Outside the Top 5

While The Last Knock podcast is predicated on mine and Billy Crash’s love for the horror genre, we are often faced with a quandary when it comes to addressing the best (and worst) of each year.

Basically, it boils down to not having enough time to talk up all the movies we loved. In years past, we broke out our “best of” and “worst of” shows simply due to the breadth of films being discussed.

Some podcasts spend hours dissecting their annual favorites, but me and Billy are either very busy (or lazy) guys, and have other stuff to do, dammit!

So…with that said, we’ve cobbled together our list of horrors that fell just outside our respective “Top 5”s of 2022.

Enjoy!

 

Jonny’s Outside Picks

Allegoria – Writer, director, and Powerman 5000 frontman Spider One delivers an anthology that not only clocks in at a lean 70 minutes, but makes the effort to synthesize its characters and plot threads into a cohesive whole.

 

Crimes of the Future – David Cronenberg made his long-awaited return to Body Horror with this star-studded ode to physical transformation and grotesquery. A thoughtful effort that shows the Canadian master continuing his genre evolution as he approaches the big 8-0.

 

Deadstream – This found-footage trip will take you back to a time when horror was as simple and effective as a romp around a haunted house. Funny as hell, too.

 

Fall – Letterboxd lists this as “Thriller,” but for folks with a fear of heights, Fall is unquestionably a horror film. Two friends trapped atop an abandoned radio tower – as their options slowly run out – is the stuff of real-life nightmares.

 

Fresh – This “humans-as-literal-commodity” satire turns a burgeoning relationship between two extremely likable characters (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan) into a tense and darkly comedic take on the literal “worth” of a human being.

 

Hellraiser – The “all remakes suck” argument is one of the most tedious in online horror circles, mostly because it’s not true. Case in point: this fiery retooling of Clive Barker’s mythos, executed by a trio (director David Bruckner; writers Luke Piotrowski and Ben Collins) that understands horror. Jamie Clayton gives a superlative performance as the lead Cenobite.

 

The Menu – This would make for a fine double feature with Fresh: its commentary on wealth, privilege, ego, and the unblinking, passive brutality of the ruling class hits with timely impact. A brilliant ensemble is led by Ralph Fiennes’ subtly savage performance as the culinary ringmaster of a particularly macabre meal.

 

Old Man – Lucky McKee offers some of the most skillful direction of his career with this single-setting saga of a lost hiker (Marc Senter) who knocks on the cabin of the titular character (Stephen Lang). Well-performed, psychologically engrossing, and never dull.

 

Orphan: First Kill – A successful conflagration of jaw-dropping shock and absurd laughs. Isabelle Fuhrman’s performance as the wholesome-looking yet deadly Esther is one of the best of 2022.

 

Pearl – Billy summed it up beautifully in our Best and Worst episode. And I reviewed Pearl last year for Crash Palace.

 

Pennywise: The Story of IT – Stephen King’s It (the novel and miniseries) was a huge part of my formative years, so my take is anything but objective. That said, my nostalgia and love for Tommy Lee Wallace’s miniseries is paid proper respect in this thoroughly engrossing documentary.

 

Speak No Evil – Creates a primal, gut-level terror toward the horrors hiding behind seemingly friendly facades. While marred a bit by its conclusion, this is unflinchingly performed and directed all the same.

 

Crash’s Outside Picks

Since Jonny brought up Bodies Bodies Bodies on The Last Knock and mentions Crimes of the Future above, I’ll forego those. And although Fall had its high tension, the story got stupid and improbable pretty damn fast, so that’s a bottom feeder for me. However, what follows is worth a watch…

 

Dead by Midnight (Y2Kill) – An anthology that would have been truly awful if it didn’t take itself too seriously and wasn’t so meta. And you do get to see Kane Hodder, Bill Moseley, and Linnea Quigley, amongst others, have a cheesy good time. If you want to check your brain at the door and laugh a little, dive in.

 

Incantation – In Taiwan’s highest grossing horror of all time, a woman filming a religious ceremony breaks a taboo – and that’s not a good thing. Now, she must protect her daughter from the nightmare she’s unleashed. That alone speaks volumes about how some parents may leave the world for their offspring.

 

Smile – This one actually hurt. Sosie Bacon (Kevin Bacon’s daughter – that’s one degree of separation), really rocked her role. Hell, the entire cast did. And Parker Finn did a solid job as director. There were some potent scares, heavy scenes, and solid tension – until the lame and drawn out third act that catered to stupidity.

 

Nope – Jordan Peele bounced back from the pathetic Us laughfest with a solid and compelling science fiction horror featuring the great Daniel Kaluuya and the divine Keke Palmer. Though not perfect, there was much to love from themes to cinematography, as well as a new take on what may be visiting us.

 

Halloween Ends – I enjoyed the pace and tension, as well as the departure from the previous slash and burn brainlessness. The only problem is that the third act got weak: Was Michael Myers on vacation the last four years? Why did some of the townspeople suddenly think Laurie Strode took advantage of a mentally ill man only to rally around her later? Regardless, Jamie Lee Curtis continues to show audiences that she’s a national treasure and Rohan Campbell is an actor to keep your eye on.

 

Something in the Dirt – Moorehead and Benson (Resolution, Spring, and The Endless) are back with a tight, intimate tale of paranoia, weirdness, and how we may (or may not) create our own madness. In fact, are the characters really saying anything at all? Find out for yourself if you love heady horror.