Honorable Mentions:
The Divide: The good guy from Terminator gets locked in a basement with that annoying kid from Heroes and one of the Arquette sisters, right after some kind of attack on New York? All I can say is things go south very quickly, and this group ends up making The Lord of the Flies look like a functional, teen, spring break. Gross and unsettling, but wholly unforgettable. And some REAL powerhouse performances in this flick.
Rubber: People can say what they want about this film. They can call it stupid and pointless, but it’s a perfect satire of the genre, and the ‘story within the story’ aspect of the film show us just how brilliant Rubber actually is. And for all the people who say Rubber is about a killer tire, no. You are mistaken. Rubber is about a tire that kills people with its MIND! Mull that over for a second before you judge it. Jedi tires? Yes please. (note, it would actually be a Sith tire, because Jedi are good. + 50 virgin points go to Remy) Not only that, but Rubber is a satire on film itself, encompassing every part of a film, inside another film. Yo dawg, I heard you like films? The actors, the audience, the story, the realism! Anyone who can’t see past the rolling tire will find nothing redeemable, but for those understanding of Rubber‘s big picture, well, mind explosion much?
Red State: A horror film, about the Westboro Baptist Church (you know, those assholes who hold the signs that say fags and soldiers should burn in Hell?) holding some ‘impure’ kids hostage, torturing and killing them, and it turns into an absolutely killer standoff/siege movie about halfway through, with some unforgettable, amazing performances throughout its entirety – and people DIDN’T like it? Why? Well, truth is, the media hates Kevin Smith for some of his shenanigans in the last few years (we don’t, though. He is the last director with punk rock ideals) but the movie was stellar, seriously. We hope this is not his last foray into “horror”, as thin on the horror as it may be at times, being completely believable and unsettling, regardless.
A Lonely Place To Die: Alright, director Julian Gilbey made extreme rock climbing even more terrifying by adding a horror element to it. Scaling domineering mountainous rock ledges with no rope or safety devices is maddening enough, but imagine if psychopaths were following your every move, trying to knock you off? That’s only a small morsel of what Melissa George has to deal with in A Lonely Place To Die, being that unlucky eleventh film not to make our Nato and Remy Approved! © Top Ten Horror Films. Still though, Gilbey grasps the raw beauty of mother nature, cinematically making our characters look so insignificantly bug-like when sized up against gigantic rock walls, creating awe-inspiring danger out of nothing but earth. Mix that with a terrible fear of heights and some nasty no-goodnicks, and you’ve got yourself a satisfying horror thriller worth a major shout out.
Scream 4: Alright, I understand haters are gonna hate, always demanding nothing beats the original, but come on people, can’t we give a little love Wes Craven’s way for his best Scream installment since, well, Scream? I understand writer Kevin Williamson gets a little plot-twist happy this time around, but Craven in turn ramped up the gore and attracted a strong young cast to accompany the few returning faces. I mean, Hayden Panettiere as a foxy little punk chick? Alison Brie? Kristin Bell? Yeah, count me in. No, but really, I had a blast seeing Scream 4 in theaters, a lot more fun than expected actually, and have no problem honorably mentioning Craven’s Scream rebirth. Hell, he could have just made a My Soul To Take sequel. Scream 4 doesn’t taste as bad now, does it haters?
Now it’s your turn! Feel free to let Remy and I know about our Top Ten Horror Film selections of 2011, and tell us your favorite horror films from 2011!
*A special thanks to Remy for stepping in to guest write! Feel free to follow either of us on Twitter for even more insanity and updates:
Matt Donato Follow @DoNatoBomb
Remy Carreiro Follow @RemyCarreiro
Like what you read? Check out last week’s article where we discuss horror characters who were past their expiration date just by appearing on screen!