William Pattison’s Top 20 Best Horror Films of 2016
Gore and Scares Everybody! It’s me, William Pattison. Well,
2017 is here and so is horror awards season. Yep, all the horror magazines and
film festivals will be naming their favorite horror films from 2016 via Top
Lists or full on awards ceremonies. So I thought what the hell. I’ve watched
around 200 horror films this last year, more or less (Probably more than most
of the people who are judging this year…). So, why shouldn’t I name my Top
twenty films I thought were superior for 2016?
It was hard but after a lot of painful cutting and trimming
I managed to knock my list down to twenty. It really was hard work because there were a
lot of excellent horror films that came out in 2016. So here are my choices…..
20. She-wolf Rising
A nonstop supernatural thriller that explores the dark side
of underground filmmaking. Gina Sklar, the reigning queen of horror, portrayed
by Tiffany Shepis, lures Jake Bubar (Tim Mandala) into the decadent world of
illusions and myths. Robert Lonzo (J. Edmund Fond) is Gina's mentor and
producer in the world of horror cinema. Someone has stolen the footage from his
latest movie and Gina needs Jake's help to recover it. It's Lonzo's best movie
ever and Gina's breakout performance. Gina believes that this movie could
catapult her out of the "B" world of films and into mainstream
cinema. Jake struggles with his own demons internally but in the end cannot
resist her. He only sees her vulnerability and beauty and will do anything to
help. Jake's beliefs are challenged when he discovers Gina's true nature and
realizes that the "the heart becomes savage." Together they forge
ahead and deal with the demons and beasts that try to stop them from their
forbidden desire.
Director:
Marc Leland
Writer:
Marc Leland
Stars:
Tiffany Shepis, Debbie Rochon, Timothy
Mandala
19. HOWL
When passengers on a train are attacked by a creature, they
must band together in order to survive until morning.
Director:
Paul Hyett
Writers:
Mark Huckerby, Nick Ostler
Stars:
Ed Speleers, Holly Weston, Shauna Macdonald
18. The Veil
Twenty-five years after members of a religious cult
committed mass suicide, the lone survivor returns to the scene of the tragedy
with a documentary crew in tow.
Director:
Phil Joanou
Writer:
Robert Ben Garant (screenplay)
Stars:
Jessica Alba, Lily Rabe, Thomas Jane
17. Baskin
A squad of unsuspecting cops goes through a trapdoor to Hell
when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building.
Director:
Can Evrenol
Writers:
Ogulcan Eren Akay, Can Evrenol, Cem Ozuduru, Ercin
Sadikoglu
Stars:
Mehmet Cerrahoglu, Görkem Kasal, Ergun
Kuyucu
16. Clown
A loving father finds a clown suit for his son's birthday
party, only to realize that it is not a suit at all.
Director:
Jon Watts
Writers:
Christopher Ford (screenplay) (as Christopher D.
Ford), Jon Watts (screenplay)
Stars:
Andy Powers, Laura Allen, Peter Stormare
15. Siren
A bachelor party becomes a savage fight for survival when
the groomsmen unwittingly unleash a fabled predator upon the festivities.
Director:
Gregg Bishop
Writers:
David Bruckner (based on characters created
by), David Bruckner (original screenplay: Amateur Nightt), Ben
Collins, Luke Piotrowski, Nicholas Tecosky (based on characters created by)
Stars:
Chase Williamson, Hannah Fierman, Justin
Welborn
14. Blair Witch
After discovering a video showing what he believes to be his
vanished sister Heather, James and a group of friends head to the forest
believed to be inhabited by the Blair Witch.
Director:
Adam Wingard
Writer:
Simon Barrett
Stars:
James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin
Reid
13. Hollow Creek
Seeking inspiration for his latest horror novel Blake
Blackman, a writer from New York , retreats to
a remote cabin in the Appalachian Mountains .
He is secretly accompanied by his lover Angelica Santoro a book illustrator who
he's been having an affair with. She brings her dog along with them. Upon
arrival they hear an amber alert on the radio and first learn about the case of
several boys missing in the area. Soon after they arrive to the cabin her dog
starts acting strange like there's someone or something out in the woods. A
twist of fate turns the romantic interlude into an abduction-murder case when
Angelica follows a lead to one of the missing boys and she mysteriously goes
missing. Blake then becomes the prime suspect of her disappearance.
Director:
Guisela Moro
Writers:
Guisela Moro, Steve Daron (collaborating
writer) Guisela
Moro (creator)
Stars:
Steve Daron, Guisela Moro, Burt Reynolds |
12. Don’t Breath
Hoping to walk away with a massive fortune, a trio of
thieves break into the house of a blind man who isn't as helpless as he seems.
Director:
Fede Alvarez
Writers:
Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Stars:
Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette
11. Carnage Park
After botching an ill-conceived bank robbery in a desolate California town, two
wannabe crooks flee the scene with a hostage and lead the local lawmen on a
dangerous high-speed chase.
Director:
Mickey Keating
Writer:
Mickey Keating
Stars:
Ashley Bell, Pat Healy, James Landry Hébert
10. Frankenstein
A married couple of scientists create a modern-day monster.
Director:
Bernard Rose
Writer:
Bernard Rose
Stars:
Danny Huston, Matthew Jacobs, Dave Pressler
9. Ouja: Origin of Evil
In 1967 Los Angeles ,
a widowed mother and her 2 daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance
scam business, inviting an evil presence into their home.
Director:
Mike Flanagan
Writers:
Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard Stiles White
(characters) Juliet Snowden (characters)
Stars:
Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson , Annalise Basso
8. 10 Cloverfield Lane
After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a
shelter with two men, who claim the outside world is affected by a widespread
chemical attack.
Director:
Dan Trachtenberg
Writers:
Josh Campbell (story), Matthew
Stuecken (story) Josh Campbell (screenplay) &, Matthew Stuecken
(screenplay) and, Damien Chazelle (screenplay)
Stars:
John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John
Gallagher Jr.
7. The Monster
A mother and daughter must confront a terrifying monster
when they break down on a deserted road.
Director:
Bryan Bertino
Writer:
Bryan Bertino
Stars:
Zoe Kazan, Ella Ballentine, Aaron
Douglas
6. Before I Wake
A young couple adopt an orphaned child whose dreams - and
nightmares - manifest physically as he sleeps.
Director:
Mike Flanagan
Writers:
Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard
Stars:
Thomas Jane, Kate Bosworth, Jacob Tremblay
5. 31
Five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an
abandoned, Hell-like compound where they are forced to participate in a violent
game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic
clowns.
Director:
Rob Zombie
Writer:
Rob Zombie
Stars:
Malcolm McDowell, Richard Brake, Jeff Daniel
Phillips
4. The Train to Busan
While a zombie-virus breaks out in South Korea , a couple of passengers struggle to
survive on the train from Seoul
to Busan.
Director:
Sang-ho Yeon
Writer:
Sang-ho Yeon (screenplay)
Stars:
Yoo Gong, Soo-an Kim, Yu-mi Jung
3. Abattoir
An investigative reporter teams up with a Police officer to
solve the mystery of why a seemingly good man murdered her sister's family.
Director:
Darren Lynn Bousman
Writer:
Christopher Monfette (screenplay)
Stars:
Jessica Lowndes, Joe Anderson, Lin Shaye
2. The Conjuring 2
Director:
James Wan
Writers:
Carey
Hayes (screenplay), Chad Hayes (screenplay), James Wan
(screenplay) and David Leslie Johnson (screenplay) (as David Johnson), Carey
Hayes (story) & James Wan (story)
Stars:
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe
1.The Autopsy of Jane Doe
A father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery
while attempting to identify the body of a young woman, who was apparently
harboring dark secrets.
Director:
André Øvredal
Writers:
Ian B. Goldberg (as Ian Goldberg), Richard
Naing
Stars:
Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox, Ophelia Lovibond
Well, those are my top twenty horror films for 2016. I hoped you enjoyed them. If you haven't seen some of these films I suggest you take the time to do that because they are worth it....
Keep on Creepin', Horror Bob's Blog!!!!