10 Slots for the Best Horror I've Seen in the Past Year
[3 of 10]

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

(May 2017)

While Yorgos Lanthimos' Kynodontas (Dogtooth) was a ¡Qué horror! Auxiliary in 2011, his latest, The Killing of a Sacred Deer (again co-written with Efthimis Filippou) pointedly veers into psychological horror territory, as we bear disquieting witness to all the horrible things we are capable of doing, not just behind the backs of the ones we love, but to the ones we love as well.

As with Kynodontas, there is an odd sense of absurd logic and terrible inevitability to the proceedings, as the privileged Murphys, led by Steven and Anna (Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman) become prey to machinations that threaten to tear their family apart.

There is much here that is uncomfortable and disturbing to watch, but if your horror veers away from your standard Hollywood creepy set pieces and jump scares, then The Killing of a Sacred Deer comes with a sparkling ¡Qué horror! recommendation.

 

XS: For any Clueless fans out there, a borderline unrecognizable Alicia Silverstone is excellent here in her brief appearance.

(The Killing of a Sacred Deer OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2018

Candidate #2

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

(May 2017)

While Yorgos Lanthimos' Kynodontas (Dogtooth) was a ¡Qué horror! Auxiliary in 2011, his latest, The Killing of a Sacred Deer (again co-written with Efthimis Filippou) pointedly veers into psychological horror territory, as we bear disquieting witness to all the horrible things we are capable of doing, not just behind the backs of the ones we love, but to the ones we love as well.

As with Kynodontas, there is an odd sense of absurd logic and terrible inevitability to the proceedings, as the privileged Murphys, led by Steven and Anna (Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman) become prey to machinations that threaten to tear their family apart.

There is much here that is uncomfortable and disturbing to watch, but if your horror veers away from your standard Hollywood creepy set pieces and jump scares, then The Killing of a Sacred Deer comes with a sparkling ¡Qué horror! recommendation.

 

XS: For any Clueless fans out there, a borderline unrecognizable Alicia Silverstone is excellent here in her brief appearance.

(The Killing of a Sacred Deer OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Auxiliary List
[4 of 4]

And for the final batch of the 2011 Auxiliaries, a pair of very strange films…

KYNODONTAS
(DOGTOOTH)
(May 2009)


Nominated at the Oscars for Best Foreign Film, Greece’s Kynodontas is a darkly humorous and ultimately disturbing look at the reality that how parents raise their children really does make all the difference in the world.


RUBBER
(May 2010)


Yes, in case you’ve heard about this one, this is indeed the film about the angry psychic tire named “Robert.”
You read that correctly.
Angry.
Psychic.
Tire.
And while Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber is certainly about that, it’s also about art and how an audience relates to art, how art is influenced by the audience, and the disturbing possibilities of art becoming something more than what was originally intended.
Brilliant and absurd, this is quite unlike anything else on this Auxiliary list, or on the main ¡Qué Horror! 2011 rundown, for that matter.

(Kynodontas OS, Dogtooth UK quad, and Rubber OS courtesy of impawards.com.)