So far this year, we’ve had one big horror film that stands out above the rest, at the box office at least, with A Quiet Place. With over half the year left, there are a few big horror films to look forward to: The Nun, The First Purge, Suspiria, and Halloween.
As a horror fan myself, this is a pretty good lineup, especially considering the trailers for The Nun, Suspiria, and Halloween were all pitch-perfect for their target demographic with Nun and Halloween both going for the jump-scare crazed teenage audience while the Suspiria trailer preyed on the senses of its watcher, aiming for the psychological horror hounds. It might be an early call, but will 2018 be another monster year for the genre?
Well, we’ll have to remember that great trailers do not always equal great films. There are literally dozens of examples of great trailers to bad films, and the horror genre has been known to do this before. That being said, I am especially pumped for Halloween and Suspiria both for their star power behind the camera.
Halloween
Looking first at Halloween, the film is co-written and directed by David Gordon Green, who’s responsible for films like Pineapple Express and Stronger, both of which were really good. Right now he’s not a name that’s brought up much when it comes to highlighting directors who diversify themselves into many, many different genres, but I feel that will change as he sinks his teeth into the Halloween universe. Plus, it’s always great to have the creator of the original Halloween (1978), John Carpenter, back on-board to both executive produce and write the musical score for the new film. I mean, you can’t really go wrong there.
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Suspiria
Moving on to Suspiria, the director this time is Luca Guadagnino, whose last film, Call Me By Your Name, was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and won for Best Adapted Screenplay. Alright, now you have my attention. Horror fans especially are very sensitive about their original films and very quick to throw away reboots, unwanted sequels, and remakes, but with Suspiria we might have an exception. While the original Dario Argento film will hold a special place for horror fans for the rest of time, if you have a great talent like Guadagnino at the helm, there are worse ships to sail on in the murky waters of film remakes.
The Nun
As for the trailer for The Nun, I have to admit I am not the biggest follower of The Conjuring franchise, but the creepy atmosphere established in the trailer and some decent scares and images are promising for a non die-hard fan like myself. I have by no means punched my ticket to see the film yet, but after having seen the trailer, I am now more aware of it than before, and being part of The Conjuring universe won’t hurt it at the box office, either.
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The First Purge
Same goes for The First Purge. Also having skipped out on this franchise, I only have word-of-mouth to go on, and so far it sounds as if moviegoers are interested in this one. Maybe not as interested as the other three mentioned above, but still this series does have its devoted followers. The first three films, while not critical darlings, were all successes at the box office, and with the larger political overtones dawning in the TV spots, this might be one of the larger hits in the series so far.
I think we have a pretty solid lineup for what’s left in 2018. We have our heavy bets on films like Halloween and Suspiria, and we may potentially be talking best of the year material on those films, while still having our fun Friday night popcorn flicks with The Nun and The First Purge. Over the last couple of years we’ve seen some remarkable, some might even say landmark horror films: It Follows (2015), Lights Out (2016), Don’t Breathe (2016), Get Out (2017), and It (2017), just to name a few, and each has shaped how well respected and remembered their respective year was. As I said, we have to let time run its course and the films do all the talking to determine if 2018 will be a champion year for horror or the end of the recent run of great works in the genre. For me, it looks like 2018’s remaining works will not disappoint. Even if they do, we’ll always have another crop of horror films right behind them to eagerly anticipate.
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