By Nia Edwards-Behi
It’s that time of year again, when I put my memory to the test and realise, once I’ve finished, that I’ve left dozens of titles out of the running for my round-up of favourites of the year. It’s always going to be a subjective list, and almost certainly arbitrary – I admit I don’t keep an on-going list throughout the year (you’d think I’d have learned to do so, by now), so I have to do a lot of picking through documents to try and remember what I’ve seen in a year. The list covers what I’d broadly term ‘genre’ films, rather than just ‘horror’, which hopefully makes the list a bit more varied and interesting. I’ve included some also-rans on this list, and I’ve tried to focus on pre-release films in the hope that they make it to cinemas or DVD in 2016. Many of the runners up could easily have been in the top ten, if I’d compiled it on a different day, or thought about it in a different mood. Like I say: there’s a certain arbitrariness to this.
The second part of this end of year round-up is a look forward to 2016: the films I’m most looking forward to. Again, knowing my luck I’ll end up forgetting to include something really obvious that I’m looking forward to. Hopefully this time next year some of the films here will be rounding off the year!
2015 FAVOURITES
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
After I submitted my review of Mad Max: Fury Road back in May, I had a feeling I might have been a bit overly enthused directly following an early-morning advance screening of the film. However, having since re-watched the film on several occasions (though admittedly only on a cinema screen), I can safely say that it’s glaringly, predictably my absolute favourite film of the year. There’s very little I could say that hasn’t already been said, by myself or others, but regardless it would be insincere of me to downplay just how much I adore this film.
Bone Tomahawk (S. Craig Zahler, 2015)
Sometimes you see a film a just think, ‘yes, that’s a proper film’. That was much my thinking part-way through Bone Tomahawk (released in UK cinemas Spring 2016), never mind at its end. A horror-Western hybrid of the first order, the film excels as both. Bone Tomahawk takes its time to establish an ensemble cast of distinct, well-rounded characters that drive the simple narrative. It’s ultimately a character study, but its reverent use of genre makes it hugely enjoyable and entertaining. (Tristan’s review.)
The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015)
My overwhelming memory from first seeing The Invitation is finding myself, at the film’s close, sunk into the wall I was sitting next to, having tensed up my body while watching the film. It’s a thoughtful, subtle and intense chamber film, with Logan Marshall-Green heading up a naturalistic and believable cast. Though the film has rightfully been making waves at ‘genre’ festival, it’s also accessible enough that it should have a very broad appeal.
Deadman Inferno (Hiroshi Shinagawa, 2015)
Back in April I saw Deadman Inferno at BIFFF in Brussels, and I could not have been happier, seven months later, to see it win the audience award at my own Abertoir Horror Festival. A knowing, affectionate and immensely funny film, Hinagawa’s zombie-comedy really shows other comedies how it should be done.
Robbery (Fire Lee, 2015)
I think if I had to pick the most exciting film I saw this year it would be Robbery. Arriving in my lap as a screener and with no other expectation than ‘black comedy’, this gem turned out to be so much more. It’s certainly an extremely dark comedy, balancing slapstick violence and toilet humour in equal measure, alongside some astute and cutting social commentary. And to boot: it’s got a gorgeous visual palette.
The Chronicles of Evil (Baek Woon-Hak, 2015)
Baek Woon-Hak’s The Chronicles of Evil doesn’t seem to have had much of a release outside of its native South Korea, but it’s a thrilling account of guilt and bad decisions. A newly-promoted police officer accidentally kills a taxi driver who attacks him and decides to cover up the death. The next day the same man is discovered hanging from a massive construction crane. It’s a thrill-ride, full of deceptions and betrayals and twists and turns as you might expect from a Korean crime thriller. I’m hoping it sees light of day on DVD over here soon, as I really want to see it again.
Hellions (Bruce McDonald, 2015)
I’ve already had my say about Hellions back in October as part of BaH’s Trick or Treat Halloween feature. I seem to be one of the few people to have truly enjoyed the film (I’ve already seen it appear on a couple of ‘worst of 2015’ lists!), and to what extent my enjoyment of Hellions is increased by the fact that I haven’t see McDonald’s apparently ‘superior’ Pontypool, I can’t possibly say. Even so: I adored Hellions, and it’s certainly stood out as one of the more unique and interesting films I saw in 2015.
Fatal Frame (Mari Asato, 2014)
Another film to take me by surprise in 2015 was the ostensible computer game adaptation Fatal Frame. I approached it expecting something splattery and cheap (more fool me, even though I expected to enjoy it!), and instead found an under-stated, thoughtful and beautiful film. This feminine and female-focused film features some of the most striking images I’ve seen this year, and although the narrative unravels somewhat towards the film’s close, it’s easily a film I will re-visit over and over again. (Keri’s review.)
The Dead Lands (Toa Fraser, 2014)
The Dead Lands was one of the films I was most looking forward to this year, so it was an absolute pleasure that it did not disappoint. As I wrote in April, it’s a fascinating film for its various cultural specificities, but most of all it’s a truly great action film. If you want to see burly blokes beat each other up in a way you’ve never seen before, this is very much the film for you!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams, 2015)
A late contender to this list, given as I’ve only just seen it on Christmas Eve, it would be entirely inauthentic of me not to include Star Wars: The Force Awakens in my list. A grin was plastered on my face from start to finish, and while future viewings may dampen that enthusiasm, or reveal plot or character niggles, there’s no denying that seeing this film was an absolute, magical pleasure.
2015 SPECIAL MENTIONS
The Terror Live (Kim Byung-Woo, 2013) – an exceptionally inventive thriller, set almost entirely in a television studio.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (Francis Lawrence, 2015) – a satisfying end to the franchise, including a truly horrific action sequence.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Matthew Vaughn, 2015) – just about scraping into 2015, this was a charming and thoroughly entertaining film.
SPL2: A Time for Consequences (Cheang Pou-Soi, 2015) – bone-cracking action with Tony Jaa and a star-making turn from Max Zhang.
Tag (Sion Sono, 2015) – worth a mention just for the gloriously over-the-top opening scene, though there’s pleasure to be had in the increasingly incoherent film that follows.
The Target (Chang, 2014) – who would have thought a remake would show up in this list? Non-stop, breath-taking, twisty-turny action.
The Silenced (Lee Hae-Young, 2015) – the other great spooky all-girls school film I saw this year.
Hollow (Ham Tran, 2014) & Aaaaaaaah! (Steve Oram, 2015) & Attack on Titan Parts 1 and 2 (Shinji Higuchi, 2015) & The Ninja War of Torakage (Yoshihiro Nishimura, 2015) & They Look Like People (Perry Blackshear, 2015) – look, basically anything we showed at Abertoir 2015, obviously.
2016 MOST ANTICIPATED
The Revenant (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2015) – I recently finally saw the trailer for this much-talked about film and I’m looking forward to it being one of the early films I see in 2016.
The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino, 2015) – I’m not Tarantino’s biggest fan, but I can’t deny that this film looks marvellous (and if Kurt Russell pulls off two great Westerns in quick succession that’ll be quite the achievement).
The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2015) – high-brow lady-assassin martial arts film? Yes, yes, yes please. I’m not sure how much this film will even qualify as ‘genre’, but we’ll see.
High Rise (Ben Wheatley, 2015) – the recent first trailer for the film has cemented my desire to see it, a bit further than ‘Tom Hiddleston’s in it’.
Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier, 2015) – I managed to miss this one when everyone around me was raving about it (serves me right for choosing to go watch a Thai zombie film instead, I guess), so this is very high on my films to see in 2016.
Shin Gojira (Shinji Higuchi, 2016) – the team behind Attack on Titan doing the new Godzilla? Get in my eyeballs!!!
Captain America: Civil War (Joe and Anthony Russo, 2016) – given the strength of the Russo Brothers’ previous outing with Marvel, it’s safe to say this is likely going to blow my mind.
Baskin (Can Evrenol, 2015) – gore, gore and more gore.
Evolution (Lucile Hadzihalilovic, 2015) – this sounded like one of the most interesting films I missed from its festival screenings last year, and so I really hope it receives a UK release in 2016.
The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) – Refn takes on the evils of a beauty-obsessed society. I’m intrigued by the often macho-centric director’s take on the world of modelling.
The Piper (Kim Kwang-Tae, 2015) – the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin re-imagined in rural, post-war Korea. I’m really looking forward to this one.