Whereas sci-fi was down, horror seemed to have a strong year. Though there were plenty of clunkers, the great horror movies were films that expanded the genre and pushed the envelope.

Best Horror Movie

A Quiet Place

This was one of the most tense and anxiety-ridden films of the year and the theater experience was unlike any I had.  I never saw a theater so desperate to stay quiet.

Others:  The year started off with a surprisingly good Insidious: The Last Key.  Didn’t expect that out of a January horror movie.  Unsane was a great film this year, filmed exclusively on an iPhone.  Hereditary was frightening, but the ending knocked the film down for me.  The Endless was a film that few knew about but it was good.  Overlord is a fantastic horror/war mash-up.  Zombies and Nazis together!  Mandy was campy and wild with Nic Cage in a serious bloodbath.  The First Purge was okay.

Worst Horror Movie

The Nun was a spin off of the Conjuring series and it made a lot of money, but it was just horrid.  And the Nun really did not show up in this movie very much either.

Others:  Slenderman was nowhere near as good as the documentary.  Making a horror movie out of a real life tragedy was a bit of a questionable choice. The sequel Unfriended: Dark Web was not good either, though maybe better than the original.  Winchester should have been so much better than it was.  The Possession of Hannah Grace was not even that scary.  Truth or Dare was one of the few misfires from Blumhouse.