Horror!!! What to look forward to in 2013: Part One – Numbers 30 to 11





2012 offered up a wealth of variety in our beloved horror genre: found footage continued to adapt, zombies continued their attempt at world domination, sharks and other big monsters continued to be a pain in the backside, ghosts and all things paranormal continued to go bump in the night and old school horror made a bit of a comeback. There is no doubt in my mind that 2012 was a good year for horror, an exciting year with a lot of good stuff. However, to read more about the good stuff, then check out my Best Horrors of 2012 here.

Looking forward, 2013 looks to be yet another big year for horror. Big name directors return, we get giant monsters and giant robots, there will be remakes (but good one’s) aplenty, there will be anthologies, spooky stuff, violent stuff, mind bending stuff and totally insane stuff. The one thing we can guarantee for horror in 2013 is that yes, there will be blood!

It was very difficult to pick the best of what we have to look forward to next year, and my intention was to simply make a top ten list. However, as I attempted to filter out stuff, I realised that a top ten just wouldn’t be enough. So, take a deep breath and brace yourself as I present to you my Top 30 Picks of the very best in horror for 2013! Please note that there was a lot to remember, so if there are any titles I have missed that I may have forgotten, or that you believe should be on the list, then please feel free to comment!

 

30- Beyond the Black Rainbow: Released TBC

Director: Panos Cosmatos

Beyond the Black Rainbow, written and directed by Panos Cosmatos, is a Reagan-era fever dream inspired by hazy childhood memories of midnight movies and Saturday morning cartoons. Cosmatos brings a bold, Kubrickian vision to the screen in stunning detail in this sci-fi fable of a young woman imprisoned in an experimental laboratory and the enigmatic scientist who is her captor. Set in a futuristic 1983, Elena finds herself held against her will in a mysterious facility under the watchful eye of the sinister Dr. Barry Nyle. Pushed to her limits, Elena is left with no choice but to navigate an escape from her labyrinthine prison, in the process revealing its hidden secrets. (More info)

 

29- Crawl: Released 21st January on DVD & Blu-ray

Director: Paul China

‘Crawl’ is a character-driven thriller set in an unknown, rural town. A seedy bar-owner hires a mysterious Croatian to murder an acquaintance over an unpaid debt. The crime is carried out, but a planned double-crossing backfires and an innocent waitress suddenly becomes involved. Now a hostage in her own home, the young woman is driven to desperate measures for survival. A suspenseful, yet darkly humorous chain of events builds to a blood-curdling and unforgettable climax. (More info)

 

28- The Tall Man: Released 11th February on DVD & Blu-ray

Director: Pascal Laugier

In an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace – abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as “The Tall Man.” Town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) seems skeptical…until her young David disappears in the middle of night. Frantic to rescue the boy, Julia lives every parent’s darkest nightmare in this twisting, shock-around-each-corner thriller. (More info)

 

27- The Barrens: Released TBC

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Despite their reluctance, Richard Marlow (Moyer) takes his wife, Cynthia (Kirshner); their young son, Danny; and his teenage daughter, Sadie, to the Pine Barrens for a long weekend of camping and family bonding. As they arrive at the Wharton State Forest, a mutilated deer runs out into the road, nearly colliding with the Marlows’ car. Later that evening another bloodied animal falls from a tree. Bad turns to worse when, in the middle of the night, a college boy camping nearby disappears into the woods. Nevertheless, Richard presses the family to hike farther into the forest to the spot where he used to camp with his father. He is feverish, and a past wound on his arm appears badly infected, but when it begins to rain, there is no turning back. Richard’s sickness soon becomes debilitating; his headaches turn to hallucinations. What’s worse, he believes there is something stalking them…something with yellow eyes, pointed horns, and the wings of a bat – THE JERSEY DEVIL. The disfigured bodies of the missing camper and another college boy soon turn up. The Marlows must fight for their lives as the horrifying answer reveals itself in a shocking and tragic conclusion. (More info)

 

26- Citadel: Released 1st March in UK cinemas

Director: Ciaran Foy

Tommy Cowley (Aneurin Barnard) lives a quiet life in a decaying apartment complex with his highly pregnant wife. The couple is attacked one day by a group of hooded young thugs, and after a shocking act of violence, Tommy is left to raise his newborn daughter alone.

So shaken by the events that he’s developed extreme agoraphobia, Tommy alternates days hiding out indoors in his new flat from imagined threats and intense therapy sessions aimed at bringing him back to normalcy.

When the same hooded gang, seemingly intent on kidnapping his daughter, begins terrorizing his life again, he’s torn between his paralyzing fear and protective parental instinct. With the help of a vigilante priest who has uncovered the genesis of this ruthless, potentially supernatural gang, Tommy must overcome his fears and venture into the heart of the abandoned tower block known as the CITADEL to save his family. (More info)

 

25- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D – Released 22nd February in UK cinemas

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Catching up with Hansel (Renner) and Gretel (Arterton) 15 years after the traumatic incident involving a gingerbread house, the siblings have evolved into vengeful bounty hunters dedicated to exterminating witches. Over the years, the siblings became expert hunters, famous for their proficiency at tracking and taking down their prey. Although still recovering from their ordeal, their work is relatively easy as for an unknown reason harmful spells and curses do not work well against them.

The Mayor of Augsburg recruits them to rid the town and nearby forests of an evil sorceress (Janssen) who is planning to sacrifice many local children at the witches’ gathering during the upcoming ‘Blood Moon’ night in two days time. To make things worse, the duo also has to deal with the brutal Sheriff Berringer (Stormare) who has taken power in Augsburg and conducts a very indiscriminate witch-hunt of his own. (More info)

 

24- The Millennium Bug: Released TBC

Director: Kenneth Cran

It’s December 31st, 1999, and the world anxiously awaits the year 2000. Hoping to escape the Y2K computer glitch known as the “millennium bug”, Byron Haskin takes his new wife and teenage daughter camping in the isolated Sierra Diablos mountains. But madness finds them in the form of the Crawford clan, a family of in-bred hillbillies who abduct the Haskins in order to refresh their stagnant gene pool. As the Haskins fight for their lives, death and bloody carnage ensue, but neither they nor the Crawfords are aware of the monstrous horror hibernating beneath the forest floor. Unseen for 1,000 years, this millennium bug is hungry… and December 31st just happens to be its birthday. (More info)

 

23- Silent Night: Released TBC

Director: Steven C. Miller

In 1984 the slasher classic Silent Night, Deadly Night stunned audiences, was banned across America, and remains the most notorious Christmas movie in history. Now, Santa is back, and he’s got a brand new bag of tricks. As their small midwestern town prepares for its annual Christmas Eve parade, the sheriff (Malcolm McDowell) and his deputy (Jaime King) discover that a maniac in a Santa suit is murdering those he judges as “naughty.” Their sins? Porn, adultery, greed… And he will make sure they rest in heavenly pieces. Donal Logue, Ellen Wong, Lisa Marie, and Brendan Fehr co-star in this brutal and darkly humorous tale of Christmas gone bad directed by Steven C. Miller. (More info)

 

22- Dark Skies: Released 22nd February in UK cinemas

Director: Scott Charles Stewart

From the producers of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister comes Dark Skies: a supernatural thriller that follows a young family living in the suburbs. As husband and wife Daniel and Lacey Barret witness an escalating series of disturbing events involving their family, their safe and peaceful home quickly unravels. When it becomes clear that the Barret family is being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, Daniel and Lacey take matters in their own hands to solve the mystery of what is after their family. (More info)

 

21- Dracula 3D: Released TBC

Director: Dario Argento

Dracula 3D begins with Jonathan Harker, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula’s crumbling, remote castle situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania. The purpose of his mission is to catalogue the big library of Dracula. At first enticed by Dracula’s gracious manner, Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle. He also begins to see disquieting facets of Dracula’s nocturnal life. One night while searching for a way out of the castle, and against Dracula’s strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night, Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires, the Brides of Dracula. (More info)

 

20- Six Degrees of Hell: Released 4th March on DVD

Director: Joe Raffa

In Northeast Pennsylvania, “Uncle Jack’s Hotel of Horror” is besieged by a dark presence after two friends of “Uncle” Jack, Chris and Kellen, unwittingly release a deadly evil by transporting local psychic Mary Wilkins’ collection of haunted objects as props for the popular tourist attraction. At the same time, a local TV ghost hunter confronts an evil that has haunted him all his life—one he believes is responsible for his sister’s death years ago.

His search puts him in the path of a rogue police chief and June—a girl who seems to be the eye of this supernatural perfect storm. They all find themselves connected to the old hotel while the threads of their own personal horrors draw paranormal investigator Kyle Brenner (Feldman) to pull all the threads together… (More info)

 

19- Frankenstein’s Army: Released TBC

Director: Richard Raaphorst

FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY takes place toward the end of World War II, as Russian soldiers push into eastern Germany and stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Viktor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein’s work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades – a desperate Hitler’s last ghastly ploy to escape defeat. (More info)

 

18- The Last Circus: Released TBC

Director: Alex de la Iglesia

1937, Spain is in the midst of the brutal Spanish Civil War. A “Happy” circus clown is interrupted mid-performance and forcibly recruited by a militia. Still in his costume, he is handed a machete and led into battle against National soldiers, where he single-handedly massacres an entire platoon. This absurd and disturbing scenario raises the curtain on a twisted tale of love, revenge, and psychopathic clowns that could only spring from the mind of filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia.

Fast forward to 1973, the tail end of the Franco regime. Javier, the son of the clown, dreams of following in his father’s career footsteps but has seen too much tragedy in his life – he’s simply not funny and is only equipped to play the role of the Sad Clown. He finds work in a circus where he befriends an outlandish cast of characters, but as the Sad Clown he must take the abuse of the brutish Happy Clown Sergio, who humiliates Javier daily in the name of entertainment.

It is here that he meets Natalia, a gorgeous acrobat and the abused wife of Sergio. Javier falls deeply in love with Natalia and tries to rescue her from her cruel and violent husband, unleashing Sergio’s jealousy. But Natalia is torn between her affection towards Javier and her lust for Sergio.

With neither man willing to back down, this twisted love triangle evolves into a ferocious battle between Sad Clown and Happy Clown, escalating to unbelievable heights in this absurd, shocking, irreverent, and unforgettable film. (More info)

 

17- (Rec) 4 Apocalypse: Released TBC

Director Jaume Balaguero

Angela Vidal, the young television reporter who entered the building with the fireman, manages to make it out alive. But what the soldiers don’t know is that she carries the seed of the strange infection.

She is to be taken to a provisional quarantine facility, a high-security installation where she will have to stay in isolation for several days. An old oil tanker, miles off shore and surrounded by water on all sides, has been especially equipped for the quarantine. (More info)

 

16- Antiviral: Released 8th February in UK cinemas

Director: Brandon Cronenberg

Syd March is an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans. Biological communion – for a price. Syd also supplies illegal samples of these viruses to piracy groups, smuggling them from the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills super sensation Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and rabid fans. He must unravel the mystery surrounding her death before he suffers the same fate. (More info)

 

15- Stoker: Released 1st March in UK cinemas

Director: Park Chan-Wook

India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) was not prepared to lose her father and best friend Richard (Dermot Mulroney) in a tragic auto accident. The solitude of her woodsy family estate, the peace of her tranquil town, and the unspoken somberness of her home life are suddenly upended by not only this mysterious accident, but by the sudden arrival of her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), whom she never knew existed. When Charlie moves in with her and her emotionally unstable mother Evie (Nicole Kidman), India thinks the void left by her father’s death is finally being filled by his closet bloodline. Soon after his arrival, India comes to suspect that this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives. Yet instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless young woman becomes increasingly infatuated with him. (More info)

 

14- The Collection: Released TBC

Director: Marcus Dunstan

When Elena’s (Emma Fitzpatrick) friends take her to a secret party at an undisclosed location, she never imagined she would become the latest victim of The Collector, a psychopathic killer. The Collector kidnaps and transports her to an abandoned hotel he’s transformed into his own private maze of torture and death. Upon learning of his daughter’s disappearance, Elena’s wealthy father (Christopher McDonald) hires a group of mercenaries to retrieve her from the vicious grips of The Collector. These mercenaries coerce Arkin (Josh Stewart), the only man to have escaped the wrath of this heinous monster, to lead them through thegruesome labyrinth. Now, Arkin finds himself fighting for his own life in order to save Elena. (More info)

 

13- Texas Chainsaw 3D; Released 4th January in UK cinemas

Director: John Lussenhop

Lionsgate’s TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D continues the legendary story of the homicidal Sawyer family, picking up where Tobe Hooper’s 1974 horror classic left off in Newt, Texas, where for decades people went missing without a trace.  The townspeople long suspected the Sawyer family, owners of a local barbeque pit, were somehow responsible.  Their suspicions were finally confirmed one hot summer day when a young woman escaped the Sawyer house following the brutal murders of her four friends.  Word around the small town quickly spread, and a vigilante mob of enraged locals surrounded the Sawyer stronghold, burning it to the ground and killing every last member of the family – or so they thought.

Decades later and hundreds of miles away from the original massacre, a young woman named Heather learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from a grandmother she never knew she had.  After embarking on a road trip with friends to uncover her roots, she finds she is the sole owner of a lavish, isolated Victorian mansion. But her newfound wealth comes at a price as she stumbles upon a horror that awaits her in the mansion’s dank cellars… (More info)

 

12- Carrie: Released 5th April in UK cinemas

Director: Kimberly Peirce

A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moretz), a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother (Julianne Moore), who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. (More info)

 

11- V/H/S: Released 18th January in UK cinemas, 28th January on DVD & Blu-ray

Directors: Adam Wingard, Radio Silence, Ti West, David Bruckner, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg

When a group of petty criminals are hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize that the job isn’t going to be as easy as they thought. In the living room a lifeless body holds court before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last.

Bringing together some of the top filmmakers in the game today, this wickedly conceived horror anthology sends the viewer through a gauntlet of suspense, terror, shock, and downright brutality—instantly distinguishing itself from a sea of lackluster found-footage horror flicks. The diverse and deviously creative minds behind V/H/S shatter any preconceived notions about the genre, making it feel inventive and captivating once again. (More info)

 

COMING NEXT: THE TOP TEN MUST-SEE HORRORS OF 2013!!!

 

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About Matt Wavish 598 Articles
A keen enthusiast and collector of all horror and extreme films. I can be picky as i like quality in my horror. This doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a classic, but as long as it has something to impress me then i'm a fan. I watch films by the rule that if it doesn't bring out some kind of emotive response then it aint worth watching.

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