MY FAVORITE HORROR FILMS OF 2013

Thanks for dropping by!

My resolution for the upcoming year is to update my blog regularly.  You're never gonna see long, rambling essays from me -- I don't write enough anyway, so time spent throwing word-count into a blog is better spent working on new stories and novels for you guys to read -- but I do need to update more often.

So what I'm gonna start doing are (very) brief reviews for stuff I've recently watched/read/listened to/etc.  I'm gonna call 'em "150 Words About...", as each mini-review will clock in at exactly 150 words.  Short n' sweet and sorta stream-of-consciousness.  

To kick this off, I give you my Five Favorite Horror Films of 2013 list (unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a Top TEN list for the record, as I didn't see ten films this year that impressed me enough to call 'em favorites).  Commentary on each entry abides by the "150 words" rule.  

Please drop me a line or leave a Comment below telling me about your own picks.  I would love to hear about your favorites of 2013!

#5:  YOU’RE NEXT   I ignored the hype for the longest time, assuming You’re Next was just another “home-invasion-by-people-in-spooky-masks” movie (and I’m so done with those).  But after reading a number of extremely positive reviews from folks whose opinions I trust, I had to see it.  While the film does fit into that home-invasion-etc. subgenre, director Adam Wingard and company were able to make it all feel original.  One thing that really surprised me about You’re Next was the humor -- I never expected it to be so funny!  It’s not a horror-comedy by any means, but a genuinely suspenseful film that finds its humor in the interactions between its characters and their snappy dialogue when things get tense.  I dug the twists, too.  You’re Next wasn’t perfect.  Few films are.  It was, however, a very pleasant surprise, and deserves a spot on my Favorites of 2013 list.  I can admit I was wrong.

#4:  BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO   Filmed in 2012 but not widely available until 2013, Berberian Sound Studio is a film that I can’t recommend to everyone.  Why?  Well, it’s not really a horror film.  But it is about giallo films.  Toby Jones (The Mist) plays a sound designer who has been hired to fly to Italy to work on a movie called The Equestrian Vortex.  While we never see said project ourselves (at least, no more than a few frames?), we hear it.  And the things we hear make it very clear that our hero is working on what might be the most terrifying film ever made.  So begins a downward spiral into insanity.  Berberian Sound Studio is for those who are looking for something different.  If nothing else, I guarantee you’ve never seen – or heard – anything like it.  Oh, yeah . . . and I really wanna see The Equestrian Vortex, the nonexistent film-within-a-film.

#3:  EVIL DEAD   They said it couldn’t be done.  I was skeptical too.  But they pulled it off!  Some fans complained about the lack of humor – that’s what I loved about it.  Others claimed there was too much gore – that’s what I loved about it.  A lot of folks lamented the absence of Ash – that’s what I really loved about it!  Evil Dead 2013 did something different, while respecting its source material.  I admit I do see more of its flaws every time I watch it, and I’ll probably never again love it as much as I did that first time in the theater – I saw it with my oldest friends in the world, and how we cackled at that last-second cameo! –but I still found it to be one of the better remakes of the last decade.  I also found it . . . dare I say . . . friggin’ scary.

#2:  MANIAC   I was one of the few who didn’t scoff when I heard Alexandra Aja (Haute Tension, Piranha 3D) was producing a remake of William Lustig’s sleaze-classic Maniac.  I enjoyed the original, but was never a huge fan.  2013’s update proved to be one hell of a gruesome yet oddly beautiful film.  I knew lead Elijah Wood could be scary (his performance in Sin City is nightmare fuel, despite the fact that he never stopped smiling through the whole thing), but in this one he’s sympathetic too (sure, his character scalps women, but with mommy issues like this, it would have been a miracle for this dude to turn out any other way!).  The first-person-POV was a unique, unsettling touch that puts the viewer in the killer’s mind/body without ever feeling “gimmicky”, and the soundtrack was one of the most haunting I’ve heard in years.  Buy the Bluray, then the soundtrack.

#1:  WE ARE WHAT WE ARE   Jim Mickle’s (Mulberry Street, Stakeland) remake of the Spanish film Somos Lo Que Hay not only earns the top spot on my Favorites of 2013 list, it might just be my favorite American horror film since 2007’s The Mist.  This one’s as much Southern Gothic as it is horror; it’s gory when it needs to be, but not to the degree you'd expect for a film about a family of cannibals (think Frailty in tone, more than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).  A somber mood is established from the first frame, thanks to a never-ending rain that almost becomes a character in itself.  Featuring another sublime performance from Michael Parks (From Dusk Till Dawn, Red State) as a medical examiner haunted by the disappearance of his daughter, We Are What We Are has me more excited than ever for Mickle’s next film, an adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale’s Cold In July.

BONUS:  One that nearly made the list . . . watch for it in 2014:

OMNIVOROS   This Spanish film reminded me of a story by one of my favorite writers, Graham Masterton’s “The Secret Shih Tan”.  A food critic investigates “clandestine restaurants”, where rich patrons dine on exotic dishes not found on the menu at McDonald’s.  But when his search for the ultimate taboo leads to a group of people who feast on human flesh, he’s forced to reconsider how far he’ll go to further his career.  For a film about cannibalism, I admired how Omnivoros avoided the obvious trappings, i.e., splashing blood n’ guts around.  While there are gory moments -- one involving boiling water and a straight-razor made me cringe, something that rarely happens to this jaded old horror nerd -- the story is structured like a mystery, so when the sick stuff happens it’s even more shocking.  If you’re cool with subtitles, check it out (sometimes you have to warn people about that).

My First NONfiction Book Is On the Way . . . .

Coming in January, 2014 (more details to follow very soon):

INTERVIEW

Check out this fun lil' interview with yours truly from a few days ago:

     Write Like A Wizard: An Interview With Author, James Newman!!


 

UGLY AS SIN

My new novel, UGLY AS SIN, is now available in paperback and for the Kindle . . . order your copy today!

http://www.shocktotem.com/12/06/2013/ugly-as-sin-now-available/

J.N.

UGLY AS SIN: Paperback/E-Book Editions On the Way Within Weeks!

 

Lots of folks have been asking about more affordable editions of my latest novel UGLY AS SIN . . . well, here ya go!

 

I'm told that the paperback and e-book editions of UGLY AS SIN will be available by 12/1.  Looking forward to hearing what you all think!

 

 

 

http://www.shocktotem.com/11/12/2013/ugly-as-sin-cover-reveal/

  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

     For decades, the modern horror film has held a reputation of existing solely for the glorification of violence.  Horror fans themselves shoulder much of the blame for this; many name among their heroes masked psychos who stalk and slash their way through bland, two-dimensional characters in sequel after sequel, killers who can only be killed themselves by diminishing box-office returns.  However, if cinema fans look deeper they will find films within the genre that are not only genuinely scary, but artfully made and instilled with thought-provoking subtext. 

     There's so much more to the horror genre than Chucky, Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers.  You just have to know where to look to find quality films that leave you thinking about them long after the closing credits roll.
     Just in time for Halloween, here are ten titles that offer something different.  So lock your doors and windows, toss a bag of popcorn in the microwave, turn off the lights, and kick back for some good, scary fun . . .

     
 

     Trick r’ Treat (2007) is nothing less than a gushing love letter to a horror fan's favorite holiday:  Halloween.  You can almost smell the crisp autumn leaves, the mouth-watering aroma of caramel apples and pumpkin spice in the air.  The film’s non-linear narrative is constructed from several different Halloween-related stories, but the tales in this “anthology” weave in and out of one another in a format similar to the way Tarantino did it with Pulp Fiction.  See Trick r’ Treat, and remember what it felt like to sit around a campfire with your buddies, telling ghost stories and urban legends, scaring yourselves silly.  

 

     While a bit dated due to its gang of punk-rock protagonists, Return of the Living Dead (1987) is an underrated classic in the zombie sub-genre.  Be warned if you're bothered by "the red stuff", as this one definitely has its share of gruesome moments (“Braaaaaaains!”), but Return is as side-splittingly funny as it is scary, thanks to a near-perfect script by director Dan O’Bannon, who also wrote the seminal Alien.  Consider this exchange between the two bumbling medical-warehouse employees who inadvertently bring about the zombie apocalypse:  “I hit the brain!”/”Well, it worked in the movie!”/”You mean the movie lied?!” 

 

      A poignant look at friendship as much as it is a horror film, Lat Den Ratte Komma In (2008) is a Swedish vampire movie that’s not afraid to do something different with a classic monster.  A bullied teenager befriends a young lady (or is she?) who survives by drinking blood . . . but can even the strongest of friendships truly last forever?  Let the Right One In is nothing less than a somber work of art, and easily one of the best genre films of the last twenty years.  2010 saw an American remake called Let Me In (starring Chloe Grace Moretz from the recent Carrie rehash), and that version is worth a watch too. 

      Night of the Creeps (1986) knows exactly what it is, and it never aspires to be anything more:  a B-movie roller-coaster ride full of aliens and zombies and oh-so-quotable dialogue.  When the students of a small college are infected by slugs from outer space that get in through your mouth, it’s more than just keg parties and plummeting grade-point averages that the powers-that-be have to worry about!  Enter a grizzled, Scotch-swilling detective with a dark past, and you’ve got all the makings for a fun fright flick.  Night of the Creeps features what might be the coolest line in any horror film ever:  “Girls, I've got good news and bad news.  The good news is, your dates are here . . . (the bad news is) they’re dead.”

     Re-Animator (1985) could be considered a zombie movie, but at heart it’s really a mad scientist movie -- you can almost hear Colin Clive’s cry of “It’s aliiive!” from 1931’s  Frankenstein in the silence between every scream.  Herbert West is a promising student at a prestigious medical university who has discovered the secret of reanimating dead tissue (via a funky green glow-in-the-dark goo).  When this obsessed young man realizes the morgue is the perfect place for his clandestine experiments, you know this can’t end well.  Like Return of the Living Dead, this one’s as funny as it is scary, and the film is all the better for it.

     A box-office flop due to audience expectations brought on by its predecessor (the wretched Exorcist 2: Heretic), this third installment in the Exorcist series is the true sequel to the classic original film, as it is based on writer/director William Peter Blatty’s novel Legion.  The Exorcist III (1990) follows Detective William Kinderman (Hollywood legend George C. Scott, in one of his most underrated performances) as he investigates a series of sacrilegious murders in Georgetown, murders that appear to be committed by a killer who died in the electric chair.  There’s a disturbing link to a certain young lady, too – a troubled twelve-year-old who once sprayed profanities and pea soup on two priests.  Despite an ending that feels out-of-place (forced upon Blatty by the studio), The Exorcist III: Legion is as terrifying as William Friedkin’s original Exorcist.  Especially that one scene.  You’ll know which one when you see it.

     A tragic look at how young men and women who are sent off to war often return as ghosts of their former selves, Deathdream (1972, a.k.a. Dead of Night) is the story of Andy, a young man who is killed in Vietnam.  But then his family is elated when he comes knocking at their door one night, seemingly safe and sound.  Problem is, Andy now needs blood to stay alive.  Eventually, his loved ones start to wonder if it would be best if he had never come home at all.  A modern take on W.W. Jacobs’ classic short story “The Monkey’s Paw”, Deathdream is an underrated gem from Bob Clark, who also made Black Christmas, Porky’s, and A Christmas Story (!).

     Lola asks Brent to take her to the prom.  He politely turns her down.  He’ll regret it.  The Loved Ones, an Australian horror film from 2009, is a nerve-wracking descent into terror that some have called “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Pretty In Pink” . . . and that’s not too far off.  Robin McLeavy turns in a devious performance that ranks among horror’s all-time greatest villains, a rarity in a genre that usually restricts women to the role of helpless victims.  “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, indeed.

    Once upon a time, John Carpenter was a master of horror, as evidenced by genre classics like Halloween, The Fog, and The Thing.  Sadly, In the Mouth of Madness (1994) is his last really good film.  This one’s about Sutter Kane, a best-selling horror author whose work has driven his worldwide fan base to acts of murder and madness.  When Kane goes missing, an insurance investigator -- played by genre fave Sam Neil (Jurassic Park, Event Horizon, Omen III: The Final Conflict) -- is hired by the writer’s publisher to find him.  Before long, the hunter becomes the hunted, the lines between fiction and reality blur, and it’s the end of the world as we know it.    

     This wonderfully eerie film from Thailand takes the old “long-haired ghost girl” trope so prevalent in popular Asian horror films like Ringu, Ju-On, et al, and makes it scary again.  After a young man kills a woman in a hit-and-run accident on a deserted country road (or does he?), he’s haunted by her ghostly visage at every turn.  Shutter (2004) is worth seeing just for the last ten minutes, which feature one of the creepiest get-under-your-skin images in the history of modern cinema.  You won’t stop thinking about this one for a long time, guaranteed . . . .

 

     Thanks for reading!  Hopefully you’ll find something on the list to give you chills this season . . . .


       Watch for details soon re: my upcoming horror movie trivia book, scheduled for publication in early 2014:  666 Hair-Raising Horror Movie Trivia Questions!. 

UGLY AS SIN: Very First Review Is Now Online

The very first review of my new novel Ugly As Sin just popped up online.  The reviewer had a few problems with the climax, and while such criticism always stings a bit I do think the reviewer's complaints were fair.  For the most part, it's a positive review, and it left me smiling.

Check it out when you have a free minute or two:

http://theoctobercountry.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/review-ugly-as-sin-by-james-newman/