Dozens of horror movies were released in 2014, just as in past years, although some of the best and most frightening flicks could only be found in limited theatrical release. But don't worry! We've gathered together a hot dozen scare-fests from 2014 that you can watch on home video during the holiday season, so you're be all set for a fresh new year of terror come January 1.
12. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Definitely a mixed bag of thrills in this spin-off of the horror franchise, but it earned favor for its cast (intrepid Latino-Americans), setting (a lower budget apartment complex in Oxnard, California), and a squeamish scene in a bathroom, where our hapless hero looks at his face in a mirror and discovers something he didn't expect to see.
11. Oculus
Powered by Karen Gillan's nervy performance, this thriller digs into the skin when she and her brother (Brenton Thwaites) confront a mirror that may be connected to a sinister supernatural force.
Eric Bana stars as a New York City police detective who doesn't believe in the supernatural, yet is smart enough to team up with a priest (Edgar Ramirez) who does to solve a baffling series of crimes. Things get truly unsettling when the priest confronts a possessed man.
In this fast and funny sequel, Nazi zombies once again pose a threat to a small town in the dead of winter. The action is kick-started when the Nazi zombie menace arises in a museum; it's a most discomfiting scene.
8. Wolf Creek 2
Wilderness backpackers in Australia don't stand a chance if they're unlucky enough to cross paths with Mick (John Jarrett), an evil serial killer who demonstrates the depths of his sadistic nature in a horrifying scene with a hapless victim who is tied to a chair.
Revolving around an abandoned house with a haunted past, the movie casts an atmospheric spell, never more unnerving than when a young woman is glimpsed atop a childhood plaything. Her eyes bear witness to a horrible tragedy. What evil lurks within that house?
6. Honeymoon
Newly married Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway are a happy, loving, playful couple as they sneak away to a cabin in the woods. Then the bride disappears in the middle of the night, only to be found outside, naked and trembling.Things are never the same, as exemplified by what happens the next morning, a scene that is poignant yet frightening for what it portends.
5. Housebound
Mixing deadpan humor with startling twists, the movie plays on a strained relationship between a devoted mother and her rebellious daughter. They are forced to team up in a scary scene where they are both witnesses to terror.
4. The Babadook
Still grieving the loss of her husband years before, Amelia (Essie Davis) must nonetheless care the best she can for her young son, who constantly shrieks about an imaginary monster. Are they both losing their minds, or is the monster real? Other moments in the movie are quite frightening, but the scene in which where they read in bed together is even more subversively scary.
For those who remember the horrific Jonestown massacre in the late 1970s, the scenario may sound familiar, but director Ti West lays things out calmly and logically, exploring an isolated religious retreat and keeping the focus on a few key characters. But then the charismatic leader (Gene Jones) appears, and in an interview conducted in public with a journalist (A.J. Bowen), turns things toward the macabre in a seemingly normal yet extremely uncomfortable manner.
Desperate economic times call for desperate measures, as the hard-pressed Pat Healy learns when he is pitted against his friend Ethan Embry by smug rich guy David Koechner in a game of escalating brutality. How far would you go to provide for yourself and your family? That's the question when the stakes are raised in one particularly disturbing scene.
1. Starry Eyes
A similar message is sounded in this spare, deeply moving and disturbing horror movie. Sarah (Alexandra Essoe) is an aspiring actress who has not found much success in Hollywood. When a starring role is dangled in front of her, she must decide what she is willing to do to win the role. She must also confront the demons that live within her soul, in a series of scenes that are shocking yet also profoundly tragic.
