Shudder's Best of 2021 List
Hey, everyone. Sorry for the interruption at the start of this article. IndieDB is currently voting on the top 100 new indie games of 2021 and I’d appreciate your help to make Haunted: A Slip Story part of that list. All you need to do is follow the link to the Haunted: A Slip Story page on IndieDB and click the vote button by December 10. Thank you.
Shudder, my favorite streaming platform, has released their collection of the best new films of 2021. I’m going to run through what I know about the titles and also set up my own challenge with it. I’d like to watch and review the titles I haven’t seen before I publish my own Best Films of 2021 list.
Let’s dig into this.
Already Reviewed at Sketching Details
Psycho Goreman
Originally reviewed 24 May 2021
From writer/director Steven Kostanski, co-creator of The Void. Psycho Goreman is a fun horror/comedy about a pair of siblings capturing and befriending a deadly ancient alien. This is a cross between a gross-out splatter film and a Saturday morning cartoon and I’m all here for it.
The Power
Originally reviewed 23 August 2021
From writer/director Corinna Faith. The Power is an intense, slow-burn revenge film told through a haunted hospital narrative. The vengeful spirit of a victim is doing anything she can to find justice from beyond the grave. Look into content warnings and brace yourself for this one.
Slaxx
Originally reviewed 25 March 2021
From writer/director Elza Kephart and writer Patricia Gomez. I cannot tell you how happy I was to double check that Slaxx was a 2021 film release. I love this horror/comedy/satire so much. Employees at a high end, urban contemporary clothing retailer are locked in overnight to launch a new brand of smart jeans with a killer secret. The effects alone are worth the price of admission.
Lucky
Originally reviewed 20 October 2021
From director Natasha Kermani and writer Brea Grant. Brea Grant is a new voice in horror you need to watch out for. Her screenplays for 12 Hour Shift and Lucky are some of the most innovative, character-driven horror narratives I’ve seen in a very long time. Lucky is psychological horror meant to mess with your perception of time and reality. A woman is reliving the same awful crime—a man breaks into her house and tries to kill her—over and over, but no one seems to realize that she’s in danger.
The Dark and the Wicked
Originally reviewed 20 April 2021
From writer/director Bryan Bertino, creator of The Strangers and Mockingbird. The Dark and the Wicked is a strong haunting film. A family deals with an unexplained paranormal force attacking their day to day life in a new remote farmhouse. It’s Bryan Bertino taking his unique visual style from The Strangers and Mockingbird and applying it to the haunted house genre.
Watched but Didn’t Review at Sketching Details
This category is not a judgment call. Sometimes, I hold off on reviewing titles for other projects. Other times, the timing isn’t right or I’m not in the headspace to handle a more in-depth analysis.
V/H/S/94
V/H/S/94 is an anthology film featuring work from Simon Barrett (You’re Next), Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman), Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows, Jennifer Reeder (Knives and Skin), and Timo Tjahjanto (Headshot). I have accepted that I am not the target audience for the V/H/S series. I love anthology films, but I need more concept than “found footage death films” to draw me in. V/H/S/94 has a stronger framing narrative and the shorts feel a little more nuanced.
Son
From writer/director Ivan Kavanagh, creator of found footage horror film The Canal. Son is the kind of child-centered horror I’m drawn to. A mother who escaped a cult as a child now has to protect her only son from the members who want to kidnap him. He becomes ill and the mother has to decide how far she’ll go to save her child. It’s a great spin on the paranormal/possessed style of child horror narrative.
The Amusement Park
From director George A. Romero, creator of Night of the Living Dead, and writer Walton Cook. I think this one sells itself. This is George A. Romero’s lost horror film, recently restored in 4k by IndieCollect. This is a mind-bending horror film commissioned by the Lutheran Society and a great example of Romero’s creativity and ingenuity.
Haven’t Seen Yet
The largest category, which does surprise me. I watch so many of Shudder’s new films when I have time. I have noticed the company has been picking up a lot of new films that used to be on other services, so I’ll call these lost in the shuffle for my own purposes.
The Medium
From writer/director Banjong Pisanthanakun, the creator of Shutter. Pisanthanakun is one of the modern masters of horror and any of his projects are worth looking into. The Medium is a possession horror film set in Thailand.
The Columnist
From director Ivo van Aart and writer Daan Windhorst. This one had some traction on the festival circuit a couple years ago. An online columnist grows tired of dealing with trolls, so she decides to hunt them down as a second career.
Martyrs Lane
From writer/director Ruth Platt, the creator of The Lesson, a particularly brutal school set horror film that haunted me for a long time. Martyrs Lane is a ghost story starring a young child. Leah is challenged by a strange visitor every night to uncover a new bit of knowledge about what’s happening around her.
Superhost
From writer/director Brandon Christensen, the creator of Z, that fabulous evil child film where the kid’s imaginary friend is out for destruction. Two travel vloggers with a dwindling view count find a more interesting subject in the host of their newest trip.
Jakob’s Wife
From writer/director Travis Stevens (Girl on the Third Floor) and writers Mark Steensland and Kathy Charles. A housewife who feels like she’s losing control of her life meets The Master and finds a new sense of power.
Bloodthirsty
From director Amelia Moses (Bleed with Me, one of my favorite discoveries this year) and screenwriters Wendy Hill-Tout and Lowell. An up and coming indie pop star is invited to work on a new album in the woods, which starts to bring about unpredictable changes in her life.
The Boy Behind the Door
From writers/directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell. Two friends are kidnapped on their way home from school, but only one manages to escape; he knows he can’t just leave his friend behind.
Caveat
From writer/director Damian Mc Carthy. This is one I was aware of and just didn’t see get picked up by Shudder. A man is hired to watch after his landlord’s niece, but must remain harnessed and chained to restrict where he can move in the house for the girl’s safety.
Boys from County Hell
From writer/director Chris Baugh and writer Brendan Mullin, the team behind the revenge film Bad Day for the Cut. This is an Irish vampire film about a crew of road workers fighting for their lives against an ancient vampire.
Violation
From writers/directors Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer. This is a revenge film about a woman seeking help from her sister and brother-in-law and discovering a far more dangerous situation than she herself was in.
The Queen of Black Magic
From director Kimo Stamboel (DreadOut) and writers Joko Anwar (Ritual) and Anna Tenney. This indonesian horror is another Revenge film. A man returns to the orphanage he grew up in, bringing to life the true horrors of his childhood.
Anything Missing?
I struggled with how to name this section. Naturally, my metrics are different than Shudder’s. There are so many interesting films to dig into that I haven’t watched yet. Two of my favorite films released this year on Shudder have more polarized reviews, so it’s easy to see how they came up short on that list. For me, they’re both contenders for my own Best of 2021 list.
A Nightmare Wakes
Originally reviewed 19 February 2021
A Nightmare Wakes is writer/director Nora Unkel’s simultaneous adaption of Frankenstein and its genesis. Mary Shelley is struggling to write the novel that will define her career, haunted by visions of its characters taking over her life as she’s pushed further and further into the box of wife and mother at the expense of her identity as an artist.
Mosquito State
Originally reviewed 23 September 2021
Mosquito State is one of the most exciting and original takes on body horror/transformation by accident films I’ve seen in a long time. Writer/director Filip Jan Rymsza and writer Mario Zermeno create a slick, high tech nightmare vision of Wall Street models, climate change, and mosquito infestations.
All of these great titles can be streamed on Shudder.