1. Favorite: By favorite I’m assuming we mean, “favorite we hadn’t seen before”, otherwise The Ring or Halloween would be listed here. It’s a close call this year because there were a lot of fine discoveries. Although I don’t generally go for the “torture” films, I would have to go with Hostel, with Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning, The Hills Have Eyes (remake), Wolf Creek, Saw III, and The Last Man on Earth (now being re-made with Will Smith, boo!) also in the running. Hostel also boasts the most satisfying ending of all the films I watched this year.
2. Hidden gem award: The Last Man on Earth. This is a great Vincent Price vehicle based on the Matheson novel. It’s violent, bleak, and has one downer of an ending. Excellent.
3. Most Disturbing: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning. Imnotmarc has the perfect quote, “There isn't a single moment in this entire movie that isn't permeated with misery.” By time I left the theater I felt like I had been punched in the gut.
4. Scream Queen: The creepy girl from Hard Candy. This chick is your worst nightmare. Not only does she tie you up and taunt you for hours on end, she doesn’t offer any relief. If you find yourself with this chick, it’s too late for you.
5. Worst: Slashed Dreams. A woman is raped and the rapists are [lamely] chased off. The end. This film had more padding than an NFL linebacker. Also, if you’re going to put Freddy Kruger in a movie, don’t make him the wuss.
6. So Bad It’s Good award: Why Bloodlust, of course! Come on, what’s not to like here? Mike Brady and some other “teens” must survive the most dangerous game. It’s a duel to the death. On one side you have a rich bastard chasing everyone with his cache of guns and on the other side you have Mike Brady telling him why it’s not a good idea.
7. Goriest: I’m starting to believe that Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning is the goriest film I’ve ever seen. Evil Dead might be on that list as well. TCTB wasn’t just gory, it was downright disgusting. Submerging oneself in a pool of blood and entrails automatically makes this film a winner [see also, The Descent].
8. Most Memorable Death: Any of the deaths from Saw III including the woman who sticks her hand in a jar of acid and the chick who is iced to death.
9. Best Looking Monster: Although it’s just a low-budget rip-off of the monsters from Alien and Predator, this creature from Feast still looks pretty damn cool!
10. Scariest: I didn’t see many good “ghost” films this year. Rather than “scary” movies I watched a lot of “unsettling” movies. For me it’s a toss up between Hostel and Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning. If forced to choose I’d go for Hostel since TCTB has been made 5 times before.
4 comments:
So it looks like the big winners for this year are Hostel, TCM:TB, Dawn '04.
I can't wait to check out Last Man on Earth.
I remember reading some comment by Hostel director Eli Roth; I forget what the comment was but whoever was quoting him bracketing the statement with a somewhat bitter "because you can't say anything about horror these days without seeing what Eli Roth thinks about it."
I hadn't seen Hostel at the time, but considering the impact it had on this year's contest, I'd have to say it lived up to its hype.
I find it interesting that both Hostel and TCM:TB were envelope-pushers that actually edged into "too far" for tough customers like ourselves.
I also like that the specific tone of those two flicks affected us differently, that I was more offput by the greedy, "sane" evil of Hostel vs. the full-blown crazy of Sherriff Hoyt (although Summerisle's comment that he's disturbing doing ANYTHING is ringing in my ears right now...man, I hate Sherriff Hoyt).
Okay, "man, I hate Sherriff Hoyt" made me think of him being the sherriff of an actual town, and some teenagers hanging around outside the feed store bitching about him.
"That guy's a dick! The other day I'm cruising around with Lulu Mae, Joe-Bob and Winky, and he pulls me over and chews me out for no goddamn reason! Then he took us all home and ate us. What a tool!"
Just like those damn Barrington cops!
"Too far" is on everyone's agenda these days. People are so desperate to come up with something that hasn't been done before that they go straight for the extreme. TCM:TB is a good example in horror. In comedy you have Borat's obscenely long naked fight and Family Guy had the extended chicken fight sequence, both of which I found really funny. Other examples: The Passion of the christ,
But now what? Snuff films? If TCM:TB did go the rape route, would everyone still be singing its praises? Why is torture and murder for torture and murder's sake acceptable but rape is still taboo? I'm playing devil's advocate sorta but I'm still trying to identify what exactly is so appealing about this fucked up movie...
Post a Comment