100 Greatest Horror Movies Of All Time
64. Kill List
Few scribes have the power to really unsettle you like Ben Wheatley.
Kill List is undeniably an ugly film; a dark exploration of violence, ugly mob or arrogant mentalities, and how they affect families, social circles and criminals in tow. Main character and hitman Jay is a piece of work, a really wretched human being whose actions still make him watchable, by virtue of just seeing his daily life unfold.
At no point does Kill List relent though, at no point do you support anything Jay and partner Gal do. It’s like Man Bites Dog for the new age, a sequence of events that’ll leave you queazy and shaking, with an ending that goes all out to cement its place in time.
[ST]
63. What We Do In The Shadows
Taika Waititi may have graduated to the big leagues of the MCU, but if you want to see what really makes the director special - and why Marvel hired him - then look no further than What We Do In The Shadows.
Arriving after a period where vampires had grown stale thanks to oversaturation, this mockumentary about a group of Wellington vamps remembered that stories about bloodsuckers should be bloody good fun.
Wickedly clever, razor-sharp, and utterly absurd, there’s also enough violence and gore to ensure this vampire comedy carries a real bite.
[JH]
62. Green Room
Patrick Stewart as a Nazi punk gang leader. Bet you didn’t see that coming.
Written by Jeremy Saulnier - himself steeped in underground punk culture growing up - the portrayal of grimy neon-lit clubs housing dark secrets in their back rooms is one hell of a setting for a hostage thriller.
Stewart fits into all this as Darcy, an initially unassuming, business-minded boss of the club that doubles as the head of the Nazi skinhead group operating in the area.
Quickly things devolve into a more scattered, strained and panicked affair as the main band of protagonists we’re following get trapped in the backstage area, and are forced to kill a member of the gang to stay alive.
It’s here where Green Room shifts, its formerly thriller trappings morphing into truly disgusting kills and methods of survival. Stewart plays Darcy with a slow build of anger, only for everything to boil over in the third act; the close of the film feeling like a considerable amount of pressure bursting across the screen in a blur of bullets and claret.
[ST]