Mike's Top Ten Horror Films of 2010

If you only paid attention to mass market horror films that came out in 2010 then you undoubtedly walked away disappointed. Wes Craven made a film so bad it made fans wish for the glory days of The Hills Have Eyes Part 2". The Wolfman was pretty to look at, but a convoluted mess of a story that wasn't helped by Anthony Hopkins putting all scenery between two slices of rye and adding a dollop of mayo for the world's largest ham sandwich. The alleged final entry to the Saw franchise came with a tag line-The Traps come Alive!- whose banality was only met by the turgid plot of the final product itself. Oh, and the Elm Street remake was so poor I debated whether or not to shut everything down if that was the kind of swill I'm left to write about.

Imagine the state of mainstream horror at the end of 2010 as such: we the horror fan are Charlie Brown, and the studios, the producers, the directors and the marketing teams are Lucy. They're tantalizingly holding the football with the promise that this time will be different, yet once again the ball is pulled out from under we the fans at the last moment, and we end up lying flat on our backs wondering just what the hell went wrong. Except the football is a rock and studios hammer it in to our crotch as a parting shot while leaving the theater.

Then again, if you only paid attention to mass market horror films you probably aren't reading this site. We were lucky enough to get our hands on some truly amazing films this year. Why the hell should I overlook a film that's head and shoulders above a multimillion dollar turd that gets more press just because a studio bigwig cuts Harry Knowles a check to slob the knob over it?

Release dates are a funny thing, and I'll admit I'm playing a bit fast and loose with the notion of what came out when. Some films are currently making their way through the festival circuit before gaining a wider release or distribution next year. Some titles debuted overseas last year before getting a theatrical or home video release stateside.

The 800lb Gorilla in the room is Black Swan. I finally watched it just before leaving on vacation and it's undoubtedly one of the most enthralling films of the year, and should be on the short list for an Oscar. No one does obsession like Aronofsky. That said, it just didn't strike me as a horror film, as much as I'd love to claim it as one. Hence its exclusion.

10. Cabin Fever 2 "Spring Fever" This was an oddball choice for me but the more I think of it, the more I'm sure it belongs on the list. I ignored it when it first came out, as it was a direct-to-video sequel to a fun, but by no means classic film, and director Ti West lobbied hard to have his name removed from the credits after studio interference forced reshoots and unwanted additions.


The only two returning characters from the first film. Yes, I said two.


When you get past the obvious studio touches, such as the unwarranted strip club scene, CF2 is a fantastic black comedy filled with gross out moments that fans of Dead Alive will give an enthusiastic thumbs up to. The action moves from a backwoods cabin to a high school prom, and aside from the flesh eating virus, students have to deal with government agents on a seek and destroy mission as well. The highlight of the film is the swimming pool scene where the high school jock and a mountain of a woman get in on in the water before the girl literally dissolves into a ooey pile of organs. Good stuff.

9.  Long Pigs (Chris' review) The first of two fauxumentaries on this list, Long Pigs owes a great debt to the french film Man Bites Dog. But while that film's central figure was a whirly dervish of manic energy keen to spout nonsensical philosophy with enough joie d'vrie that you couldn't help but keep your eyes and ears glued to him, Long Pigs' Anthony McAllistair is a bit of a schlub, the kind of person you'd pass on the sidewalk and never give a moments thought or second glance to. LP manages to be both thought provoking and disturbing, oftentimes within the same scene. There's no rhyme or reason to McAllistair's madness, he simple finds no reason to remove man from the food chain.

8. La Meute (The Pack)  (Mike's review) The French once again show Americans how to make an instant classic, though this time they dabble in the Monster genre. You wouldn't know it at first, as The Pack blends a roving gang of motorcycle hooligans, a demented family that runs an off road pub and a pack of underground flash eating mutated dead miners into one hilarious and horrific mash of a film.



7. Frozen (Mike's review) Before heading to the swampy bayou to resurrect Victor Crowley, Adam Green made the world's most compelling argument to stay in the ski lodge sipping hot chocolate rather than risk life and limb on the slopes. More than anything else, he coaxed three amazing performances out of Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers, allowing them to create a trio of characters whose predicament you felt invested in. During a time when most twenty somethings on film simply add to the body count, that's no small feat.

6. Dead Hooker in a Trunk (Mike's review) Catchy name aside, this film delivers a pantsload of fun during its run time. Jen and Sylvia Soska bring a Warner Brothers cartoonish element of violence to a live action film. Aside from a number of "holy shit" moments and a pair of scenes that aren't for the squeamish (especially one that will have dudes covering their ghoulies and averting their eyes), DHiaT is also brilliantly funny, with some of the best moments spawning from CJ Wallis' "Goody Two Shoes" ultra christian character. Really, if you're any sort of fan of the film's that 42nd Street used to churn out, you know you want to watch this film. I can't wait to the ladies' next film, American Mary, to hit later on this year.

5. Make Out With Violence  This film made the festival rounds in '09 before getting a BluRay release earlier this fall to little or no fanfare. It's one of the most beautiful and haunting movies I've watched this year, even if the horror only occurs on a peripheral level. When the beautiful and charming Wendy disappears, a massive hole is left in the lives of everyone that knew her. When twin brothers find her drowned, reanimated corpse tied between trees by the river, they do their best to bring her back to life, or in failing to do so, to find a new way to love whatever has taken over her body. Imagine if the film Deadgirl wasn't completely populated by irredeemable douche bags and wasn't a complete piece of shit as a film and you have the massively superior MOwV.

Where Make Out with Violence succeeds is in capturing that last summer between high school and college, and the confusing time when the young think they should have the world in their grasp, but don't even know how to reach out to the person next to them. Its characters are frail, and beautiful and damaged. Make Out With Violence is the only film I've ever seen that makes telling the best friend you've ached over for years that you love her every bit as terrifying as harboring a zombie in your bedroom. The creative team of the Deagol Brothers (no relation) took year's to not only write and direct this film but also create the perfect indie pop soundtrack to the movie as well. This might be the only horror film I've ever seen that would be appropriate Valentine's Day material.

4. Let Me In (Mike's Review) Let's avoid argument as to the better film, and say that the American version of the Swedish film often hailed as "the greatest vampire film of all time" (none of these people have seen my Castlevania inspired home movies with me in the role of Simon Belmont presumably) is world's better than even the most adamant fanboy that still lives in his mom's basement expected it to be throughout all those month's of making impassioned posts decrying both its existence and director Matt Reeve's parents for having the gall to have conceived him many moons ago. Reeves' version did a much better job selling two central conceits of the novel. First, Kodi-Smit McPhee did a much better job selling the fact that even without the introduction of Eli/Abby in his life Owen/Oscar would have grown up to be a bad character. The combination of poverty, the broken home, the absentee father and alcoholic mother and the daily brutalization at the hands of bullies while adults looked away would have steered this boy down the inevitable path of violent crime if he'd never befriended the vampire girl. Second, while the original film finds beauty in those final moments on board the train, the American version tipped its hand that the relationship would turn sour down the road. When Owen sees the photo strip of Abbey and her handler in much younger days, a dawning look of terror spreads across his face. He'll get older, his body will fail him and he'll remain unflinchingly loyal to a creature that can never truly love him. This added a more sinister edge to the film. While it didn't deviate from the original to completely justify its existence, it certainly didn't embarrass itself either. Of course both horror fans and mainstream audiences stayed away in droves.

3. Lake Mungo (Mike's Review) This Australian export had a blink and you missed it theatrical run as part of the After Dark series and now can be found on Netflix Watch Instant. The harrowing, faux documentary story of Alice Palmer and how her family attempts to cope with her drowning. This film slowly burns as it reveals the complex life and relationships of the young woman, and it left me with a building sense of dread as the minutes crept on. The climax in the dried out Lake as Alice records what was to be her fate is simply one of the most bone chilling scares of the year.

2. The Last Exorcism (Mike's Review) This came oh-so-close to number one, it's just THAT DAMNED ENDING that knocked it down a peg. I've come to accept it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Until those last few minutes however, TLE is an outstanding character study of a faithless minister with a troubled conscience (Patrick Fabian) and a confused teenage girl (Ashley Bell). The "is she or isn't she?" cat and mouse scenario director Daniel Stamm sets up is brilliantly executed and for my money, both Fabian and Bell should get serious consideration for Oscar's this winter. Fabian had me the moment he slyly winked at the camera while rousing the congregation with his mama's banana bread recipe.

1. Dawning (Mike's Review) This film holds a special place in my heart, as it was the second movie Chris and I screened for our monthly indie series and though it was a light crowd (if memory serves we did just a little better than breaking even) everyone that walked out of the theater seemed genuinely blown away by the film. Dawning is simple film with a simple premise: A family finds itself trapped in the woods after a blood covered stranger breaks in to their home. Simple premise, complex movie perfectly executed. If you're looking for a slasher's paradise of over the top gore you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for a gratuitous nude swimming scene with the starlet you'll be disappointed. If you want a male lead that delivers zany one line quips with arched eyebrows, you'll have to look elsewhere.

What you will find is a harrowing look at how personal insecurities and inability to be honest with those one's supposed to be closest to can doom us. Holtgrewe's characters do themselves in because they believe the worst things about them are true, and they lack the courage to confront themselves when pushed. Dawning leaves you chomping your nails to the quick not because of invisible boogeyman lurking somewhere in the woods, but from the conflicts within the walls of the cabin. When pushed in to a desperate situation, years worth of slights and insults (both real and imagined) rear their ugly heads. Dawning's characters dig their graves more so by failing to overcome their inner demons than by any external forces.

There you have it folks, our top ten in what was a topsy turvy world of horror. Before the year bows out, I hope to post what I'm looking forward to next year.