Why 2017 Is The Best Year For Horror Ever

I’m just going to come right out and say it… 2017 is the best year for horror ever. That’s right! We are currently living in the absolute best year for the horror genre yet. From movies to video games, 2017 is consistently giving us top notch entertainment and I don’t believe that there has been a better year. Still doubting me? Here’s some reasons why 2017 is by far the greatest year for horror. 

The Movies

Let’s start by taking a look at the horror films that have already come out this year. This year started with a bang. Split (read our review here) showed everyone that M. Night Shymalan still has it and is still capable of making an intelligent and tense horror film. Get Out (read our review here) blew absolutely everyone away while tackling some very intense and relevant themes. As of today, October 17th, Get Out has a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I’d say that’s pretty damn good. Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! (read our review here) was genuinely upsetting and incredibly disturbing, which always makes for a good horror film. We finally saw It (read our review here) hit the big screen. The film was terrifying and reminded us all that clowns are evil and should never be trusted! But not only was It terrifying, it was a commercial success. Without taking inflation into account, It is the highest grossing horror film of all time on a domestic basis, netting $236.3 million in the United States.

Looking past those, we get into some absolutely killer indie films. Union Furnace (read our review here) was a tense and heart breaking take on the worn out battle royale genre. It Comes At Night (read our review here) continues to impress me with how much it can get under my skin. A Ghost Story (read our review here) is probably the greatest film I’ve ever seen. It’s not full on horror, but has some horror elements, so we’re going to include it for the sake of the argument. Last but certainly not least, Poor Agnes (read our review here) was disturbing and intense while proving to be another one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen.

What do all of these films have in common? They’re all smart films. They treat the audience like the intelligent beings they are, and don’t pull any of the standard cheap horror tropes into the mix. They all tackled various topics, from Stockholm Syndrome (Poor Agnes) to racism (Get Out) to paranoia (It Comes At Night). If that doesn’t describe a fantastic movie, then I don’t know what does.

The Video Games

I’m a big video game fan. I even sell them for a living! This year has given us a variety of horror video games, with the majority of them being scary as hell! Resident Evil 7 breathed new life into the classic series and made everyone care again. Capcom took a risk with making the game first person, and it completely paid off as the game was genuinely scary.

Resident Evil 7 was not the only first person horror game to come out this year, though, and it wasn’t even the scariest! As scary as that one was, Outlast: Trinity blew it out of the water. Containing all three Outlast games (Outlast, Outlast: Whistleblower and Outlast II), this is one game that really got under my skin. I thought the original Outlast game (released in 2013) was terrifying, but Outlast II took it up a notch. You can fight back in Resident Evil 7, but there is absolutely no fighting back in Outlast. Ever wonder what would happen if you stumbled upon a terrifying religious cult in the middle of the woods? Well, now’s your chance! All you can do is run, and hope that your camera doesn’t run out of batteries.

Friday the 13th was released, and while it wasn’t exactly what everyone had hoped for, it was still an endearing love letter to a series that never quite felt as polished as it could be. The game has issues, but the films had their issues as well. It’s still a fun time, and those kill animations are amazing. Finally, there’s The Evil Within 2. I’m a really big fan of the first game, and the second one is living up to the hype. It’s scary and gory and violent, which is basically everything I want out of a horror game!

Each of these games have been able to really get my heart pounding, and that’s all we can ask from a horror video game. What’s impressive is that these games are all taking risks. From first person viewpoints to an interesting spin on a multiplayer game, each one is taking a big risk. Not only are they taking these risks, but the risks are paying off and people are acknowledging that.

Still to Come

So while 2017 has given us amazing games and movies, it’s still not over! We still have two months left to go, and there is no shortage of really awesome looking films and games to look forward to. The Saw franchise is making its return with Jigsaw, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has a new installment with Leatherface, and Michael Fassbender is starring in an interesting film called The Snowman. We still have games such as Agony (I cannot wait for this one), Ghost Theory, Hello Neighbor, The Inpatient and Outreach to look forward to. 

In Conclusion

I understand that 1980 may seem like the greatest year for horror ever. With releases such as the original Friday the 13th, Cannibal Holocaust, The Fog, Maniac and The Shining, it’s hard to argue that 1980 wasn’t an amazing year for the genre. But I ask all of our readers to take a moment and really appreciate what we’ve gotten – and we’ll still be getting – in 2017. From the big studios down to the indies, we’ve been consistently given top notch horror that is hard to ignore. I’ve been blown away time after time this year, and I think that it’s time that we recognize what 2017 really is: the greatest year for horror ever. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think in the comments!