12) Grabbers
Alright, I’ve spooked you with my first two picks, so let’s move to more comical grounds for my next pick, coming all the way from our beer-guzzling friends in Ireland. No, I’m not being stereotypical by referencing alcohol and the Irish, because Grabbers just happens to be about aliens who invade a sleepy Irish town, set on exterminating all the humans who stand in their way. The catch? They’re poisoned by alcohol. Yup, you heard right – in order for our characters to stay alive, they have to stay mind-numbingly hammered. Beer and horror – does it get much better?
Grabbers is a hilarious little romp that channels the feeling of creature features like Gremlins and Slither, but also brings that horror bite that will definitely keep true genre fans foaming at the mouth. Some horror comedies focus a little too strongly on laughs, losing the true horror of the situation, but Grabbers had plenty of gore and death that balanced both scares and laughs with genuine originality. The aliens are vicious, the characters are hilarious, the idea is a bit of midnight-movie beauty – yet the whole production comes together without any cheesiness or forgettable filmmaking. Writer Kevin Lehane and director Jon Wright go at Grabbers with a big budget mentality, and deliver one of the best horror watches of 2013.
Want to have fun with this flick? Pick a character, and every time they drink on screen, you drink. Hope you’ve been working on your tolerance!
Disclaimer: We Got This Covered and all those involved with the movie Grabbers do not condone drinking mass quantities of alcohol – unless it saves your life from an invading alien force. In that case, channel your inner 90s Robert Downey Jr.
11) Resolution
I’m still not 100% sure I understand Resolution, but I do know directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead blew my mind in ways that haven’t pushed horror boundaries in the last few years. Films like YellowBrickRoad have attempted to deliver a truly terrifying experience mixed with more intelligent horror understanding, but have gone up in flames due to an overly-confident delivery and a horrible comprehension of “intelligent horror.” Resolution is none of that, and continually keeps us guessing by dragging us into the film itself, ending on a giant question mark that’s both perplexing and curiously satisfying.
While our filmmaker’s grasp on such material is top of the year worthy, actors Peter Cilella and Vinny Curran are equally impressive as our lead characters. Starting out with a simple intervention, as Cilella simply wants to rid Curran of his dangerous drug addiction, the duo’s chemistry makes for an easy, loveable, and entertaining watch. As the film spins wildly out of control, our actors do an amazing job revealing information while remaining wonderfully suspect, perpetuating the mystery of Resolution. Mix that with the brilliant acting by Carmel the dog (who gives a astoundingly insightful commentary on the Blu-Ray), and you’ve got one absolutely mind-bending film that challenges everything we know about the horror genre.
Seriously though, all joking aside, Resolution is the epitome of brilliant independent filmmaking, taking an idea that would never fly in mainstream studios, and making a film that questions why those said studios aren’t willing to take a chance on more films like this. Just look at what Benson and Moorhead were able to do with a crazy limited budget, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.