5) Tragedy Girls
Tyler MacIntyre’s Tragedy Girls is millennial slasher satire done so incredibly right. An undeniable Detention meets Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon product that some might coin our generation’s Scream. It’s all Instagram hashtags and text bubbles, along with a heaping pile of butchered corpses hacked with to bits with practical absurdity. A story about cheerleader types who are also trend-worthy murderers? In the wrong hands, this generational time capsule could have been a chat-happy disaster – luckily, such is far from the case.
Of course, the spotlight here deserves to be on Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp. These are our titular “Tragedy Girls,” whose social media presence is all about local killings and their morbid obsessions. Conversations are always over the speed limit, actions fueled by Wi-Fi and sarcasm, but there’s no better on-screen chemistry between female leads this year. If there were horror-geared Oscars, Shipp and Hildebrand would be sharing the Best Actress honor without any competition – plenty to “Like” and “Share” all damn night.
4) Get Out
Man, 2017 was a HELLUVA year for directorial debuts. Jordan Peele, who many knew as the not “Key” portion of Key & Peele, came out swinging for the social injustice fences with Get Out. The Golden Globes are calling it a comedy, but this white-devil imprisonment flick is far more terrifying than light-hearted. Real issues shoved under a genre microscope and exposed to the world with such fiery regard. In this numerical year, there wasn’t a more thematically important horror film than Get Out.
That said, success is not achieved simply by timely release. Mr. Peele has an astute eye for his eerily Carpenter-esque satire, be it the creation of his “Sunken Place,” not overburdening humor or subtle recurring imagery like the deer – glimpses of a “rookie” going yard in his first crack at the plate. Match that with knockout performances from Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Catherine Keener – too many to name – and you’ve got yourself a boisterously devious, primitively manipulative watch that burns with institutionalized fear.
An outcry for help that’s able to entertain, warn and hold a mirror to the audience, Get Out is not your everyday picket-fence, suburban mindfreak – and that’s what makes it one of the most interesting, provocative films of 2017.
3) The Devil’s Candy
I should have been wailing on my cherry-red guitar last year in support of The Devil’s Candy – a festival film I reviewed back in 2015 – but unstated distribution dealings pushed the film to 2017. No bother. It’s still a sinfully delicious satanic thriller starring a reinvigorated Ethan Embry. Fret shredding, ominous chants, the devil’s grasp – blast this one at maximum volume. Did you expect anything less from the director of The Loved Ones?
Sean Byrne only has two directing credits to his name, but they’ve both been near the top of horror’s crop each year. It’s a tragedy that Byrne isn’t notching opportunities more frequently, because The Devil’s Candy proves what a tonal mastermind he is. Performances are key, but Byrne’s colorization and soundtrack choices make this a heavy-rocking relationship story burst with intrigue. Embry’s tremendous artistic works serve to open such a darkened world through unholy designs. No doubt, this is one of the year’s sweetest horror treats.
2) It
Yes, Andy Muschietti’s It adaptation is a horror movie. I will not entertain your contrarian arguments. Everything from Bill Skarsgard’s transformation into Pennywise to Muschietti’s tonal command belongs near the top of any year-end genre recap, including the film’s ability to terrorize on far deeper levels than cheap jump scares. The refrigerator emergence, Georgie’s demise, Pennywise smirking his clown-face smile from a distance – all recognized as some of 2017’s top horror content.
They might not be giants, but the pint-sized child actors who carry It could easily be named the year’s best genre ensemble. Each part fitted to a childhood mold, all acted with a spark of youthful understanding that side-steps Hollywood stereotypes. “Losers” turned into heroes; the outcasts finding their moment. It works so well for the very reason that it’s far more than *just* a horror movie – but that doesn’t strip its classification. God forbid our genre movies expose a beating heart or layer on themes. Treat yourself to one of the richest cinematic developments of 2017 if you haven’t already – come float with me.
