[Editorial] Ghouls Magazine Top 10 Horror Films of 2021

2021 has been yet another weird year - both for the good of humanity and the good of cinema. 

With more and more delays, and different countries getting different release dates PLUS a whole load of content going straight to streaming services, it has been a complicated time to remember what amazing films were released in 2021, and which films you just didn’t get to see until 2021.

Either way, it has been an incredible year for horror, with a particular emphasis on the success of female and non-binary voices and stories, and here at Ghouls Magazine we are proud to be a part of that community, and over the moon to say that over half of our Ghouls Collective Top 10 Films of 2021 are written and/or directed by women.

10. Promising Young Woman

Kicking off our list is one of the most powerful films of the year: Emerald Fennel’s Oscar, Bafta, and about 100+ others award-winning rape-revenge thriller Promising Young Woman.

Here in the UK, we waited with bated breath to finally see the release of this one, despite it feeling like everywhere else in the world had already seen it. Luckily, in February it was picked up by Sky and our time had come.

Cassie (Carey Mulligan) is living a double life. By day, she is a barista at a local coffee shop, keeping herself to herself and navigating a strained relationship with her parents – the reason for which isn’t quite clear from the offset. By night she is teaching lecherous, predatory men lessons on appropriate behaviour and consent. 

Promising Young Woman is visually saccharine, and thematically devastating – “a bleak and distressing look at the toxicity of rape culture and how it can completely eradicate lives. Revenge served with a side dish of depressing realism” – Zoe Smith 

9. Last Night in Soho

Edgar Wright’s eagerly anticipated Last Night in Soho delivered us a period-warping hallucinogenic romance-come-murder mystery. 

Eloise Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) is a 21st century student, moving to the big smoke to follow her mother’s footsteps and pursue a career in fashion design. Her oddball energy and style, all rooted in her desire to be living in a different decade, isolate her from potential new friends and as a result, she finds herself living alone in a house owned by an unfriendly older woman. 

However, when she closes her eyes at night, she finds refuge in being transported to the 60s where she connects with the previous proprietor of the room she now sleeps in - Sandie (Anya Taylor Joy). 

Mesmerised by Sandie, and the relationship she has with the charming local pimp Jack (Matt Smith), Eloise follows her deeper and deeper into the seedy underworld of London’s entertainment industry. Soon enough, she is seeing things she can never unsee, and the past creeps violently into her present.  

With a captivating performance from Taylor-Joy, stunning set and costume designs, and a soundtrack to die for mixed with the bright lights and atmosphere of our beloved London - Last Night in Soho is a mesmerising film that warps both time and genre. 

“Eloise’s quickly spiralling obsession with Sandie is one that feels like both an identification with, but more importantly, a longing for. The switches between the two, including during a slickly choreographed and edited dance sequence involving Jack do much to intertwine the pair, merging their worlds. Initially, Sadie is to be looked at, the focus of Eloise’s uncertain and even burgeoning romantic gaze. Their connection across time allows for the moments where the film gets to lean into its desire to throw horror at the screen and indulge itself in that sharp choreography.” – Caitlyn Downs

8. Antlers

Scott Cooper gave us the ultimate sad horror this year with his long-awaited feature Antlers. 

Something is wrong with Lucas (Jeremy T Thomas) and his teacher knows it. After suffering abuse at the hands of her own father, Julia (Keri Russell) begins to recognise the signs that Lucas needs help – he is tired and hungry, and unable to tell her what is wrong.

We quickly learn that Julia is right, and something evil lurks in the home of the young boy, in the place of his once loving father. 

Antlers is a harrowing look into what it is like for a child to take on the responsibility of protecting his family, at the cost of his own health and happiness. It is also a terrifying folk story, mixing tension and violence with some seriously impressive (and gnarly) body horror. 

Thomas himself is by far the highlight though, giving a performance that will have even the bravest of viewers weeping.

“Overall, Antlers is the perfect mix of family drama and horror, providing a story that spans generations of a small town as Julia desperately tries to make sure Lucas is spared the horror of her own upbringing. While Lucas is determined to do everything he can to keep his family together, Julia is still dealing with the guilt of adbanonding her own brother with her abusive father. In the end, the two need to meet in the middle to ensure their survival, and help end the abuse Lucas has been suffering once and for all. “ Kim Morrison

7. Fear Street Trilogy

Okay, admittedly we are being a little cheeky here including a whole trilogy, but Fear Street was voted for time and time again by our team so it was only fair.

Based on RL Stein’s horror book series, Leigh Janiak’s Fear Street follows the entwined lives of residents in the twin towns of Shadyside and Sunnyvale throughout three different time periods.

Part One set in 1994 sees Deena (Kiana Madeira), her girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr) and their friends facing off against a witch who cursed the town of Shadyside 300 years prior. 

Part Two, 1978, follows troublemaker Ziggy (Sadie Sink) and her goody-two-shoes sister Cindy (Emily Rudd) as they follow a map to the witch’s lair. 

And finally, Part Three takes us all the way back to 1666, to the beginning of the curse. 

“The Fear Street trilogy hits on so many themes that really stand out to me in horror that I can see them all becoming firm favourites. Deena and Sam’s love story is placed front and centre, but it’s never played off as a gimmick. In fact, their love story transcends generations, albeit through different characters. Instead, the story focuses on the pressure and judgement placed on them from the outside, which is obviously slightly more extreme in 1666. The two women do anything they can to stay together, and this proves a strong connection point between Sarah and Deena.” – Kim Morrison

Influenced by the success of other Netflix shows like Stranger Things as well as horror classics like Scream and Friday 13th, and more modern masterpieces like The Witch and It Follows, the Fear Street trilogy has something for everyone. 

6. Violation

Shudder original Violation, written and directed by Dusty Mancinelli and it’s lead star Madeleine Sims-Fewer is a British thriller in which a woman takes brutal revenge after being betrayed in the most despicable way by her sister and brother-in-law.

The story draws from Mancinelli and Sims-Fewers personal experiences with sexual assault, which certainly explains why it’s such a powerful piece.

Violation uses mind-bending time warps and jarring visuals to blur the lines on what should be a black and white, good vs evil scenario. What happens when the perpetrator is not a monster, but just a human? And what if the victim isn’t the naive heroine we’re used to?

Violation makes you question everything you think you know and feel about how justice should be dished out, and takes a slow, almost unbearable look at the trauma caused by sexual assault and the complicated reality of exacting personal revenge.

“Violation is barbaric and primal in its depiction of both sexual assault and revenge, yet forceful in confronting the ambiguity of a narrative told by someone who is an untrustworthy source.” - Zoë Rose Smith

5. Malignant

Malignant, directed by James Wan is a wild joy ride of a horror film. Highly influenced by 1970s Giallo, as well as the b-movie horror of the 80s. It follows Madison Lake (Annabelle Wallis) as she tries to piece together a murder mystery whilst experiencing violent premonitions. 

Malignant displays Wan's overwhelming creativity that hasn't been seen since Saw. When viewing, expect the unexpected.

If you want to find out more about the portrayal of women empowerment, then Aspen Esquivel took a deep dive into the film’s meaning.

4. Titane

Following her stunning but shocking coming-of-age feature Raw, Julia Ducournau has returned with a follow-up that makes cannibalism feel almost Disney-like. 

It’s hard to describe Titane without revealing too much of the plot and affecting the impact it has on its viewers. The story follows Alexei (Agathe Rousselle), a young woman who has grown up with a titanium plate in her head due to a car accident as a child. A trauma you would assume would put her off cars forever, actually impacts her in the opposite way and we see that she has grown up with a rather intimate love for them. That is just a small part of Alexei’s life though, and a small part of what is to come for her during the course of the film.

Body-horror fans with an (extremely) open-mind should not miss seeing this one with an audience, but be ready to laugh, cry and cringe your way through it – in the best possible way.

“What really makes the film rich is the exploration of some deeply intimate themes – family, trauma, gender, identity…” – Alix Turner

Titane is completely unique, you won’t see anything else like it this year, or any other year for that matter.

3. Censor

Homegrown talent Prano Bailey-Bond blew away film festivals across the world with her debut feature Censor this year, winning awards such as Best Feature film at the UK Film Festival and Director to Watch at Palm Springs International. 

Based on the Video Nasties craze of the 80s, Censor follows Enid (Niamh Algar) as her reality starts to blend with the extreme content she views in her job role as a censor – her personal trauma reflected in the VHS tapes she’s reviewing. 

“Censor draws us in step-by-step, with hypnotic rhythms, into the passages of Enid’s mind, exploring her need for resolution, and our own. This film is a stunning reflection on what sitting and watching pictures in the dark can do to us and for us.

An absolutely breath-taking film that I can’t wait to lose my breath to yet again.” – Ariel Baska

2. In the Earth

British horror fans will already be well aware of what Director Ben Wheatley is capable of, after giving us the incredible Kill List back in 2011 – and this year he returned to take us on a walk through the woods with the terrifying In The Earth.

Conceived, written and produced in quarantine during the pandemic, art reflects life in In The Earth as we see Martin Lowery (Joel Fry) and park scout Alma (Ellora Torchia) as they trek to meet with Dr Wendle (Hayley Squires) during the peak of a deadly pandemic.

During their wander, they come across a rogue explorer (Reece Shearsmith) who offers to help them find their way. However, they soon realise that all is not as it seems, and as they come across more and more traces of missing fellow travellers, they realise they may not be as alone as they once thought.

Wheatley mixes horror, humour and hallucinogenic sequences against a backdrop of ethereal landscape to draw in the viewer and make us feel like we are as lost and as desperate as the characters. 

1. Candyman

Securing its place as our number one film of 2021 is Nia DaCosta’s modern sequel to the original, legendary 1992 masterpiece, and pillar of black horror - Candyman.

DaCosta’s reimagining of this world sees Candyman manifest and renew each generation with the soul of different wrongfully murdered back men, becoming part of a Candyman hive. Next in line to face off against him is struggling artist Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen).

Anthony is a Black man, as opposed to our original white lead character Helen Lyle – a switch in racial demographic which automatically makes a huge difference to the connection between our antagonist and protagonist.

When Anthony learns about the legend of Candyman, he quickly becomes obsessed and decides to find out more about the urban legend – and how he can utilise the grisly details of tragedy to inspire his own work. Unfortunately, the further he spirals into the specifics, the more he unknowingly sets off another deadly cycle of violence. 

Candyman 2021 grapples with the all-too-real and relevant themes of racism and police brutality, whilst also giving us a gory, frightening, supernatural horror film that is wholly entertaining. It is a visual treat, with some seriously incredible set pieces and special effects.

Here at Ghouls magazine, we really cannot wait to see what Nia DaCosta does next!

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