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Ranking Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead Films

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are these very ambitious SF horror auteurs of independent cinema who are only starting their career, but throughout their five movies, they’ve already showed great promise. Although they can be too ambitious, most of their movies work as they benefit from terrific high-concept ideas and fantastic dialogue. Here is my ranking of all five of their feature films.

5. V/H/S: Viral

V/H/S: Viral has a couple of memorable moments and it is still fun to watch, but this is by far the weakest entry in the franchise and the worst Benson and Moorhead movie so far. You’d think that a film that had Nacho Vigalondo along with these two in the directorial chairs would be better, but you’d be wrong unfortunately as it’s all quite mediocre, thus it gets the last spot.

4. Synchronic

Synchronic is a wildly original SF movie with a different spin on the regular time travel movie. The film truthfully posits that the present is the best period and all of the past periods were infinitely worse. But the pacing is entirely off in both halves, the characterization is poor and although it is somewhat artistic, the movie also felt cheap technically speaking.

3. Resolution

Resolution is this very unique movie that deals with a tough subject – drug addiction and the importance of rehab. The friendship angle was wonderful here and the dialogue is as usual for the directors outstanding. The problem is everything else as the horror elements are entirely uninteresting, which is a big issue having in mind that the movie was supposed to be a horror flick first and foremost.

2. The Endless

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are excellent in The Endless, both in the directorial chair and as the main actors. The film does have two distinctly different halves, but the SF twist worked out splendidly and some of the horror moments are genuinely disturbing. For a movie that was obviously made on the cheap, it’s a surprisingly effective and engaging genre flick with some excellent dialogue as well. It is definitely their second best feature.

1. Spring

Spring is this terrific horror romance movie that actually works in both of these departments. I loved the film for how low-key it is in its execution. The central romance was fantastic and so tender while you really start caring for both of these characters. This is pretty much the directors’ take on a Richard Linklater formula and it worked out splendidly as the dialogue is incredible and the emotional investment is undeniable. The poetic ending was also very moving. It’s by far their most accomplished movie so far.