• CARRIERS – Studio PG-13 horror that looks Badass?  Like woah.

Studio News and Attachments

• RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE – Paul WS Anderson returns to the series he first brought to and subsequently ruined on film on September 17, 2010.
• AFTER DARK FILMS HORRORFEST 4 – ADF gives it the ole college try yet again in January 2010.

Remakes

• PREDATORS – AICN confirms that Nimrod Antal will be directing the Robert Rodriguez produced franchise reboot, complete with an encouraging Q&A with Rodriguez about.
• HELLRAISER – An official sign that, after two director’s dumping the project, HELLRAISER has hit a red light.
• LET THE RIGHT ONE IN – Director Matt Reeves passionately defends the remake decision, expressing hope that people will give the film a chance.
• AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON – John Landis confirms to BD that Dimension films is busy approaching the paperwork for getting rights tot he remake.

Indie, Foreign and Random News

• I SELL THE DEAD 2? – Director Glenn McQuaid has plans to develop a sequel titled THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF GRIMES &BLAKE, first as a comic and then, hopefully, as a film.
• BEWARE THE DEVIL – Shane Meadows makes horror his next genre stop, exorcisms and all.
• ORPHAN Controversy – Apparently parents are shouting at WB over a line from the trailer for THE ORPHAN.  Offense in question?  “It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own.”
• FEED – Orbit Books has just picked up the FEED trilogy books about a future in which bloggers are the key to surviving a global zombie outbreak.
• GRACE – You can pick up GRACE, which Scott Weinberg describes as “easily one of the best horror films of the year”, on September 15th on DVD and Blu-ray.
• FANTASIA 2009 Lineup – Very impressive roster of films, though, for my interests, not as on the money as:
• FILM4 FRIGHTFEST – Damn do I want to be in London for this.  Who wants to fly me out?

Non-Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• ROBOGEISHA – Watch.This.Trailer.NOW!
• LA HORDE – French zombies.
• 6.66 DEAD NOT DEAD – Thai horror ahoy.
• THE DISAPPEARED – Trailer for another IFC Films Fest-Direct VOD title.
• COFFIN ROCK – Thriller out of Australia.

I actually returned my Blu-ray of the magnificent film out of protest, so I find this highly amusing.  Has Magnolia begun printing and furnishing the new discs?  Did Netflix correct the issue themselves?  No idea, but as far as I’m aware, streaming LET THE RIGHT ONE IN from Netflix in HD is currently the most pristine way to see the film in America.

Now I’ve got yet another list of back catalog to work through.  Quitting my job damn well better be bliss come June.

I’ll post the entire list of nominees at the end.  Oh, and best of luck to Chad and Vince on their nomination!

These are no mere instances of crossed tounges.  These new subs defile crucial context.  And at the benefit of what?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  It would be a stretch to say that the offending sections ruin the film entirely, but that concession provides no justification for the changes.  Gone is the playful mystery in Eli and Oscar’s first encounter.  Gone is the soulful empathy of Eli’s handler’s encounter with a jar filled with a certain liquid.  Gone is nuance, gone for no reason.

I’ll be honest, I have yet to pop in my Blu-ray of the film, but I won’t even bother now.  It’s going right back to Amazon.  I’ve bent at knee many a time at HND to kiss the hand of Magnolia and particularly their genre arm Magnet Releasing, but this warrants a long, hard scratch of the head.  Someone, somewhere fucked up, intentional or not.  I don’t think Magnolia was trying to pull one over on the diehard crowd in some misguided attempt to pander to the casual rental crowd.  Then again maybe it was.  LaTour tells me the DVD plays the dubbed track by default, which is a feature that unarguably has the casual renter in mind.

Whatever happened, what’s sitting on my shelf is half-baked and unexplainable enough to make a fan like me not want to even own the best horror film of 2008 in its current state.  However, adding insult to geek-only injury, Magnolia has acknowledge the non-theatrical subs and has told The Digital Bits that they will be printing future discs with the proper subs, but will not offer any manner of exchange program.  Do I think they owe it to every fan out there to replace the discs on their own dime, awashing the release’s accounting balance sheet well in the red?  No.  Am I anal enough about a smattering of butchered subtitles to wish financial ruin upon the otherwise standout firm?  Absolutely not.  Could they have handled the PR on this better?  Absolutely.

Shit’s still bogus, though.

Nominees for a 2008 Bram Stoker Award:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Coffin Country by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books)
The Reach by Nate Kenyon (Leisure Books)
Duma Key by Stephen King (Scribner)
Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon Books/Medallion Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Midnight on Mourn Street by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)
The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)
Monster Behind the Wheel by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books)
The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard (St. Martin’s Press)
Frozen Blood by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

The Shallow End of the Pool by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
Miranda by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
Redemption Roadshow by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press)
The Confessions of St. Zach by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

“Petrified” by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)
“The Lost” by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)
“The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft” by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt (Chizine)
“Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment” by M. Rickert (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
“Turtle” by Lee Thomas (Doorways)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Like a Chinese Tattoo , edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
Horror Library, Vol. 3, edited by R.J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)
Beneath the Surface, edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
Unspeakable Horror, edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press)

Superior Achievement in a Collection

The Number 121 to Pennsylvania by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)
Mama’s Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
Just After Sunset by Stephen King (Scribner)
Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan (Prime Books)
Gleefully Macabre Tales by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books)

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction

Cheap Scares by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)
Zombie CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)
A Hallowe’en Anthology by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
The Book of Lists: Horror by Amy Wallace, Del Howison and Scott Bradley (HarperCollins)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
The Phantom World by Gary William Crawford (Sam’s Dot Publishing)
Virgin of the Apocalypse by Corrine De Winter (Sam’s Dot Publishing)
Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)

Dimension Extreme have been on a streak of good-to-great titles for the past year, culminating in the hit that is EDEN LAKE (review). I don’t know much about DEAD IN 3 DAYS, but I’m willing to give Dimension’s acquistions department an edge once again. Hopefully their streak stays intact.

Oddly enough, DEAD IN 3 DAYS is the only standard definition title of note for the week.  On Blu-Ray we’ve got SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.  I own the out of print Criterion Collection of the classic, so I’m not jonesing enough to do a double dip for it in HD.

March 10^th

The week everyone is looking forward to.  LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (review) hits on both DVD and BRD.  As I find myself repeating again and again, there is no point in saying any more about LTROI at this point.  We all know this is a must see movie, my only fear is that those who haven’t seen it must have the highest hopes in the world at this point.  For that I apologize, I try to keep the hype down.

Don’t know a whole lot about DARK REEL except that it has Lance Henriksen in it, which means I am contractually obligated to the universe to see it.  Filling out the other straight-to-DVD titles for the month are CROWLEY (co-written by Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson), STASH (cover beyond my tolerance for sleaze) and the hilarious looking, gamer-themed fantasy flick BEN X.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is the only Blu.

March 17^th

A week of straight to DVD titles and a few reaches into deep catalog territory.  STDers are WALLED IN and SATAN, while the catalog titles are the F.W. Murnau classics THE HAUNTED CASTLE and FAUST.  These two titles are also included in a new Murnau boxset along with NOSFERATU, THE LAST LAUGH, TARTUFFE, and THE FINANCES OF THE GRAND DUKE.

On Blu-ray we’ve got Neil Jordan’s THE COMPANY OF WOLVES.  I confess to never having seen it, though if I recall someone suggested it last time I was in a horror rut.  I further confess I never got around to half of those titles.  As LaTour recently pointed out, I was probably watching a giant lizard on the Sci-Fi channel and am thusly self-shamed.

March 21^st

As if the novels and film weren’t driven enough by their own fan based self-promotion, TWILIGHT’s release on DVD and BRD apparently requires its own retail day.  Though I am far removed from its target demographic I can still say it’s not a bad movie.  I’d rather watch it again than half the crap that ends up getting reviewed on HND, if that’s any measure.

March 24^th

Brace yourself for LOCUSTS: THE 8TH PLAGUE, THE GRUDGE 3: GRUDGIEST and PASSENGERS.  Or brace yourself for a week in which you won’t spend a dime.

Nothing on the genre Blu-ray front, though I would be remiss if I went without mentioning the Criterion Collection of THE 400 BLOWS.

March 31^st

Before the ADF flood, let me not forget the title of the week: TIMECRIMES (review).  I’ve seen it twice now and it only gets better with each viewing, unlike some time travel centric pictures.  I’ll be adding this to the collection for sure.

Here comes the genre onslaught, thanks in large part to After Dark Films dropping off its 2009 Horrorfest titles.  The only one I heard great things about was THE BROKEN, the only other I heard decent things about being FROM WITHIN.  Rounding out that series is AUTOPSY, PERKIN’S 14, SLAUGHTER, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 3, VOICES and DYING BREED.

RJ Sayer actually saw CTHULHU in theaters so it feels wrong to call it a Straight to DVD movie despite its biggest name being Tori Spelling.  I believer Sayer’s chief complaint about the movie was that it could have been much, much cooler.  Tame enough response to make me check it out.

From the catalog we’ve got the awesomely titled THE SINFUL DWARF and the even awesomer titled CAT IN THE BRAIN.  Know nothing of either, sorry.

On the Blu end we’ve got releases of both PITCH BLACK and CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK.  For some reason I can only attribute to pure malice, we’ve also got a release of GHOSTS OF MARS.  Christine and I tried watching this mess OnDemand not too long ago and barely made it 15 minutes in.  Awful, awful movie born of the age of the irrelevant John Carpenter era.

Topping off the month are Blu releases of the Harvey Keitel starring TWO EVIL EYES and Takashi Miike’s notorious ICHI THE KILLER.  Regretably unfamiliar with the former and not a fan of the latter, despite being a huge fan of Miike’s career as a whole.  Rarely a fan of pushing it to the extreme.  Give me the BIRD PEOPLE OF CHINA Miike over the ICHI brand any day, por favor.

1. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
2. TIMECRIMES
3. THE BROKEN
4. DEAD IN 3 DAYS
5. FROM WITHIN
6. CTHULHU

And no, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN did not sweep.  Anyone who reads this site regularly should be able to guess what I threw the majority of my love at.  In fact, I’m going to go pop in the Blu-ray disc for my personal favorite ’08 horror flick right after I hit publish.

Enjoy:

Val Lewton Award for Best Film

EDEN LAKE, Rollercoaster Films

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, EFTI

THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, Lions Gate
THE STRANGERS, Rogue Pictures
TOKYO GORE POLICE, Fever Dreams/Nikkatsu

When the CHA ballots were sent out there was a bit of an exchange regarding the futility of it all as LET THE RIGHT ONE IN was bound to sweep the awards.  I was not of this stance.   As you’ll see from this list there are a fair share of films that surmounted the adolescent vampire giant, but nothing can top the culmination of all of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN’s ingredients.  It is a haunting beauty with an ending that does my heart in.

David Cronenberg Award for Best Director

Tomas Alfredson, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Bryan Bertino, THE STRANGERS
Ryuhei Kitamura, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN
Matt Reeves, CLOVERFIELD

James Watkins, EDEN LAKE

What have we here?  A surprise, that’s what.  As I commented on Kindertrauma’s review (a recommended read, by the way) of the British pulverizer, EDEN LAKE remains for me as 2008′s sneak attack.  And this award is no pity throw because I want to see it win something.  James Watkins elevated EDEN LAKE above the throngs of films with identical plots and devices.  It’s an empathy driven spiral into violence and survival balanced upon the fragile ice that divides genuine fears and mean spirited imagery.

Just thinking about EDEN LAKE makes me want to do away with the youth of the world curl into a fetal ball.

Jamie Lee Curtis Award for Best Actress

Jennifer Carpenter, QUARANTINE
Mylene Jampanoi, MARTYRS
Lina Leandersson, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Kelly Reilly, EDEN LAKE
Liv Tyler, THE STRANGERS

Naomi Watts, FUNNY GAMES U.S.

FUNNY GAMES U.S. may not be my favorite movie of 2008, but there is no denying that Naomi Watts is phenomenal in it.  Again she proves why she’s one of the greatest of her craft.

Vincent Price Award for Best Actor

Simon Callow, CHEMICAL WEDDING
Kare Hedebrant, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Andy Serkis, THE COTTAGE
Keifer Sutherland, MIRRORS

Jonathan Tucker, THE RUINS

Before THE RUINS I could barely stand the guy, now I can’t imagine anyone other than Tucker as Jeff, doomed captain of a slowly devoured ship.

Dwight Frye Award for Best Supporting Actor

Anthony Head, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA

Vinnie Jones, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN
Jack OʼConnell, EDEN LAKE

Anthony Stewart Head does no wrong.  No further explanation necessary.

Linnea Quigley Award for Best Supporting Actress

Morjana Alaoui, MARTYRS
Julie Benz, SAW V
Lizzy Caplan, CLOVERFIELD

Laura Ramsey, THE RUINS

Give it up for the gal who came out of nowhere to deliver one of the most memorable sequences from 2008 horror; cringe inducing, skin crawling, eye flinching surgery that goes farther than any of us wished it would.

Curt Siodmak Award for Best Screenplay

Jeff Buhler, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN
Pascal Laugier, MARTYRS

John Ajvide Lindqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Scott B. Smith, THE RUINS
James Watkins, EDEN LAKE

How can something be so uplifting and yet so bleak?  Masterful.

Karl Freund Award for Best Cinematography

Maxime Alexandre, MIRRORS
David A. Armstrong, SAW V
Michael Bonvillain, CLOVERFIELD
Hoyte van Hoytema, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Peter Sova, THE STRANGERS

Darius Khondji, THE RUINS

My love affair with THE RUINS continues, though to be honest this was a coin toss between the engulfing blues and greens of South American pyramid vines and the sterile perfection of FUNNY GAMES U.S., which was also shot by Darius Khondji.

Bernard Hermann Award for Best Score

Charlie Clouser, SAW V
Johan Soderqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA

Michael Giacchino, CLOVERFIELD

Though it may be invalidated as a score considering Giachhino’s contribution to CLOVERFIELD is a single piece of music that doesn’t appear in the film proper, I can’t deny the power of this track.  Click on that link above to hear it and then head onto iTunes to plunk down ninety-nine cents for it.

Tom Savini Award for Best Makeup

Paul Hyett, EDEN LAKE
Greg Nicotero, DIARY OF THE DEAD & MIRRORS
Yoshihiro Nishimura, TOKYO GORE POLICE

Allan Cooke, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER

JACK BROOKS could have been a better film, but the legitimately old school make-up design could not have been more smile inducing.

Albert S. D’Agostino Award for Best Production Design

David Hackl, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA
Tony Ianni, SAW V

Grant Major, THE RUINS

On the budget Grant Major had to work with, creating a pyramid above the tree line for THE RUINS must have been a logistical nightmare.  It’s seamless on screen while watching the behind the scenes work on the movie magic is fascinating.

Ray Harryhausen Award for Best Visual Effects

MIRRORS

THE RUINS

SHUTTER

Plants have never been scary.  The plants in THE RUINS are terrifying.  Checkmate.

Part 1: January to March.
Part 2: April to June.
Part 3: July to September.
Part 4: October to December.
Part 5: Events.
Part 6: Awards. (coming)

Uwe Boll Controls The Universe

There is no questioning that 2008 was the year of The Boll.  Love the man, Hate the man, we all talked about him last year.  First there was the petition for his retirement prompted by his own claim he would quit the biz if 1,000,000 signed such a document.  As of this month, there are only 321,320 signatures, proving fanboys aren’t the power force they reckon to be.  Next came the myriad of YouTube rants done to drum up promotion for POSTAL in which Boll essentially told Eli Roth, George Clooney and Michael Bay to all go get their fuckin’ shine boxes.  Then Stride Gum opted to milk the viral cow and claim they’d give a pack of gum to every person who signed a one million strong anti-Boll petition, knowing full well it would never happen.

Oh, and he Uwe Boll had three movies released in 2008, all of which were panned.  Yet the Boll gabbing continues…

Peter Block Creates A Bigger Boat

Peter Block, who once scoured the genre land of acquisitions like the eye of Sauron for Lionsgate, created his own outfit dubbed A Bigger Boat.  Block used his Lionsgate’s connections to shore up financing and distribution deals with a goal of producing 2-3 genre films in the $10-25mil budgetary range annually.  First on the Bigger Boat slate is FROZEN, a thriller from HATCHET helmer Adam Green.  Should FROZEN prove lucrative, expect a great many more for-the-fans films to see the light thanks to Block and co.

Drew Struzan Retires

Drew Struzan, a man responsible for movie imagery so iconic it has indelibly shaped all of our perceptions of a golden age gone by, announced his retirement from the illustration business.  Hollywood is worse off in his absence.

Magnet Releasing Kicks off the Six Shooter Series

The Six Shooter Series was not so much a success story for Magnet Releasing, though box-office wise they seem to be doing just fine, as it is for the going public.  In 2008 Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, began the theatrical roll out of TIMECRIMES, EDEN LOG, BIG MAN JAPAN, SPECIAL, DONKEY PUNCH and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.  Credit alone should be given for Magnet having the foresight to pick up 2008′s most acclaimed horror film, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, but the rest of the titles are all hard-sell oddities no other distributor had the protein to pick up.  A sign of good things to come, I’m sure.

Scary Madison Formed

Thanks Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production house spinning off a teen horror label dubbed Scary Madison, we’ll know have even more PG-13, low-brow entertainment clogging the pipeline.  The first title is a yet to be released thriller called THE SHORTCUT.

Ghost House Underground Creation

Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures spread the fiscal responsibility around and created Ghost House Underground, a new label for straight-to-DVD sequels to existing GHP properties (BOOGEYMAN 3 anyone?) as well as riskier newbiews like DANCE OF THE DEAD.  It may not have been theatrical, but gotta give ‘em a tip of the hat as Underground brought THE SUBSTITUTE, DANCE OF THE DEAD and NO MAN’S LAND: RISE OF THE REEKER to US shores.

Universal Studios Burns to the Ground

Well, not entirely to the ground, just large portions of it back in June.  Several historical sets were destroyed, including the BACK TO THE FUTURE/MONSTER SQUAD clock tower courtyard

Tartan US Shutters its Doors

Tartan US, the provocateurs who broughtBATTLE ROYALE,  OLDBOY, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, SHUTTER, A SNAKE OF JUNE, and TETSUO to the United States went belly up.  Now who will swoop in and snatch buzzed Asian films from the Miramax Maw?

Blockbuster Neutered INSIDE

Ah, the poor souls who rented INSIDE from Blockbuster later found out that the copy licensed to the antiquated rental conglom with Parental Advocacy groups in its corner was a taming of the French eye opener.  Dimension Extreme has an exclusivity rental agreement with the ‘Buster requiring Netflix to rent out the full retail copy of the film, which was the intended uncut version.  Not exactly a huge scandal, but hey, Fuck Blockbuster.

Warner Brothers Still Shafts TRICK ‘R TREAT

TRICK ‘R TREAT, aka the ongoing horror nut cock tease, was jerked around yet again by Warner Brothers in ’08.  There were three public screenings, all to rave receptions, but the WB is still holding the flick to its chest for the indeterminate future.  So, hey, Fuck Warner Brothers.

Regal Cinema Begins Airing Red Band Trailers

Again, no huge news, just cool of Regal to once again start showing Red Band trailers in front of R rated affairs.

New Line Cinema, Rest in Piece

The house that Freddy built folded into Warner Brothers, severing one of the few remaining lifelines to a production house that was a foundry of brilliant, iconic franchises.  New Line continues to operate in a smaller capacity under the WB, but expect it to wither on the vine til it is little more than a nostalgic title card.  One should especially not count on any brave new ideas considering the Step Daddy WB won’t touch TRICK ‘R TREAT with any of its subsidiary poles.

The Saddest News of 2008

I’m not one for writing obituaries for strangers.  You know the icons as well as I do and we both know how to honor a legendary film icon.  Doesn’t change the fact that I hurt like a little boy upon hearing of the passing of Stan Winston, Roy Scheider or Michael Crichton. Real bummer.

Part 1: January to March.
Part 2: April to June.
Part 3: July to September.
Part 4: October to December.
Part 5: Events.
Part 6: Awards. (coming)

April:

DANCE OF THE DEAD

Who Made it: Dir. Gregg Bishop, Scr. Joe Ballarini, Starring: Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby, Carissa Capobianco, Randy McDowell

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

Hopefully as Gregg Bishop’s big break whether he continues with the genre or not.  We’ve all seen more than our share of horror-comedy hybrids, but few strike the delicate balance DANCE OF THE DEAD does.  While the budget may show in the casting department, it never limits Bishop’s winning ambitious style.  It’s not silly, but it’s not super serious.  It’s just right all around.

“DEAD SET”

Who Made it: Created by Charlie Brooker, Starring: Andy Nyman, Jaime Winstone,

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

I gather the impression “DEAD SET” was a success in the UK in so much as it wasn’t a failure, likely condemning it to no loud trumpeting whenever it crosses the pond, leaving behind its cultural relevance.  Very few horror sites buzzed about it, but for my gambling money this is the one project most over looked by the AICN/TWITCH/BD/AITH/CHUD consortium.

Oh well, all that means is “DEAD SET” will remain a gory, brutal oddity that could never and will never exist outside of British Television.  It tales the birth of a zombie apocalypse as it orbits the cast and crew of Brit hit show “BIG BROTHER”.  The usage of the set and stars gives the whole production an otherwise unachievable sense of tangibility.  Plus the whole thing is brain craving coolness.

As far as zombies go, “DEAD SET” is 2008′s best.

DEAD SPACE

Who Made it: Electronic Arts

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers,

How it will be remembered:

As the reboot of a gaming niche grown lethargic.  DEAD SPACE, released on PC, 360 and Ps3, was a swift kick of innovation to the action/survival horror arena.  More important than how clever and fun the game is, is the fact that Electronic Arts, factory of sequels, went out on a limb and created DEAD SPACE as an all new property.

In addition to the game, Anchor Bay released an animated DEAD SPACE movie in addition to a comic series.  That’s a lot of content for a hopeful tent pole.

EDEN LAKE

Who Made it: Dir. James Watkins, Scr. James Watkins, Starring: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

Due to its very limited release I haven’t seen EDEN LAKE despite it being recommened on multiple fronts.  All the same, I’ve heard good things, which I cannot say for the unrelated WICKED LAKE.  Also not to be confused with EDEN LOG.

MY NAME IS BRUCE

Who Made it: Dir. Bruce Campbell, Scr. Mark Verheiden, Starring: Bruce Campbell, Grace Thorsen, Taylor Sharpe

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

Overdue and underwhelming.  Then again, does Bruce Campbell dissapoint even when he is dissapointing?  The Chin is kind of like a wizard, arriving how and when he intends to, not how other people expect him to.  He has slid into this crack where he is shielded from greatness, but immune from failure.

QUARANTINE

Who Made it: Dir. John Erick Dowdle, Scr. John Erick Dowdle & Drew Dowdle, Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Jay Hernandez, Johnathon Schaech

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

With wrath by anyone who has seen [REC].  History will remember QUARANTINE as one of the most unnecessary remakes ever.  Not because [REC] didn’t need a remake (though, for the record, it didn’t), but because the American stab at Spain’s huge hit is a pathetic, creatively bankrupt, decision free frivolity.  The thing is a shot-for-shot remake.

I refuse to say that it is a bad movie as I can admit there is no way in which I can be objective regarding it, but it is a fruitless one.  There is no reason to recommend it over [REC].

SAW V

Who Made it: Dir. David Hackl, Scr. Patrick Melton &  Marcus Dunstan, Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Julie Benz, Meagan Good

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

As a number in a growing series of number.  Fans may remember it as, chronologically, the first in the series in which Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw was dead throughout (though, of course, not absent), but those who have gotten over clamoring for SAW sequels will find no motive to think any different of the once potent franchise.  SAW V is a mess.  The messiest of all the SAW messes, by all eyes.

SPLINTER

Who Made it: Dir. Toby Wilkins, Scr. Kai Barry, Ian Shorr, Starring: Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

Don’t know, haven’t seen it.  Buzz was mixed, so at most SPLINTER will be a footnote.  Given that it is the end of ’08 and Top 10 lists are blossoming, its truancy from almost all lists I’ve seen is a good indicator of what that footnote will indicate.

THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY

Who Made it: Dir. Mickey Liddell, Scr. John Travis, Rebecca Sonnenshine, Starring: Haley Bennett, Jake Weber, Chace Crawford, Shannon Marie Woodward

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

As a PG-13 MTV horror movie whether MTV films had anything to do with the movie or not.  I made a promise that, barring obstacles, I would see every horror movie that came my way from now on.  There was no obstacle holding me back from THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY, I just refused to see it.

FEAST II: SLOPPY SECONDS

Who Made it: Dir. John Gulager, Scr.  Patrick Melton &  Marcus Dunstan, Starring: Jenny Wade, Clu Gulager, Diane Goldner, Martin Klebba

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

FEAST II is a piece of shit as sloppy as the name implies.

NO MAN’S LAND: RISE OF THE REEKER

Who Made it: Dir. Dave Payne, Scr. Dave Payne, Starring: Michael Muhney, Desmond Askew, Stephen Martines, Mircea Monroe

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

Dave Payne’s REEKER series is an unsung hero in the Straight to DVD world.  It is an original property with an interesting after-life antagonist.  The premise is predictable (after nearly avoiding an accident a crowd are stalked in the desert by an unknown force), but the casting department keeps things fresh and Payne throws in plenty of pleasing moments.  I liked the first REEKER well enough and NO MAN’S LAND is just as good if not better.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Who Made it: Dir. Tomas Alfredson, Scr. John Ajvide Lindqvist, Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

With ease LET THE RIGHT ONE IN will be remembered as the best horror film of 2008.  I’ve gushed about the film in the above linked review and I’m sure everyone has read equal praise around the tubes, so I don’t need to sing it here as well.

LEFT 4 DEAD

Who Made It: Valve Corporation

Links: HND Review, Trailers,

How it will be remembered:

The most fun anyone can have playing a horror themed game in 2008.  If Valve maintains their proven track record of releasing new content, LEFT 4 DEAD may will carry on as the most fun anyone can have playing a horror themed game in 2009.  I’ve poured several hours a week into this game since its release, even if that slows down slightly, it’ll perk right back up when Valve opens up new levels.

REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA

Who Made it: Dir. Darren Lynn Bousman, Scr. Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich, Starring: Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman, Bill Moseley, Paris Hilton

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

As a reminder why pet projects are called pet projects.  No one loves a pet the same way their owner does.

TWILIGHT

Who Made It: Dir. Catherine Hardwicke, Scr. Melissa Rosenberg, Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli

Links: No HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

TWILIGHT is not a horror movie, but because of the vampires it was intrinsically intertwined with our neighborhood and thus would have looked strange were it not remembered in a year long look back.  I suppose that isn’t a bad thing, considering Catherine Hardwicke set a world record for highest box office take by a female director.  If at this point you don’t know what TWILIGHT is, who it and the young-adult book series it was based on are intended for, well, you need to crawl forth from your pop culture cave.

THE GIRLS REBEL FORCE OF COMPETITIVE SWIMMERS

Who Made It: Dir. Kôji Kawano, Scr. Satoshi Ôwada, Starring: Mizuka Arai, Sasa Handa

Links: HND Review, Rotten Tomatoes, Trailers, Netflix

How it will be remembered:

I cannot remember a more missed opportunity with an amazing title than THE GIRLS REBEL FORCE OF COMPETITIVE SWIMMERS.

Knowing what is left to come and what has come before, I can’t imagine any film this year better equipped to touch quickened hearts, arrest lungs and widen minds than LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.

There is a reason Tomas Alfredson’s film currently finds itself with a 98% on the Tomatometer, an 8.5 on IMDB, and a place close to my genre marrow.  There is a reason I now feel indebted to the gent who passed the film along to me.  There is a reason I’ll be thinking about it for days.  There is a reason I want to watch it again right away.  There is a reason I wish it never ended.  There is a reason R.J. Sayer calls it, “one of the top 10 vampire films of the last 20 years”.  There is a reason it will not be dethroned as Best Genre Film of 2008.  There is a reason I do not believe any of the sentences just written are exaggerations, as none share the same reason, rather a myriad of inspirations.

Forgive the abstraction, but I can’t help but think of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN as an ember in the fireplace of vampire mythos.  An ember from an overly familiar source.  Our ideas of what vampire movies are has become safe.  Watching LTROI one can feel the undeniable warmth, but only with closer examination can one realize the temerity of that heat.  In certain light the ember doesn’t even look aflame.  Dim the surroundings and its radiant scorch glows.  Dim further and the ember revels its true color, the deep red of beating heart.  No matter the light, though, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN will hypnotize, drawing senses closer still, bracing for a burn it never quite lets you prepare for.

Oskar is a tenous, friendless 12 year old boy bullied by the group of twats at his school.  Eli is a girl whose been 12 long enough to forgot just how long that’s been.  Living next door with her familiar, a sympathetic older man who can’t catch a break trying to find fresh subsistence for his master, Eli and Oskar develop a friendship more real, more challenged than any on screen this year.  Such is the simplicity of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN’s synoptic plot, but the story’s foundation is trussed far and wide with an instinctual complexity few film’s based on preteens manage.  John Lindqvist’s script is a delicate pacing of cause and effect, be it seen in the hunger pains of a starving Eli, the fragility of Oskar’s affection for Eli, or heard in lines like, “What’s a matter Conny, can’t hear too well?”

The latter will make no sense out of context, but I find it representative of the film’s core.  It comes a few scenes after Oskar, encouraged by Eli, smacks the lead bully in the head with a pole.  For Oskar it is a moment of defiance, but in the scope of time, that is the moment Conny lost his hearing.  The line is spoken almost as a throwaway, but it echos the repurrucsions of our childhood indiscretions.  It seems a small thing, I know, but if I can find that one, seemingly inconsequential line to be an inspired insight, imagine what director Alfredson does with the meat of Lindqvist’s material.

I’ve not even brought up the violence, which is wise in its shyness.  Most of the blood letting takes place off screen.  In fact, the first moment of hostility takes place in the woods, where Eli’s familiar is about to drain the juice from a hiker.  His body blocks the opening of the wound, yet the sound of blood splattering down the funnel and into his collecting jug is unsettling all the same.  Similar obscurity happens throughout LET THE RIGHT ONE IN always to tremendous effect.  Not all is seen directly, but all is conveyed with an awe inspiring expertise.  There are sequences in LTROI that I would love to spoil if only to relive them through discourse.  Alas, I am not that mean.

I may have mentioned it before, but back in early high school my group of friends had coined the term ‘Peter Movie’ for anything I tried to get them to watch they normally never would.  At that age those were titles like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, BATTLE ROYALE and SERIES SEVEN, movies that seem mundane today.  As all of our tastes collectively matured, the Peter Movie label died off.  Well, I’m bringing it back.  If anything ever deserved to be called a Peter Movie, it is LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.  The pacing is too slow for casual film goers, the violence too spaced to satisfy a new horror generation’s need for rapid slaughter, the stars aren’t stars, but child actors not afraid to deal with awkward, budding sexuality and, well, it’s Swedish.  So, if you’re the type of person who’d come up with a label like Peter Movie, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is not your cup of tea.  Me begging you to watch it even though it has subtitles isn’t going to change anything (Yes, I’m looking at you).  For those of us with patience, also known as taste, this is the birth of a new classic.

And I do not use those last two words lightly.