Boogeyman 2 - A great slasher with a hard-R that has nothing to do with the original (as far as I can tell, since I didn't see it). It may not be the best but it's definitely above average and worth it for some great kills (including a disembowelment).
30 Days of Night – A vampire movie with a great twist. In Barrows, Alaska it gets dark for 30 days. And there are vampires lining up for the buffet. It's up to a rag tag band of citizens led by the sheriff (Josh Hartnett) to take them out before they're dinner. It's got some wonderful kills, a great sense of energy and visual style. From the director of Hard Candy.
Hitman – A throwback to the great Eurotrash cinema of the 70s and 80s. It's not really a good movie but it has the 3 Bs, which are brains, blood and barenaked actors. We get plenty of the latter two and just enough brains to keep things interesting. It's sort of a bloody poor man's James Bond. Definitely one of the most fun genre pictures of the year.
The Tattooist – Once again a 3B winner. This is a rather unique tale from New Zeland. It's about a tattoo artist that steals a cursed tool from a tribesman at a local tattoo show. When he uses it on people they slowly start to turn to ink and die. Can he save his girlfriend from an angry tribal ghost before it's too late? What makes this a definite watch is that it is a unique story that involves a culture that Americans don't normally get to experience. So it's an education hidden in a great horror flick.
The Ruins – Ah, this one is based on a book by Scott Smith (A Simple Plan) and comes with the red, red kroovy. It's what I like to call crunchy. Lots of bones and gristle and good old fashioned gore. Some tourists are trapped on top of a pyramid infested with man-eating plants. Horror in broad daylight, plenty of crunchy gruesome gore and a topless Laura Ramsey? Sign me up. The ending is a little blah, but the rest is solid.
Diary of the Dead – The great master himself, George Romero, returns to the dead for this lesson in how to shoot a “documentary” style horror film. Handheld without looking like it's strapped to a paint shaker? Cutting edge gore? It may not deliver on the barenaked actors but the script is tight and the gore is plentiful. The only thing I don't like is the use of more digital gore, but that's for another column.
Inside – Best French horror movie this year, probably best since High Tension (I haven't seen Frontier(s) yet) and delivering on the two most important of the 3 Bs – Brains and Blood! It's a story of a pregnant woman trapped in her house with a woman that wants her baby. She doesn't want to wait for the birth either. This film goes places that curled my toes and had me sucking in air. Definitely brutal, with smart characters well portrayed. It seems to jump the shark in the last 10 minutes but it's still great. Scissors to the testicles. 'Nuff said.
Storm Warning – Another nasty little film. This one is from Australia and features a couple in the outback who get lost and stumble across a crazy inbred family bent on killing them. It has some great horror set-pieces, has characters that are smart and desperate to live (especially a strong female character) and hell of a gag involving a baby food jar you won't soon forget. Crunchy and has the 3Bs!
Rambo – I know I gave it a good rating as a film but it's hard not to put this one on the gore lover's list for this year. IMDB estimates the body count at 2.9 corpses per minute. Now most of that occurs in the attack on a village and the end set piece but it does have the kroovy and it isn't shy. It's also clever and well shot so it delivers on 2 of the 3Bs. I don't count the brief rape scenes as they didn't feel exploitative enough (God that sounds horrible). But if a machete decapitation and a disembowelment don't get you itching, well this may not be the one for you. But if it isn't why are you still reading this list?
Zombie Strippers – Destined to be a midnight dorm room classic. This film features real porn stars (like Jenna Jameson and Roxy Saint) who are strippers turned into zombies by an infected patron. The thing is, it makes them BETTER STRIPPERS! Of course a private lap dance usually ends up in some good old gut munching but the film is over the top funny like old Troma pictures. Definitely one of the years best!
Now for the worst of the year. There are only six as I really couldn't find 10 that were really, really bad. Most were just average. The films on this list just didn't deliver, even if they did have all three of the Bs.
Them (Ils) – This is a French thriller in the vein of The Strangers. Beautiful people doing stupid things and then getting killed by less than skilled antagonists. It's well shot but it sucked.
Zombie Diaries – I have a full review of this one but I think it helps to say again, this movie is abysmally made and if I didn't have to review it I wouldn't have finished it. It was terrible, badly shot, badly acted, badly written, just terrible.
Saw IV – An unnecessary sequel to a franchise that, at episode 4 is feeling long in the tooth. The third film was a solid ending. This film is just a producer's indulgence to milk the bloody cow. Really just delivers on the blood because no one gets naked and the plot is overly complicated.
The Rage – Another wannabe zombie movie that just can't pull of the gore. It was bad writing and bad acting. Granted I could only get the Rated version at the time, but that wouldn't have helped. I'll admit that the only thing I remember about this movie was that I didn't like it.
Aliens Vs. Predator Requiem – It had two of the greatest gory sci-fi pedigrees available and it managed to screw it up, even with an R Rating. Say what you will about Paul Anderson, at least his movie was comprehensible and had characters and some plot. This movie was just a rehash of any zombie movie they just stuck Aliens and Predators in it.
Rest Stop – Don't Look Back – A terrible sequel to a movie that was just plain bad. The original was small and starred Jaime Alexander (who I like) and revolved around a haunted rest stop. The second one tries to cash in on the so called torture-porn craze but fails miserably. It has a little grue but the other 2Bs are missing and there's not enough of the blood to cover that up.
