While 2011 had two of the scariest theatrical films I’ve watched in the past decade, the year was a bit underwhelming at best. The lack of originality is troubling and the dependence on sequels and remakes is widely denounced throughout the horror fan community. Then there’s the notion that throwing 3D all over the film will make it all better. Sigh. I’m a huge fan of 3D but very few horror films embraced it in a productive way. Having said that, two of the 10 movies in my top 10 list are in 3D, three of them are remakes, reboots or sequels and four of them are found footage films. Trends are trends, I guess.
Most of the films released in 2011 did not live up to their own hype or marketing: Apollo 18, The Rite, Shark Night 3D, Season of the Witch, Dream House, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Gasp! The idea of a top 10 WORST movies of 2011 is incredibly more easy than choosing a top 10 best list. So what kind of film makes it onto Doc Rotten’s list? Movies that make an impression. Some scared me, which rarely happens anymore – sadly. Some simply entertained me. Others amazed me with their effects and energy. And a few actually touched me emotionally. And an equal few promise great things to come in the future.
So here they are – ghosts, trolls, alien monsters, talking apes and demon drivers from hell – the best horror movies of 2011 according to Doc Rotten. Enjoy.
10. Unaware / MOLD!
This year I caught a pair of yet-to-be-released low-budget independent horror films. Each film left a lasting impression on me. Both have had a tough time locating distribution (but both should be available in 2012). Both are fun in their own way and deserve recognition.
Unaware is a found footage film about aliens invading a farm house in rural Texas. Very much in the vein of Paranormal Activity, the film contains the best and the worst of Cinema Verite. However, the ending is tense, shocking and fun. It is not a perfect film; but, despite its flaws, it handles the medium much better than many of the found footage direct to DVD films that were released this year.
MOLD! is a clever throwback to zany 80s horror. The film is gory, fun and hilarious. The characters are over the top and outrageous. The film is buried in its low budget and independent roots, but no more so than Evil Dead or any Troma film. MOLD! should not be missed. And it doesn’t have to be; director Neil Meschino is self-distributing his film online and, soon, on DVD. Check out http://www.moldthemovie.com for details.
9. American Horror Story
Last year, The Walking Dead made it onto my top 10 list; this year another TV horror program creeps to the top: American Horror Story. The show benefits from having a terrific cast, especially Taissa Farmiga, Denis O’Hare and Jessica Lange, and a creepy house packed full of ghosts of all varieties. The season improved as it progressed and wrapped up the story of the Harmon family by the season’s end. While there were some dangling plot lines left untangled, the show managed to have a beginning, middle and end with each episode providing shocks, gore and horror.
8. Grave Encounters
Cinema Verite makes another appearance on the top 10 with the low budget, independent feature from the Vicious Brothers, Grave Encounters. The idea of a ghost hunter reality show gone wrong is a perfect setting for a found footage horror film and no film did it better than Grave Encounters. The film is flawed with annoying characters and hokey ghosts (at times) but the entertainment found within is undeniable. The film is fast paced and escalates continually to a thrilling conclusion. If you ever wanted see what would happen if a “Jason and Grant” were to actually discover a true haunting while searching for paranormal activity, then this should satisfy that appetite and cause a scream or two along the way.
7. Troll Hunter
A hold over from 2010 that I didn’t get to see until this year is the Norwegian found footage film Troll Hunter. Otto Jespersen grounds the film in his wonderfully realized grumpy troll hunting character, Hans. And the film has impressive special effect bringing to life a series of fascinating troll designs. The film is only occasionally scary with its monsters a little too silly to be frightening; however, it is thrilling and entertaining.
6. Drive Angry 3D
Ah, the joy of reveling in a really bad film – and a bad Nicolas Cage film to boot. Drive Angry 3D is a 3D throwback to seventies satanist chase films. Completely over-the-top, Patrick Lussier’s film has one sole purpose – to entertain. And that it does. Lussier embraces the 3D technology and the preposterous script with energetic absurdity. No cast member resists chewing up the scenery: Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke and David Morse. Cage leads troops giving his Milton everything he has with a wink and a grinning grimace. One of the best times had in the theater all year.
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The biggest surprise of the year. While intriguing when announced and, in some ways, welcomed, the idea of another sequel/prequel to the original series after Tim Burton’s misstep a decade ago served only to raise eyebrows and roll some eyes; however, the film director Rupert Wyatt delivered exceeds all expectation revealing a well crafted, rewarding story full of action and heart. Much of the film’s success is due to the sensational special effects and motion capture performances bringing the apes to life. Andy Serkis as Caesar is a effective and emotional as any life action performance this year. When the film shifts focus from James Franco’s Will Rodman to Caesar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes soars above many of the previous sequels and copy cat films.
4. Final Destination 5 3D
For a film series I have no adoration for whatsoever, having the fifth in the series appear in my top 10 of 2011 shows one of two things: either the year was that piss poor or the movie is actually that good. With a smile on my face, I’m leaning toward the latter; this film was a blast. It ties together the other films in the series, provides inventive, crazy deaths and has some fun 3D as well. The opening bridge sequence is spectacular, exciting and thrilling. The final reveal brings a weight to the film that is unexpected and much appreciated. With Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Paranormal Activity 3 and even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 all being superior sequels (or prequels), Final Destination 5 helps illustrate both Hollywood’s dependence on franchises and the filmmakers finally embracing what that means in bringing sequential franchises to the theaters with as much enthusiasm as when they began. Well done, gory and fun.
3. Super 8
Journey back to 1979 with J.J. Abrams’ Super 8, where a small group of young middle school students play at making super 8 films in their small mid-western town only to witness a horrific train wreck that releases a captured an alien creature. Abrams does his best Steven Spielberg impression creating a loving homage to the films of the late Seventies and early Eighties, reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, The Goonies and Stand By Me. The kids are amazing with their story far outshining that of the creature stomping through the woods. Super 8 is entertainment at its finest, thrilling, emotional, exciting and spectacular.
2. Paranormal Activity 3
Yes another example of a series getting better and better with each installment as the film makers continue to perfect the formula. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman take the reins and create the scariest, most precise and concise film of the franchise. The movie benefits from a family that is instantly identifiable and has two child characters representing two adult roles already established in prior films. The film does everything right from creating characters that are looking in from the outside who react in realistic fashion (running for their lives) to a creative camera device (placing the camera onto a fan) that provides the downstairs scenes with nervous intensity to a pair of children that evoke sympathy and empathy from the audience. Oh, yeah, and it’s scary too. Once the film starts up, it never lets up, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats for the entirety of the run time.
1. Insidious
Absolutely the scariest film of the year. James Wan (Saw) creates a heart pounding fright fest with his haunted house opus. Insidious contains some of the creepiest scares this side of Exorcist and Poltergeist. Hair-raising, nightmarish and ghoulish, Insidious was frightening in the theater and holds up equally well on DVD and Blu-Ray. A home run and a great example of what horror can be when it isn’t chasing a franchise or remaking a classic. The instant the ghost pacing outside Rose Byrne’s bedroom window suddenly appears inside her room, only feet away, the movie kicks into high gear and never lets up producing a years worth of goose pimples and white knuckles.
