The Best of 2015!

It's never easy putting together any sort of Top 10 or "Best of" list, especially when it comes to movies. I'm not even really sure that most "Best of" lists are really comprised of the best movies, rather they end up being more of a "Movies we liked the best this year" type of thing, or at best, a mixture of both.

The best movies of any year will be expertly crafted, and they’ll entertain us. They’ll scare us, or they’ll make us laugh. Maybe they'll disgust us. Maybe they'll make us think. Maybe they'll even make us feel something.

Once in a while, if we’re really lucky, they’ll do all of those things and more.

2015 may not have been the best year for Horror & Genre movies, but when the good ones did come along, they ended up being really special. Below are the ones that were the most special to us; some were truly the year's best, while I suppose others were just the ones we enjoyed the most. Either way, they're all great flicks that deserve the love. 

*Be sure to click through to read our full reviews of each movie, for a more in-depth look into why we made the choices that we made.

BONE TOMAHAWK

I think to truly enjoy this movie, you have to really enjoy Westerns. There's an awful lot of moseying down the trail in this one, and while some of it can seem a bit "uneventful," it's the interaction between the characters that make it all worthwhile. Plus, the bloody deaths at the end were pretty great too.

Kurt Russell in a Western where he leads a posse into the remote desert to rescue innocent people who are kidnapped by a clan of cannibalistic savages? As cool as that premise sounds, we can honestly say that the movie itself lived up to the fun expectations of that very premise, and then some.

DEATHGASM

Why more Horror movies don't feature Heavy Metal on their soundtracks, we'll never know. I get that quieter movies need quieter scores and soundtracks, and that's how it should be, but any big, balls-out, loud, rocking, crazy, funny, insanely gory Horror flick (like this) needs Metal. Lots, and lots of Metal. 

One of many Horror Comedies that amused the hell out of us in 2015, Deathgasm ranks amongst the best of them because it blended Horror, Comedy, and the greatness of Heavy Metal together in such a perfect way.

Death to all but metal!

THE FINAL GIRLS

It's a fun homage to the Slasher Era of yesteryear, it's a solid Horror Comedy, but its strength really comes from its heartfelt emotion. This is a story of the relationship between a mother and daughter, and even a meditation on loss, more than it is anything else. Do not let that dissuade you from seeing it.

Equal parts funny and sweet, The Final Girls was a Horror Comedy that reminded us that sometimes, Horror movies that are rated PG-13 can be effective too.

HE NEVER DIED

A solid revenge thriller that is full of both action and supernatural elements, He Never Died really shines because its funny. Yes, it's full of bloody action, boasts some solid characters brought to life by equally solid actors, and it's interesting as hell overall, but above all else, it's really funny.

The last movie that we reviewed in 2015, He Never Died is yet another Horror Comedy that surprised us with its darkly humorous bent. Henry Rollins was great in this one, and we really hope that rumors of a TV Show continuation of the story are true, because we'd love to see more of his exploits.

IT FOLLOWS

We caught ourselves at multiple times looking for "It" in the background of every scene, and in that way, we felt exactly what the characters were feeling; an inescapable feeling of impending doom.

Everyone and their mother praised It Follows as being just about perfect, and even though we had an issue or two with the movie, we have to agree that what it did right, it did extremely well. There aren't many movies that can establish a sense of dread, and keep it audience in a constant state of anxiety, like this one did.

The fact that it was filmed in our own backyard (at least in part), made it even cooler to us.

KRAMPUS

When Krampus and his twisted little toy minions do show up about halfway through the movie, things kick into a higher, more entertaining gear. The clown, the bear, the gingerbread men, the elves... whoever designed those bad boys did a perfect job, and every second that they were on screen was fantastic.

While it didn't quite blow most critics away, we cant help but love Krampus for its Gremlins-like Holiday shenanigans. It really needed to show off more of the Horror elements that made it so great, but what it did give us was enough to make us happy, and want it to be a part of our Christmastime watch list going forward.

LET US PREY

Liam Cunningham is the heart and soul of this movie. He's got an intense menace about him that always captivates us (he plays Davos on Game of Thrones, and does so magnificently), and he plays the bad guy perfectly. For us, this movie is worth seeing for his performance alone. 

This little UK/Irish gem probably escaped most Horror fans' notice this year, and we're here to tell you what a shame that is. Dark, shocking, bloody, and devilishly clever; this is exactly what a Horror movie should be, and it's sad that more modern day efforts aren't as effective.

MAGGIE

Maggie is a very surprising film. It's got some interesting Horror elements about it, and even a touch of Post Apocalyptic mayhem thrown in for good measure, but at it's heart, this is a love story between a father and his daughter. Whatever you want to classify it as, it's effective and heartfelt, and it made an actor who has been doing his thing for nearly 40 years, feel like a complete revelation. 

Damn the haters if they can't see the subtle beauty that this quiet, emotionally intense movie has on display. I never in my life thought I'd see Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Horror movie that pushed us to the brink of tears, but for anyone who has had to navigate the terrible waters of losing someone they love, that's exactly what this movie will do to you.

MARSHLAND

Movies like Marshland don't come along all that often, so when they do, we're more than happy to sing their praises. Beautifully-shot, superbly-acted, and a story that kept us on the edge of our seats, it's hard not to call this movie perfect.

Boasting a gripping story which involves a child killer on the loose in the post-Franco era of Spain, and a pair of phenomenal lead performances that propel it forward with grit and intensity, Marshland is exactly what Season 2 of True Detective should have been.

If you haven't seen this brilliant Thriller yet, seek it out immediately.

SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Yes, its plot is simple, and sure, the movie propels itself forward mostly on the power of dirty humor and exploitative gore alone, but damn it all, it was a fun movie! Funny too, and no, you don't have to be a 12-year-old boy to think so, like many critics would have you believe.

This juvenile, vulgar Zom-Com was pretty much lambasted by most critics who saw it, but we're here to say screw them! This one was a bit lowbrow, there's no denying that, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a fun ride to take. I mean, it has a stretchy penisscene, and Sarah Dumont is really hot, so what's not to love?

Yes, we're apparently 12-year-old boys at heart.

SPRING

It's nice to experience a "Horror" movie that is more about its characters and their sad condition than it is blood & gore set pieces for a change. Spring focuses more on the humanity of its characters than it does the potentially dangerous situations that they find themselves in, and it does so with a calculated patience that makes it all truly compelling.

A movie that we originally expected to be stuffy and pretentious, Spring actually turned out to be a compelling and oddly romantic endeavor that sucked us in, and kept us engrossed throughout. It's like Before Sunrise with a Lovecraftian bent, and if that doesn't sound interesting to you, then there's probably nothing else we can do to sell you on it.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

The funniest moments in the movie come from the littlest things: the vampires not being able to acclimate themselves to the modern world; a newly-turned vampire trying to get through a window; a vampire's reaction to being woken up from a deep sleep; "Do you like pasghetti?"; the vamps not being able to get into a club because the bouncers won't invite them in; Swearwolves; "No you're not, you fucking piece of shit"; the Procession of Shame, the virgin sandwich analogy... Like any good Mockumentary, the good stuff is this movie is found in the minutiae, and the minutiae in this movie is wickedly funny.

Maybe not the best movie of 2015, but probably the one that we enjoyed the most, What We Do In the Shadows has become one of our favorite Horror Comedies of all-time on repeat viewings.

The movies in this Honorable Mention section are among the best that we saw in 2015, and many of them could have easily been in any Top 10 list, including ours. In fact, some of them were originally in our Top 10 list, but ended up here for one reason or another.

The point is that lists are not definitive, and just because something doesn’t finish Top 10, doesn’t mean that it didn’t deserve to. Placement can be subjective, and does not necessarily speak to overall quality. As long as they're good, who really cares where a movie lands in the rankings, you know?

*Be sure to click the pics to read our full reviews of each movie, for a more in-depth look into our choices.