The Definitive, Indisputable, All Time Top 5 (my favorite) Horror(ish) Movies Ever Released…

My goal here is to go throughout the year and each month pick out five of the best films, in my opinion, that in some way or another fit into the horror genre. They may not have been box office smashes. They may not have been critical successes. Some of them might even be more funny than scary. But, all of them will have made some kind of contribution to the genre or, at the very least, made their mark on me personally.

This is the second month of the reviews and once again, pickings are pretty slim for horror in February. There’s at least one selection that would seem obvious (My Bloody Valentine) that I imagine most people put on their list by default, so for that reason I figured it had to stay off of this one!

Top five lists are, by their very nature, subjective and meant to be fun, conversation starting pieces. So, I encourage everyone to get involved in the comment section. Give us your top five, or talk about any of the films I mentioned.

So, without further ado, here are the Top 5 Horror (ish) Movies Ever Released in the month of February!

5. Willy’s Wonderland, released February 12, 2021. Okay, so in reality, this movie doesn’t really deserve to be in the “top” five list of anything. This movie is weird. The main reason it gets put onto this list is because Nicholas Cage is one of the characters/celebrities that I have a story about, so any excuse to list any movie that Nicholas Cage stars in gives me a chance to tell the story! You can check out the story in video form here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/time-i-am-83-i-61997705

Otherwise, this is a really goofy movie about a shutdown children’s restaurant with possessed animatronics which features Nicholas Cage as a “silent loner”. There is lots of blood… Oh, did I mention Nicholas Cage never says a single word and there’s no explanation as to why?

4. The Crazies, released February 26, 2010. This film is a remake of the movie originally shot and directed by George Romero (have a story about him as well, but I’ll save that for a later time.) Romero is of course the Godfather of all zombie movies and while this movie has several similarities to zombie movie, it’s definitely not. It’s more of a biological apocalypse type movie where the infected become uncontrollably violent, but there is no undead qualities to them. I thought this movie was surprisingly well written, successfully leading you down the plot without really letting you know exactly where it’s going. There are several jump scares and even some good tension building. I don’t think this is going to change anybody’s life path, or be anybody’s favorite movie, but it’s definitely worth the time if you’re in the mood for a good scary, bloody movie.

3. Get Out, released February 24, 2017. I went back and forth on this movie a good bit when working on this article, not sure where to place it between 2, 3, or 4. This movie has received tons of sparkling reviews and was a big hit. I like it. But, I wasn’t blown away by it. I did not find it that scary. However, it is some great writing! The story is really enjoyable, and it certainly opens up the horror genre featuring a majority black cast rather than the “token black character” that seemed to be the maximum allowed in so many horror movies after the 70s and up until this movie. This is definitely not the movie you’re looking for if you want blood and guts, and I probably have other suggestions if you’re looking for something that really scares you. But, if you’re looking for a good story and some decent atmosphere, Get Out will deliver.

2. The VVitch, released February 19, 2016. Similar to Get Out, I vacillated on this one a bit. Another movie that got sterling recommendations that, for whatever reason just didn’t scare me. Again though, it’s a really good story, based on happenings and folktales from the New England area in the 1600s. It builds its environment from the very beginning (special kudos to the score for using music consistently and effectively) and never lets up, so you definitely can get drawn in. There are a couple of jumps, nothing major, some blood, again, nothing too major. Fantastic acting by the eldest son and daughter.

1. The Invisible Man, released February 26, 2020. Whereas I bounced around on a number of movies in this month’s list, I felt that the updated version of The Invisible Man was the clear number one. It does a great job of being based in our modern, realistic world, and then stretching it just a little bit through technology to make the invisibility believable enough. I personally found this a really intelligent movie. I thought it was, even beyond a straight out horror film, a really good depiction of an abusive relationship. The female lead is experiencing, and treated for, PTSD based on what her partner did to her over the course of their relationship. The way they tie this in with the overall plot is great. There is plenty of tension building, and you almost need to watch it a few times to catch how often you can see something moving in the background, or off to the side of the shot that nobody in the shot notices. There’s not a lot of gratuitous blood, certainly not a slasher movie, and a fair share of major jump moments. Overall, I did not expect a lot of this movie when I heard it was coming out, and was very pleasantly surprised when I got to see it!

And there you have it everyone, inarguably, the best 5 horror movies ever created and released in the month of February! Look forward to your comments and I’ll have another one out for you all next month.