Best (& Worst) Horror of 2012.

The dust has settled on all the Christmas shenanigans and before the NYE ball drops, I'll squeeze my 2012 wrap-up post in here. As per usual, I thought I would be hard pressed to find five to make up a list, but after perusing my archives, I easily found a good number of titles for re-praise. In no particular order, here we go...

Resolution

USA, Dir: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

This film is a creative powerhouse, andin my opinion, the most original genre piece to hit screens in years. As I spoke of in my review from back in October, I still find it miraculous they were able to find some narrative space that was completely untapped. Resolution does for indie horror what Primer did for science-fiction back in the mid-2000's. Those who are initiated with Shane Carruth's time-travel revelation know that is high praise, so hopefully, Resolution sets the same precedent. It would sure go a long way toward elevating horrorphiles' current post-movie conversations beyond, “well, at least it had gore in it.”

The Cabin In The Woods

USA, Dir: Drew Goddard

I loved this movie. It was the ultimate love-letter to the thirty years of horror cinema that came before it. I can appreciate the opinions of the movie's many detractors – actually I can't, lighten the fuck up – but this movie delivered to me ten-fold what I was actually expecting. Cabin In The Woods was a highlight in a year where I had many especially fun viewing experiences, but more on that later. Goddard and Joss Whedon had a hell of a time getting this movie into theatres – three years in fact! - but in the end, all that blood, sweat and tears were all worth it.

American Mary

Canada, Dir: Jen & Sylvia Soska

I am proud to again include a Canadian picture on my top five list this year. The Soska Sisters brought forth a darkly fascinating world with their sophomore effort. Though it is true the second half does meander quite a bit, I can't deny there was a large chunk of this flick that had me completely enraptured. I was also extremely happy to see Katherine Isabelle front and center again, where she belongs.

The Pact

USA, Dir: Nick McCarthy

When making up my list, this title was one that bubbled up to the surface. Anchored by great performances, some fantastic cinematography and a simple, yet interesting story, The Pact is a great little horror film. Its silly last few moments notwithstanding, I recommend you look this up on Netflix right away.

Byzantium

UK/Ireland, Dir: Neil Jordan

I feel a little weird putting this on here, as it is more of a family drama than a straight horror film, but it has vampires, so fuck it. This was one of the best films I saw this year, period. Both Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan compliment each other beautifully and the film itself is just as easy on the eyes. As my glowing TIFF review clearly stated, I loved everything about this film and hope it gets some sort of domestic release in 2013.

Honourable Mentions

2012 proved that the horror anthology is, in fact, making a comeback. Though neither V/H/S or The ABC's of Death were home runs, they both had some great stuff to build upon. V/H/S 2 (or S-VHS as I hear it has been titled) is already on the way, so here's to the horror anthology staying around for a bit.

As I said before, I had a lot of fun in the theater this year. [REC]3 was a nice break from its more serious conventions, Noboru Iguchi's Dead Sushi was a hoot-and-a-half, that was only enhanced by the atmosphere through which I experienced it, and Detention was a uproarious cornucopia of nineties genre film conventions.

This year, I'd like to single out some performances. Pascal Laugier's follow-up to Martyrs may have underwhelmed a lot of people who were expecting something of a more graphic nature, but at least it was a more coherent effort than Bustillo & Maury's Livid from last year. More importantly, Laugier should be praised for getting such a fantastic performance from Jessica Biel, as I have to admit being a little floored when I saw it at Fantasia. I didn't know she had it in her. Also, though the Sam Raimi-produced flick The Possession was sub-par at best, there was nothing mediocre about Natasha Calis' performance as the possessed teen, Em.

Now onto the not-so-goods...

Due to my festival fatigue at the time, I missed seeing Paranormal Activity 4 and Silent Hill 2, but from what I hear I did not miss much. I did however catch Sinister, and the most disappointing thing about it was that it could've been in my top five if its last half had been anywhere near as good as its first.

Nothing I saw this year was as bad as Grave Encounters 2 though. What a waste of time that was. There is nothing more obnoxious in a horror movie that seeing a character rhyme off reasons why modern horror sucks, and then seeing that movie do every single one of those things unironically. Also, Inbred was pretty insipid, but hey, “at least it had gore in it.”

That closes the book on 2012, and hopefully all that nonsense about the Mayans. See you all in the New Year.

If You Like...

I'm still sussing out my best of 2012 list, but in the meantime I thought I'd throw this up here. With Quentin Tarantino's newest film Django Unchained recently riding into the theatres, I'd like to bring up a little book I got in the mail a few weeks back. If You Like Quentin Tarantino by Katharine Rife digs deep into his filmography and pulls out countless influences and homages. The reason I am mentioning it here on the pages of The Horror Section is due to its inclusion of several horror flicks. Classic genre staples, such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, My Bloody Valentine, Slumber Party Massacre, and Pieces are all discussed.

As a holiday bonus, and its Canadian connection, I have included the section that covers My Bloody Valentine. Tarantino has, on a few occasions, cited it as his favourite slasher flick and you know how I feel about it, so I was glad to see it appear in the book. See you in a few days.

My Bloody Valentine combines a popular cinematic trend (holiday-themed slasher movies) with a striking image (a miner in full uniform and gas mask) and some familiar genre tropes (horny young kids getting naked) to create a hybrid that for all of its sex and violence still seems rather quaint. This isn’t really the movie’s fault though: My Bloody Valentine was famously, extensively cut to avoid an X rating. Censors demanded cuts to every single kill scene in the movie, and the studios complied, spooked by the murder of John Lennon and the immense backlash that had accompanied Friday the 13th the year before.

Most of the time, these kinds of cuts are no big deal—a few frames that are barely perceptible when they do get restored. But with My Bloody Valentine, they really are two different movies; the cut version is practically bloodless, making all of the murder scenes short, vague, and confusing. It’s a shame, too, because when you do see the deleted scenes, the deaths are creative (one victim is impaled on a shower head so the water sprays out of her open mouth) and the gore SFX are really quite well done. The uncut My Bloody Valentine remained unseen until 2009, when a re-release hit theaters in advance of a 3D remake. The restored version is still unavailable on Blu-ray; somewhat inexplicably, the distributor decided to include the extended gore sequences as special features rather than putting them back in the movie itself.

My Bloody Valentine is obviously not a Hollywood production (all the actors’ Canadian accents are intact, director George Mihalka notes proudly). It was shot on location in the small mining town of Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia; the mine scenes were shot in a real coal mine that had been shut down only a few years before, and some rather drastic safety risks were taken by cast and crew alike. As Mihalka explains in a 2005 interview with the webzine The Terror Trap: “The only lighting equipment we were allowed to use was safety lighting equipment because there were no sparks. It was quite scary working like that because at a certain point, it becomes extremely dangerous. I mean, you can die. That’s why they used to have canaries in coal mines.”

The story is pretty straightforward, if a little silly: it’s 1980, and the small town of Valentine Bluffs hasn’t held a Valentine’s Day dance in twenty years. You’d think they would, being the small town of Valentine’s Bluffs and all, but this sleepy mining hamlet is afflicted with a curse. See, back in 1960, some mine foremen left their posts early to attend the Valentine’s Day dance, resulting in a methane gas explosion that left a group of miners trapped underground for six weeks. The only survivor, Harry Warden, was driven insane by the ordeal and sent to a mental institution. He escaped exactly one year later to cut out the hearts of the guilty foremen, vowing that the same would happen to any unwary schmuck who ever celebrated Valentine’s Day in Valentine’s Bluffs again. But that was twenty years ago, and to a group of young miners, Harry Warden is nothing but a fairy tale. So the teens decide to defy the town sheriff and have a Valentine’s Day party down at the mine. And as the audience already knows, this is one urban legend that’s true . . .

My Bloody Valentine is a giddy, somewhat guilty pleasure, but to its credit, unlike most slasher movies, it’s carefully paced and structured well enough that you won’t forget it right away. Tarantino hasn’t, as he told Entertainment Weekly in 2006: “As far as slasher films go, of course, I love Halloween and all those. But as time’s gone on, I think My Bloody Valentine may be my favorite.”

Excerpt posted by permission from Hal Leonard Books.

Trailer Tuesdays: Xmas Blowout!

Merry Christmas everyone! To celebrate this year's visit from Santa Claus, I bring you this sack full of Christmas horror goodies! So, roast those chestnuts and egg that nog, and I'll see you in a few days for my 2012 wrap-up.

Merry Zombie Christmas

Here below, is Mad Genius Comics' festival web comic, Johnny Zombie Christmas. Click on the image to check it out. Enjoy!

DKTM 163

Well, we made it. Now, we can concentrate on the festive season at hand.  

Last Wednesday, I attended the latest edition of Little Terrors, the monthly short film showcase organized by filmmaker Justin McConnell and Rue Morgue Magazine. This fourteenth volume consisted of almost a dozen Christmas-themed genre shorts. Fortunately, a lot of them are online, so I will share them with you here.

We'll start off with a classic. Treevenge was Jason Eisener's 2008 follow-up to his now historic Grindhouse competition trailer Hobo With A Shotgun. For those who haven't already seen it - and even if you have, why not another watch! - here it is below.

One of my faves from the programme was a 2011 Bloodshots 48-hour challenge entry entitled Father Christmas. Brilliant!

Premiering at Little Terrors was Astron 6's newest short, Breaking Santa. Freshly posted online this week, here it is below for your enjoyment.

Lastly, here is an American short called The Living Want Me Dead which combines the Christmas spirit with some good ol' fashioned Rage. Here it is below.

Hopefully, that was enough to get your holiday juices flowing. Have a great Sunday!

Well, That Was Anti-Climactic.

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish.

What I find rather dickish of the Mayans is that the end of the world is on a Friday and not a Monday. Happy trails everyone!