The Best Films of the 2000s and more.
Posts tagged Horror
Thirst (2009)
Aug 13th
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-sook Kim
Director: Chan-wook Park
Country: South Korea
Genre: Foreign, Horror
Jury Prize – Cannes Film Festival
The popularity in vampire films in the last few years isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s just a resurgence of a fascination of a myth that goes back hundreds of years. But when we compare the different facets of vampirism in films today, it’s rather astounding the amount of differential nuances that can be found.
Chan-wook Park (Oldboy) directs this dark and twisted vampire tale that balances the romanticism of vampires with the remorse (or perhaps pleasure) derived from the constant sin that must be committed in order to survive. What better way to poise this balance than centering the film around a main character who is a man of the cloth. Sang-hyeon (played by the brilliant Kang-ho Song) is out to sacrifice himself to save lives by infecting himself with a disease to determine whether he has the immune system that could procure a remedy. Unfortunately it has some negative side-effects – simply put, it turns him into a vampire. While he tries to come to terms with his new ‘affliction’, Tae-ju, a stir-crazy housewife desires his powers and will stop and nothing to obtain them.
Park slowly develops the conflict in this film. It’s not immediately apparent what the obstacles are going to be. They seem to come like divine gifts with unexpected circumstances. After the halfway point, the film hurtles toward a climax that only Chan-wook Park could conceive, (and execute.) Utilizing his luscious cinematography and terrifically cringe-worthy sound effects, this might be Park’s best film to date.
Final Destination 2 (2003)
May 27th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, Jimmy Olsen
Director: David R. Ellis
Country: USA
Genre: Horror
Yeah, that’s right, Final Destination 2.
Final Destination 2 isn’t a good movie by any means, but it makes good on a promise of a great concept, and in most cases even improves upon it from the first film as it doesn’t get bogged down (all that much) with the “what” and the “why” of things, but rather cuts to the chase showing the audience exactly what they paid for: awful, gruesome, well thought out, inventive, laughable, (dare I say “enjoyable”?) death scenes, which really sets it apart from other generic Hollywood horror. It’s rare for a horror film to take pleasure in its own cleverness. The filmmakers play a game with the audience unlike any other film in the genre, and for the most part it’s incredibly fun and will forever be underestimated – which perhaps adds to its charm.
Feast (2006)
May 18th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Henry Rollins, Judah Friedlander, Navi Rawat
Director: John Gulager
Country: USA
Genre: Horror
The ‘characters-stranded-in-a-house-while-being-attacked-by-creatures’ subgenre never gets old.
This Project Greenlight film definitely fills a void in this decade’s lack of decent creature features. Feast is hyperaware of the stereotypes that tend to bog down other horror films, (whiny female characters, children, unrealistic heroism,) and remedies it with gooey splattery fun. This film’s audacity to hold nothing sacred is its biggest weapon. The unexpected can and does happen creating a complete sense of chaos. Are there loop holes in the plot? Sure. But over analyzing it is missing the point entirely. It’s a barrage of unadulterated grimy tongue-in-cheek horror that Hollywood almost never releases.
Pulse (2001)
May 12th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Haruhiko Katô, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki
Direct0r: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Country: Japan
Genre: Foreign, Horror
If you want to see what ghosts really look like, get ready. Pulse will show you.
In a world clouded with Asian horror and their American remakes, only a few stand out as petrifying masterpieces. Pulse is surely a film you won’t soon forget. From the outset, Kurosawa tinkers with the film itself, giving it a few blips and glitches as to seem to warn us that we won’t have a voice in our involvement in the film, and if we shut it off at any point, it could likely just turn itself back on. In this world, ghosts interact through technology, specifically the internet, luring their prey in. It’s never really clear on what the ghosts want, but the vagueness only amplifies the surreal tone of the film. It ends in a completely unexpected place.
Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
May 5th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Brian Cox
Director: Michael Dougherty
Country: USA
Genre: Horror
It’s about time that the horror genre received it’s version of Magnolia.
This film weaves together four stories (or four and a half if you count the opening,) of horrific events happening on Halloween in a small town. Each tale deals with a slightly different subgenre: slasher, monster, zombies, ghosts, and other furry creatures, tying each of the characters into one another’s story. The film as a whole is told with a gleeful excitement, as if Dougherty can’t wait to reveal how each character is connected, and scare us with the handful of pleasing surprises. Trick ‘r Treat really fills a void that the horror genre as been missing since the 80s of a film really embracing what it is and relishing in every second of its storytelling. Plus, the cast is brilliant fun. Dylan Baker is an underrated genius.
The Mist (2007)
Apr 27th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Tom Jane, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones
Director: Frank Darabont
Country: USA
Genre: Horror
Darabont brings us yet another great Stephen King adaptation.
Horror films can reach some dark depths, but most of them give us hope for the survivors by the end of the film, or at least throw us one last scare to leave us smirking… The Mist starts dark, gets darker, then takes a right turn into dismally bleak. Darabont’s B-film starts off fun enough with a bunch of strangers stranded in a grocery store during a massive fog as creatures begin to attack. But, like the fog itself, it becomes impossible to see the dangers that lurk in the near future. By the end of this film, you’ll be wishing for the happy times of 28 Days Later. Aside from the creatures, the focus on human behavior under extreme circumstances is given great emphasis which more than anything else develops the suspense of the film. Marcia Gay Harden deserves special attention as her incredibly frustrating evangelical performance.
The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Apr 20th
Starring: Eduardo Noriega, Marisa Paredes, Federico Luppi
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Country: Mexico
Genre: Foreign, Horror
Japan isn’t the only country with ghostly children.
There are horror films, and then there are horrific tragedies. The Devil’s Backbone is definitely part of the latter, as it draws us into a subtly complex drama with its promises of ghostly terror, much in the same way that The Orphanage does. The film takes place in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War and follows a child new to the community, who shortly begins hearing the voice of a ghost. Very much like Pan’s Labyrinth, it tells a story about a group of victims of a war through the understanding of a child. Complete with a handful of chilling moments, a few scares, and a competent backstory, The Devil’s Backbone is an often overlooked gem.
