Best Horror Films of 2019

By Athena Hueber

My taste is not for everyone but take a gander at a strong year in horror cinema.

Velvet Buzzsaw (January 2019)

Directed by Dan Gilroy

What an underrated gem this was! I had come across news of this coming out near the end of 2018 after I had just moved into my new apartment and was ecstatic. Although it was not expressly stated by its director, Velvet Buzzsaw takes a major inspiration from the short story, “Pickman’s Model” (1927) by H.P. Lovecraft. It received some mixed reviews, considering an odd yet ambitious feature in pointing out the hypocrisy of pseudo-intellectualism in the art community. That art destroys its creators and the folly of those who try to profit off of it.

Midsommar (July 2019)

Directed by Ari Aster

It’s taken me almost 6 months to digest everything that came with Aster’s grave new film. I tend to watch movies with an amount of empathy that even surprises me sometimes. It’s use of colors like its inside the mind of Vincent Van Gogh. The fear as the events start to shift and unfold for its underdog protagonist Dani who holds the weight of her trauma on her shoulders. The film was emotionally taxing but its message was clear on what happens to those who hurt or judge others personified through blood and carnage.

Ready or Not (August 2019)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

Another sleep horror film that had a perfect ending! I feel like with mainstream horror films, there are too many people involved with the writing that it unravels into a ball of just...disappointing pontification with no clear motive. Yet Ready or Not pieces together the aftermath of a wedding, a night gone horrifically wrong and a brave woman who said, “fuck this.” With a stellar cast, Samara Weaving in a break out role, and its keeps you on edge throughout the film. It’s like an updated version of Clue with a twist of a true whodunit.

IT: Chapter 2 (September 2019)

Directed by Andy Muschietti

The conclusion to the updated retelling of Stephen King’s “IT” (1986) with the Losers as adults. I will say that it was not as strong as the original, which stands to reason as IT: Chapter 2 does not have its first screenwriter, Cary Fukunaga, who directed Jane Eyre (2011) and the Netflix mini-series Maniac (2018). Even I can be an unreliable critic as I can biased in my perception of some films. But IT: Chapter 2 still maintains that the darkness that prevails in the town of Derry and forces the Losers to confront their fears to face It.

The Lighthouse (October 2019)

Directed by Robert Eggers

For a while, I heard about Robert Egger’s from his original film debut The Witch in 2015. I didn’t end up seeing the film until almost 4 years later but what an unexpected piece of art it really was. Eggers had not produced another film until The Lighthouse released in October of 2019. It reminded me very much of several of Ingmar Bergman’s films, most notably The Seventh Seal (1957.) Eggers is patient in the way he sets his scene and begs you to sit with him, as he weaves a tale of madness and inexplicably horror to make you question your own idea of what is truly going on. It seemed to solidify the end of 2019 very well in noteworthy horror.

Athena has been a Die-Hard Horror Film Buff sincer her Dad had he watch “Night of the Living Dead”. She loves the grotesque, Monsters and more that symbolize the creatures we often see inside ourselves.

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