Our Top 5 Favorite Films of 2013

Each of us compiled a personal list of our personal top 5 favorite films we saw in 2013. It would be impossible for these lists to be inclusive of every film released through 2013 because we unfortunately don't have the the resources or access to see every release. Therefore, keep in mind these lists only include films we have seen to date.

Mike's List

5. Dark Skies

4. The Conjuring

3. Maniac

2. Evil Dead

1. Curse of Chucky

Connor's List

5. Evil Dead

4. Maniac

3. The World's End

2. You're Next

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - my slight disappointment with the first hobbit was more than made up for with The Desolation of Smaug. More action, the best movie dragon I have ever seen, and one of the biggest cliff hangers of all time make this my #1.

Adam's List

5. The Conjuring – James Wan’s homage to 70’s horror is an impressively creepy film that manages to forego the expected jump scare tactics utilizing atmosphere and sound to create an effectively chilling film. While the story falters a bit in the third act it still comes highly recommended as a mainstream studio produced haunted house film.

4. You’re Next – A fun horror comedy that twists and turns its way to a satisfying finale involving one of the best final girls ever committed to film.

3. Berberian Sound Studio (US release 2013) – Toby Jones plays a sound engineer who has been brought on to assist with post-dubbing an Italian giallo film. His sanity slowly unravels as the line between reality and fiction becomes blurred and we as an audience no longer know what to believe. In addition to a mesmerizing story it’s also a lot of fun to watch the process of post-dubbing everything from sound effects (mostly involving vegetables) to dialogue. For the viewer willing to challenge themselves and invest their attention into something different Berberian Sound Studio is well worth it.

2. We Are What We Are – Jim Mickle is one of my favorite working directors. Mulberry Street and Stake Land are two films that I repeatedly return to and We Are What We Are will be no different. It’s a slow burn about religion, tradition and family and how devotion and fear of these can decide how we live our lives and ultimately destroy us. It’s a fantastic film with some great performances and disturbing visuals. I can’t recommend this enough.

1. Maniac (US release 2013) – A solid update to a grimy cult classic. Stylish, gruesome and disturbing it’s easily my favorite genre film of the year.