Each year has its high points and low points in cinema. Let’s take a look at last year’s five best films.

# 5 Evil Dead: If you get the sense that modern scary movies seem to be copycats of each other, you might be right. Despite that notion, a few gems like Evil Dead come around to expose these cheap imitators. Packed full of guts, gore and glorious demon slaughter, this reboot includes classic elements of horror. Though it doesn’t have Sam Raimi’s campy humor, it’s worth a look. What horror fan wouldn’t love this movie?

# 4 Side Effects: I’ve always had a soft spot for movies that attempt to create a social statement. Side Effects provides us with an intriguing murder mystery full of twists and turns while also perfectly painting a portrait of the controversial pharmaceutical culture. Beware of watching this movie during finals week–it might be more than just Adderall keeping you up.

# 3 The East: This film, a fun little story about a group of eco-terrorists, draws its strength from strong characters and a tense atmosphere. The East sheds itself of traditional movie terrorism clichés to give an honest humanization of its heroes and villains. I’d love for Fox News to do a segment on The East; there’s enough left-wing ammunition in this movie to make their heads explode.

# 2 Pacific Rim: What do you get when you cross Godzilla with giant robots? Your inner child’s ultimate fantasy. The plot in Pacific Rim could be smarter and the characters could be deeper, but you can’t argue with the sheer awesomeness of super-powered giant robots punching giant alien sea monsters in the face. Pacific Rim can best be described as the cheesiest and most stylistic vision of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots ever put on the big screen.

# 1 Gravity: After watching this movie, I can firmly say I have no intention of ever becoming an astronaut. Gravity explores the terrifying possibility of being stranded in outer space. This sci-fi flick stays true to the physics of outer space while creating nail-biting tension in every scene. I would deem Gravity as not only the most original, but the best film of 2013.

Check out the worst movies of 2013.

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