Horror Movies have once again hit full stride, and 2022 oozed with originality and purpose. There were so many films to pick from, most of our crew, when assigned to pick a top 10 went with 11! (Cheaters!) That’s how good it was this year. So listen in to our extended super sized Episode 159 and get wise to what was great in 2022!
What a great year for the genre. It feels like both the studios and the indies have hit full stride again, and there were a bunch of really original and entertaining horror movies to watch this year. Eric picks his top 10 and had room for probably 10 more that could have made it.
SO. MANY. GREAT. HORROR. FILMS. THIS. YEAR! Really. Our cups runneth over with gallons of blood, guts, and scares. Interestingly, 2022 also had some really awful films. Truly awful.
But we’re not here to talk about crappy films you don’t want to see. Au contraire. We’re here to tell YOU about the films that you’ll be gabbing about well in to 2024 — and beyond.
This year had no shortage of incredible fright-fare films, and whittling down my “best of 2022” list to 10 from 20 strong candidates was a difficult task — one so daunting that I had to have two ties, as leaving any of the following features off of my list would have been a travesty. Here is what I ultimately came up with.
Ut’s the most wonderful time of the year…year end list time! Here are Liz’s picks for the best films of 2022- look ma, no TV shows!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ancient curses! Decapitation! Time travel! Hillbillies! Rental property! Aliens! If you’re a fan of absurdist horror/comedy, this one’s right up your alley.
Merry Christmas from the Scariest Things Podcast!!! This year we’re giving you the gift that no one asked for, ever expected, and certainly one that no one ever put on their Christmas wishlist. It’s free and it’s here waiting for you. Totally unwrapped and ready to go…
We give you all the Silent Night Deadly Night films ranked! And…you’re welcome.
Want to know what it’s like filming getting buried alive? How do you capture the quintessential ’90s look for a found footage horror film? V/H/S/99 cinematographer Alexander Chinnici tells the Scariest Things his experiences working on this famed anthology franchise.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Get in the car and road trip with two teenage cannibals in Bones and All.
★★.5 out of ★★★★★
Regicide is one of those awesome $5 dollar SAT words. You’d swear you know what it means, but always end up having to look it up online. We’ll save you they trouble. Regicide is the killing of a monarch or king. In the case of 2022’s uber-indy flick Regicide, this kind of makes sense, but it takes the film an awfully long time to find the metaphor.
★ out of ★★★★★
Laughably bad CGI. Overcooked and undercooked use of green screen. A shrill, bothersome, and awkward performance by Alicia Silverstone. And the sharks don’t even appear until the 50+ minute mark. These are just a few of problems with The Requin that could honestly fill an ocean.
Another year and another dollar! Once again Hollyweird cranked up the hype machine and had us parking our collective butts back in the theaters. What got your butt back in the theater? What got you to risk exposure to another Covid variant? What got you to shell out $14 bones for a mountain of greasy popcorn?
The POSTER! That’s what did it.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Agatha resides at the intersection of an experimental art piece and a horror movie. Knowing that, you know how to proceed with this film. Agatha is visually stunning but ultimately difficult to process at times. It is mesmerizing and dreamy and entirely devoid of dialogue, so your attention span will be tested. Ultimately if you like visually poetic and painterly films, this will be your bag.
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Are you ready to make an offer on a house filled with puppets?
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Night of the Bastard is fun. Stupid fun. Be ready for a low-budget B-Movie brawler of a picture. A desert trailer-trash and Satanic Cult mashup awaits.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
It’s a rampaging robotic Santa versus a clever, foul-mouthed record store owner in Joe Begos’ holiday horror Christmas Bloody Christmas.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
While no one on the Scariest Things Podcast is a licensed cryptozoologist, it’s fair to say that we all have an interest in this murky science. There’s even a few of us — gasp — that might actual believe in the cryptids! When this most recent offering popped up at the Another Hole in the Head Film fest we knew we had to search it out.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A crumbling relationship leads a couple to take their frustrations out on a jog around a nearby pond, but they get trapped in a mysterious Mobius loop that becomes a private hell for the two of them. A smart,, if repetitive (of course) time paradox tale that explores the truly destructive nature of a breakup in some very clever ways.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A high school counselor’s trip to Kansas City, Kansas so that he can help out a student turns into an oddball odyssey in this winning, blood-soaked comedy.
★★.5 out of ★★★★★
An evocative film name for an equally evocative true story. Pig Killer should not be taken lightly and nor should the horrible tale of Willy Pickton who killed and killed until he made his way in to Canadian history books as the most prolific serial killer in the country’s history.
If you’re wondering where to shop for that perfect horror themed gift, The Scariest Things has got you covered!
Sometimes, you only need to see a horror movie once. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad movie, (Some are actually quite good) but perhaps it was a bit too much, or the twist made the movie, or it made us feel bad. These movies made our to-do list, but then we said “Thanks, once is enough.”
Joseph reviews three ★★★★ out of ★★★★★ short films from Another Hole in the Head Film Festival: 7 MINUTES IN HELL, ANGEL CITY HORROR, and THE WELL.
Cognitive ★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The Keys ★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A King in Yellow ★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Joseph reviews three thrilling slices of fear-fare from Another Hole in the Head Film Festival.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Great Old Ones at The Scariest Things! We recommend at your annual feast to remember that you shouldn’t eat anything that is still moving. And, it’s always good to know where that mystery meat came from.
★★ out of ★★★★★
Tucked neatly between two pretty cool holidays is a celebration that’s pretty mundane. Face it Thanksgiving ain’t all that great, nor is gluttony. It’s definitely a tough spot to be in. The equivalent in the world of horror is being unfortunately stuck between horror and comedy. That’s exactly where the 2019 Blumhouse/Hulu film Pilgrim fits.
Sort of funny. Sort of horror. But really neither.
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The Menu is an extremely well-crafted dark satire-thriller that both seduces you and fills you with dread. In the world of five-star restaurants, there is a cult of personality built around celebrity chefs. This movie extends that idea to make this a suicide death cult of personality. Bon appetit!
★★★ out of ★★★★★
The holidays are just around the corner! Well, technically the holidays are ALWAYS just around the corner. The only thing more bleak than the constant crush of forced holiday frivolity? I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday.
So, have you seen a good horror movie lately? The following is a comprehensive list of recommendations for our favorite horror films of all time. It’s a horror movie rankers dream! Check out the big list and find a movie that you haven’t seen yet… and watch it!
Our year-long project to update our top 100 Horror films is now complete! Now that we’ve got them all revealed, what changed from our 2018 list, and did we find any patterns or trends? The Scariest Things Podcast Team sat down to share our thoughts about how the list turned out. What we loved, what surprised us, and what we think will become of the list in the future. The curating of our list was the effort of many people, and it delivered a broad and diverse spectrum of the genre, from every age and every type of horror.
