Remakes, instant cult classics and great jump scares filled the 2019 summer with a lot of great horror films.
One of the scariest horror films released this summer is from producer James Wan, Annabelle Comes Home, which came out on June 26th, 2019. Making $30 million in the first five days in theaters, it had a most eerie feel each time there was a paranormal encounter. Also, seeing the next chapter in Ed and Lorraine’s Conjuring Universe was fantastic.
Ed and Lorraine Warren were the famous paranormal investigators who have been in paranormal places like the Amityville house. Ed Warren died in 2006, Lorraine died at the age 92 in Connecticut.
Another great scary movie from this summer was Midsommar, which came out on June 18th, 2019, and quickly became a cult classic. From Ari Aster, the maker of Hereditary, the reviews came out sporadically negative and positive. The film takes a new look on emotion as the small Swedish town seems to share the pain of the people in the festival. The film tries too hard to be original, and it shows. (Read Daily Lobo reporter, Colin Peña’s take on this film online at dailylobo.com)
Another movie is Lars Klevberg’s Child’s Play. The film is the newest edition to the Chucky franchise, a film that was, in a way, the first Annabelle. This new version is a different take on the possession of Chucky where he is inserted with a chip that makes him violent instead of a psychopathic warlock taking his place. This change in the plot takes away from the original horror of the film and makes it appeal to a younger crowd through modernity. Originally voiced in 1988 by Brad Dourif, this 2019 version of Chucky is voiced by Star Wars actor, Mark Hamill.
Also this summer we were given the horror film Ma, an original story that was chilling to watch. Ma is a film about revenge by Tate Taylor, who is also the director of the hit film, The Help. This story takes the high school bully victim and shows what happens when she/he is pushed to a breaking point. In my opinion, the result is very disturbing. The film also stars Octavia Spencer, one of the supporting actresses of The Help in 2011.
Another great film that came out this year was The Wind from the makers of The Witch. By female director Emma Tammi, it has a unique take on living in the old west. Set in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, a wife and husband lives near another couple about a mile away. There, the wind never stops, and neither does the anticipation of horrors in the film.
To me, the horror film that stole the summer was by far Jordan Peele’s Us. Us is a film about a family who looks exactly like a murderous family that shows up to their doorstep. The film touches on the fact that there are many empty tunnels beneath the United States, and the movie takes a very creative turn with that idea.
As this summer wrapped up, a nostalgic type of film for people who read the books as children, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, directed by Andre Overdal and produced by Guillermo Del Torro, was released on August 9th, 2019. Overall, all the scary movies that came out this summer are great watches.
Lauren McDonald is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @laurmcdonald24.
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