A Trilogy of Horror for 2022

According to the reviews and the advertising, 2022 has been another great year for horror. I’m not so sure about that. Three relatively recent releases are guilty of some pretty serious flaws.

Smile

This movie had a promotional campaign that was so good the film could never measure up. Especially when the film itself is just a series of the horror genre’s cardinal sin—jump scares. When there aren’t jumps happening, the viewer is left with a very slow, quiet, non-developing story. And, people smiling strangely. Which is creepy for a split second, and then just silly.

Barbarian

This one had a tagline, “Barbarian is the scariest movie in years.” However, that was not a quote attributed to anyone, so one has to presume it is the filmmakers themselves who think this. What audiences do seem to be saying is that this film is super original. However, if jump-scares are the cardinal sin of horror films, there is a close second that Barbarian embraces completely. Characters in horror movies are stupid and always do the exact opposite of what characters in real life would do. Barbarian takes this idea to the extreme. It is not so much scary, as it is laughably silly and unbelievable. Are the people in real life as dumb as the characters in this story?

Halloween Ends

Like most movies in this franchise, Ends is not scary. More cruel and difficult to watch than scary anyway. It is having a problem with audiences because, as a Halloween movie, expectations are implied. Halloween does not deliver, as it isn’t really a Halloween film. It could have been a genius film exploring the nature of mental illness, violence, and the inspiration unhealthy people derive from this sort of movie. The problem is that it does not commit to this idea completely. Not to mention, the way that it does is not is a relatable or helpful manner, but rather in the typical dehumanizing fashion of all slasher films.

So, with these three films, 2022 gives us a snore, a laugh, and an unlikable time. Not the entire output in horror for 2022 has been terrible, however. Scream, Nope, and The Black Phone have been interesting. Just not “the best year for horror in years.”