimmick and was used in very kinetic but fluid way. It followed our protagonist, Elizabeth Olsen, so closely that this movie felt incredibly first person which was interesting to experience. It works mostly though because Olsen’s performance is just so convincing. There’s enough scares, twists, and tension to land it’s spot at the end of this list. -Jess
#4. V/H/S
If I said it once, I’ve said it a million times, I love a good horror anthology and V/H/S definitely delivers. Each ‘video’ stands pretty well on their own giving the viewer different flavors of horror, but it’s the bookends (Amateur Night and 10/31/98) that really did it for me. At a time where I thought all the possibilities of ‘found footage’ movies were exhausted, V/H/S comes along and breathes some much needed life into the genre. I can’t wait for the sequel, S-VHS. -Marc
#3. The Collection
The Collection is a solid horror movie. While the story doesn’t make the most sense, the kills more than make up for this. The Collector is a mad man who collects people and in this sequel you get to see some of the things that he does with his victims. An abandoned hotel that he makes his home is filled with science experiments and art that makes for a visually stirring setting. This is a nice horror film to check out with some pals. -Rob
#2. Sinister
I think it’s easy to see why this film made it into our top 3 for horror. Sinister is a scary movie that leaves you feeling creeped out and frightened of what may have happened in your home. What really put this over the top for me is the creep-factor induced by the death scenes on film the main protagonist finds in his attic and is drawn to rewatching multiple times. There’s just something about seeing an entire family hanging from a tree that makes you a little uncomfortable. -Will
#1. The Cabin in the Woods
Really? Do you need an explanation? Cabin In The Woods took the horror genre clichés, dissected them, reassembled them backwards, poured in a bucket of humor and pressed out a film that delighted horror and non-horror fans alike. The film gets better after each viewing because you see more and more Easter eggs, winks, and nods that you hadn’t noticed before. I hope we see more concepts like this in other genres in the future. -Nick
*Notable Exceptions None of Us Have Seen Yet: The Bay, Maniac, Citadel