PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When I hear people say, “Man, barely any horror movies came out this year,” I just roll my eyes and laugh. Although there weren’t a lot of mainstream horror films to come out in 2018, there were a notable amount of indie horrors that are must-see masterpieces. Never limit your viewing experience to only theatrical releases! If you do, you’ll miss out on so much.
On that note, here is PopHorror’s Top Favorite Horror Movies of 2018, in no particular order…
1) Hereditary
“Deeply unsettling and utterly brilliant.” – Christine Burnham
Directed by Ari Aster with a cast starring Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, and Ann Dowd.
Synopsis:
After the family matriarch passes away, a grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences, and begin to unravel dark secrets.
Read our review – HERE.
2) Cam
“The perfect combination of glitz and terror.” – Abigail Braman
Daniel Goldhaber directed the feature, which was co-financed by Blumhouse Productions and Gunpowder & Sky and produced by Divide/Conquer. It is written by Isa Mazzei while Daniel Goldhaber and Isabelle Link-Levy helped collaborate. The cast includes Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora, Walters Devin, Druid, Imani Hakim, Michael Dempsey, Flora Diaz, and more.
Synopsis:
It follows Alice (Brewer), an ambitious camgirl, who wakes up one day to discover she’s been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself. As this copy begins to push the boundaries of Alice’s internet identity, the control that Alice has over her life, and the men in it, vanishes. While she struggles to regain what she’s lost, she slowly finds herself drawn back to her show and to the mysterious person who has taken her place.
Read our review – HERE.
3) Terrifier
“Art the Clown is one seriously fucked up dude!” – Kenn Hoekstra
Written and directed by Damien Leone. It stars Jenna Kanell, Catherine Corcoran, and Margaret Reed. David Howard Thornton (read our interview with him – HERE) plays the very disturbing villain Art the Clown.
Synopsis:
Based on a character from the 2013 anthology All Hallows Eve, this gory ‘80s slasher throwback takes place on Halloween night as the demented Art the Clown sets his sights on terrorizing two girls and anyone else that gets in his way.
Read our review – HERE.
4) The Ranger
“Green Room meets Maniac Cop.” – Tracy Allen
Created by feature film debut director Jenn Wexler (read our interview with her about the film here) and Giaco Furino (the couple behind the 2017 SXSW Grand Jury Prize-winner, Most Beautiful Island), The Ranger stars Chloe Levine (The Transfiguration 2016) as a teenage punk Chelsea trying to forget her past and Jeremy Holm (House of Cards TV series) as the straight as an arrow park ranger who’s bent on trying to get her to remember. The Sinner’s (2017) Granit Lahu, Jete Laurence (Pet Sematary 2019), Bubba Weiler (Puzzle 2018), Amanda Grace Benitez (All Cheerleaders Die 2013) and newcomer Jeremy Pope also star. Cult filmmaker Larry Fessenden (Jug Face 2013, We Are Still Here 2015, Depraved 2019, The House of the Devil 2009) plays young Chelsea’s Uncle Pete in flashbacks.
Synopsis:
Teen punks, on the run from the cops and hiding out in the woods, come up against the local authority – an unhinged park ranger with an axe to grind.
Read our review – HERE.
5) Annihilation
“An enthralling mutated work of mystery!” – Brandon Long
Directed by Alex Garland with a cast starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tessa Thompson.
Synopsis:
A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don’t apply.
6) Trauma
“Trauma is undeniably brutal, raising the bar for extreme horror and demands to have Rojas be put on the radar.” – Danni Winn
Directed by Lucio A. Rojas with a cast starring Catalina Martin, Macarena Carrere, and Ximena del Solar.
Synopsis:
A shocking, brutal tale that blends the dark history of Chile’s recent repressive dictatorial past with the seemingly modern and progressive Chile of today. The two worlds clash when a group of women venture to the idyllic countryside for a weekend of fun. Unfortunately, their outing soon turns nightmarish when a victim of government torture stumbles upon them, unleashing his pent-up rage. Face to face with the depravity of man, the women must fight for their very lives.
Read our review – HERE.
7) Revenge
“It redefines the revenge film genre!” – Tim Miller, author of Snuff Film and The Van
This exciting horror thriller was directed and written by Coralie Fargeat. The film stars Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, and Guillaume Bouchède.
Synopsis:
Never take your mistress on an annual guys’ getaway, especially one devoted to hunting – a violent lesson for three wealthy married men.
Red our review – HERE.
8) Summer of ’84
“The Burbs meets Stand by Me.” – Chris Prevost
This must-see coming of age film is directed by RKSS (François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell). It is written by Matt Leslie and Stephen J. Smith with a cast starring Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye, and Rich Sommer.
Synopsis:
Summer, 1984: The perfect time to be 15 years old and care free. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous.
Read our review – HERE.
9) Mandy
“Ambient, mesmerizing and esoteric art put to film.” – Richard Taylor
This exciting new film was written and directed by Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow). The cast includes Nicolas Cage (Mom & Dad, Leaving Las Vegas), Andrea Riseborough (Birdman, Battle of the Sexes), Linus Roache (Homeland TV series, Vikings TV series), Ned Denny (Peaky Blinders TV series, The Women in Black 2: Angel of Death), Olwen Fouéré (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Survivalist) with Richard Brake (The Death of Stalin, 31) and Bill Duke (Predator, Commando).
Synopsis:
Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.
Read our review – HERE.
10) A Quiet Place
“A silent cinema ride with punch!” – Ruben Shaw
Written by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski. John Krasinski also directs and stars in the film with his wife, Emily Blunt. The film also stars Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds.
Synopsis:
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
Read our review – HERE.
11) What Keeps You Alive
“A movie with one of the most brilliant portrayals of a psychopath I’ve ever seen!” – Lacy Lou
This thrilling new story is directed by Colin Minihan (It Stains the Sands Red, Grave Encounters). The cast includes Brittany Allen (It Stains the Sands Red), Hannah Emily Anderson (Star of Syfy’s Upcoming Purge TV Series), Martha Macisaac, and Joey Klein.
Synopsis:
How much can you really know about another person? The unsettling truth that even those closest to us can harbor hidden dimensions drives this thrillingly unpredictable, blood-stained fear trip. Jackie (Anderson) and Jules (Allen) are a couple celebrating their one year anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie’s family.
From the moment they arrive, something changes in Jules’ normally loving wife, as Jackie (if that even is her real name) begins to reveal a previously unknown dark side—all building up to a shocking revelation that will pit Jules against the woman she loves most in a terrifying fight to survive.
Read our review – HERE.
12) The House that Jack Built
“The House That Jack Built is brilliantly bloody with unexpected humor.” – Tiffany Blem
This brutal new film is directed by Lars von Trier with a cast starring Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, and Uma Thurman.
Synopsis:
The story follows Jack, a highly intelligent serial killer over the course of 12 years and depicts the murders that truly develop Jack as a serial killer.
Read our review – HERE.
13) Tigers Are Not Afraid
“A pitch black fairy tale that’s disturbing, frustrating and heartbreaking, yet hopeful.” – Tracy Allen
Directed by Issa López with a cast starring Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, and Hanssel Casillas. Although its official release date was in 2017, it had a huge festival run in 2018.
Synopsis:
A dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.
Read our review – HERE.
14) Wildling
“Brad Dourif as werewolf wrangler is fantastic!” – Wade Wainio
This is the feature debut of director/writer Fritz Böhm. The cast includes Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings, Armageddon) and Brad Dourif (One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest, Child’s Play).
Synopsis:
This is a unique dark fantasy tale centered on young Anna (Powley) who has been raised in isolation by a man she knows only as Daddy (Dourif) who has done everything possible to conceal the truth about the girl’s origins from her. But when the teenage Anna is suddenly thrust into the real world under the protection of no-nonsense police officer Ellen Cooper (Tyler), it soon becomes clear that the young woman is far from ordinary. Unable to adjust to a normal life, Anna finds herself drawn instead to the wild freedom of the forest while struggling to resist the growing bloodlust that has awakened inside her. This moodily atmospheric thriller combines supernatural scares with a myth-like tale of self-discovery.
Read our review – HERE.
15) Unsane
“Dark, tense and unsettling.” – Jennifer Bonges
Unsane stars Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharaoh, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins, and Amy Irving. Steven Soderbergh wrote and directed the film.
Synopsis:
A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear — but is it real or is it a product of her delusion?
16) Satan’s Slaves
“Will scare you senseless!” – Curt Oglesbee
Original titled Pengabdi Setan, this creepy and intense horror film is directed by Joko Anwar. Although its official release date was in 2017, it had a huge festival run in 2018. The cast includes Bront Palarae, Tara Basro, Endy Arfian, Nasar Annuz, M. Adhiyat, Dimas Aditya, and Ayu Laksmi.
Synopsis:
Satan’s Slaves tells the story of a troubled family who, after losing their mother to a strange illness, is soon haunted by something evil and will stop at nothing to get what it wants. The more they learn about their mother’s past, the more bizarre things get it. Did she sign a death note for her children?
Read our review – HERE.
17) Boarding School
“Strange, twisted, vengeful but beautiful.” – Devin Shea
Momentum Pictures presents a new horror story directed and written by Boaz Yakin. The film stars Will Patton, Samantha Mathis, Luke Prael, Sterling Jerins, Nadia Alexander, Tammy Blanchard, and Lucy Walters.
Synopsis:
When troubled 12-year-old Jacob Felsen is sent away to boarding school, he enters every kid’s worst nightmare: A creepy old mansion, deserted except for six other teenage misfits and two menacing and mysterious teachers. As events become increasingly horrific, Jacob must conquer his fears to find the strength to survive.
Read our review – HERE.
18) The Clovehitch Killer
A brilliant, slow-rising thriller!” – Abigail Braman
The Clovehitch Killer stars Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World), Dylan McDermott (The PracticeTV series, American Horror Story TV series), Samantha Mathis (The Strain TV series, American Psycho), and Madisen Beaty (The Master, The Fosters TV series). The film marks the feature film debut of director Duncan Skiles, and is written by Christopher Ford (Clown, Cop Car).
Synopsis:
Tyler’s a good kid, a boy scout, raised by a poor but happy family in a small, religious town. But when he finds his dad, Don, has disturbing pornography hidden in the shed, he starts to fear that his dad might be Clovehitch, an infamous serial killer that was never caught. Tyler teams up with Kassi, a teenage outcast who’s morbidly obsessed with the Clovehitch legend, to discover the truth in time to save his family.
Read our review – HERE.
19) Pledge
“Psychologically draining, utterly insane.” – Tori Danielle Romero
This horror thriller is directed by Daniel Robbins and is written by Zack Weiner. The cast includes Zachery Byrd, Phillip Andre Botello, Aaron Dalla Villa, Zack Weiner, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Jesse Pimentel, Jean-Louis Droulers, Joe Gallagher, Melanie Rothman, and Erica Boozer.
Official Synopsis for Pledge:
Three nerdy college freshmen, Ethan, David, and Justin, are having a tough time adjusting to college life. Rejected and ridiculed by just about every fraternity on campus, they are prepared to give up all hope. That is, until a girl invites them off campus to a party at a secluded mansion. They are not only invited in, but also treated like princes by the resident brothers.
The party is everything they dreamed college would be—beautiful women, drinking, and most importantly, a cool group of guys willing to accept them as one of their own. When the friends are presented with an opportunity to pledge the elite social club, they accept without hesitation. However, as the gruesome, dehumanizing hazing progresses, a more sinister picture of the club emerges.
Read our review – HERE.
20) BUGS: A Trilogy
“Deeply-burrowing and unsettling!” – Matthew Solomon
From Mad Dog Productions comes Bugs: A Trilogy, directed by the award winning filmmaker Simone Kisiel (Quietus 2015, Death of a Vacuum 2017, Housed miniseries) and written by Alexandra Grunberg (Housed miniseries, A Slaying Song Tonight 2017), who stars in each story as well. The cast also includes Mama’s Boy’s (2018) Malcolm Mills, The Punisher’s Kobi Frumer, Julia Beach (The Mind of a Murderer TV series), Marissa Carpio (Where There Is Now Exit 2018), Nikita Tewani (Niya 2015), Charnele Crick (Death of a Vacuum 2017) and Joe Cilio (Housed webseries).
Synopsis:
The trilogy follows a babysitter (Grunberg) with a clever and violent ward (Frumer), a patient (Grunberg) who mistrusts the doctor’s (Tewani) orders, a young woman (Grunberg) haunted by a malevolent presence, and the terror that ties them all together: BUGS.
Read our review – HERE.
21) Incident In A Ghostland
“Dark and delightfully twisted.” – Scott Crawford
Synopsis:
A mother of two who inherits a house is confronted with murderous intruders on the first night in their new home and fights for her daughters’ lives. Sixteen years later when the daughters reunite at the house, things get really strange.
Read our review – HERE.
22) Pyewacket
“Creepy, deeply unsettling, and bleak as Hell.” – Charlie Michael Cargile
IFC Midnight brings audiences this exciting new horror thriller that was written and directed by Adam MacDonald (Backcountry). It stars Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead, The X-Files) and Nicole Muñoz (Pathfinder, The Last Mimzy).
Synopsis:
When you’re dealing with demons, be careful what you wish for… In this ultra-unsettling occult nightmare, teenage Leah (Muñoz) finds solace from the recent death of her father—and from her strained relationship with her mother (Holden)—by dabbling in the dark arts. It all seems like harmless fun at first, until a blow out argument leads Leah to do the unthinkable: put a death curse on her mother. No sooner has the girl performed the ritual than she regrets it. But it may be too late, as an evil presence known as Pyewacket begins to make itself known—and threatens to destroy both mother and daughter. Backcountry director Adam MacDonald builds hair-raising tension around what’s both a complex mother-daughter tale and a frightening fable about our darkest desires.
Read our review – HERE.
23) Secret Santa
“Hilariously scandalous and devilishly clever!” – Preston Holt
Adam Marcus directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Debra Sullivan. The film stars Michelle Renee Allaire, Petra Areskoug, and Scott Burkett.
Synopsis:
Welcome to Christmas Dinner at the Popes. As dysfunctional and tension causing as your family’s holiday celebration. Except tonight something is different. Tonight, for some unknown reason, everyone decides to say what they think about each other. What they REALLY think about each other. All the ugly truths they’ve been hiding for years start splattering the table, like spoiled gravy. It isn’t long until saying what you want to, becomes doing what you want to…
Always wanted to kill your uncle for his racist remarks? Go ahead, do it. Make your little brother eat his words, or his own tongue? You outweigh him, go for it. Wanted to dismember mom or dad for questioning your life choices when they’ve made the exact same choices? Just let them try and stop you…
Read our review – HERE.
24) Upgrade
“Blood-drenched and fast-paced.” – Abigail Braman
Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, Upgrade follows Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green), a traditional man living in the technologically encompassed near future whose life is left shattered after being attacked by a pack of mysterious men. Now broken and alone, Grey’s only way back to a seemingly normal life is through the implantation of a computer chip called Stem, sending him down a path of rampant revenge.
Synopsis:
Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when Grey, a self-identified technophobe, has his world turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant called Stem.
Read our review – HERE.
25) Cherokee Creek
“Easily one of the best horror films of the year!” – Bryan Fitzgerald
This unique new monster film is from Movie Mafia Productions and was directed/written by Todd Jenkins. He is also stars in the film along with Billy Blair, Justin Armstrong, Terry Dale Parks, Ray Hosack, Jeff Swearingen, Justin Duncan, CG Lewis, Nellie Sciutto, Steve Mokate, Jason P. Kendall, Anthony Phoenix, James Yeager, Elizabeth Jenkins, and Jinx Jenkins. Plus, the film was scored by the Killer Klowns from Outer Space composer John Massari.
Synopsis:
A surprise bachelor party in the woods gets crashed by the ultimate party animal. Will anyone survive this unexpected night of mayhem?
Read our review – HERE.
Honorable Mentions:
This is just a generic list of some of PopHorror’s favorites but if it were extended many of Scream Team Releasing’s would be on here as well including 26) She Was So Pretty: Be Good For Goodness Sake, 27) Bong of the Living Dead, and 28) I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday. Did any of our favorites make your 2018 list? Let us know in the comments!
