This September, with the appearance of annual popular horror films such as "Psychic Medium", "Fatal Induction" and "Aging", the discussion of horror films on the Internet is extremely hot. Two days ago, Thailand's "Psychic Medium" was once on Weibo's hot search. Some people lamented how strong the audience's demand for high-quality horror films is.
Psychic Medium
Fatal Induction
"Growing Old"
As early as last month, there was a folklore-themed horror film "Spell" with a trailer that was frantically forwarded by fans on Weibo. Prior to this, the trailers of horror films such as "Psychic Medium", "Crying Sorrow", and "Fatal Induction" have also caused a sensation.
The Spell
"Crying Sorrow"
It has to be mentioned that this year's Cannes awarded the Palme d'Or to the horror film "Titanium" with feminine and queer elements, and the French director Julia Di Kuno also became the second female director in the history of Cannes to win the Palme d'Or.
Titanium
Taking advantage of this wave of heat, we may wish to take stock of what are the popular horror movies in the second half of 2021. The following is the author's list of horror films integrated into the existing media and public evaluation, the background of the creators and other information, for your reference only.
Inventory of horror films in the second half of 2021
Director: Ban Trang Bisindar Nagan
The Thai horror film "Psychic Medium" is a folklore horror film work, the director presents the strong religious atmosphere of northern Thailand in a documentary style, and the horror story takes place in a wizarding family here.
The film has been officially released in many countries, and although there is some controversy, the overall reputation is good. At present, the Douban score is 7.0, and the evaluation of it by domestic film fans may be more polar.
Someone said, "The middle of the film is still quite cold sweaty, especially the surveillance video of the countdown before the exorcism ceremony." Unfortunately, the climactic scene at the end is a bit down, and the pseudo-documentary form inevitably exposes the creator's shortcomings in control. ”
The director of the film is the horror film and XiaoXinxin's Banzhuang Biscindarang, who directed "Ghost Shadow", "Conjoined Yin", "Death's Crossroads" and "Ghost Husband" are all well-known films in the history of Thai terror. Executive producer Luo Hongyun is a popular korean genre film director, whose predecessor was the once-blockbuster horror film "Crying".
Director: Wen Ziren
As one of the few contemporary directors who can make himself a golden sign of genre films, Wen Ziren is undoubtedly the pride of the film industry, and his contributions to horror films do not need to be enumerated in detail. Domestically, each of his horror films has a huge base audience.
The film "Fatal Induction" is still The supernatural subject that Wen Ziren is best at, and it has been a full five years since the previous horror film "The Conjuring 2" directed by him, and the audience has long been hungry and thirsty.
The English name of the film is "Malignant", which originally means malignant and can be understood as a malignant tumor. Director Wen Ziren completed a hodgepodge of horror genre elements in the film, deconstructing Stephen King's novel, while also paying tribute to lead-yellow films.
Director: Ke Mengrong
In recent years, although Taiwan's horror films have not contributed such a strong work as "Double Pupil", the horror film market has clearly shown a state of resurrection, and folklore has become an important source of creation for horror film directors. The film "Spell" is a pseudo-documentary horror film with a folklore theme that was born from this.
In fact, whether from the perspective of pseudo-record forms or from the perspective of folklore selection, "Spell" has frequently collided with the only horror film in the mainland in recent years, "Middle Evil". In contrast, "The Spell" obviously has the advantage of letting go of shooting.
"The Middle Evil"
But what is more worrying is that the current hot discussion for "Spell" is focused on the first trailer that is full of gimmicks, and director Ke Mengrong's previous creative resume can be described as a bad film, it is difficult not to suspect that this is another film whose essence is all in the trailer.
Director: Jia Youting
Following the success of South Korea's "Busan Trip" and "Kingdom" and Japan's "Camera Don't Stop", this year's Taiwanese horror film market has also produced a zombie film that is worth everyone's expectation, "Crying Sorrows".
The film tells the story of the epidemic after the epidemic spread around the world, people are not vigilant, causing the infected to mutate, resulting in a disaster that is cruel beyond reproach.
Judging from the materials currently released and the feedback from the audience, "Crying Sorrow" can be said to be an extremely depressing and bloody work, which is very suitable for the heavy reflection of the current society. Some viewers even claimed that the scale of the film surpassed the European and American zombie films known for their heavy taste.
Director: Julia Di Kuno
Although it was a movie from five years ago, "Raw Eating" is still a topic that horror fans are tirelessly talking about. The fierce nibbling shots in the film and the portrayal of the girl's sexual awakening in adolescence are extremely rare in the current movie.
"Eat Raw"
Five years later, director Giulia di Cuno returned to Cannes with his new work "Titanium" and won the Palme d'Or directly. The significance of this award is not only that female directors have reached the top of Cannes for the second time, this work wrapped in marginal culture can win the Palme d'Or, which is also a beautiful accident in Cannes.
Audiences who are curious about "Titanium" may need to do their homework in advance, and the difference in aesthetic orientation between French horror films and American horror films is very obvious, and it is difficult to resonate with "Titanium" for audiences who cannot resonate with new directors such as Jan Gonzalez and Bertrand Montiger. It is foreseeable that controversy will be inevitable.
"Southern Witch"
Director: Zhang Ji'an
The film "Southern Witch" is the feature film debut of Malaysian director Cheung Ki On, based on real events, telling the story of Ah Yan, who is skeptical of the gods, tries to contact folk superstitions in order to cure her long-term illness, and finally falls into it.
After winning the best new director at the Golden Horse Awards last year, the film "Southern Witch" has attracted much attention from the outside world, and it has been screened in many film festivals and received good response.
This is not a horror film in the traditional sense, it does not follow the traditional horror film line of thought, the director's approach also emphasizes artistic effects, so there has been some controversy about whether this film is a "horror film". If you had watched it with frightened anticipation, this movie probably wouldn't have been too friendly.
Directed by: M. Knight Shyamalan
Looking back at Shyamalan's Career as a Hollywood director, it's almost a cycle of good and bad ones. Amazingly, many of Shyamalan's bad films have had a resurgence in recent years.
The new film "Growing Old" has a pretty good setting. In the Bay of Time, everyone finds themselves getting older, getting old every half hour, and there seems to be no way they can get out of this place. Unfortunately, Shyamalan still did not make a good picture of this story.
The Night Cottage
Director: David Bruckner
Since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, David Bruckner's new work "The Night Cabin" has maintained a good reputation trend. The film tells the story of the husband's death, the wife of the deceased, Beth, who could not let go of the deceased, to live alone in the lakeside hut built by her husband. Here, step by step, she will discover the truths that have been hoodwinked.
In recent years, more and more emerging platforms that support horror films have gained a share of the mainstream film market, and such exquisite and small independent horror films as "Night Cabin" have become imperceptibly popular.
"Hold Your Breath 2"
Director: Rodo Sayaggers
There haven't been many "sequels surpassing their predecessors" in horror history, but that doesn't stop successful horror films from coming out one sequel after another, and Hold Your Breath is no exception.
The film "Hold Your Breath 2" takes place a few years after the initial deadly burglary, where the blind veteran Norman lives a peaceful life until the sins of the past begin to find him.
The sequel was directed by the previous writer Rodo Sayaggers, who co-wrote the script. The film's reputation is lower than that of the previous work, which is undoubtedly expected, but it is not to the extent that it is unsightly.
Candy Man
Director: Nia da Costa
Candy Man is the sequel to the classic horror film of the same name from the 90s, a highly expressive film about urban legends and ethnic issues in the United States, adapted from the short story of horror master Cliff Barker.
After its release in North America, the film topped the box office with more than $20 million in its first week, marking the opening of this year's North American horror films after "A Quiet Place" and "The Conjuring 3", and the first time that a black female director has won the North American box office of the week.
Soho Horror Night
Director: Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright is a very low-prolific film director, and in addition to the spoof films of his early years that have not been regularly released, he has only six feature films to date, one of which is a co-production of "The Execution Chamber".
But it has to be said that the quality of each of his films is very stable, the "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy helped him break into Hollywood, and "Scott the Crooked Boy" and "Extreme Car Thief" consolidated his position in the teen market.
The new film "Soho Horror Night" is a psychological horror film that tells the "fantasy" story of a young girl who loves the fashion design industry and returns to London in the 1960s, where she will undergo a gorgeous and dangerous baptism. The film has completed its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and has a good reputation.
The Innocent
Director: Eskil Vogt
As a director who successfully transitioned from film screenwriting, Eskill Vogt's skill in scripting should not be underestimated. His plays are always full of surprising plots and whimsical settings.
In 2014, Vogt won several film festival awards with his feature film debut Blind Eye, and his directorship has since been recognized. The new work "Innocents" was shortlisted for a kind of attention unit in Cannes, and it is also a highly discussed new work. "It's an adult film that tells the thrilling journey into the secret world of children."
"The Sheep Cub"
Director: Valdimar Johnson
Along with "The Innocents", which was shortlisted for one of the attention units in Cannes this year, there is also a well-received and very interesting horror film, Icelandic newcomer director Valdimar Johnson's feature film debut "Sheep Cub".
The film tells the story of a farmer couple who find a human-looking lamb and decide to raise it as their only offspring. The visual atmosphere of the film is as desolate and cold as the geographical environment of Iceland, and the plot of anti-natural ethics is full of absurd and inexplicable warmth. The film has been released by A24 and is scheduled for October in North America.
"The Ghost Lives with You"
Director: Chen Guo
Director Chen Guo's new work "Ghosts You Live Together" uses fierce ghosts to do the people's hearts. Some fans said that Chen Guo, as an important director at the turn of the century, has not had a decent movie for a long time, and the term "Jiang Lang Cai exhausted" is not used too much on his body.
But as director Chen Guo, who once brought the dawn of the new millennium horror film with the Peng brothers, his new work is still worthy of the cautious expectations of horror film fans.
In addition to the horror films mentioned above, there are many horror films that will meet with us during the year. For example, Yuan Ziwen's "Prisoner of the Land of Ghosts" by Yuan Ziwen and Nicholas Cage has been released on streaming on September 17, but unfortunately the word of mouth is very bad.
Prisoners of the Land of Ghosts
This was followed by the horror series "Midnight Mass" in which Mike Flanagan and Netflix once again held hands on September 24, David Gordon Green's "Moonlight Panic: Killing" by David Gordon Green, which has locked the North American Halloween schedule, and the new work "Someone in Your Room" directed by "Stranger in the Woods"...
Midnight Mass
Moonlight Panic: Killing
As the most vital film genre in the history of the film industry, horror films still have endless space and value for exploration.
The rapid resurgence of Taiwanese horror films in recent years, the refined operation of more and more independent labels of horror films in Hollywood, and the art of winning the Cannes Palme d'Or for horror films "Titanium" are all proving to the audience that horror films are constantly moving forward.