Post by rrw on Mar 29, 2008 16:19:50 GMT -5
So why did I decide to do a Robert’s Top 11 Horror Films List, 2007! instead of a Robert’s Top 10 Horror Film List, 2007! Simple really. I don’t like to run with the herd.
11. Rob Zombie’s Halloween— "No, say it ain’t so! You liked Rob Zombie’s version of Carpenter’s MASTERPIECE?!" Well, yes… and no. Too be honest, I’m not that big a fan of the original. I do recognize that it is an iconic film but not in my top ten favorite horror films of all time. To me JC’s The Fog is his best film… ever. But that’s another review. Back to Rob’s version. I saw the theatrical release when it first came out at movie theatres and… wasn’t impressed. But the Unrated Director’s Cut (Hee! Hee!) is much better. What I like about this version is that Rob really tries to make a thoughtful film about how a Psycho Killer evolves…at least that’s what he tries to do in the first part of the movie. Successfully done? Well, not all the way… but it was a good try. It’s a hell of a lot better movie than any of the other "remakes" of late 70s and middle 80s Hack ’n’ Slash. And a whole lot better than the Saw series… or anything made by the self-proclaimed NEW MASTER OF HORROR! Eli—I’m Too Cool To Take The Time To Learn How To Make Movies—Roth. But that’s ANOTHER review. Again, back to Rob. So I thought the first part was cool except that I’ve grown very weary of Rob’s love affair with the Trailer Trash Psychopath character. And what’s up with making Mikie look like a steroid usin’ professional wrestler?! That’s a BIG (hee!) trend now. I guess the younger generation is only scared of professional wrestlers. damn you WWF! OOOPS! I mean WWE! The second part of the Movie? Except for a few minor changes… it’s just the original Halloween.
10. Planet Terror— Even when Rodriguez is bad, he’s still pretty good. I mean how CAN a movie not be recognized in a top ten when you got Rose Mcgowan as a stripper with a heart of gold and… a machine gun leg! She even does some rather brilliant ballet moves while mowing down Zombies! She and Freddy Rodriquez remind me of a demented Bogart and Bergman from Casablanca. Robert’s over the top violence goes a little TOO over the top with a scene of dissolving male genitalia that seems to go on forever. Reeeal nasty! And there’s LOTS of blood…. real dark and almost comic book like blood. But action, blood, violence is Bobby’s thing and it’s a good thrill ride with some snappy dialogue.
. Behind the Mask— Well, you knew it had to happen sooner or later. Somebody had to make a Psycho Killer Satire that actually was witty and thoughtful. That’s what you get with this movie. Forget all those over ripe, not funny Scary Movie moves. This little film is genuinely funny AND scary, and really questions our contemporary morals toward serial killers. This fake documentary about how we as a society glorify the psycho and transforms him into an artistic god who is (let’s face it) much better than "normal" people is great fun, and an honest commentary on our real life obsession with crazy killers. But since it went almost straight to DVD, I doubt many who should see it have seen it. Thanks to Nick for turning me on to this little gem. (The release date was 2006, but I have seen it on many 2007 lists so get over it!)
8. The Messengers— Stylistically, one of those American rip- offs of the Japanese Gothic (which the Japanese ripped-off from the Romantic period.) tales. My, gosh, the ghosts in it are straight out of The Grudge! But there are some genuine scary moments in it like when the ghosts go crazy (Wow! Crazy Ghosts!) and trash the old farmhouse our wholesome family with a few dysfunctional traits are living in. And the little kid of the family (who is the only one who can see the ghosts) is really creepy! Man, I would hate to be his REAL parents. How do they sleep at night knowing he’s in the next room? Great eyes that kid! And the crows are super fun! They use actual crows for an attack scene on the father. Yep! STUNT CROWS! Pretty realistic CGI is used for our evil birdies flying around as if they knew where they were going. Hmm! I wonder if the Crow Actor’s Guild likes THAT?! So a good, solid script, good acting, wonderful cinematography, and some really creepy moments makes this film worth seeing.
7. The Reaping— What?! Another one of those Gothic rip-offs! Nnnoo! This is a rip-off of the Bible (the book is better!). I usually don’t like Biblical Prophecy movies, but this one really does some justice to Revelations. AND it has Hilary Swank in it! What’s not to love? But why is that when an actor wins an Academy Award the first thing he/she says is, "Hey! I better make a horror film before I get too famous!" Got another creepy kid in it and quite a few goose bump scenes with rivers of more than acceptable looking blood, BIG frogs falling from the sky… and kids with the worse case of lice I have ever seen… Again, good story (though the endings a tad weak.), good acting, some really tight CGI… and did I mention, HILARY SWANK is in it!
6. Pan’s Labyrinth— Okay, NOW we’re getting into the artsy-fartsy horror films. I’m a little pissed off at this film. The trailers for it made you think this was going to be a fantasy film like Lord Of The Rings. Yeah, there’s SOME fantasy in it, but this is really a movie about war. And what’s more horrifying than war (except, of course, any movie with the Olsen Twins in it)? But it’s not about the big things in war. It’s more about little atrocities committed by derange people who have no empathy for their fellow man and way too much power. The whole idea of war is seen through the eyes of a young girl (What’s up with all this kids in horror films lately?), who tries to escape her real life situation by creating a fantasy world. And in this make believe world are all kinds of monster both friendly and not so friendly. But no matter how frightening and threatening these fantasy monsters are, they don’t hold a candle to the real life monsters. And I believe that’s what the director, Guillermo de Toro, iis trying to tell us. Yes, the imagery in art may sometimes be quite frightening. But the real life monsters are the one’s you have to look out for. See? I told you this was my artsy-fartsy section!
5. The Mist— Okay, this is Nick E’s choice for scariest movie of the year! Is it the scariest movie of the year? Glad you asked. Well, as they say (sorta) in No Country For Old Men, "It’ll do til scary comes along." What you have here is a movie that thinks it’s a play. Yep, the style of this flick (does anyone say the word flick anymore?) is very theatrical. From set design to acting style, this movie smacks of live theatre. And that’s what threw me for awhile. The first time I watched I kept thinking something was wrong. It just didn’t look right. But on the second viewing a let my prejudices went out the window and I really got into it. It’s a pretty marvelous film with some very exciting use of roaming cameras that is almost constantly going from one character to another. Almost like a horror ballet. Is it scary? There are places where this movie is just down right terrifying. The scariest stuff is that which you can’t quite see! Like the really BIG monsters that stroll along outside the super market partially hidden by this gray-white mist! Yeah the mist! That’s the real scary thing. Very well done. It appears like this sort of thick supernatural smoke that people walk into… and never come back from. Wooohahaha! There’s a few problems though with the script. A lot of the dialogue seems to be straight from Stephen King’s original novel and sometimes King’s dialogue can be a little clunky. King has always wanted to be taken seriously as a writer so he always waxes a little too philosophical at times, hitting you over the head a little too hard with some rather shallow thinking. There’s a scene where the good humans are discussing in private how they need to get away from the bad group of humans (all religious zealots) who want to sacrifice one of the good guys to their Christian God. So they break out into this high falootin, philosophical discussion about the evils of mankind that’s sounds more like a bunch of Aristotles sitting on a lawn on a nice spring day in Greece discussing life than a group ordinary, everyday folk who are trapped in a supermarket (monsters on the inside as well as the outside) and are just trying to stay alive. Conclusion of this masterpiece of thought: When people get scared, they get dangerous! Hell, I could have told you that in one sentence. Hey! I just did! And the acting style is straight out of the 19th century melodrama… very big and gaudy in places. But once you get use to it… it all works pretty good. Hats of to writer/director Frank Darabont (who wrote my favorite all time horror script the ’88 version of The Blob.) for giving his little movie an ending that sticks with you for a long time.
4. Children of Men— Yep, another movie about the horrors of war. And this is a fantastic film whether you consider it an actual horror film or not. To me a great film has to have a great story, great, human dialogue and wonderfully acted characters. Special effects? Yeah, I like that too, but some of my favorite movies have little or no special effects in them. This movie to me has everything going for with a truckload of unusual visual/action sequences that are really unnerving! This movie is all about the camera and what director Alfonso Caron does with it. You get a lot of action sequences that are continuous. Also, he uses a sort of POV style in which the audience is right there in the action along side the hero every minute. I mean you are right there when the bombs go off; you can feel the bullets whizzing right by your ears in the BIG war scene at the end of the movie. It’s a brilliant piece that is such a sensory roller coaster. It is a little hard to get use to because we don’t see many movies shot like this. But give it a try. You might like it.
3. 30 Days of Night— Back in 1994, MTV actually produced the first movie version of a graphic novel, The Crow. What is a graphic novel, you may ask. Graphic novel is a term created by a PhD in literature who loved
comic books but didn’t want anyone to know it. One day in an intellectual land far, far away the PhD was a comic when his GA walked in on him. "Hey!" said the GA, "you’re a comic book!" "No I’m not, said the PhD, "I’m a… Graphic Novel!" And the rest, as they say, is history. The Crow was actually more movie than graphic novel. Actually, it was more like an extended music video than anything else. But in the 21st Century, we started getting a lot of graphic novels (Sin City, 300, etc.) translated to the screen. The problem with these films is the reverse of the problem with The Crow: they were more graphic novel than movie. What the hell was the point? If you’re just going to put the comic book— oops, I mean, Graphic Novel— up there on the screen, why bother. Just tell your audience to stay home and read the damn comic…er, Graphic Novel! 30 Days of Night is (to me) the first production that successfully blends the two mediums together. You got wonderful, nasty looking movie style action sequences blended with beautiful graphic novel like shots. A new genre is born! And you get some really killer (Hee!) vampires to boot. I’m not talking your tea sippin’ aristocratic vampires, or those elitist bloodsuckers that Ann Rice came up with in her series of novels. No! I’m talkin’ down and dirty, Transylvania, Eurotrash, redneck vampires! Nope! Even that is too nice a term for them. That don’t suck your blood; they rip it right out of your body, AND they never even wipe the access off their collective mouth! Yuck! This movie is a thrill ride of blood and gore. One problem: It’s sort of hard to buy into the fact that the humans who survived 30 days of night in a small, isolated Alaskan town filled with vampires COULD survive. But get over it! It’s a movie! No, I take that back. It’s a… Graphic Novel Movie!
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix—I’m not that big a fan of the BIG Hollywood extravaganza. Well, because if producers are going to sink a lot of many into a movie, they wan to make sure that they get the biggest Bang! They can for every buck they put down. Translation, "Forget story, dialogue and character. People just want to see Special Effects!" Fortunately for this 5th installment of the Harry potter series, the producers got one hell of a good director to get the movie franchise back to full tilt boogie. British director David Yates knows his stuff! He doesn’t gloss over the softer moments to get to the action sequences, but he sure doesn’t slow down the action. Everything you want is in this movie. I know, I know, some of my hardcore Harry fans were disappointed that they left some stuff from the book out… but hey! You just can’t put it all on screen. This movie works, it’s touching, and delivers on the action. We not only get to see Harry kiss a girl for the first time, we also get a slam! Bam! Wonderful wizard fight scene at the end! This is great movie making, folks! On the acting side, I think the kids do a terrific job with the stories mature themes… and Gambon finally makes the character of Dumbledore his own. He had a rough time trying to fill the shoes of Richard Harris, but he’s there now. However, the star of this particular film is Imelda Staunton as the pretty in pink but totally evil Dolores Umbridge! Dude, when she smiles at you it makes you wish you were back in 30 Days of Night facing those bloodsucking vampires! Evil, evil, woman! I think I dated her once. And the film’s score composed by Nicholas Hooper just adds to the fun and excitement. Man, where in the heck were Yates and Hopper for the other films? Anyway, it’s a treat to see the series get back on its feet. Two more to go… No, make that three! They decided to break the last book into two movies! I better stop smoking so I can be around for the finish.
And here it is, folks! My choice for NUMBER ONE HORROR
MOVIE OF THE YEAR 2007!
1. Death Proof— "What?! Are you INSANE! It’s BORING! All people do in this movie is TALK!" For all the reasons you hated it… I loved it! You KNOW that dialogue is king with me. And there is not a better writer of movie dialogue than Quentin "Squintin’" Tarantino! You gotta love Q’s pop culture dialogue that is just music to the urban ear. Anybody who can create sentences that makes Spike Lee say, "Man, that’s just wrong!" has got to have something going for him. I know, I know, people anymore just don’t like to sit in a movie theatre and listen to people talk! But what Tarantino shows us with his sometimes very long scenes of dialogue is how bad things happen in real life. There’s no foreshadowing going on in real life. You’re out partying with your friends, drinking a few brewskies, hitting on the local talent and then… BAM! The bad thing hits you… and it hits you Hard! Can’t say that Tarantino is a straight up original storyteller. No, he uses formulaic plots. I mean, how many Killer Car movies have been made? Lots. But Tarantino takes the old formulas and twists them around to make them his own. Hence, we get a action based exploitation plot from the 70s with more dialogue than action. But man, what little action there may be is just devastating to watch. And Q finds the most beautiful AND skilled actresses to play the characters in this movie. Zoe Bell! Look out Hilary Swank! Zoe Bell is at the city limits of my heart and is heading for the downtown district. I mean how can you not love a girl who is totally gorgeous, a good actor, one who can out drive you AND kick your scrawny little behind at the same time! Q really shows me something by not going to CGI for all the car stunts. These are real stunts done by real stunt people! And Zoe is the best of them all. And Kurt Russell does his best work ever in this film as the diabolical Stuntman Mike! Hey! Maybe we should set Stuntman Mike up on a blind date with Dolores Umbridge! I wonder who would survive?
Well there it is, kiddies. Robert’s Top 11 Horror Films, 2007!
11. Rob Zombie’s Halloween— "No, say it ain’t so! You liked Rob Zombie’s version of Carpenter’s MASTERPIECE?!" Well, yes… and no. Too be honest, I’m not that big a fan of the original. I do recognize that it is an iconic film but not in my top ten favorite horror films of all time. To me JC’s The Fog is his best film… ever. But that’s another review. Back to Rob’s version. I saw the theatrical release when it first came out at movie theatres and… wasn’t impressed. But the Unrated Director’s Cut (Hee! Hee!) is much better. What I like about this version is that Rob really tries to make a thoughtful film about how a Psycho Killer evolves…at least that’s what he tries to do in the first part of the movie. Successfully done? Well, not all the way… but it was a good try. It’s a hell of a lot better movie than any of the other "remakes" of late 70s and middle 80s Hack ’n’ Slash. And a whole lot better than the Saw series… or anything made by the self-proclaimed NEW MASTER OF HORROR! Eli—I’m Too Cool To Take The Time To Learn How To Make Movies—Roth. But that’s ANOTHER review. Again, back to Rob. So I thought the first part was cool except that I’ve grown very weary of Rob’s love affair with the Trailer Trash Psychopath character. And what’s up with making Mikie look like a steroid usin’ professional wrestler?! That’s a BIG (hee!) trend now. I guess the younger generation is only scared of professional wrestlers. damn you WWF! OOOPS! I mean WWE! The second part of the Movie? Except for a few minor changes… it’s just the original Halloween.
10. Planet Terror— Even when Rodriguez is bad, he’s still pretty good. I mean how CAN a movie not be recognized in a top ten when you got Rose Mcgowan as a stripper with a heart of gold and… a machine gun leg! She even does some rather brilliant ballet moves while mowing down Zombies! She and Freddy Rodriquez remind me of a demented Bogart and Bergman from Casablanca. Robert’s over the top violence goes a little TOO over the top with a scene of dissolving male genitalia that seems to go on forever. Reeeal nasty! And there’s LOTS of blood…. real dark and almost comic book like blood. But action, blood, violence is Bobby’s thing and it’s a good thrill ride with some snappy dialogue.
. Behind the Mask— Well, you knew it had to happen sooner or later. Somebody had to make a Psycho Killer Satire that actually was witty and thoughtful. That’s what you get with this movie. Forget all those over ripe, not funny Scary Movie moves. This little film is genuinely funny AND scary, and really questions our contemporary morals toward serial killers. This fake documentary about how we as a society glorify the psycho and transforms him into an artistic god who is (let’s face it) much better than "normal" people is great fun, and an honest commentary on our real life obsession with crazy killers. But since it went almost straight to DVD, I doubt many who should see it have seen it. Thanks to Nick for turning me on to this little gem. (The release date was 2006, but I have seen it on many 2007 lists so get over it!)8. The Messengers— Stylistically, one of those American rip- offs of the Japanese Gothic (which the Japanese ripped-off from the Romantic period.) tales. My, gosh, the ghosts in it are straight out of The Grudge! But there are some genuine scary moments in it like when the ghosts go crazy (Wow! Crazy Ghosts!) and trash the old farmhouse our wholesome family with a few dysfunctional traits are living in. And the little kid of the family (who is the only one who can see the ghosts) is really creepy! Man, I would hate to be his REAL parents. How do they sleep at night knowing he’s in the next room? Great eyes that kid! And the crows are super fun! They use actual crows for an attack scene on the father. Yep! STUNT CROWS! Pretty realistic CGI is used for our evil birdies flying around as if they knew where they were going. Hmm! I wonder if the Crow Actor’s Guild likes THAT?! So a good, solid script, good acting, wonderful cinematography, and some really creepy moments makes this film worth seeing.
7. The Reaping— What?! Another one of those Gothic rip-offs! Nnnoo! This is a rip-off of the Bible (the book is better!). I usually don’t like Biblical Prophecy movies, but this one really does some justice to Revelations. AND it has Hilary Swank in it! What’s not to love? But why is that when an actor wins an Academy Award the first thing he/she says is, "Hey! I better make a horror film before I get too famous!" Got another creepy kid in it and quite a few goose bump scenes with rivers of more than acceptable looking blood, BIG frogs falling from the sky… and kids with the worse case of lice I have ever seen… Again, good story (though the endings a tad weak.), good acting, some really tight CGI… and did I mention, HILARY SWANK is in it!
6. Pan’s Labyrinth— Okay, NOW we’re getting into the artsy-fartsy horror films. I’m a little pissed off at this film. The trailers for it made you think this was going to be a fantasy film like Lord Of The Rings. Yeah, there’s SOME fantasy in it, but this is really a movie about war. And what’s more horrifying than war (except, of course, any movie with the Olsen Twins in it)? But it’s not about the big things in war. It’s more about little atrocities committed by derange people who have no empathy for their fellow man and way too much power. The whole idea of war is seen through the eyes of a young girl (What’s up with all this kids in horror films lately?), who tries to escape her real life situation by creating a fantasy world. And in this make believe world are all kinds of monster both friendly and not so friendly. But no matter how frightening and threatening these fantasy monsters are, they don’t hold a candle to the real life monsters. And I believe that’s what the director, Guillermo de Toro, iis trying to tell us. Yes, the imagery in art may sometimes be quite frightening. But the real life monsters are the one’s you have to look out for. See? I told you this was my artsy-fartsy section!
5. The Mist— Okay, this is Nick E’s choice for scariest movie of the year! Is it the scariest movie of the year? Glad you asked. Well, as they say (sorta) in No Country For Old Men, "It’ll do til scary comes along." What you have here is a movie that thinks it’s a play. Yep, the style of this flick (does anyone say the word flick anymore?) is very theatrical. From set design to acting style, this movie smacks of live theatre. And that’s what threw me for awhile. The first time I watched I kept thinking something was wrong. It just didn’t look right. But on the second viewing a let my prejudices went out the window and I really got into it. It’s a pretty marvelous film with some very exciting use of roaming cameras that is almost constantly going from one character to another. Almost like a horror ballet. Is it scary? There are places where this movie is just down right terrifying. The scariest stuff is that which you can’t quite see! Like the really BIG monsters that stroll along outside the super market partially hidden by this gray-white mist! Yeah the mist! That’s the real scary thing. Very well done. It appears like this sort of thick supernatural smoke that people walk into… and never come back from. Wooohahaha! There’s a few problems though with the script. A lot of the dialogue seems to be straight from Stephen King’s original novel and sometimes King’s dialogue can be a little clunky. King has always wanted to be taken seriously as a writer so he always waxes a little too philosophical at times, hitting you over the head a little too hard with some rather shallow thinking. There’s a scene where the good humans are discussing in private how they need to get away from the bad group of humans (all religious zealots) who want to sacrifice one of the good guys to their Christian God. So they break out into this high falootin, philosophical discussion about the evils of mankind that’s sounds more like a bunch of Aristotles sitting on a lawn on a nice spring day in Greece discussing life than a group ordinary, everyday folk who are trapped in a supermarket (monsters on the inside as well as the outside) and are just trying to stay alive. Conclusion of this masterpiece of thought: When people get scared, they get dangerous! Hell, I could have told you that in one sentence. Hey! I just did! And the acting style is straight out of the 19th century melodrama… very big and gaudy in places. But once you get use to it… it all works pretty good. Hats of to writer/director Frank Darabont (who wrote my favorite all time horror script the ’88 version of The Blob.) for giving his little movie an ending that sticks with you for a long time.
4. Children of Men— Yep, another movie about the horrors of war. And this is a fantastic film whether you consider it an actual horror film or not. To me a great film has to have a great story, great, human dialogue and wonderfully acted characters. Special effects? Yeah, I like that too, but some of my favorite movies have little or no special effects in them. This movie to me has everything going for with a truckload of unusual visual/action sequences that are really unnerving! This movie is all about the camera and what director Alfonso Caron does with it. You get a lot of action sequences that are continuous. Also, he uses a sort of POV style in which the audience is right there in the action along side the hero every minute. I mean you are right there when the bombs go off; you can feel the bullets whizzing right by your ears in the BIG war scene at the end of the movie. It’s a brilliant piece that is such a sensory roller coaster. It is a little hard to get use to because we don’t see many movies shot like this. But give it a try. You might like it.
3. 30 Days of Night— Back in 1994, MTV actually produced the first movie version of a graphic novel, The Crow. What is a graphic novel, you may ask. Graphic novel is a term created by a PhD in literature who loved
comic books but didn’t want anyone to know it. One day in an intellectual land far, far away the PhD was a comic when his GA walked in on him. "Hey!" said the GA, "you’re a comic book!" "No I’m not, said the PhD, "I’m a… Graphic Novel!" And the rest, as they say, is history. The Crow was actually more movie than graphic novel. Actually, it was more like an extended music video than anything else. But in the 21st Century, we started getting a lot of graphic novels (Sin City, 300, etc.) translated to the screen. The problem with these films is the reverse of the problem with The Crow: they were more graphic novel than movie. What the hell was the point? If you’re just going to put the comic book— oops, I mean, Graphic Novel— up there on the screen, why bother. Just tell your audience to stay home and read the damn comic…er, Graphic Novel! 30 Days of Night is (to me) the first production that successfully blends the two mediums together. You got wonderful, nasty looking movie style action sequences blended with beautiful graphic novel like shots. A new genre is born! And you get some really killer (Hee!) vampires to boot. I’m not talking your tea sippin’ aristocratic vampires, or those elitist bloodsuckers that Ann Rice came up with in her series of novels. No! I’m talkin’ down and dirty, Transylvania, Eurotrash, redneck vampires! Nope! Even that is too nice a term for them. That don’t suck your blood; they rip it right out of your body, AND they never even wipe the access off their collective mouth! Yuck! This movie is a thrill ride of blood and gore. One problem: It’s sort of hard to buy into the fact that the humans who survived 30 days of night in a small, isolated Alaskan town filled with vampires COULD survive. But get over it! It’s a movie! No, I take that back. It’s a… Graphic Novel Movie!2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix—I’m not that big a fan of the BIG Hollywood extravaganza. Well, because if producers are going to sink a lot of many into a movie, they wan to make sure that they get the biggest Bang! They can for every buck they put down. Translation, "Forget story, dialogue and character. People just want to see Special Effects!" Fortunately for this 5th installment of the Harry potter series, the producers got one hell of a good director to get the movie franchise back to full tilt boogie. British director David Yates knows his stuff! He doesn’t gloss over the softer moments to get to the action sequences, but he sure doesn’t slow down the action. Everything you want is in this movie. I know, I know, some of my hardcore Harry fans were disappointed that they left some stuff from the book out… but hey! You just can’t put it all on screen. This movie works, it’s touching, and delivers on the action. We not only get to see Harry kiss a girl for the first time, we also get a slam! Bam! Wonderful wizard fight scene at the end! This is great movie making, folks! On the acting side, I think the kids do a terrific job with the stories mature themes… and Gambon finally makes the character of Dumbledore his own. He had a rough time trying to fill the shoes of Richard Harris, but he’s there now. However, the star of this particular film is Imelda Staunton as the pretty in pink but totally evil Dolores Umbridge! Dude, when she smiles at you it makes you wish you were back in 30 Days of Night facing those bloodsucking vampires! Evil, evil, woman! I think I dated her once. And the film’s score composed by Nicholas Hooper just adds to the fun and excitement. Man, where in the heck were Yates and Hopper for the other films? Anyway, it’s a treat to see the series get back on its feet. Two more to go… No, make that three! They decided to break the last book into two movies! I better stop smoking so I can be around for the finish.
And here it is, folks! My choice for NUMBER ONE HORROR
MOVIE OF THE YEAR 2007!
1. Death Proof— "What?! Are you INSANE! It’s BORING! All people do in this movie is TALK!" For all the reasons you hated it… I loved it! You KNOW that dialogue is king with me. And there is not a better writer of movie dialogue than Quentin "Squintin’" Tarantino! You gotta love Q’s pop culture dialogue that is just music to the urban ear. Anybody who can create sentences that makes Spike Lee say, "Man, that’s just wrong!" has got to have something going for him. I know, I know, people anymore just don’t like to sit in a movie theatre and listen to people talk! But what Tarantino shows us with his sometimes very long scenes of dialogue is how bad things happen in real life. There’s no foreshadowing going on in real life. You’re out partying with your friends, drinking a few brewskies, hitting on the local talent and then… BAM! The bad thing hits you… and it hits you Hard! Can’t say that Tarantino is a straight up original storyteller. No, he uses formulaic plots. I mean, how many Killer Car movies have been made? Lots. But Tarantino takes the old formulas and twists them around to make them his own. Hence, we get a action based exploitation plot from the 70s with more dialogue than action. But man, what little action there may be is just devastating to watch. And Q finds the most beautiful AND skilled actresses to play the characters in this movie. Zoe Bell! Look out Hilary Swank! Zoe Bell is at the city limits of my heart and is heading for the downtown district. I mean how can you not love a girl who is totally gorgeous, a good actor, one who can out drive you AND kick your scrawny little behind at the same time! Q really shows me something by not going to CGI for all the car stunts. These are real stunts done by real stunt people! And Zoe is the best of them all. And Kurt Russell does his best work ever in this film as the diabolical Stuntman Mike! Hey! Maybe we should set Stuntman Mike up on a blind date with Dolores Umbridge! I wonder who would survive?
Well there it is, kiddies. Robert’s Top 11 Horror Films, 2007!
and 
all
time for me 
echoes, hope you all are doing well 
