TGT10: The Scary Movies of 2010

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I consider Black Swan, my favorite movie of 2010, a horror film. I don't think that's particularly outrageous claim - I think most people do, for the most part. It's not quite that simple, but it is, if you catch my drift. And of course you do because that makes sense! Yet you won't see it on this list. Same goes for my second favorite movie of the year Dogtooth. Loved it but it ain't here!


No, I figured I'd recognize my six favorite horror films that I haven't already talked about elsewhere. Because redundancy is boring for you and airless work that's no fun for me, and boo to that on both counts. So let's have at it!

MNPP's 6 Favorite Horror Films of 2010

6 Red White & Blue (dir. Simon Rumley) You come away from Simon Rumley's character-triptych wanting to remember Simon Rumley's name. It's a terrific calling card, and hopefully he'll get to follow through on the promise he's shown in this, as well as with his 2006 film The Living and the Dead. I'm actually really surprised to see I never wrote up any thoughts on these movies when I watched them last Fall - they're both really fascinating little things. It takes a little while for RW&B to reveal itself for the horror that it's gonna be, and you've got to stick with it while it wades through murky waters, but by the end it's more than worth it, and sticks defiantly to its own sense of purpose.

5 Piranha 3D (dir. Alexandre Aja) The only other movie that was a more fun time in the theater last year was Scott Pilgrim and you saw where that ended up. And to be honest Scott Pilgrim clearly would've benefited from fish castrations and Eli Roth decapitations and Eliabeth Shue, oh my. Any movie would benfit from those things. Short and nasty and so in on its own joke it's already prepped sequel's called Piranha 3DD. And if I could buy my ticket already I'd have it. (original review here)

4 Splice (dir.Vincenzo Natali) Splice is a movie with balls. Granted they're weird lumpy misshapen balls that evolved from a genetic mutation and make you very very uncomfortable to comprehend, but they're balls all the same. What I love about Splice is it followed the courage of its own bonkers convictions and put off every damn person in the process. It's a movie tripping to its own beat and the rest be damned. When too many horror films couldn't seem to give a damn about actually horrifying, Splice sets out to genuinely unsettle, both our expectations and its implications. I love how much you hate it. (original review here)

3 127 Hours (dir. Danny Boyle) Boyle's film could be classified as several genres and get away with it, and one of them is horror. Aron Ralston's eruption from the hole he's been stuck in and subsequent stumble to safety (ooh, spoiler!) might be "a triumph of the human spirit" but it's one akin to Sarah's escape from the caves at the end of The Descent - he left part of him in that hole, and it's not just his arm. This is a meticulously crafted portrait of the connection between the mind and body rupturing, and the abstract madness that lay beyond - so much so that in the end Aron's arm simply seems to detach itself, doesn't it? There is unexpected brilliance in the way Boyle captures that moment, the one we're all there to see, or rather watch through our fingertips. (original review here)

2 We Are What We Are (dir. Jorge Michel Grau) I just noticed this past weekend that WAWWA is getting an actual release next month so perhaps I should've held it off for next year's list... the inexplicable nature of release dates complicates things too much sometimes. But see this film when it finds you! Like Dogtooth it concerns itself with a family playing by its own strange made-up rules and the horrors that can emanate outwards in sharp ripples from the way we raise our kids. The kids are not all right! Not at all!

1 The Loved Ones (dir. Sean Byrne) And as if to prove what I just said even truer in spades, here we have a very not alright kid indeed. Bridging the gap between the serious scares of this list and, well, Piranha, The Loved Ones offers up a rousing good time that masks a heart pumping with genuine sadness and a concern for the characters it catches up in its madness. In no uncertain terms, this movie is finger lickin' good. And Robin McLeavy's already acknowledged performance is one for the ages, proving once and for all, beyond a doubt, that there's nobody scarier on Earth than a teen girl. (original review here)

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