The Cutprice Guignol

You know, in a lot of ways, I actually do really like the idea of this remake of Black Christmas.

In the era of prestige horror, Sophia Takal’s retread of the sorority girl slashfest really feels like a good take on the old premise: set on a modern college campus and picking up on the sisterhood premise of the original, Takal adds a contemporary twist in the tail with a sharp feminist throughline that seeks to explore rape culture on campus and the toxic masculinity of violence like the kind that exists in gorefests like this one. Using the meta-narrative of the final girl slasher framework to explore these themes is a genuinely inspired idea, and with an almost all-female cast and crew, it feels like it’s coming from an authentic place as opposed to wearing its feminism on its sleeve to make a point about its progressive politics.

Check out our previous article right here!

Louise’s Pick: The Double

Honourable Mentions: Stoker, The Sacrament, Willow Creek

Honestly, 2013 has probably been the most difficult year we’ve had so far in this retrospective. Every other article so far has had a movie that just leapt out at me; one that just made this choice an easy decision. But 2013 has a lot of good, not a lot of great – lots of movies that I enjoyed, would recommend, but not many that made me go “Oh, yes.”

That said? This might be the exception to this rule. Richard Ayoade came on to the cinema scene with the brilliant, bizarre little coming-of-age story Submarine, and that would have been good enough to cement his place in the indie auteur category – but The Double stepped that up and then some. A loose adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s novel of the…

Catch up on our previous 2011 article right here!

Louise’s Pick: The Cabin in the Woods

Honourable Mentions: Looper, Wreck-It Ralph, The Imposter

Now, my previous picks, they have been all about sheer magisterial grasp of the cinematic art form. I Saw The Devil and The Skin I Live In are not so much films to enjoy as films to endure to come out a better person – well, what’s left of you, anyway.

But Cabin in the Woods? Cabin in the Woods is different. I mean, to be fair, there is an extraordinary amount of skill on display here, as director Drew Goddard pulls apart the horror genre at the seams and tosses it back together again with killer mermen, tequila, Fran Kranz, and probably my favourite Chris Hemsworth performance to date; I’m a huge slut for the world of horror, and, in those terms, Cabin in the…