by Ben Bussey
Right then… 2011. Okay. Man, these end of year reviews don’t half do my head in. There’s always a degree of assumption about them; an implication that the one writing the list has impeccable taste and saw everything of note that was released in the twelve months previous. This year more than ever, I know that really isn’t the case for me. Pretty much every end of year list I’ve seen online the last few days, including Marc’s, are filled with films I haven’t actually seen. The Bunny Game, Stake Land, Cold Fish, Kidnapped, I Saw The Devil, Some Guy Who Kills People, Harold’s Going Stiff, We Need To Talk ABout Kevin, Attack The Block; the list goes on. Why have I missed so many notable films? Well, as much as I hate to admit it, mine is not a life of traversing the globe gaining free entry to premieres and festivals, whilst at the same time getting free copies of every new DVD under the sun. Constraints on time and finances take their toll, I’m afraid. So while I can’t give you a definitive assessment of the very best horrific, ultraviolent and/or exploitation cinema of 2011, I can tell you about the films that stick out in my memory; my favourites, my least-favourites, and some in-between.
Cream of the Crop
Black Swan and 127 Hours
A couple of 2011’s best came to British cinemas in January just in time for the awards season. Both are fairly glossy mainstream fare, but in their own ways unusually extreme by studio standards, and bearing the identity of their respective directors like a badge of honour. Both films also boast powerhouse performances from their lead actors. Natalie Portman fully deserved the acclaim and awards that were falling on her like rain; under Aronofsky’s direction she gives an intense and layered performance, by turns moving, disturbing, and of course sexy as all heck, and she’s more than ably supported by Vincent Cassell, Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey. Black Swan certainly isn’t the most subtle film you’ll ever see, but it sure is compelling viewing. Read Britt’s review here.
As for 127 Hours, it takes the isolationist despair of Buried and Frozen, but makes a redemptive, optimistic fable out of it. James Franco cements himself as a far more flexible and charismatic actor than I had previously given him credit for, Danny Boyle really getting the best out of him. Oh, and that scene: the skillfull use of editing and sound combine in an almost Psycho-like fashion, convincing us we have seen something considerably more graphic and horrible than we have in truth been shown, and damn is it effective. True story: my local cinema at the time had enough patrons passing out and/or being sick that they went so far as to caution everyone buying a ticket. My review is here.
13 Assassins
No, it’s not really a horror film, but it’s savage, visceral, bloody; come on, it’s Miike! What else needs to be said? The best men on a mission movie there has been for many a year, with all the requisite themes of honour and self-sacrifice present and correct, and truly one of the most exhilirating final battle sequences ever put to film. Read my review here.
Drive Angry
One of 2011’s most underrated, this deliriously overloaded shoot-’em up/road trip/Satanic panic movie was one of the best times I had in a cinema all year. Maybe it was 3D-phobia, or maybe it’s because we habitually expect every new Nicolas Cage movie to be crap, but I just don’t think people gave Drive Angry enough of a chance. Like Neil Marshall’s Doomsday before it (another one I consider hugely underrated), Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer’s film does a great job evoking the spirit of grindhouse/exploitation without getting all nudge-nudge wink-wink about it the way most of them do nowadays. Cage is at his most droll, Amber Heard is at her most alluring, Billy Burke more than brushes off the shame of being in Twilight, and William Fichtner completely steals the show. It’s no profound groundbreaker, but it’s a great ride, and well worth giving a second shot. See my review at Ka-Boomski, and Kayley’s rather less enthusiastic take.
Troll Hunter
I’ve just written a DVD review of this so I won’t say too much about it here, suffice to say it’s easily my favourite found footage film ever, and the best monster movie in ages. Love it.
Tucker & Dale Versus Evil
Don’t think there’s much I can say here that Marc hasn’t already: it’s the most well-concieved, well-crafted, well-executed blend of comedy and horror since… I’m not going to say it. You know the film I mean. Let the comparison end there, as this is a film which really stands apart. Quite simply, it’s funny as fuck. Indeed, even disregarding the horror element, it’s almost certainly the best comedy of the year. Though I must also give an honourable mention to Deadheads.
Biggest storm in a teacup
Kill List
I don’t like playing the me against the world game, but this is one instance where I really did feel like a lone voice of reason in an avalanche of relentless gushing praise. As such, when Nia recently gave it an even less glowing assessment, I won’t deny I felt vindicated. Once again: yes, Kill List is a well made and well acted film, but the idea that it is some game-changing masterwork is absolute nonsense. It’s one thing to start out kitchen-sink realistic and slowly introduce elements of the bizarre; that’s a potentially powerful move, and for a while Kill List handles it well. But once the batshit finale arrives, it feels less like the natural conclusion than a misjudged attempt to shock. The result is a film which simply reeks of its own self-importance, and in spite of its many obvious strengths I just can’t bring myself to enjoy it. See my review from FrightFest, and Nia’s take.
One I’ve pondered most since writing it up
The Woman
Okay. I’m not saying I retract my review of The Woman. At the time of writing I have yet to see it a second time, so it may be that when I do I will be just as enthusiastic as I was when seeing it at FrightFest. However, no other review I’ve written this year has troubled me so much since. Now, I’m not saying we must automatically revise our opinion simply because others don’t agree, but when enough people that you know and respect take a radically different view on a matter to yourself it should at least give pause for thought. Such is the case here. The Woman has been widely derided as a deliberate attempt to court controversy, a film that seeks shock value for its own sake (much in the manner I criticised Kill List for just a paragraph ago); and honestly, I can’t say I disagree with that assessment. I was, I will readily admit, predisposed to enjoy the film, being that I am a huge admirer of writer-director Lucky McKee, writer Jack Ketchum and actress Angela Bettis, and in the excitement of seeing the film at its UK premiere I wonder if I may have been blinded to the truth. Looking back, while I recall a film that is beautifully shot boasting very effective central performances and strong writing (the utterly pointless teacher subplot aside), I’m at a bit of a loss as to just what the film is really trying to say, and whether or not it is really of particular value. But again, at this moment I have yet to watch The Woman a second time, so I am not disowning my original assessment just yet. Here’s my review, and for the flipside, Keri’s take.
Biggest turds
I’ve seen some horrendous direct-to-DVD tripe in my tenure at this site, but Bane and Curio have to be among the worst. That’s all the energy I’ll waste on the subject.
Biggest Trouser Strainer
The film overall is supremely depressing, but the physical presence of Megumi Kagurazaka in Guilty of Romance… mmmmmama. Fire at will, feminists.
Golden Oldies
If I’m honest, I feel more qualified to talk about older movies newly released to DVD than I do new releases in general. I get considerably more time in front of my television than I do in a cinema these days, and in truth I tend to take more enjoyment from discovering some lost gem from the past than trying to sort the wheat from the chaff of today. Bad mix of metaphors, I know. Anyway, here’s a few of my personal favourite oldies released to DVD this year:
Savage Streets
Forget Bitch Slap, Hobo With A Shotgun, Nude Nuns With Big Guns and the like. All these contemporary attempts to recreate grindhouse are simply doomed to fail, filtered as they are through almost three decades worth of post-modern irony and the popularisation of media and cultural theory. If you want the real deal you have to go back to the source, and while Savage Streets came at the tail end of the real grindhouse era, there can be no doubt it’s the genuine article. Watch Linda Blair’s performance and it’s clear she isn’t playing it for laughs; she’s out to make a serious tale of female empowerment and revenge. But in the midst of so much hairspray, spandex, cock-rock and boobage, there’s simply no way to take this film entirely seriously, even with the harsh and unpleasant rape scene. 80s sleaze at its finest, and my favourite release from Arrow Video all year. Here’s my review.
The Fiend
Though I can’t understand why Odeon Entertainment didn’t release this under the considerably better title Beware My Brethren, this has to be one of the best British horror films of the 70s that barely anyone has ever heard of. It also gives considerable weight to the argument that Britain invented the slasher genre, given Peeping Tom, Hammer’s Hands of the Ripper, and this film, in which a hen-pecked son raised fundamentalist Christian takes it upon himself to dish out God’s own justice on the sinners of London, the pretty young women in particular. While it’s not without its camp appeal (witness the inclusion of its trailer in the recent Grindhouse Trailer Classics 3), on the whole The Fiend really does hold up well. Check it out if you get the chance. Here’s my review.
Virgin Witch and The Cheerleaders/Revenge of the Cheerleaders
Yes, it’s been a pretty good year for 70s sexploitation on DVD, and I’m not ashamed to say I greeted them with open arms, not to mention an open fly… ahem. Odeon Entertainment’s release Virgin Witch is probably the most appropriate for this site, what with it having a horror element and all; an enjoyably camp and corny bit of Pagan-flavoured porn, about a young model initiated into a coven. The early 70s were, after all, a boom time for interest in all things occult, and given that it’s full of gratuitous nudity by torchlight in woodland clearings Virgin Witch is a pretty good reflection of witchcraft’s popular appeal. My full review is here. Dismissing all pretence of relevance to horror, Arrowdrome’s double bill DVD of The Cheerleaders and Revenge of the Cheerleaders is wonderfully unpretentious entertainment, bulging with innuendo-ridden dialogue, guitar-driven funk, soft focus camerawork and of course bare flesh aplenty. Yes, they’re sillier than a silly thing swimming in a sea of silliness, but they’re great fun. Here’s my review.
I think that’ll do. No, this is certainly not an exhaustive appraisal of brutal cinema in 2011, but these are the films that made the biggest impact on me, for better or worse. Make of it what you will. Happy New Year.