Wow, what a truly inspiring year. Why, you ask? Simple – 2013 was the best year for horror that I’ve seen since starting my love for the genre back in college. Each year has its highs and lows, don’t get me wrong, and even though there were some insultingly bad horror movies forced upon us this year (which I already discussed in my 13 Worst Horror Movies Of 2013 article), the good mightily outweighed these forgettable blemishes. Count Dracula turning into a Praying Mantis? Last, last exorcisms? Sympathetic Leatherface? Forget all that malarky because 2013 was full of top-notch remakes, energized reboots, worthy sequels, ambitious independent winners, and horror comedies that had us laughing just as much as we were screaming. As a horror fan, this has been a year for the ages – and also a year that gave me a pretty empty wallet.
The most surprising thing I found while making this list was the amount of mainstream and US releases that stunned me in 2013. Looking back on last year’s favorites, so many were foreign and independent, as the mainstream fodder was just a parade of hapless clones trying to cash in on bored audiences. Thankfully that didn’t happen this year, and mainstream studios took more risks on true horror filmmakers, giving a little more freedom to people who have proven themselves time and time again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not fully backing mainstream horror cinema moving forward, because this trend could have been nothing but a fluke, but if these big-budget studios can learn a thing or two from 2013, it’s that creative freedoms can go a long way – you’ll understand when you see some of my favorite films of the year.
Ah, sorry, I’m still like a giddy kid on Christmas. Honestly, I was only going to have thirteen selections, because I’m a horror fan and obviously 13 holds some significance in our community, but I couldn’t justify leaving the first title off my list, so I expanded it to fourteen selections just so I could properly pay respect to all the films I truly loved. Of course, I could have kept going this year, easily filling up an article with twenty selections, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Hell, I might work up a third article that consists of movies who *barely* missed the cut, just so I can spread the love to every single title that deserves it – which so many do.
What am I saying, you’re all here for the list, so drumroll please – let’s get this show on the road. Enjoy The 14 Best Horror Movies Of 2013!
