Last year I did a run down of 9 horror movies that I thought people might enjoy watching throughout the month of October leading up to Halloween and this time I thought I'd do it a little different. Instead of listing the same classics over again I'm going to make my recommendations based on horror movies I have seen that have come out since last Halloween and will be out in theaters before this coming Halloween. If you want to check out last years recommendations head on over HERE.
These are not ranked in any particular order.
Splinter - This actually began it's limited run in theaters on Halloween last year so it just made the cut. The movie is about a guy and a girl who are going camping for their anniversary. After attempting to setup the tent and getting frustrated and annoyed they decide to just stay in a hotel, but on their way to the hotel they are car jacked by another couple trying to get out of town. The 4 of them stop at a gas station after the car starts to overheat and discover that the attendant is infected with something and tries to attack them. This is a lower budget movie starring that pot head guy from Road Trip. It definitely delivers on the suspense and originality. The majority of the movie takes place in the gas station convenience store as the group is trying to figure out what is going on with the creature that has evolved from the gas station clerk. It reminded me a little beat of FEAST, but I thought it was less cheesy and more creepy. You can read my previous mini review here.
The Collector - Written and directed by the guys behind FEAST and the latest few installments of the SAW series, The Collector might be my favorite horror movie of the year so far. You can find my original review here, but the basic plot is that a guy breaks into a house looking for a large diamond and discovers that someone has already broken in and taken the family hostage, torturing and mutilating them. There were a few plot holes and some stuff didn't make sense, but it's not supposed to be oscar worthy, just a good scare and it definitely delivers on the gore. If you like movies like SAW and HOSTEL and SEVEN then I would highly recommend this movie.
Quarantine - So technically this one came out on October 10th of last year, but it didn't make last years recommendation list so I had to put it on this years. I saw the original REC before I saw this US remake and I instantly fell in love with it. I'm a big fan of the first person camera view movies like The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield and Cannibal Holocaust, so when I heard about REC I knew I had to check it out. Quarantine came out a couple years after REC, but they didn't change a whole lot for the remake. I may have even enjoyed the remake a little more because I didn't have to read subtitles while watching (not that I mind reading them I just feel that sometimes they take away from the movie). Anyways, the movie follows a reporter and her camera man as they are filming a news story about what goes on in a fire department overnight. Later in the night they get a call about a woman that won't come out of her apartment and won't answer the door, so the fire department heads to the building only to find that some sort of disease has infected some of the people, turning them into "zombies" (they aren't zombies in the traditional sense, think 28 Days Later). The building is then quarantined so that none of them can leave to prevent the spread of the infection. I thought this was a really cool movie and held true to the original which I was happy about. And I can't wait for REC2 to come out next year, but it's a sequel to the original Spanish version so we'll have to wait for an English remake. Read my previous review here.
Friday The 13th (2009) - Obviously the original is a classic and one of my favorite slasher movies of all time, but the remake wasn't the worst horror movie I've seen. It definitely had more flash than the original and it was produced by Michael Bay so... But I still found it to be enjoyable and pretty good for a modern reboot of the Friday the 13th series. I enjoyed Marcus Nispel's remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre a few years back so it was nice to see his take on the Friday the 13th movie as well. Too bad he's not directing the new A Nightmare on Elm Street (which looks pretty good by the way) And you can check out my mini review of Friday The 13th (2009) here.
The Last House on the Left (2009) - Everyone that has ever talked movies with me knows that the original Last House on the Left movie is one of my most hated movies of all time. I remember watching it and feeling dirty after which is weird to say considering some of the other movies I've watched. The portrayal of rape in the original movie was extremely brutal and extremely real and I don't know that I could watch it again. That being said, I decided to give the remake a shot hoping that they toned down the rape a little bit and focused more on the revenge aspect... and they did. What I remember as being multiple rapings and beatings was only one scene in the 2009 version and it wasn't nearly as brutal as some of the other movies out there today so I was ok with it. The plot of the movie is a girl and her family go up to their lake house for a vacation, but after taking the car to visit a friend in town, the 2 girls end up getting kidnapped by 3 criminals. The criminals take the girls out into the woods and rape and beat them before retreating to a house that turns out to be the parents of one of the girls. Once the parents discover who they are and what they did to their daughter, they seek revenge.
Trick R Treat - This movie was supposed to come out like 2 years ago, but never did and I'm honestly not sure why. Either way, it finally gets a straight to DVD release on October 6th and it's actually fairly decent. The plot follows 4 different story lines on Halloween night that all come together in the end, sort of like Crash. The movie isn't necessarily scary, but it's a fun little Halloween movie that's worth checking out. You can read my mini review here.
The 6 movies above are the ones that I have seen so far from the last year. I know there are a few other horror movies that have gotten good reviews and people seem to enjoy, but I have not seen the ones listed after the jump... yet.
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