We have had plenty of horror movies come out this year and still have many more to come such as Fright night, Apollo 18, and Don't be afraid of the dark just to name a few. This year, some films were very well made, some were made as if they were rushed or hired by someone who doesn't respect the genre. I didn't get to watch as many horror movies this year compared to last year. This year it's mostly been about romantic comedies (Since my wife likes them) and Action movies. I felt there weren't many good horror films that really caught my attention for 2011. Below are a list of horror movies I felt were good movies I found quite entertaining.
Scream 4 Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro after ten years to promote her book. Once she arrives, ghost face starts killing again. He goes after Sydney, but killing students at Woodsboro High that stand in his way. This was probably my favorite Scream movie. I do like how they have a new generation that teaches the "new rules" of surviving horror films. I guess they use this as the basis of the film. I love that they brought the old cast back such as Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Cortney Cox. I also enjoyed the new cast, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, and Anthony Anderson. Even though Anthony had a short part of the film, he brought laughs to it as well. The start of the film was very creative how they did it, but got annoying at times. The identify of the killers I think was a shock to all. The whole time in the film I was thinking it was going to be one of the original characters playing ghost face, but I was far too wrong. I like the special effects, I liked how they brought the whole technology of face book in the movie, the kills, and the fighting scenes that Sydney Prescott had with ghost face. Most importantly, how they killed ghost face at the end.
Stake Land America is basically lost at this point. Humans find themselves running for dear life when they encounter an epidemic of vampires. survivors are isolated from everything and cling on fearing nightfall. Martin watched first hand the killing of his family by a ferocious vampire. He seems to be scared and doesn't know what to do until a hunter takes him under his wing. Now the both of them prey on the undead. The hunter known as Mister takes Martin on a journey throughout America searching for better places while killing vampires. On their trail, they recruit other human travelers including a nun who is confused with her faith when she sees her followers turn into vampires. They do their best not to enter territory that might belong to the Brotherhood. (A group of militia led by Jebedia Loven that claims the plague is done by the Lord). Mister kills the son of Jebedia after he tries to rape the nun. From there on the travelers don't have vampires to worry about, but also the Brotherhood to worry about.
This film got positive reviews and a 78% from Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Now if he likes than everyone has to like it. I felt this was one of my favorite horror movies of the year because it was an apocalyptic era with vampires instead of what we are normally use to with zombies. It had a lot of action, gore, and religious references. All the elements that make a good horror film. This is almost like zombie land with the exception of a cameo by Bill Murray and no dark humor involved. You also have Danielle Harris in the film. It's not a good horror movie unless you have her. I did enjoy the choreography of the fight scenes. I thought Mister and Martin had good chemistry in the film. Mister was very hard on Martin at times almost as if it was his own son. When they were toying around with that vampire that was chained down it was almost they had a bonding experience in a weird, sick kind of way. I won't lie, there were some scenes in the movie that couldn't catch my attention, but for the most part this is a good film to watch if you aren't a die hard twilight fan.
Mask Maker With this movie, it was released on DVD in April 2011. I'm not really sure if this was a movie that was released in theaters in 2010. So I will assume it came out this year. This movie was like Friday the 13th meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This movie got horrible reviews, but I felt this was a good, American slasher film that I grew up to in the 80's. It had a good back story to the serial killer kind of like how Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees did. The film had a good villain, plenty of young people being killed, and nudity. You even had some senile old man telling people to stay away from the house. (Kind of like Ralph from Friday the 13th). This movie is actually better than some of the slasher flicks that came out this year in theaters. You can tell there isn't any originality to this because the killer likes to wear his victim's face (like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ed Gein). The acting wasn't even horrible. I won't say it was great, but not horrible. The dialogue was well written. The story gets a little messy and even a bit confusing to me, but it takes some of the things we know and love from the old slasher flicks and presents itself to make it entertaining. The movie isn't horrible, but it's no Halloween or Friday the 13th. I could see this coming out with two more films straight to dvd if the story is presented right. Here is the plot below.
"A young couple purchases a 19th Century plantation home for a steal, only to discover that the previous owners are willing to kill in order to keep it in the family. They thought they had gotten the deal of a lifetime. And maybe they did, since they're about to die. When the couple invites a group of close friends to come celebrate their sprawling windfall, the fun is spoiled by the sudden appearance of an ax-wielding maniac with direct ties to the home's tragic past."
Insidious 1. Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects: "the insidious effects of stress".
2. Treacherous; crafty:
Here is the plot of the movie....
"Saw franchise veterans James Wan and Leigh Whannell team with Paranormal Activity writer/director Oren Peli to give the familiar haunted house story an exciting new twist with this tale of a family that moves into an old house and begins to suspect they are under siege from otherworldly forces when their young son inexplicably falls into a deep coma. As devoted parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) struggle in vain to uncover the root cause of their son's condition, the stress of the situation gradually begins to take its toll on their once-strong relationship. Later, when darkness falls and specters appear to reach out for them from the shadows, the frightened parents realize they're dealing with powers beyond human comprehension."
I thought the acting was very good on this movie. I am a big fan of both Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Every time I see a movie with Patrick Wilson in it, I automatically think of Hard Candy. I don't know why, I just do. (Also another film I enjoyed). I love the work that Rose Byrne does on the hit show, "Damages." (Season 4 on Audio network on direct TV). She did a great job with her character in this movie. Even though the film received a lot of mixed and negative reviews, it's still a good horror movie if you are into that paranormal activity stuff. This film is a good dvd rental to say the least. (I didn't watch it in theaters, I watched it at the redbox). It is eerie, it's demonic, and a dark ghost story that does focus on the supernatural side of things. I did like the plot of the film. I felt they did a good job with the script. I did like how Josh demonstrates his love for his son by overcoming his childhood fears to rescue his son in a time of need by entering "the Further." It was very interesting how they had Josh's childhood similar to his son's nightmares. The only negative thing I have about the film is I felt it was a copycat of nightmare on elm st. When we see the scenes when Josh finally enters in "the Further" to rescue Dalton we see what appears to be a dream world in a creepy house and how they are chased by a red face demon with claw like fingernails. The only difference was a couple of creatures and an old woman. I honestly thought the film was going to turn into a disaster after that, but the ending was pure masterpiece. If you are sitting at home with nothing to watch on television. This is a good movie to pop in the dvd or bluray.
Rise of the Apes "Rise of the Apes is an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy."
You are probably wondering why I listed this as a horror movie. Well, this falls under the science fiction category and science fiction is also consider horror so that is why I listed it. Growing up, I was never a big fan of the planet of the apes. I tried to watch the version that had Mark wahlberg in it and I couldn't watch it, it was so horrible. So watching this film actually got me interested in the planet of the apes again and I am looking forward to the future sequels. (I hope we don't have to wait long). So far, this is my favorite movie of the year. (Better than Captain America and Thor). James Franco's acting in here was superb. He gave an emotional performance in this film. The bond his character, Will Rodman, had develop with Ceasar was beautiful, almost as it was his very own son. I do like how the film focuses more on Will and his family especially the relationship he had with his father. His father's disease was the reason what never made him give up to find a cure for Alzheimer. I caught myself almost cheering when he finally cured his dad of the disease, but unfortunately it would come back. I would be over exaggerating, but James Franco definitely needs to get an award for this film and I hope he does. I thought John Lithgow's character, Charles Rodman was great too. He did a great job at portraying someone who had Alzheimer's disease. The scene in the film when Will tried to give his father the syndrome and he refused it because he wanted to finish his last days was very sad. I didn't see a dry eye in the theater when that happened. Will and Charles's father and son relationship was very genuine. It was just like my relationship with my father. (God rest his soul).
I love how they used the performance capture or motion capture to bring life to the gorillas in the film. These gorillas looked practically real. The way they interactive with each other, the way they attack the humans, down to the most simple details was amazing. I enjoyed the scenes that Ceaser and Buck had throughout the film especially the death scene involving Buck. There was so much emotion running through the gorillas and it was great how they used the CGI to allow the audience to observe it. After watching this movie it almost made you fear the primate species or any other animal to say the least. I know if it's safe to go to the zoo anymore! After watching this film, I'm afraid to whip my dog because he might get a whole army of canines to whip my ass and take over the world. If the Avenger movie is using the same technology for the Incredible Hulk than we are in for an awesome ride. This movie will be definitely coming home with all kinds of awards!
Here are a few other movies that I am looking forward to watching that came out this year that I'm sure I'll enjoy.
Fright Night 3d Attack The Block Troll Hunter Wrong Turn 4 Apollo 18 The thing Paranormal Activity 3 Laid to rest 2 Straw Dogs I hope 2012 will be the year we get more movies that are original.