Some of the best horror this year was also shockingly funny — in 2017, you had to laugh to keep from screaming.
10. It Comes at Night
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Writer: Trey Edward Shults
Trey Edward Shults’ debut feature Krisha may not have been a horror film in the traditional sense, but it was made in the style of the genre and showcased Shults’ ability to ratchet up suspense in a confined space. It Comes at Night, which is unequivocally horror, takes the concept and runs with it. Once again, the action takes place almost entirely in a house, although here the threat is more life-or-death: a highly contagious virus that has already decimated the world’s population. Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), and their son, Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), are surviving in isolation when a stranger arrives. Will (Christopher Abbott) has a family of his own — and they’re in need of shelter. It Comes at Night may be too slow for some, but its deliberate pacing allows the tension and paranoia to build, paving the way for an impressively brutal conclusion.
9. Most Beautiful Island
Director: Ana Asensio
Writer: Ana Asensio
Ana Asensio’s strange, unsettling film is difficult to categorize: For the first two-thirds of its brief 80-minute run time, it’s a quiet drama about an undocumented immigrant, Luciana (Asensio), struggling to survive in New York City. But things take an unexpected turn as Luciana is offered a moneymaking opportunity that seems too good to be true — and, of course, is. Most Beautiful Island could easily have followed a more predictable trajectory, but while it seems as though Luciana is going to be tricked into sexual slavery, the truth is revealed to be an entirely different kind of nightmare. Asensio has said her film was based on true experiences, including her own: The specifics of Luciana’s terrifying, surreal situation are likely fantasy, but they reflect the very real exploitation of undocumented immigrants, which grounds Most Beautiful Island in a deeply uncomfortable reality.
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