December 28, 2009

Ryan Rotten: What a strange last ten years it has been for horror. Better than the ’90s, I’ll tell you that much. The ’90s – before it birthed both The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch Project and descended into teen thriller territory – was one hell of a confused brat with an identity crisis and an acne outbreak represented by pretty painful films. Now that our best of the decade list is behind us, I wanted to talk about some of the other films that didn’t make the cut, the trends we saw – especially pre- and post-9/11 which, you can’t deny, had a tremendous impact on the genre – and, of course, the glut of remakes. Now, we immediately started taking some flack for not including Saw and Hostel on our list. I’ll agree, they were certainly influential films, but I don’t necessarily agree that makes them “the best.” That’s not to say I don’t like either film, they each have their merits, but they’ve also got their flaws. Hell, Saw has practically become the Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th for a new generation of horror fans with a memorable villain and nasty deaths. Meanwhile, the momentum of Hostel appears to have been cannibalized by its sequel and imitators. Plus, there’s a distinct lack of a character you can hang the “villain” card on, giving the series a face to franchise.

Rob G.: That top 25 was a really tough list to put together and I’d really like our readers to know that not only did we mull over it for at least a month prior to posting, but there were four fairly different opinions at work there and we put a lot of thought and debate into what was going to make the cut. Naturally we all didn’t agree on everything and it was very difficult but I had to respect the thoughts and arguments from our fellow contributors. With that said, I still feel Saw should’ve been on there.

I fought long and hard to get the original Saw in our Top 25 because I personally do think it carries a lot merit as a good movie and a solid debut from a first time director, especially considering the budget. Look, the original Friday The 13th isn’t exactly a great movie, but we all love it because it’s heart was in the right place, it was a low budget movie that defied the odds and became a hit (much to Paramount’s embarrassment at the time) and it launched an iconic franchise. Saw has absolutely done the exact same thing for this generation and one of the keys to that is the character of Jigsaw, a more evolved version of the lead “killer” (or non-killer in this case) than what we grew up with in the ’80s and ’90s. That was the problem with Hostel 2, it didn’t have one singular villain “character” that made it feel like a franchise film and it also changed the dynamic of the first movie, which I’ll argue is probably among one of my favorites of the decade.

I hate when any sequel kills off the main character of the last film in the opening, hence making the last film completely irrelevant. For example, while now I can appreciate certain things about Alien 3, it was such a bummer that Hicks and Newt were killed off right away because then it made me feel like, “Well, what’d the hell I sit through Aliens for if they were all just going to kill these two off?!” The opening of Hostel 2 only undermines the terrific third act of the first film. Obviously, those two kicked off the “torture porn” era of the 2000’s (a term by the way that I absolutely despise), and Saw managed to sustain itself through out the majority of this decade, so what other horror trends do you feel really contributed to the genre this last decade in a positive way?

Ryan: So, I take it you’re not a Friday the 13th: Part 2 fan since they killed off Adrienne King in the opening moments? I’ll tip off Platinum Dunes and let them know not to follow that trend. I know what a Jared Padalecki fan you are.

Rob G.: To answer quickly – while I do like Friday 2, I dislike the illogical beginning of Jason tracking down Alice just to kill her off for the opening (even though this was Adrienne’s wish). Doesn’t mean Eli Roth had to do it with Hostel 2!

Ryan: Let’s backtrack a bit and start not with the contributions but the contributors, particularly the production companies created solely to produce horror and thriller films. For the first time in quite a while, we were seeing studios form these genre appendages, much like Miramax created the offshoot, Dimension Films, in the ’90s. We watched Dark Castle get erected at Warner Bros. Ghost House began at Sony and has since hooked up with Lionsgate, too. Platinum Dunes went where they could but predominantly built their success at New Line. There’s Rogue at Universal and also Screen Gems at Sony.

Now, let’s not measure their success based on box office, but let’s look at the output. The most controversial of the lot is Platinum Dunes and I’ve never been shy about how I’ve felt about their films. I liked their take on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, thought The Beginning was watchable, but somewhat needless. The Hitcher was a dud, The Amityville Horror was mediocre, The Unborn was silly and we all know I dig their Friday the 13th. So they really are hit or miss. They have a cache of commercial and music video directors and offer these guys a chance to make a feature debut. It ensures their films will look great, but that’s not enough.

Rogue’s start was unsteady at first. It acquired and distributed Shaun of the Dead, and for that it gets kudos. However, Seed of Chucky and Cry_Wolf were both a mess. Then the disastrous The Return came along with Sarah Michelle Gellar sleepwalking through a lethargic plot. The three highlights I have to say that came from the company were Altered, Ed Sanchez’s alien flick that was dumped to DVD, The Strangers – which I still consider an awesome exercise in subtle terror – and The Last House on the Left remake. Rogue has seen a changing of the guard in the last year or so – I’m hoping we’ll see better from them.

Without getting long-winded, Dark Castle has always been hit-or-miss for me, too. When they jumped the rails and veered away from doing straight-up remakes of William Castle’s films (House on Haunted Hill, Thirteen Ghosts) and started to do original productions, I lost interest. Strange, right? Ghost Ship, Gothika, The Reaping – films that are, again, slick and feature interesting casts, but are sub-par in the story department. Although I’ll confess, I didn’t mind the House of Wax remake, a precursor to the “torture porn” craze that was to come (take a look at the Elisha Cuthbert scene where her lips are glued shut). As for Ghost House, I’m expecting more. And why shouldn’t I? Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert are behind it and, so far, 30 Days of Night and Drag Me to Hell are their only successes. Their direct-to-DVD line – nothing more than sequels to The Grudge, Boogeyman and The Messengers (ugh) – only drags the brand down. It’s hard to swallow “From the makers of the Evil Dead trilogy” plastered across some of the titles they push.

Ghost House, if it wants to continue their DVD lineage, needs to be more selective about some of the titles they acquire, further, the franchises they wish to continue. Boogeyman? Didn’t care to see that story continued, nor The Messengers. Rise, with Lucy Liu, with a bit more focus on tone could have worked and I would have been open for another crack at that. With Burst on the way, a 30 Days of Night sequel, I’ve got my fingers crossed for Ghost House in the decade to come. And Platinum Dunes? I’m always curious to see what they’ve got cookin’ out of curiosity’s sake. If there’s anything I know running this site, they know how to get the horror community talking.

Rob G.: You do make a lot of interesting points in terms of genre production companies being more prominent this last decade than in any other. You’re also a little more forgiving. No offense to the talent involved, but the only Platinum Dunes flick I dig is the Texas Chainsaw remake. The remainder of their titles are all seriously lacking in any kind of heart or genuine love for the source material. (Fingers crossed they get Nightmare right, which if they do will probably be a happy accident.)

There are two companies in particular that I’m wondering how they will continue in the next 10 years with their genre films. The first being Lionsgate. Much the way New Line was often referred to as “the house that Freddy built” due to the success of the Nightmare franchise, Lionsgate is easily “the house that Jigsaw built” over the course of this last decade thanks to the Saw franchise. But with a change in upper management, which included the very public (and deliberate) unfair mishandling of The Midnight Meat Train, Repo! The Genetic Opera and Blood Creek, coupled with the fact that the new studio head wants to steer away from the genre, I wonder how that’ll affect their future slate of movies? I love the fact that My Bloody Valentine 3D was a huge hit for them, yet all their non-genre flicks didn’t fare nearly as well this last year. With the Saw franchise slowing down, will Lionsgate be the next Orion Pictures of this generation?

Ryan: Oh, good analogy, but doubtful. The Saw franchise will plow on, their horror output on the big screen will dwindle, home video horror will live on through their impressive special editions and various acquisitions (see: Ghost House Underground), but I suspect we’ll definitely be feeling the change in subject matter on the theatrical front. Less horror, more Tyler Perry, comedy and drama. Lionsgate has The Descent: Part 2 waiting in the wings. I’ll be curious to see if they give that a U.S. theatrical or DVD debut.

Rob G.: The other company I’m curious about is Anchor Bay Entertainment. You can’t argue that at the beginning of the decade, they were pretty much the kings of horror entertainment on DVD, despite forcing me to double (sometimes triple) dip on my favorites such as Halloween, Evil Dead and Hellraiser. The problem with them the last few years however is the quality of their original acquisitions. Between new editions of the horror classics, as well as offering new genre cult classics like Hatchet and Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon, I was starting to trust Anchor Bay as a company that would give me quality horror features, both new and old. But the last few years? Stan Helsing, While She Was Out, Red Mist, Bryan Loves You, iMurders, Staunton Hill, Jack Brooks Monster Slayer…while some of those movies have noteworthy qualities to them, I’d second guess blind buying them nowadays.

Rumor has it they’re now trying to head more into non-genre territory, having recently acquired The Open Road with Justin Timberlake. Will they ever crack the right formula with their theatrical releases? Sadly, Behind The Mask and Brutal Massacre were casualties to poor marketing. Hatchet was a theatrical success for them but I attribute that to the fans really making an effort. If Anchor Bay puts a good chunk of money into marketing their theatrical releases better this next decade, they might be able to secure a theatrical hit.

Despite the numerous genre production companies and DVD originals, we were introduced to a slew of new up-and-coming filmmakers that made quite an impression with their first features out. Who do you think we should be looking out for in this next 10 years that we were introduced to during this decade?

Ryan: There is certainly a great crop of ones to watch, many from overseas. Alex Aja won me over with High Tension, ending and all, and I really loved what he did with The Hills Have Eyes – rape, a grown man nursing, total bloodshed…this was a studio film?! – so I’m always excited to see what he does next. Mirrors wasn’t a good fit for him tonally but it had two memorable kills. Piranha could work. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing him return to France to do another film over there, outside of the studio system.

The Descent was my top pick for the decade and director Neil Marshall is definitely someone I’m following fervently. Dog Soldiers was an attention-getting warm-up. Regardless of what people thought of Doomsday, I liked it. Everyone needs to do a picture that just lets them cut loose and show off what inspired them.

A non-obvious choice, I think, is David Twohy. At the start of the decade, he delivered a unique creature feature in Pitch Black and gave cinema another anti-hero to stand behind named Riddick. He also did Below – an vastly underrated ghost story, with The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis, I should add, that was set on a WWII sub. Chronicles of Riddick proved he could do a film on a larger scale, but I prefer his smaller efforts like the recent The Perfect Getaway which goes down so much smoother on the second viewing, allowing you to relish the performances.

I was really looking forward to seeing what Alejandro Amenábar did after The Others, a film that embraced the Corman/Poe AIP productions, but he seems to be departing from the genre work. In the same vein as Amenábar, I’m curious to see what The Orphanage’s Juan Antonio Bayona is going to attach himself to. He was supposed to do an adaptation of Hater. We’ll see.

Again, from France, there’s Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury of Inside. Imagine what they were going to do with Halloween II before Rob Zombie got back in the director’s chair… Glad they’re spearheading another original production next.

As for other directors, there are the obvious choices like Eli Roth, who appears to be biding his time in a Tarantino-esque fashion before he gets back in the director’s chair. And I’m eager to see Darren Bousman put the Saw franchise, not to mention Repo! The Genetic Opera, behind him and move on. Adam Green’s career will be fun to follow and Zombie’s path is going to be, needless to say, an interesting one. After seeing The Hurt Locker, I’d absolutely love to see Kathryn Bigelow do another horror film.

Rob G.: I’d love to see Bigelow do something in the vein of Near Dark again! Alex Aja is definitely one director with a unique vision and it’s obvious from the look of all his films. While there are things I love about them all (in particular High Tension), I feel like every one of his films is always one step shy of being really great. Neil Marshall has also begun carving out an interesting resume of films and it’ll be interesting to see what other original projects he does in the future considering he’s one of the rare filmmakers that truly does hold our beloved genre in the highest regard.

For our readers familiar with Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others, you should go back and see his earlier films Thesis and Open Your Eyes (which served as the basis for the inferior Tom Cruise fronted remake Vanilla Sky). Whether he does more genre work or not in the future, those early movies of his are strong genre contributions and worth seeking out.

Of all the American indie guys, Adam Green is the one I’m most looking forward to seeing grow in our genre. While I loved Hatchet, (it embodied everything I loved about seeing the Friday The 13th films in theaters as a kid), both Spiral and Frozen are better movies and showcase his talent as a suspense director. Even producing something like Grace, which is just so far from left field of what the studios are passing off as horror these days was an interesting choice for his career. For all those out there bitchin’ about horror not being original anymore, maybe you should give Spiral, Grace and Frozen a chance. Revisiting all those movies just made me realize how much I truly enjoy them and how different and unique they all are.

I’m curious to see how Oren Peli fares with his Paranormal Activity follow-up Area 51. While I openly dislike Paranormal, I’m willing to see what he does with his second feature length film. But I’m telling you now, if it’s a bunch of kids running around with shaky camcorders finding nothing, and it ends with a freakin’ alien knocking the camera over, I’m calling that guy out!

Ryan: Agreed. Here’s to hoping Peli’s not a one-trick pony. I think it would have been more impressive if he took a film that was a departure from Paranormal Activity. Doing something that’s in the same vein – just taking on a different subject – is a telling sign that the reality schtick is all he’s got. Hope not.

To be continued…