10 Recent Horror Movies That Were ALMOST Amazing
These horror flicks got close but no cigar.
Not all movies, horror or otherwise, can be stone cold masterpieces - the vast majority of films, in fact, fall short of this, with most sitting in the decent/watchable/fine/OK region we generally call "average."
But it's undeniably frustrating when a film gets so, so many things right, yet ends up falling short of greatness for some reason. And that's absolutely true of these 10 recent horror movies.
Each of them touted a great premise, strong cast, and engaging execution up to a point, but there was ultimately something that held them back from fully realising the promise of their vision.
And if we're honest, most of the time it comes down to the third act, which is a tricky nut to crack at even the best of times.
In most of these films, it ended up being the weakest part of the equation, ensuring that the euphoric, fist-pumping highs of the first hour-or-so failed to translate into a fully compelling ending.
There are other issues which might've stopped these movies becoming certified bangers of course, but each has one thing in common - they were agonisingly close to pulling off a home run...
10. Heart Eyes
Heart Eyes is nothing if not one of the most unique horror films of the past few years - a bold attempt to wrap conventional slasher tropes around a charming rom-com formula.
And honestly, for most of the movie it actually works - leads Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding are an effortlessly shippable pair, the kills are appreciably nasty, and the Heart Eyes killer themselves has the easy makings of a new horror icon.
But the hokier aspects of the script come into play in the final third, as the film becomes less subversive and surprising, instead serving up one of the most obvious villain unmaskings in quite some time.
There was a clear jumping-off point where Heart Eyes could've totally skirted what most people were expecting of this movie, but instead it keeps going with a generic killer showdown that feels ripped straight out of the very late '90s/early 2000s slashers it's somewhat affectionately mocking.
It's still a solid movie, but also falls off hard at the end.