Before I start doing reviews, I figured I would give an idea of my personal preferences. I'll list what I own and maybe even do a rundown of my favorites. Hopefully this will give some insight into my tastes. The list will be in no particular fashion and I'll try my damnedest to put my favorites in some sort of order. So lets get into it. First off, let me show you what I got:
Favorites:
August Underground Penance:
What can be said about Penance? Its my horror standard. While simulated snuff films may not be every ones cup of tea, to me they get down to what horror really is. They disturb in that "this is happening right now somewhere in the world" kind of way. There are no "BOO!" scares, no creepy and tense music, no over the top gorexplosions. Just a realistic portrayal of a couple of serial killers home movies.
Martyrs:
While Penance gets top billing for the realistic approach, Martyrs would be at the top for cinematic style. Its beautifully shot and approaches you with so many different styles of horror. Supernatural, psychological, exploitation, torture, it has it all and does it all well. Never bored with what's going on, this just entertains.
The Girl Next Door:
The Girl Next Door takes that beautiful, simple, idyllic '50s innocence and smashes it with a hammer. Watching it you get a sense of how blissfully unaware those times were. No overly sensationalized news, no stranger danger, just good ol' American wholesomeness. Yet as you watch you begin to realize that even in this perfect little Pleasantville people are still just that, people. Still capable of hatred and jealousy, still full of spite. I've never felt so bad watching a movie that uses so little. No need for over the top blood, gore, and violence, this film does it by wrenching your heart as you watch an innocent girl go through hell.
I Stand Alone:
One word can sum up this movie: Anger. The Butchers rage is stifling, you can feel it weighing down on you, feel it buzzing in your head when he interacts with people, your pulse quicken when he has a confrontation. Always wondering if and when he will explode. Its all about one man dealing with losing everything he has. Seeing the world through his eyes.
Gutterballs:
Neon, sex, gore, bowling, and campy fun! That's a good way to describe Gutterballs. Take all the usual Slasher tropes: stereotypical characters, over-sexed and stupid teens, iconic killer, and creative kill scenes, and crank them up to a level of 80s excess never before seen. That's Gutterballs. Fun, awesome, and when it needs to be, gritty and horrifying.
Night of the Living Dead '90:
Take the original groundbreaking, claustrophobic film and perfect it. Turn up the tension, the darkness, and the realism and you have NOTLD90. Everything about this movie personifies what a perfect zombie movie is to me. Small in scale and all about humanity tearing itself apart even in the face of apocalypse.
Wolf Creek:
Wolf Creek made me fall in love with realistic horror. It sets such are horribly alone and foreboding tone. You feel the vast emptiness around the camp and it's filmed so beautifully that the darkness just seeps out of the screen and into your heart. Its bleak, hopeless and oddly somber.
Hellbound: Hellraiser II:
A beautiful and bleak fairytale. The way it paints its world, the labyrinthine view of hell, blend of pain and pleasure, the elegance and intellect of the Cenobites, it all comes together to create this grim story that leaves you grotesquely mesmerized.
The Thing:
Claustrophobic and tense. Who is the thing? The question keeps rolling through your head as you watch the film. Every time someone is alone with another, you wonder. Every time a test is done, your body tightens with anticipation. And of course the effects! Oh the effects!!!
Eraserhead:
What can be said about Eraserhead? It's weird. It's dismal. It's dank.... It's inspiring. The way it sinks into your chest and sticks with you. The unnerving feeling that seeps through and clouds your mind. Just one strange mind fuck after another. In heaven, everything is fine.
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