I set a record this year with the number of movies I watched in 2024 hitting 442, 216 of them being first time viewings. I’m sure a big part of that was being sick a couple of times, especially getting Covid at the very end of it. I mean, it’s good when I average a movie a day during a month, but in December I hit 75 films! So, I guess there was one positive of having Covid . . . though I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, that is for sure.
As I always state, if you’re watching a movie for the first time, I consider that a new movie. It doesn’t matter what year it came out, it’s new to you. So, when I compile my Best Viewings for the year, it’s always taking that into consideration. Usually in any year, a good number of my titles in my Top Ten are not from that current year, most of them actually usually are from decades before. This year was quite different. Eight of my Top Ten were from 2024, with one being from 2023, and the last being from 2017. That tells me that not only did I watch a lot of new releases this year, but there were a lot of great ones released this year.
As usual, these are in alphabetical order, since I’m lucky to get them down to ten films. Although there is one that is my absolute favorite for the year, but you’ll have to read on to find out which one it is!
Best Viewings for 2024
Exhuma (2024) – I had heard great things about this one so decided to make sure I knocked it out before the year was over. Wow. Gotta love the stuff coming from South Korea. They continue to be a strong force in delivering some amazing horror films. Directed by Jang Jae-hyun, it stars Choi Min-sik, best known for his roles in Oldboy (2003) and I Saw the Devil (2010), as a shaman who deals with funeral preparations, as well as fixing curses, hexes, and whatever else might be disturbing a family that can’t be solved by conventional ways. But what he does is not something out of the ordinary, but very common. But when he’s asked to help a family whose newborn baby boy seems to have been cursed, the more he digs into the case, the more he realizes he might be over his head.
Showing a lot of real-life traditions and rituals that take place for these kinds of events, it is a pretty fascinating insight into this culture. What they do find is nothing like they, or the viewer, had expected and delivers some amazing scares, gore, and some very creepy elements.
Heretic (2024) – A couple of young women, out on the town spreading the gospel of the Book of Mormon, end up at the house of Mr. Reed, played by Hugh Grant. But as they quickly learn, it is Mr. Reed who is about to school them about not just the Mormon religion, but of all religions. And not in a good way.
This is one very smart and well-paced script, co-written and co-directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, best known for writing the film A Quiet Place (2018). They really did their research here, as well as developing a well-crafted story that unfolds little by little. We know right from the beginning that Mr. Reed is not being completely forthcoming, and by the time the girls, played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, realize it, it just might be too late.
When you think of Hugh Grant being in a horror film, it’s hard to think of him playing any other type of character that he’s been playing for nearly the last 40 years. And the beauty of his performance here is that he is still playing that same character. Very friendly and cordial, but we soon learn there is something much darker underneath his politeness. Very dark.
Now while at face value, it does sort of seem like this story is attacking religion, showing the absurdity of it, especially when comparing them to each other and how they originated and being very, very similar to each other. But it really isn’t about that. In fact, at the end of the film there is a line of dialog from one of the girls that shows a true sense of humanity and doing what’s right, and more importantly, why. I thought that alone was a very powerful message that goes beyond any religion.
But as a horror film, Grant’s performance, as creepy as it is, is one of the best villains this year. Truly memorable and highly entertaining to watch, especially since we all know him from all those rom coms that he’s done.
Humane (2024) – It’s one thing for a director to have a certain style or feel to their films. But when their children start to make movies that also have the same style or feel to them, that is impressive. David Cronenberg was always one of those directors. His son Brandon has continued that style with his films, such as Antiviral (2012 and Possessor (2020). And now, David’s daughter Caitlin is following the path as well.
This film is set in the somewhat future, due to an environmental catastrophe, the world needs to decrease the population by 20%. To do that, the governments have made a system that if you want to volunteer to be euthanized, they will pay your remaining family $250k. The film starts off with a rich newscaster telling his dysfunctional family at a dinner party, that he and his wife have signed up for this program. Needless to say, they are very upset. Even more so when the guys show up for the “procedure” only to find the wife has taken off, and because of the contract, they realize they still need another body. So, the family is locked in their house for a short period of time for them to decide who the other body is going to be.
Plenty of social commentaries are on display here and are wonderfully played out by these actors. As we watch this unfold, with none of the family members even remotely likeable, plus seeing how reality is twisted and distorted in what is shown on the news, it does make one think about our own reality. Pretty powerful stuff here.
Immaculate (2024) – A movie where it shows the fanaticism of a religion, especially the Catholic Church, that will do whatever they want for whatever delusional means they are going for, I’m in! As crazy as it sounds, I could totally believe in this story and what a church would do. I mean, they have tried to bury any records of abuse in their system for years. But let’s get to the movie!
In the film, there is a secret sect of the church that has been trying to accomplish something for quite some time, but it never works. But now, with the young Sister Cecilia, it looks like she might be the one. Without giving any spoilers away, the young nun arrives at a church for her duties but starts to discover something strange is going on. But when she finds out the truth, it might be too late, and then what will she decide to do.
The film has a great cast, but the real star here is Sidney Sweeney. Not only of the physical performance she gives here, but the emotional one as well. Just a stellar performance, that by the time the ending comes, you’ll be drained. A powerful story brought to life by a powerful actress.
Like Me (2017) – The “oldest” film of my top pics this year but one that just blew me away. I found out about this film at a screening of another film, The Crumb Catcher (2023) where the film’s star, Rigo Garay was there. Along with him was his girlfriend, Jessalyn Abbott, who mentioned a film she helped produced called Like Me. I found it on Prime and was blown away by the look of the film. Even more so, because of the basic story was one that I would not have been too interested in, which is about a young girl who goes on a crime spree, while livestreaming on the internet while she does it. All for the attention, hence the title of the film.
But what director Robert Mockler and cinematographer James Siewert created was an impressive display of style. From the use of colors, set designs, and just the way it’s shot just blew me away. Even if you don’t pay attention to the story, this film will impress you. But there is a lot of punch to the story as well. AND it co-stars Larry Fessenden, so there’s that!
For a low budget film, this is one of those that gives me such hope for the future of movie making.
Oddity (2024) – I got to see this at a film festival earlier in the year. Maybe because it was right after watching a film that I thought was one of the worst films I’d seen that year, but walking out after Oddity, I couldn’t believe how much I loved the film.
Director Damian Mc Carthy’s follow-up to his 2020 film Caveat, which was in my Best Viewed list from 2021, tells the story of twin sisters, Dani and Darcy. We meet Dani right in the beginning, as she’s staying by herself in her new and secluded home, while her husband, who is a psychiatrist, is still at work at the mental ward. When there is a knock at the door, a strange one-eyed man tries to tell her she must leave the house because there is someone else in there. Let’s just say it doesn’t go well for Dani.
We jump ahead, and are introduced to the sister Darcy, who is blind and psychic, who runs a little curio shop. The widowed husband of Dani visits her at the shop, saying she should visit him at the house at some point. Still wanting to find out the truth behind her sister’s death, she just shows up unannounced, along with a strange gift for him, and his new girlfriend.
To go much further would spoil any plot points or scares that you’ll endure. Yes, it has plenty of both.
I just loved the story here, different, but highly effective. Carolyn Bracken plays the twin sisters and does an exceptional job bringing two very different characters to life. The rest of the cast is very good as well, especially Gwilym Lee and Steve Wall, but also Tadhg Murphy, even though he’s not in it that much. This film not only has a great story, but is creepy as hell, and will probably make you jump a few times, or even talk to the screen. This was my absolute favorite of the year. Hands down.
Starve Acre (2023) – A good folk horror story isn’t that easy to do, to make it effective, and haunting. This film does just that. Set in the ‘70s, a couple and their young son moved back to the father’s childhood home, in hopes the country’s fresh air will help their son’s asthma. When the son starts acting out in violent ways, he never has any recollection of the incidents. After taking him to a doctor, the parents are told the boy says he’s hearing a voice from someone named Jack Grey. This clearly affects the dad, played wonderfully by Matt Smith.
As the film progresses, there is a tragedy (no uplifting film here), and we slowly learn of Richard (Smith) childhood, and some of the stuff his father used to make him do, like stand outside at night in nothing but his underwear, and hearing stories of someone named Jack Grey. We learn more and more about this folk tale, what must be done.
This is one of those stories that as it unfolds, the viewer starts to slowly discover what is going on, and when that hits you . . . damn. But that is one of the things I love about folk horror, when it’s done correctly, it is one hell of a punch. Smith does a great job here as the loving father that soon starts to realize his fate. His wife Juliette, played by Morfydd Clar, who got a lot of attention with her title role in the 2019 film Saint Maud, also does a spectacular job as the wife, that is trying to understand what is going on. This might not be a film for all, but I really was impressed with it.
The Substance (2024) – If you told me that a film that would have this kind of special makeup effects, with a star like Demi Moore in the lead role, that would get a wide release in theaters, I never would have believed it. Think of Brian Yuzna’s Society (1989) but on a bigger budget, going far beyond the shunting sequence!
Moore plays Elisabeth, a former movie star who has now turned exercise mogul, like a Jane Fonda type. But now that she has just turned 50, the studio, that seemingly was built by her show, fires her to find a younger replacement. Very distraught at the fact that she’s being force out because of her age, she hears of a black-market drug called the Substance, that is said to create a younger, better version of yourself. Because of the emotional stress she is going through, with hopes of holding onto that stardom, she takes the drug. And yes, a “younger, better version” literally crawls its way out of her back.
Now, like anything, there are strict rules to follow. And if you don’t follow them, bad things will happen. The rule is that the old you and the new you, each have alternating 7 days, and must not go beyond those allotted days. And . . . you have to remember that you are the same person. But when the younger version, called Sue, starts to really enjoy her time, she starts to go past the 7 days. And as we said, bad things will, and do, start to happen.
Now, this is not a new story, about how women are treated in show business, especially once they start to get “old”. But maybe because we as a society still haven’t learned that lesson, we need to keep hearing it until we do get it. Plus, the whole concept of this drug and what is done is just brilliant and pretty original, so it does give that not-so-new story a great spin. Not just a drug where you get young for a time, but where another body actually comes out of your back. Pretty intense.
Major kudos for Moore, being very brave to put herself on screen like she does, as well as giving an incredible performance both has her normal self, as well as when those bad things start to happen. Also, one of the most effective and tragic scenes, which has nothing to do with the special makeup effects, is just when Elisabeth is getting ready for a date. What we see in Moore’s eyes speaks volumes and gives us a very powerful scene.
Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024) – One of the things that a documentary should do is educate the audience on the subject matter. I sort of knew of her from the film Santet (1988) and its sequel, but had no clue of the impact its star, simply going by the name of Suzzanna, had made in her country of Indonesia. The fact that she was such a huge horror star there, up there with the likes of Karloff and Lugosi, and that I knew very little of her, shows once again how much more we as horror fans still need to learn. And thanks to director David Gregory, he has started a lot of us down that path.
Now, as much as I did learn from this documentary, I will say that it is not free of a tragic story. As popular as she was in her country, she did not go without a lot of drama and personal problems. So, while we do get an insight to her life and the films she made, we learn about her personal life and family as well.
For any documentary that can open up a whole new sub-genre to me, I have to give that high praise. But this is also a very well-made documentary that tells a very compelling story too. Definitely a must see, especially if you are fans of Indonesian films.
Things Will Be Different (2024) – Something that I just love is when there is a movie about time travel, where the actual bit about the time travel has very little to do with the story, but is only a plot device. This is one of those films. The story starts off with a brother and sister meeting up at a bar, after an apparent robbery of some sorts. The plan is to go to a seclude house the brother was told about, go into a certain room in the house, and when they come out, they will have traveled to a different time. Then it gets really strange.
Written, directed, and edited by Michael Felker, this is a film that might need a couple of viewings to really let it sink in. Felker worked as an editor for Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson for their films Spring (2014), The Endless (2017), Synchronic (2019), and Something in the Dirt (2022). In fact, Benson has a small part in the film, so they are obviously very well connected as filmmakers. But what I really love about this film is how unique and different it is. Sure, it might not be that easy to comprehend as to what is going on, but it does make you think, so you have to give them credit for that alone.
Don’t want to go into any more details because I think it helps going into it fresh and seeing for yourself. But I think it’s a very interesting story and one that will definitely have you scratching your head.
Honorable Mentions:
Another Man’s Poison (1951), Apostle (2018), Baghead (2023), Fear Street Trilogy (2021), Sea Fever (2019), Stopmotion (2023), Valley of the Zombies (1946)
kitleyskrypt.com 