#40. The Sacrifice Game
#39. Night of the Hunted
#38. Kids vs. Aliens
#37. V/H/S/85
#36. Haunted Mansion
#35. Cocaine Bear
#34. It’s a Wonderful Knife
Another entry in the surging high-concept-teen-slasher subgenre (ala Happy Death Day, Freaky, Totally Killer), but this one isn’t quite as fun of a ride. Justin Long and Joel McHale are somewhat wasted here, as the writing gives them very little to do and there isn’t much in the way of effective comedy. Still, if you’re looking for a pleasant (if forgettable) holiday slasher to kill a couple hours, you could do worse.
#33. Unseen
#32. The Boogeyman
#31. The Exorcist: Believer
Sure, you’ve seen the little-girl-possessed-by-a-demon thing before, but have you seen TWO little girls possessed by a demon? It’s quite by-the-numbers, but a great performance by Leslie Odom and generally competent filmmaking make this worth a watch. There are some interesting ideas here, such as bringing in multiple belief systems working together to vanquish the demon, or pitting the parents of the two girls against each other in a twisted game of chicken – but they are sloppily implemented and ultimately amount to very little.
Next up: Top 20 Horror Films of 2023