Friends and fiends, it’s that time of year again!
First off, I’m going to come right out and say it: 2014 was not my favorite year for horror. Not only do I feel that the quality of the films themselves was lacking, but my enthusiasm for them was the lowest it’s been in recent memory. Whether the former had anything to do with the latter remains open to debate, but I felt like I spent a lot of time writing about movies that didn’t rock my world, with the majority of them being “assignments” as opposed to efforts I was genuinely passionate about. The bright lights occasionally shone through, but I found myself returning to known quantities (i.e. my personal video library) to restore my mood as the thrill of the hunt for new frights often left me cold.
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| "What do you mean we have to watch the special features for Return to Nuke 'em High now?" |
Case in point: I could only find seven films that qualified for a “best of” list, and two of those were technically released pre-2014. Sure, there were a few major releases that slipped by (Dracula Untold, Wolf Creek 2, Annabelle), but I couldn’t work up the enthusiasm to actually track them down. And of these top seven films, there’s not one that became an instant all-time favorite, the closest being Housebound and Jug Face. (I don’t care how many big-time critics are going bananas, The Babadook wasn’t all that, folks.)
Now, looking at many of my comrades' year-end wrap-ups, I realize that more and more smaller independents are going the VOD route, which could account for my missing them. (I have yet to pay for a streaming movie and I'm not all that enthused to start now, but the times, they are a-changing.)
Another source of frustration this year was the "love it/hate it" mentality, with no room for moderation. I couldn’t believe how many people were blowing their collective loads over films that had enormous gaping holes in logic and narrative, with The Sacrament, Godzilla, Contracted, and Proxy immediately coming to mind. Even more confounding, when these shortcomings were pointed out in conversation, their champions simply replied that they didn’t care if the story didn’t make sense or if the characters were unrealistic or if there was no cohesive tone. I don’t even know how to have a discussion with someone giving a rave to a film that they openly admit has problems. In my world, if it has problems, it doesn’t get a rave. End of story.
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| "He's right, you know..." |
With that wet blanketing out of the way, here’s my rundown on The Year That Was. Each of the films listed below was encountered by your humble narrator for the first time over the past 12 months. To acknowledge as many as possible, I've broken them down into various categories in alphabetical order, with my top pick denoted with an asterisk. (*)
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| OH MY GOD WILL HE NEVER STOP TALKING??? GET ON WITH THE LIST!!!! |
If you are curious about or want to celebrate/debate why a certain title landed in a certain category, please leave a comment and we’ll go at it. Also, if you’re interested in reading the original review – and really, who wouldn’t be? – just click on that film’s title to be taken to the corresponding blog entry. Above all, have fun!
TOP HORROR RELEASES OF 2014
The Babadook
*Housebound
Jug Face (limited release in 2013)
Oculus
Under the Skin
*Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide (2010 UK release)
Witching and Bitching
MICROBUDGET DIVISION
7th Day
Almost Human
Babysitter Massacre
Beyond the Grave
Bled White
Chrysalis
Demon Resurrection
Godzilla: Battle Royale
*Pieces of Talent
Restoration
WNUF Halloween Special
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Asmodexia
Lucky Bastard
Dead Shadows
Exists
A Field in England
In Fear
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears
Willow Creek
WE’VE GOT (BIG) ISSUES
Compliance
Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead
Godzilla
Proxy
INOFFENSIVE TIME WASTERS
Chastity Bites
The Device
Horns
The House in the Alley
Phobia
The Purge: Anarchy
Return to Nuke ‘em High
Time Lapse
NOTABLY INFURIATING/INSULTING/INEPT
Contracted
The Dead 2: India
Mr. Jones
Patrick (2013)
The Sacrament
The Squad
Wax
FAVORITE HORROR DISCOVERIES OF 2014
Bad Moon (1996)
Bait (2012)
*End of the Line (2007)
Kuroneko (1968)
Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)
The Night Digger (1971)
CHEESE, PLEASE
The Atomic Submarine (1959)
*The Brain (1988)
The Capture of Bigfoot (1979)
Cellar Dweller (1988)
Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar) (1984)
Forest of Fear (aka Toxic Zombies) (1980)
Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
Grim Prairie Tales (1990)
The Kindred (1987)
Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)
Puppetmaster III: Toulon’s Revenge (1991)
The Wasp Woman (1995)
WHAT THE $%^@^(*%%$*) DID I JUST WATCH? (IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY)
*Amok Train (1989)
The Beast in Heat (1977)
Death Spa (1989)
Frozen Scream (1975)
Gestapo’s Last Orgy (1977)
“It’s Alive” (1969)
Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989)
“WILL THIS NEVER END?” ENDURANCE TESTS
Final Exam (1981)
Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
Human Experiments (1979)
Love Camp 7 (1969)
The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)
Queen Kong (1976)
The Possession of Virginia (1972)
WORST HORROR VIEW OF 2014
Happy Camp (2014)
AC’s FAVORITE BR/DVD REVIEWS OF 2014
Forgive the self-horn-tooting, but in a year where inspiration was sometimes hard to come by, the following releases had me going above and beyond the call, dusting off reference books or surfing the web for additional trivia and information (or digging out the thesaurus to refine a particularly stinging criticism). In a perfect world, all Dr. AC reviews would come up to the standard presented below, so feel free to sample (or nominate one of your own!)
Bloody Moon
Curtains
Gestapo’s Last Orgy
Happy Camp
Queen Kong
The Sacrament
Sleepaway Camp
Thirst
Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide
In addition to the films, other highlights of 2014 included phone conversations with Larry Fessenden, Jim Mickle, Nick Damici, and Eduardo Sanchez, as well as meeting Bobcat Goldthwait and Dick Miller in person at the Chicago Critics Film Festival. And then there was that little thing called HIDDEN HORROR....
Back in a flash with Civilian Views, End-of-Year Stats, and much, much more, so stay tuned!
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Glad someone else has discovered End of the Line. It's wonderful. I find it criminal the director can't get funding for new projects
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that I remember hearing about it way back when, but the DVD cover art is so terrible (and deceptive, making it look like a subterranean DESCENT-type creature feature ... not that there's anything wrong with that). It had been sitting on my shelf for literally years and I decided to toss it in as part of my requisite 1st time viewings for the October Challenge and was so pleasantly surprised. I'll be recommending it big and loud from now on.
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