2012 is half in the bag already, and it feels like it has flown by, doesn’t it? There have been a lot of genre flicks for horror fans to love/hate so far, so let’s take a quick mid-year pause to reflect on the year in horror thus far.
It's pretty easy to throw words like "Best" and "Worst" around without much care. My best could be your worst. Ranking movies is fairly subjective work... but then again, it's not really that subjective. Take personal preference and bias out of the equation, and focus on aspects such as writing, plot structure, pacing, cinematography, acting and other "tangible" qualities, and it's more of an objective venture.
That being said, we're definitely elitist pricks who think they know the good and the bad, and you should listen to our words as if they are dogma. (Humor us... we have self-esteem issues.)
So what has 2012 given us in the way of good quality horror and genre entertainment?
For us, Cabin in the Woods is the best horror flick we've seen this year. Is it the best? Not necessarily, but it sure as hell was the most inventive and different, and we still smile when we think about it. The Blu-ray hits on September 18th and we are geeked; we need to see this movie and its extras in HD.
The Grey was bleak and almost depressing, but wow was it ever a good flick. It's more on the "heavy" side of things, but it definitely ranks amongst the year's best. Liam Neeson fist fighting wolves... come on!
The Woman in Black was a return to the old Hammer haunted house flicks of old for us. We loved its quiet atmosphere and the underlying feeling of dread present throughout. Definitely one of the most enjoyable flicks we've seen this year.
God Bless America... what a timely and fun little flick. Bobcat Goldthwait has given us an on-point indictment of modern day American pop culture and we loved the movie's message. If you like your horror laced with dark humor, then this is definitely a flick for you. Exploding baby FTW.
The Pact is definitely the surprise of the year for us thus far; we never expected it to be anything more than a b-grade flick at best, but were surprised to find it a competently made and effective creepfest. It takes a lot ot creep us out, even a little bit (mainly because we're equal parts desensitized and jaded), but The Pact managed to give us a few chills along with its thrills.
Finally we have Rabies; the little Jewish backwoods horror movie that could. It had nothing to do with rabies. You could call it a backwoods slasher flick but that wouldn't really do it justice. Whatever you classify it as, it's a different and entertaining movie that has more going for it than the average stalk-and-slash flick.
We can't make a best of list without mentioning a few non-horror flicks.
Our favorite movie of the year in any genre has to be The Avengers; a big budget summer popcorn flick with heart, a solid story, great characters and some amazing action. This is the movie that will redefine both blockbusters and comic book flicks forever.
The Raid: Redemption was a hell of a good time too. It's no big budget blockbuster, but I'll be damned if I've seen any other flick that small pack so much crazy action and insanity into a two hour time frame, and do it this well, in years.
Hunger Games, Prometheus and Snow White, while not being perfect, were all great flicks in their own way.
Those that deserve Honorable Mention:
Keep in mind that the preceding list is more of a round-up than a definitive ranking.
The Midlins are next...
0 comments:
Post a Comment