Top 10 Discoveries in 2020

As it turns out, being quarantined in your house for 9 months while a virus rages across the earth gives you a lot of time to watch movies. I easily watched more movies in 2020 than in any previous year of my life. I made it a point to watch films I had not seen before and, because of this self-mandate, I saw a whole lot of garbage. But not everything was bad — a lot of the stuff released in 2020 was pretty great! This list, however, concerns the great stuff I saw for the first time that was released in years before. This group of films runs the gamut, from newer to pretty old and sprawls across subgenres.

10. Red Christmas (2016; dir: Craig Anderson)

I avoided this movie because the premise — a killer with Down syndrome seeking revenge on the mother who once tried to abort him — seemed like outrage fodder and pretty classless. But, man. Yes, this is an exploitation flick with plenty of over-the-top carnage and controversial themes, but it’s also a surprisingly thoughtful and empathetic portrayal of folks with Down syndrome that treats them as people instead of sympathy cases. Plus, Dee Wallace is pretty fantastic in what ends up being a heavy and affecting viewing experience.

9. The Resurrected (1991; dir: Dan O’Bannon)

Dan O’Bannon’s second and final feature directorial effort is an sadly unheralded adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. This is a great little B movie with some very inventive and wonderful creature effects, including some stop motion, and a gleefully maniacal performance by Chris Sarandon. Obviously I was also late to the party on this one, but more people definitely need to see it.

8. Jack-O (1995; dir: Steve Latshaw)

It might be the fugue state that Halloween season puts me in, but Jack-O really spoke to me when I watched it in early October. Frankly, this is a cheap movie that doesn’t do a great job of hiding how cheap it is, but it’s so earnest that I overlooked its flaws heartily. The frequent tangents in characterization and focus on borderline inane micro-details really bring the fictional town of Oakmoor Crossing and its folklore to life.

7. Necronomicon (1993; dir: Brian Yuzna, Christopher Gans, Shusuke Kaneko)

It took me a long time — and the purchase of a region-free Blu-ray player — to track down this movie. But the wait was worth it. This is easily one of my favorite Lovecraft works in film. None of the segments in this anthology are especially faithful, but they’re all entertaining. Necronomicon is a special effects wonder, with plenty of all-timer grisly gore gags. Appearances by Jeffrey Combs and David Warner add some theatrical heft to a very entertaining flick.

6. Nightmare, aka Nightmares in a Damaged Brain (1981; dir: Romano Scavolini)

I was taken aback by how bleak and nihilistic this movie was. Scavolini’s grimy slasher creates a perfectly brutal and dark trifecta of early ‘80s serial killer films along with William Lustig’s Maniac and Joseph Ellison’s Don’t Go in the House. Beware that this is one of those movies that begs you to take a shower afterwards, but the dolorous stew of anger, despondency, and violence is very potent and will stick with you for a while.

5. In Fabric (2018; dir: Peter Strickland)

Peter Strickland’s films aren’t always home runs but they’re always interesting. In Fabric is his most successful thus far, I think, and makes a ridiculous concept (a haunted dress) work in a darkly funny and surprisingly creepy way. I would have preferred if this were not told in a pseudo-anthology style, because Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s character is so interesting and should have remained the focus, but nonetheless, this is a unique and mind-binding horror movie that finds plenty of ways to stand out.

4. The Whisperer in Darkness (2011; dir: Sean Branney)

This indie adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella is such a charming film. Of all the Lovecraft works I’ve seen adapted for the screen, this is perhaps the most faithful in terms of storytelling ethos, even if it does add an entire third act that did not exist in the source material. But this movie was obviously made by folks who live and breathe Lovecraft and truly understand what made his works so effective. The slim budget shows here and there but overall, this is a great anachronistic gem.

3. Salem’s Lot (1979; dir: Tobe Hooper)

Vampires are one of my least-favorite horror monsters, and that led to ignoring this miniseries for a long time (this is especially odd since ‘Salem’s Lot is my favorite Stephen King novel). But it’s a very atmospheric movie that truly excels in portraying the horrors that occur within the four walls of small-town American homes.

2. Demon Seed (1977; dir: Donald Cammell)

Frankly, I only vaguely knew this movie existed. Over the past few years, I’ve been growing to really love the horror output of the ‘70s, but this movie just never made my radar. But it’s a wonderfully creepy film that slowly but relentlessly builds dread, and it presents a complex morality via the sentient artificial intelligence that serves as the antagonist.

1. Suspiria (2018; dir: Luca Guadagnino)

I put off watching this for way too long out of my general disdain for remakes. But Luca Guadagnino’s film is wholly its own beautiful thing, more of an homage to Argento’s original that quickly proceeds along a unique path. In my humble (and possibly bad) opinion, Suspiria 2018 eclipses the Argento film in every respect, putting forth a richly layered exploration of gender politics, the responsibility and abuse of power, fascism, the potency of art, and boundaries of motherhood/sisterhood.