A Bloody Good Time 12.20.07: Top Ten Terrors of 2007

Posted by Joseph Lee on 12.20.2007

Just in time for Christmas: psychopathic killers spilling blood and guts.

Welcome to another edition of A Bloody Good Time.

As you could probably tell from last week, our Horror History series is completed. But in a way, I'm going into more recent history this time around. The history of horror in 2007. To be more specific, I'm giving you the very best horror for this year. It's been a year filled with remakes, sequels, homages and adaptations. Without much original horror, can anything stand out among the greats? There are a few, but everything else on this list is pretty good as well. I would like to add that there are spoilers within, as well as choices you may disagree with. But that's what email and comments are for. So let's get to it!

A Bloody Good Time's Top Ten Terrors of 2007!



10: Halloween

Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris, Kristina Klebe, Tyler Mane and Daeg Faerch
Story: Fifteen years ago Michael Myers murdered four different people, including his sister Judith. He's now escaped and stalking a young group of teenagers in his old hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. His doctor, Sam Loomis, knows exactly what he is and has also returned to stop him.



I know, I know. How could I include a remake of one of the greatest (if not the greatest) horror films of all time? It's simple. For all the flack this movie has taken, it's not that bad. In fact, I can go as far as to say it's quite good. The biggest problem that most fans seem to have is that this is a remake of Halloween. Halloween 2007 is, for better or worse, the original on steroids. It gives Michael a back story, then unleashes a monster onto the kids and everything is just turned up about ten notches. You know that awesome closet scene in the original when he smashes his way in to get Laurie? It's here too, only replace closet with attic and smashes his way in to DESTROYS THE ENTIRE FLOOR of the attic with a plank of wood. How could you not love that?

The movie isn't without it's flaws (for example, Rob Zombie really doesn't need to write his own scripts anymore), and in no way matches the original, but it works. A pissed off Michael Myers destroying everything in his path works very well. This movie is also on here because it at least tries to differ itself from the original. Michael is explained, there are some unexpected deaths and this thing is just brilliantly violent. It's certainly enjoyable and I had a good time. The casting was spot on, from Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis to the many horror veterans (BRAD DOURIF!) making cameos. Rob Zombie's directing style is pretty good, and getting better. There were also quite a few subtle homages to the original that showed the love going into this movie.

The best way to watch this movie is to remember that the original Halloween is one of the best horror films ever made, but Rob Zombie isn't trying to out-do it. He wants to breathe some new life into a franchise that quite frankly has been dragging for a long time. Let the movie stand on it's own two feet and you'll see why this is one of the best offerings of 2007.




9: Saw IV

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Angus Macfadyen, Lyriq Bent, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell
Story: Jigsaw is dead. Amanda is dead. However his games will still continue as we soon find out that he is targeting SWAT Sergeant Rigg for a brand new game, as well as several other members of the police force. Rigg tries to complete his game as everyone else tries to find him, and Jigsaw's motives are finally revealed.



First off, I've already reviewed this for this site. So I'll just sum up what I initially said. Saw IV is definitely the weakest of the series so far. But it's still a pretty decent flick in it's own right. The twist is a little off and the kills lack bite, but this entry still provides plenty of goods. The first is that we are finally able to delve into Jigsaw's motives and history and this gives Tobin Bell a chance to shine as something more than a psychopath. This also features a grotesque ride into Jigsaw's body, as the opening scene is one gruesome autopsy scene. As I've stated, this is probably the reason the kills feel weaker. Once you've seen the brain and stomach of a dead man removed, nothing else is going to top that.

This movie also brings back some characters and tries to resolve as many plot elements from prior films as possible (although it does forget about one glaring one). Overall you get another gory, twist-filled Saw entry, that's not as good as those before but still good enough to stand on it's own two feet, giving it the #9 spot in this countdown.




8: Stephen King's The Mist

Director: Frank Darabont
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Toby Jones, Andre Braugher
Story: Based on the novella by Stephen King. After a violent storm, a small town in Maine is blanketed by a mist. After a group of people in a grocery store learn of the existence of bizarre creatures, they barricade themselves in. The group tries to survive both the creatures and each other.



There is one solitary thing that keeps The Mist from rising through the ranks of this horror list. That ending. The ending is much different from the novella the film was based, and not only that but it's just stupid. It changes everything that made the characters what they were. It's the kind of ending that regardless of how good a movie is, you leave the theatre feeling cheated. I'm hoping for an alternate ending on the DVD release, because this movie needed something else.

It's a shame they went in the direction they did. Prior to the ending, everything else worked excellently. The acting, the tone and themes of the story, the directing, everything was top-notch. Marcia Gay Harden provides the most memorable performance. She plays a character that is so vile and hate-worthy that the people in my theatre actually cheer when she is killed off. That's talent. The audience doesn't hate her because she's annoying, or that her acting is off, the audience hates her because she wills it to happen.

The Mist could have been a lot greater if not for that ending, so beware of that. I still say do not let my comments regarding the ending deter you because this is some of the best acting you'll see in any horror movie that's been out lately. Even a couple that are ranked higher than this don't feature acting nearly as good.




7: 30 Days of Night

Director: David Slade
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Jr, Mark Rendall
Story: In the town of Barrow, Alaska, the citizens prepare for the last sunset for a month. In this town, northernmost in the US and cut off from the rest of the world, they experience an entire month of blizzard and darkness. It's during this time that a group of vampires raid the town, killing most and feeding. A handful of survivors try to figure out a way to last the month and see the next sunrise.



30 Days of Night features a very unique concept and features a sort of return to form for vampires. They are back to being creatures of the night in this film. These are ravenous animals that will feed on you and there's not a whole lot you can do to stop it. That makes this also kind of frightening. It's not just vampires that look good and use seductive charms to kill pretty girls and will mess with you if you get in there way. No, they will feed on you even if you're in your own house minding your own business. They don't bother to clean up, they don't bother to charm, they just attack, kill, and feed. That's the best thing I can say about this movie. It makes vampires horrifying again. When is the last time you can say you were scared by a vampire? I can't remember a very recent time.

The imagery provided for this movie is disturbing as well. Children vampires feeding on helpless grown men would be one of those. Plus there's always something about blood on the snow that provides a scary image. Ben Foster is able to provide his own chills as the bizarre stranger who shows up to warn the residents just a little too late. Foster, combined with the imagery, vampires and gore provide one of the bettor genre efforts of 2007, and one of the best vampire films I've seen in a very long time.




6: 1408

Director: Mikael Håfström
Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Jasmine Jessica Anthony, Tony Shalhoub
Story: A man with a strong disbelief in the supernatural world spends a night in perhaps the most haunted hotel room ever. What follows is a journey into terror as he's slowly driven insane by the room's many tricks and evil nature. He can't escape, he can only try to endure.



Stephen King has certainly had a good year. You could argue that King hadn't had a very good adaptation of his work for some time. 1408 was the first of two treatments that tried their very best to do justice to his work. 1408 also has the advantage of being pretty good on it's own, too. A terrific little ghost story. John Cusack is essentially giving a one-man performance here, as he spends most of his time reacting to what happens around him. It works very well. Cusack carries this movie on his back and proves that he is very underrated (and shouldn't be). The man can work, and shows that in this movie.

This movie also provides some very Kingian visuals and haunting imagery. You know you're in a King story when someone smashes a portrait of a ship and somehow begins to drown when water rushes out. All of this is very bizarre and on the impossible side, and the fact there's nothing that can be done makes it worse. The best part about this story is how Cusack is slowly driven insane. At certain points you begin to wonder if it's even the room anymore, or if it's all in his head. That's the sign of a great horror film that messes with your mind. It takes the horror out of the supernatural and places it directly in reality, in the reaches of the main character's mind. 1408 was a rare summer horror film, and it ended up making nearly $100 million worldwide.





5: 28 Weeks Later

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Idris Elba, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Amanda Walker
Story: 28 weeks after the initial "RAGE" virus outbreak, society tries to go back to normal once all of the infected have died from starvation. However there are mistakes made and what results is another outbreak, with a fresh new population. The virus spreads quickly and soon a few must try to escape a re-infected London.



It's very rare for a sequel to match or even top the original. It's very pleasing when it does so. 28 Weeks Later manages to do this without the efforts of Danny Boyle in the director's chair or any of the original cast. This movie really didn't need any of them. We have a very capable director, a new cast and somehow an even bleaker story than the one before. One in which the mistakes of a few can lead to the deaths of many and two children are left to survive amongst hundreds of infected people.

This movie works because of it's cast being able to provide credible acting and do so in a strenuous situation in which they're all placed. This movie doesn't let up for one second. It's a depressing and bleak world, which soon becomes a horrifying one as the virus breaks out again and loved ones become infected and try to kill you. The movie also doesn't let up on the gore, which it provides plenty of. The shots are somehow beautiful in the middle of all this, as Frenadillo's direction style is one that is very enjoyable.

28 Weeks Later ranks this high because it earns it. It is very well-made, and one of those rare occasions where a sequel tops everything the original tried to accolmplish.



4: Mr. Brooks

Director: Bruce A. Evans
Starring: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook
Story: A serial killer with schizophrenic tendencies is caught red-handed by a photographer. This photographer offers a deal, that if he is allowed to help kill, he will give Mr. Brooks all the evidence and never bother him again. Mr. Brooks is left to plan their next caper while dealing with problems at home and a detective who is trying to hunt him down.



This movie is also my vote for biggest surprise of the year. Mr. Brooks came out of nowhere and promptly floored me as I watched with glee. There were many intricate plotlines and twists and they all flow together seamlessly with great peformances from it's entire cast. I know what you're thinking. Dane Cook provides a great performance? It seems so. When not the star and playing a side character that's creepy in his own right and sort of a sidekick to Kevin Coster, Cook is just fine. I have no love for his other movies, but this one he's good in.

Mr. Brooks succeeds where many of it's type fail. It actually provides twists you don't see coming. When these twists hit, you're left wondering how you didn't see them to begin with. Kevin Coster and William Hurt display fantastic chemistry and Costner delivers one of his better performances in years as the quiet but murderous Mr. Brooks. I didn't expect this movie to be so good, but it was. It gives you a simple plot, builds upon it and blindsides you with it's quality. That's enough to give it a higher ranking on my list.




3: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Director: Scott Glosserman
Starring: Nathan Baesel, Robert Englund, Angela Goethals, Kate Lang Johnson
Story: A documentary crew follows young Leslie Vernon, a man with a dream. That dream is to join Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers as one of the top serial killers in the world (they're real in this universe). We see all of his careful planning and hard work as he plans to either make a name for himself or die trying (those are literally his only two options, as he informs us). He soon experieces some problems such as his doctor who is trying to stop him at all costs.



This was made in 2006 but as a general rule I go by release date. Behind the Mask has a release date of March 16, 2007. It's probably a film you haven't heard of. But I guarantee you that you will leave this film feeling satisfied. Behind the Mask takes everything you love about slashers and turns them on their head, while at the same time providing an obvious love of the genre with it's homages and cameos (ZELDA RUBENSTEIN!). As Leslie begins his quest to become a great serial killer, the tricks of the trade are revealed and true fans of a good slasher film will laugh to themselves knowingly and applaud this movie for what it's doing.

This is probably one of the smartest slasher films you'll ever see. It's very much like Scream in the way that it makes fun of horror conventions but ends up playing to them. It even features a twist that works and the bizarre turn of Robert Englund as...the good guy? Englund plays a Dr. Loomis to Leslie's Michael Myers. It's something I didn't see coming, but loved the direction they went with it. This movie has a lot of love of it's roots, and I have a lot of love for this movie. I can't even begin to give away the many things that go so well for it, because it has so many little touches and lines that it would be a crime to do so. You just have to see it for yourself.




2: Zodiac

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox
Story: Based on real case files and the Robert Graysmith books, this movie went over the entire investigation concerning the Zodiac killer, who terrorized California in the 60's and 70's, but was never caught.



The inclusion of this entry was a little obvious. While not horror in the strictest sense, Zodiac is one of the best movies of the year in it's own right. It features a story that is a great one about a killer that was never caught. It shows the killer do his thing and it shows the ongoing investigation to find out who is doing this. The tagline is very fitting, "There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer" because that is what happens here. Everyone involved in the investigation is affected in some way, some more than others.

Without credible actors there is no way this could have worked. It's a good thing David Fincher knows what he's doing, because we get very credible actors. Jake Gyllenhaal comes through and Robert Downey Jr provides his usual great performance. Everyone involved with this movie does a tremendous job and it provides one of the best experiences of this year. While the length does work against it, the pacing and story draw you in and tries it's hardest to keep you from getting bored. You may check your watch, but you'll never stop being entertained by the show.

Zodiac isn't just good horror, it's good cinema. However the #1 spot could only go to one film, something that had to be seen in theatres, something that there was no way you couldn't leave without a smile on your face...




1: Grindhouse

Directors: Robert Rodriguez(Planet Terror), Quintin Tarantino(Death Proof)
Starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoe Bell
Story: A double feature. In Planet Terror, a gas causes a zombie uprising, and only a few people can stop the threat of Armageddon. In Death Proof, an insane stunt driver uses his car to kill his victims. Also featuring four faux trailers: "Machete" by Robert Rodriguez, "Werewolf Women of the SS" by Rob Zombie, "Don't" by Edgar Wright, and "Thanskgiving" by Eli Roth.



I know exactly what this movie is paying homage to. As a horror fan, I've spent plenty a time grabbing cheap video rentals of poorly made movies(whether they be slashers or exploitation) and this movie was a huge throwback to not just those types of movies in the horror genre, but in all genres. The poorly made low-budget movies that many people used to watch. So I was excited from the overall idea, not to mention that one of them was a zombie movie. Then the trailers came out and you could definitely see the love for these types of movies that was presented. So I was very excited as I sat down in my seat awaiting this double feature.

First of all(although they are in-between the two) let's talk about the trailers. Machete appears first. It was a fairly decent trailer but nothing compared to the others. "Werewolf Women of the SS" had Nicolas Cage as Fu Manchu(in all his over-acting glory!). "Don't" was a clever play on all the "Don't" style horror films of the day, like "Don't Go Into The Basement" or "Don't Go Into the Woods". "Thanksgiving" was the crown jewel of the whole set, playing on not only the slasher genre in general, but especially the holiday-themed ones.

Now onto the movies. First, Planet Terror. This was the best of the two, I'll go ahead and say that. It was an exciting zombie movie, with lots of action, comedy (which was intentional, but back then it would have of course been unintentional), and gore for the masses. I'm talking cringe-worthy gore. Some parts were just disgusting. You can't really complain about the acting, because I think it was meant to be bad. The whole thing was meant to be made with tongue planted firmly in cheek. But Rose McGowan looked like a star here, as she was scorchingly hot (even with a machine gun leg) and Freddy Rodriguez more than pulled his own weight as El Wray. The entire supporting cast was awesome. I was more than pleasantly surprised to see Tom Savini as well. It always pleases me when I see him getting work. He's not exactly an actor, just really cool and very well-known in the horror genre.



Death Proof was next. Kurt Russell shines here as the crazy Stuntman Mike, and it's hopefully a role that will get resurrect his career. He over-acts a bit, but I really think that was intentional. Tarantino does okay with this one. It's certainly the weaker of the two, and I felt a reversal of the order should have happened, but the car chase scene is enough to redeem the talking as well as the gore and Kurt Russell. In general, the movie has lots of little touches that I liked. The film grain, cigarette burns, and even missing reels. I won't say where, but it's just AWESOME when they happen. The people in the audience booed, but for the right reasons, because they were in on the joke. Even the subtle things like the coming attractions graphic, the ads for food, the primitive style logos for Dimension Films, and the panther warning us that his movie is restricted. All of the little touches helped. Grindhouse was an awesome movie going experience. I was captivated by the movie and it felt like an event. Unfortunately you may have to wait a while to get the entire experience, because the movies were released seperately without faux trailers on DVD. I'm not sure when a combined version will happen, if it ever does. This was a movie that had to be seen in theatres, and even if the movies are good they aren't the same without that crowd experience.

Even still, Grindhouse can stand tall as A Bloody Good Time's pick for top horror film of 2007.

Do you feel like I missed something? Do you strongly disagree with my picks? Send me an email, or comment below. I'll be happy to get into a friendly discussion with you.

Next week, because of Alien vs Predator: Requiem releasing on Christmas, I'm going to provide a franchise breakdown of both series. So if you like Aliens or Predators, next week's column is the place to be! See you then.