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Every year, I do a Best of/Worst of on this and other boards I frequent and this year is no exception.
Admittedly, 2005 was not a good year for Horror. Films were bumped back that should have been in wide release (The Descent, Underworld: Evolutions, Hostel) and the rest we were given for the most part was bottom of the barrel. Yet, through all the muck we had to dig through at your local theater and video stores, some gems tended to surface from time to time. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews for such films as Cry Wolf and Wolf Creek, but neither make it to my year end list in any way because I have seen neither. With all that has gone down for me over the past year, it's a miracle I even got in the ones that I did. But, here we go for what it's worth. Some you may like and some you might disagree with, but hopefully you will post your selections on the board too.
THE BEST HORROR FILMS OF 2005
1. The Devil's Rejects. What more can I say about a film that I have given many accolades since the first time I saw it? Sid Haig and William Forsythe owned this film. There were some other great performances by Leslie Easterbrook, Ken Foree, Bill Mosely, Danny Trejo and "Diamond" Dallas Page. Rob Zombie proved to audiences everywhere that he was in the game to stay with his follow up to House of 1000 Corpses, which yours truly, did not look upon favorably. Zombie made a believer out of me with his second attempt at a major studio film. I have watched "Rejects" many times since its release and it never gets old. I highly recommend this movie to you that haven't seen it. Rob Zombie, you rock, man!
2. Satan's Little Helper. Directed by Jeff Leiberman, the man who brought us Squirm, is one of the best indy films I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. Movies like this one make me realize that the Slasher genre isn't truly dead, as long as we have folks out there willing to make an imaginative cinematic experience, and not become bogged down with studio remakes, CGI and slating films for a teen market. There is an air of John Carpenter's Halloween about the production as a silent serial killer wearing a devil mask goes about slaughtering the unsuspecting on Halloween night. If you see this in your local video market, pick it up immediately. You'll be glad you did.
3. Constantine. Keanu Reeves, as we all know is an actor without much depth. However, as John Constantine, it is a role suited to him, being a man that has become indifferent to the world around him because he knows what his eventual fate will be. One of Reeves best roles to date, despite all the naysayers squalling that he was miscast as he was totally different to the Hellblazer character on which the movie was based. So ****ing what? That is what I say to the video gamer dingbats who whine about Resident Evil; just enjoy the damn thing and don't go to the movies ready to pick apart the second the opening credits roll. Good film with better than average CGI. I'm not a crusade for the latter, but I must say it was better than some I have seen in the past.
4. Undead. Originally released in Australia in 2003, this didn't hit our shores until this year. It's laced with homage's to such films as The Evil Dead, Romero's Dead series and various Sci-Fi hits of the 50's. It tends to get muddled at times like it can't make up its mind whether it wants to be Horror, Sci-Fi or Comedy, but overall, I think it works for the most part. The ending makes you believe there will be a sequel and hopefully it won't be too long in the coming.
5. King Kong. Not a real Horror film, per se, but it's about giant monsters so it belongs here. It also has some very harrowing scenes involving natives, bugs and something that looks like it crawled from one of H.P. Lovecraft's "space between the stars." It could have stood some editing here and there but it was a great film nonetheless. Thumbs way up for Kong's triumphant return to the silver screen.
Admittedly, 2005 was not a good year for Horror. Films were bumped back that should have been in wide release (The Descent, Underworld: Evolutions, Hostel) and the rest we were given for the most part was bottom of the barrel. Yet, through all the muck we had to dig through at your local theater and video stores, some gems tended to surface from time to time. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews for such films as Cry Wolf and Wolf Creek, but neither make it to my year end list in any way because I have seen neither. With all that has gone down for me over the past year, it's a miracle I even got in the ones that I did. But, here we go for what it's worth. Some you may like and some you might disagree with, but hopefully you will post your selections on the board too.
THE BEST HORROR FILMS OF 2005
1. The Devil's Rejects. What more can I say about a film that I have given many accolades since the first time I saw it? Sid Haig and William Forsythe owned this film. There were some other great performances by Leslie Easterbrook, Ken Foree, Bill Mosely, Danny Trejo and "Diamond" Dallas Page. Rob Zombie proved to audiences everywhere that he was in the game to stay with his follow up to House of 1000 Corpses, which yours truly, did not look upon favorably. Zombie made a believer out of me with his second attempt at a major studio film. I have watched "Rejects" many times since its release and it never gets old. I highly recommend this movie to you that haven't seen it. Rob Zombie, you rock, man!
2. Satan's Little Helper. Directed by Jeff Leiberman, the man who brought us Squirm, is one of the best indy films I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. Movies like this one make me realize that the Slasher genre isn't truly dead, as long as we have folks out there willing to make an imaginative cinematic experience, and not become bogged down with studio remakes, CGI and slating films for a teen market. There is an air of John Carpenter's Halloween about the production as a silent serial killer wearing a devil mask goes about slaughtering the unsuspecting on Halloween night. If you see this in your local video market, pick it up immediately. You'll be glad you did.
3. Constantine. Keanu Reeves, as we all know is an actor without much depth. However, as John Constantine, it is a role suited to him, being a man that has become indifferent to the world around him because he knows what his eventual fate will be. One of Reeves best roles to date, despite all the naysayers squalling that he was miscast as he was totally different to the Hellblazer character on which the movie was based. So ****ing what? That is what I say to the video gamer dingbats who whine about Resident Evil; just enjoy the damn thing and don't go to the movies ready to pick apart the second the opening credits roll. Good film with better than average CGI. I'm not a crusade for the latter, but I must say it was better than some I have seen in the past.
4. Undead. Originally released in Australia in 2003, this didn't hit our shores until this year. It's laced with homage's to such films as The Evil Dead, Romero's Dead series and various Sci-Fi hits of the 50's. It tends to get muddled at times like it can't make up its mind whether it wants to be Horror, Sci-Fi or Comedy, but overall, I think it works for the most part. The ending makes you believe there will be a sequel and hopefully it won't be too long in the coming.
5. King Kong. Not a real Horror film, per se, but it's about giant monsters so it belongs here. It also has some very harrowing scenes involving natives, bugs and something that looks like it crawled from one of H.P. Lovecraft's "space between the stars." It could have stood some editing here and there but it was a great film nonetheless. Thumbs way up for Kong's triumphant return to the silver screen.
