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Not all of 2016’s horror movies were winners, though. For instance, The Darkness, The Boy, and Cell. But there was far more good than bad. So many, in fact, that we couldn’t include them all here. To that point, just missing the cut were Lights Out, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, The Belko Experiment, Hush, Terrifier, and The Purge: Election Year.
7) Ouija: Origin of Evil
A vast improvement over its predecessor, Ouija: Origin of Evil is everything that movie tried and failed to be. It has a haunting ambiance, it makes its possessions feel real, and it’s bolstered by some very impressive performances.
Origin of Evil was one of the earlier displays of Mike Flanagan’s firm grasp over the horror genre. If he could take an extremely lackluster film and turn it into something that doesn’t feel like one feature-length gimmick, he could do anything.
6) The Conjuring 2
It isn’t quite as effective as the film that kicked off the franchise, but The Conjuring 2 is nonetheless one of the better installments of the overarching spooky franchise. Once more it excels by focusing on Ed and Lorraine Warren and a likable, relatable family in equal measure.
The only thing that holds The Conjuring 2 back from true greatness is its tendency to replicate some of the original’s spooky beats. And, while a great new addition to the overall lore, Valek is somewhat underutilized here. Even still, when she is on screen, Bonnie Aarons makes her the ultimate Conjuring villain (besides Annabelle, of course, not that we ever see her actually doing much of anything).
Stream The Conjuring 2 on HBO Max.
5) Don’t Breathe
There’s seldom a remotely relaxing moment in Don’t Breathe. It’s basically an exercise in ratcheting up tension from moment one and never letting up until the credits roll.
But none of it would work if the right actor wasn’t selected to play its visually impaired antagonist, and Avatar‘s Stephen Lang hits every note. We aren’t sure until the third act how to feel about his Norman Nordstrom. After all, he was blinded in the Gulf War and is just chilling at his home only to have a trio of thieves try to run off with his life savings. So, while we like the trio well enough (two of them, anyway), we don’t particularly see them as the protagonists. Then, in act three, a very controversial twist comes around that confirms that, yes, of this whole dynamic, Nordstrom is the worst person of the bunch.
Stream Don’t Breathe on Hulu.
4) The Shallows
Easily one of the best shark movies not titled Jaws, The Shallows is a thrilling single-locale intensity fest with a tour de force performance from Blake Lively. And to rise towards the top of its subgenre all it had to do is what was always obvious with these types of films: don’t show much of the shark until act three.
The brilliance of The Shallows is relegating Lively’s Nancy Adams to extremely restrictive locations, e.g. a whale carcass and a buoy. We continuously question how she’s going to escape, and that keeps the hairs on your neck standing throughout the majority of the brief 86-minute runtime.
Stream The Shallows on Starz.
