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In discussions of the year’s best film , it’s easy for horror to get overlooked. Here are 19 of the genre’s best offerings in 2013.

The Lords of Salem

Directed by: Rob Zombie

Written by: Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie's unique style produces hit-or-miss results, even within the same series: 2003's House of 1000 Corpses was a disaster, while its follow-up, 2005's The Devil's Rejects, is a modern-day horror classic. The Lords of Salem feels like something new entirely, following radio host and recovering drug addict Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie) as she becomes possessed by a witches' chant. In many ways, the film is subtler than Zombie's past works, while still paying homage to classic horror. At times, it reads as Rob Zombie's interpretation of Rosemary's Baby, right down to the kooky neighbors who are actually witches.

Anchor Bay Films

Resolution

Directed by: Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead

Written by: Justin Benson

The central conceit for Resolution would be frightening enough without any supernatural elements: Michael (Peter Cilello) handcuffs his junkie friend Chris (Vinny Curran) to a pipe in a run-down house as a last-ditch attempt to get Chris sober. But the psychological horror soon spirals into something even worse, as Michael discovers film footage that foretells a dark future. It's a tense film broken up with moments of genuine comedy, culminating in an ambiguous and truly unsettling conclusion. There are no cheap scares, just a relentless sense of dread that runs through every scene.

Cinedigm

Stitches

Directed by: Conor McMahon

Written by: Conor McMahon

It's hard to do killer clowns right. Sure, clowns are inherently frightening, but they're also absurd, and clown-centric horror films have a hard time striking the right balance between gruesome and funny. Stitches offers perhaps the perfect blend: Even at its goriest, it's so over-the-top that it's almost cartoonish. At the same time, Stitches (Ross Noble), a reanimated clown seeking revenge on the kids who accidentally offed him at a child's birthday party, is appropriately menacing. He's campy enough to delight you — he makes balloon animals with one victim's intestines — but you're still a little terrified.

MPI Media Group

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

Directed by: Jonathan Levine

Written by: Jacob Forman

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is the oldest movie on this list: While it finally hit select theaters and DVD this year, it's actually been lingering with a troubled distribution deal since 2006. What's impressive is that, even seven years after the fact, the film still feels fresh. It's a straightforward slasher — the titular Mandy (Amber Heard) is menaced by a psycho killer along with her attractive high school friends — with some genuinely subversive elements. Because the movie has been available (if not officially) for so long, you may have heard the twist by now. Knowing that doesn't really diminish the effect, which is a gut-punch — or, more accurately, a gut-stab.

The Weinstein Company

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