The good, The Bad, and everything in between: Horror films of 2006
2006 was certainly an "interesting" year for horror movies. If you enjoy horror all around, or were a fan of a particular subgenre...then there was something horror related released in 2006 to whet your specific appetite. But as it is with every year, there are the good, there are the outright bad, and then there are those that fall in between, or in a sort of limbo if you will. So in this article, I will examine what I thought were the good, the bad, and everything in between when it came to horror films of this year.
But first...let's start off with a little fun factoid -- There were a total of 28 horror films released into theaters this year! That's without counting the horror films which got some very limited play at the After Dark Horrorfest back in November. To say horror is *hot* right now would be an understatement, seeing as how the number of films released into theaters this year has more than doubled from last year.
Kristen Bell and Ian Somerhalder in "Pulse"
So without further ado, lets examine what went right, what had a chance to go right, and what went horribly wrong this year in horror. First to kick things off on a positive note, let's begin with THE GOOD. In fact let's "rip" into it, with a film that involved alot of ripping, tearing, and claw n' fang action..."Underworld:Evolution". This sequel to "Underworld" falls into the "Good" category, not only because of the great performances by Kate Beckinsale and Tony Curran, but because it followed the sequel rules to a "T". Making everything bigger, better, and badder than it was in the original. The enemies were fiercer, the action was non-stop, and of course the blood, gore, and graphic violence we'd expect in a movie where two supernatural species, werewolves and vampires are at war -- were both present in spades.
Add to that some awesome sceneries and set pieces and you've got a solid sequel which more than does the series justice. Next up on my good list is "Tamara", a film many people mistook as "Carrie" for a new generation, delivered with sexy newcomer Jenna Dewan in the lead role as the title character Tamara who took no prisoners when it came to getting revenge on her wicked classmates for her accidental death. This film followed somewhat in "Carrie"'s footsteps but did bring enough imagination, heart, and originality to set itself way apart from that movie as well. 2006 also brought us a few remakes of such classic horror films as "When a Stranger Calls", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Black Christmas", "The Omen", and "The Wickerman". Unfortunately, only the first three fall onto my good list, while the other two...well we'll get to that later. But 3 out of 5 ain't bad.
Sony's remake of the classic pic "When A Stranger Calls" returned with a huge house, and Camilla Belle stepping in to fill Carol Kane's shoes as the unfortunate babysitter stalked by the nefarious stranger. While the remake wasn't as scary as the original, it sure came very close, using the backdrop of the large Mandrakis mansion combined with a raging rainstorm very well to create a very creepy mood and tone which it managed to uphold from start to finish.
Belle also gave quite a good performance as the stalkee in the film, Jill Johnson.
Camilla Belle in "When A Stranger Calls"
Then there was the remake of the Wes Craven classic "The Hills Have Eyes". The reason this horror flick get's onto my good list is because it offered up something many didn't this year, a new scenery! Instead of the burbs, or a college campus, it was set in a desert like setting, where a family en route to their vacation destination ended up getting stranded and having to do battle with some nasty and pissed off mutants. The in your face, take no prisoners attitude of this redo, coupled with the gritty realistic feel it had make it a very worthy reimaging of the original.
Lastly on the remake front there's "Black Christmas", a redo of Bob Clark's 1974 slasher film. Although over the top and silly at times, the sheer nasty nature and quick disposals of the house full of mostly annoying sorority girls in the movie make it quite an entertaining slasher film despite it's lackluster story.
Continuing on with "The Good", the grim reaper returned to theaters earlier this year in "Final Destination 3". Yet another group of lucky for a moment teens had yet again escaped his grasp, and he was none too pleased about it. You would think by part three this series would be showing a few signs atleast of slowing down. But a great script, some new wrinkles tossed into deaths design, the kids clever new plan to outsmart it, and of course those nasty deaths we all love to see made "Final Destination 3" a worthy entry into the trilogy. Video game adaptation films haven't taken a vacation and proved that back in April with "Silent Hill", an adaptation movie of the semi-popular video game series. "Silent Hill"'s penchant for following the games with it's stunning visuals of the plagued town, it's twisted characters, and the solid story which featured more allegiance switching and twists than you could shake a really big stick at, made it one of the more interesting horror films of 2006.
Then there were smaller films like the WWE Films slasher pic "See No Evil" and "Pulse", both movies which came and went pretty quickly but still managed to catch my eye in a positive way. "See No Evil" knew exactly what it was and milked that for all it was worth, with some nasty deaths and grotesque images of bug-filled heads, old ladies being impaled face first into sharp objects, and arms being hacked off. "Pulse", a remake of the japanese horror film "Kairo", gave the genre some intelligence with a creepy yet smart story about otherwordly demons using the worldwide web to unleash a plague upon humanity. While the movie offered up nothing in the realm of bloody demises, it certainly found a new way of disposing of it's characters...instant ashing. Think how vampires die in "Blade", just in a more stunning fashion. In the realm of monsters we had "The Descent" and "Snakes on a Plane".
Kenan Thompson in "Snakes on a Plane"
Neil Marshall's "The Descent" offered up some fantastic scares, a strong story, and superb acting in the film which had a group of female cavers becoming trapped and then having to do battle with nocturnal creepy crawlies hungry for human flesh in order to escape their ordeal. "Snakes on a Plane" with one of the more "interesting" marketing campaigns of 2006 behind it turned out to be quite an entertaining and campy romp despite it's PG-13 rating which I felt would've hurt the movie immensely. Who'd have ever known almost 2 hours of CGI snakes attacking unsuspecting passengers on an airplane could be so much fun?
October is the month of Halloween, so of course it had to bring something to the table, and it did with two sequels "Saw 3", and "The Grudge 2". Both turned out to be great additions to their respective series, but "The Grudge 2" even more due to how bad I felt "The Grudge" was. "Saw 3" offered up more of the same while bringing actress Shawnee Smith as Amanda to the forefront of the equation which gave the third movie that spark it needed to keep from falling into the doldrums of "Been there done that".
Now let's move on to the "in between"..films that pretty much broke even with me. Eli Roth's "Hostel" may have struck a chord with alot of other horror fans but it was 50-50 with me. While it did cross a new line in sadism and pushing the perverbial envelope, the movie doesn't create enough entertainment and interest in the first two acts to be considered as great as many claim it to be. We've already discussed video game adaptation horror films, but what happens when the video game itself is the killer?? Everyone found out in the Disney horror film "Stay Alive". Where the really pissed off Spirit of Elizabeth Bathory uses a video game to choose the fates of a group of gamers.
Frankie Muniz and Jon Foster in "Stay Alive"
If you die in the game you die for real, courtesy of Mrs. Bathory and her horse and carriage. While "Stay Alive" did present an interesting scenario overall it wasn't hardcore enough to be a horror film that carried the true spirit of horror. Last up in the "in between" column are "An American Haunting", "The Covenant" and "Hard Candy". "The Covenant" answered that age old question, "What would happen if rich college kids had magic powers but couldn't use them for fear of rapidly aging into a bucktoothed old mummy?". While "The Covenant" did answer this question with some cool visuals, a certain flashy, hip, and stylish look, and some interesting visual FX...overall it was just way too thin storywise to crack the "good" category in my view. "An American Haunting" told a good story..too bad that when it was all over I was wondering if someone had pulled the old switcheroo and placed a totally different movie at the end of the reel.
"Hard Candy" was a message to pedophiles everywhere, sometimes you are the prey. And rightfully so, however "Hard Candy" misses many opportunities to push the envelope and after awhile becomes too boring in it's attempt to play "two character thriller/horror". While the message was a noble one, maybe it should've been surrounded with more substance than it was. Now it's time for...."THE BAD". The total and utter failures of this year in horror. Leading the pack is "The Return", which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as a business woman out to solve some big mystery in the town of Laselle Texas. When it was all said and done, I wanted a return too...of my 9 dollars and 75 cents I paid for admission into the theater. Then there was the russian vampire pic "Nightwatch", which finally made it's way here to the states after much hype was behind it which played a huge hand in getting it here.
Image from FOX Searchlight's vampire film "Nightwatch"
After sitting through this snoozefest, I think maybe the Russians shouldn't quit their day jobs. Speaking of vampire films, Sony's "Ultraviolet" was no better. Milla Jovovich looked great, and so did the movie, boasting very stunning bright colors and shiny swords and sceneries. Too bad that everything else was a total disaster, and someone needs to remind the writers of this film that at some point, your heroine has to look vulnerable and not like an unstoppable force that can go through anything thrown at her. Even if she is a vampire with a serious blood disease and the ability to sword fight in the dark, that's still no excuse.
James Gunn's "Slither" tried to be a new age "Night of the Creeps" but the slugs were the only thing worth watching in this film. When they weren't on screen, I stoped caring. And could you blame me? The characters in this movie were as dull as Ben Stein reading the phone book. "Scary Movie 4" continued on the series that wouldn't die, or should I say the series that died when the Wayans brothers abandoned ship. More unfunny jokes and gags were tossed at me in part 4 and like in part three I failed to laugh, or care, or be entertained in any way really. Plus a naked Leslie Nielsen automatically puts any movie on my "Bad" list.
The gruesome twosome were on display this year as well, oh my bad....I meant "The Omen" and "The Wickerman".
Image from 20th Century FOXes "The Omen"
An updated "Omen" is never a good thing, any horror fan can tell you that. Too bad no one listened. But if you're having trouble getting to sleep these days, might wanna rent this one out for a few nights. Believe me, it'll work. Remaking "The Wickerman" was less of a sin, but ultimately still just as much of a failure. This remake of the classic horror/thriller only got good when Nicolas Cage got pissed in a few scenes in act 3. Too bad that's 5 or so minutes of good footage out of a 2 hour plus film! Another rental option for all you insomniacs out there. New Line tried to tell Leatherfaces story in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Beginning", and trace back to his origins. But for me, it felt like I was watching the remake all over again..only starring Jordana Brewster this time.
Then there was "Turistas" which had a group of your typical wreckless teens hanging ten in Brazil. Only to encounter some shady goings-ons on their little getaway. "Turistas" makes my bad list for a number of reasons, and we're not just talking about it's predictable story and the predictable way events unfold. But the acting is piss poor, and how many times can we see the same dumb characters make the same dumb mistakes which lead to their demise?? Especially when a few of them have annoying accents and a mad doctor even manages to make an appearance. Can we say cheesey?? So there you have it, the good, the bad, and everything in between when it came to the horror films of 06'. If horror was this much fun in 2006, 2007 is sure to be a blast!
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