HORRORPHILE'S BLOODY BEST OF 2011
December 16th 2011 04:08
To these fundamentalist fuckwits, I say, how dare you imply that I’m a sick, twisted, depraved, sociopathic danger to society!
But this post isn’t meant to be a tirade against the Christian lobby groups. To support the intelligent artistic freedom of directors, please visit the Facebook page Cinephiles Against Censorship.
I’m here to spill my other guts, to unleash my selection of the bloody best nightmare movies of the past year. As per usual I will include those titles that had a delayed release in the waters down under, movies that were released overseas in 2010, but didn’t see distribution in Australasia until this year.
I didn’t manage to see everything I wanted to. I never do. But there was enough highly impressive material that I thought I’d have trouble keeping it contained as a top twelve. There’s always the close contenders list.
So turn the light on, ‘cos this shit is (mostly) dark. Here they are, in some semblance of order.
Natalie Portman in a career performance. Director Darren Aronofsky channels the best elements of Dario Argento, Brian De Palma, and David Lynch to exhilarating effect. Pure dream/nightmare cinema.
Undeniably shocking, unreservedly disturbing, and powerfully uncompromising. Probably the most audacious expression of realistic nightmare cinema from the past thirty years.
The serial killer thriller ne plus ultra. A tour-de-force of narrative; visually and through characterisation. Contemporary Euro-Asian brutalism continues to assault the senses to stunning effect.
A British slap in the face, hard. The conventional psychological thriller is turned upside down and a boot is driven into the balls, then a mask is thrust on your face and hell’s bell, teeth and smells!
Eraserhead is set upon by a ferocious insect, consumed for breakfast, and shat out into the cold, wet, dark nighttime of the soul. The monster flick for dodgy intellectuals, a tenebrous barbed fantasy for deprived horrorphiles.
I’ve always got time for Spain. This is the house invasion to end all house invasions. You want fast-paced annihilation? You got it. In spades.
I love to be pleasantly surprised. This prequel is the best of the series. It’s the best acted, best scripted, and hands down, scariest found-footage flick since The Blair Witch Project (1999).
Historical horror crimes as small-town drama. A study in suburban Aussie dysfunction, perversion, and atrocity shrouded with Shakespearean evil. A stunning achievement in restrained ghastliness.
Utterly simple, utterly effective. The extension of jeopardy has never been delivered with such vivid strokes. Great White Shark stalks swimmers out at sea. Terrifyingly nightmarish.
Expressionist exploitation par excellence. This is the deepest trash served up, smokin’ on a platter with a shit-eating grin and gobbled down with as much beer and buttery popcorn as you can handle.
And for light, but oh so well done, relief, you can’t do better than this superb spoof of the slasher genre. Would make a great double feature with Hobo!
This low-budget independent vampire tale was arguably the highlight of this year’s A Night Of Horror International Film Festival. Original and moody, with two charismatic central performances, and unpretentious style to burn.
Six close contenders: 127 Hours, 13 Assassins, The Woman, The Last Circus, Take Shelter, Fright Night (2011).
Special consideration: Valhalla Rising
This masterful piece of Nordic surrealism, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, was released overseas in 2009, and it’s a crime it didn’t receive a theatrical release in Australia, instead going straight-to-DVD, without even a Blu-ray version!
Most Disappointing: #12
I really, really wanted to like this movie, and the strange thing is that it still reverberates in my mind. A faux-snuff movie that promised heavily to deliver the goods, but failed at the eleventh hour. Still, a fantastic sustained performance from the female lead in such an amazing location.
Most Annoying: Drive Angry
Nicolas Cage in probably the worst performance and movie of his increasingly dodgy career. And Amber Heard’s talent wasted once again.
Simply Unnecessary: The Thing (2011)
Not a remake, but a prequel, telling the Norwegian’s story, but when push comes to shove, this was really a remake of Carpenter’s movie, and only proved just how brilliant Carpenter’s movie, and Rob Bottin’s special effects makeup work, was.
To vote for your favourite nightmare movie of 2011, click here! Voting closes midnight Friday Dec. 30th.
NB: I am taking a much needed break from within the Darkness and won't be posting again 'til mid-January, so have a shockingly good Xmas and New Year!
| 29 |
| Vote |
Comments (1)
Add Comments
Read More
