The Best Movies of 2009- 1-5

2009 was a pretty solid year for the Horror Genre. A lot of the year's best came from overseas, but American Horror showed strong too, which is a good thing; it's nice to see a good Global mix going on, as far as Horror movies are concerned. Different countries and cultures have their own voices that make the genre stronger, and we truly need to hear them all. Aww, look at all of that diversity!

So let's take a look at the best of what 2009 had to offer us, shall we?

Yes I know, this movie was made a few years ago, and some other Horror sites named it as one of their best back then, but it wasn't released until this year, so shush. They we're just showing off, and we don't do that around here. Much.

I can't remember the last time that a Horror flick captured us, enraptured us, and left us wanting more, more, more, like Trick r' Treat did. It captured the essence and atmosphere of Halloween like few other movies ever have, and took us on a clever and near-perfect journey through it all.

Trick r' Treat has become mandatory yearly watching for the creepy month of October. We hesitate to give any movie an A+ score, because to me that implies a sort of perfection, but we really had no other choice with this one; it's damn near perfect.

Ignore the few Internet naysayers that will say "it was alright" or that "it didn't come close to living up to the hype," because they are wrong. You need to own this movie. Own it and love it. Unless of course you don't like awesomeness, then feel free to ignore this one altogether.

I have one thing to say, and one thing only: any movie that plays For Whom the Bell Tolls over its opening credits is aces in my book.

Alright, I lied, I have more to say... This movie is fun as hell,  and aside from the annoying actions of the main chicks throughout most of the movie, is easily one of the best of the year. Woody Harrelson is brilliant as Tallahassee, the zombie-ass kicking southern boy with a penchant for awesome one-liners. I mean no disservice to the other actors in the movie, but he carried this one on his back, and even pressed it over his head a few times. Everyone else performed admirably too, but Woody definitely stole the show.

Then again, Bill Murray pretty much stole the show in this one too, and Amber Heard's cameo was pretty great too...

As Horror Comedies go (especially of the Zombie variety), dare I say that this one is better than Shaun of the Dead? Though that question is totally up for debate, I do say it's better, because it is. See it, and if you already have, see it again. You'll never look at Twinkies in the same way again.

The Children is the best Creepy Kid movie I've seen in ages, and we tip our hats to the British for creating such a creepy, nasty little gem.

A feeling of dread and unease permeates throughout this movie and never really seemed to let up. It's also got its share of vicious violence and gore, and when all of those elements are mixed together, The Children basically has a square dance on your nuts, until you end up hiding in your closet and crying like a small child. Alright, I may be exaggerating just a bit, but this is one taxing movie, and that's no joke.

The Children is profoundly disturbing, and it left us feeling a bit numb at the end. It only reveals bits and pieces of the reasons for the children turning on their parents, and maybe the not knowing why is the worst part. Actually, the worst part is probably the fact that 6 and 7-year-old kids are hell-bent on killing their parents. Yeah, that's probably it.

The ending was one of the best that we've seen in quite a while too; It came out of nowhere, and chilled us to the bone. It also left us with questions which I wish we had definitive answers too, but hey, at least it made us think. Definitely one of the best genre flicks we've seen in years.

A return to Horror form for Sam Raimi, Drag Me to Hell is a hell of a lot of fun to experience.

I love the dry wit on display here, as too many Hollywood Horror flicks seem to forget to be fun these days. The "we used to have a cat" bit kills me every time I see it. The look on Alison Lohman's face is just priceless.

This movie definitely reminds us of the more campy 80's Horror fare. It's fairly linear, over-the-top, a bit tongue-in-cheek, creepy, gross, tension-filled, and we know exactly where it's going and we can't wait for it to get there. Aside from "the fire dance," and one obvious plot twist (you'll see it coming from miles away), this movie made us smile the whole way through. Even the ending goes against popular convention in some ways, which we loved.

Unfortunately, it didn't kill at the Box Office as we had hoped it would, but at least it looks really good on Blu-ray. If you haven't seen it yet, go grab a copy on DVD or add it to your Netflix queue now. I promise that it's a fun time that you won't regret.

District 9 really isn't a Horror movie per se, but as a far as Genre flicks go, it just has to be counted on everyone's lists as one of the years best, even we Horror Geeks..

What Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp pulled off here with a tiny budget of around $30 million, is nothing short of pure genius. Gorgeous, action-packed, bloody, messy, and engrossing, District 9 reminded us that sometimes the good guys can win, and that smart, well-made movies can stand far above their dumber, more expensive popcorn flick brethren.

District 9 stood above them all this year, and it shone brightly while doing so.

Heart and soul count, and this is one crazy movie that delivers those goods while kicking your ass at the same time. Now, Neill Blomkamp needs to get busy on District 10, because we need to know what in the hell happened to Christopher Johnson and Wikus! It's killing us!

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The Best Movies of 2009- 6-10

2009 was a pretty solid year for the Horror Genre. A lot of the year's best came from overseas, but American Horror showed strong too, which is a good thing; it's nice to see a good Global mix going on, as far as Horror movies are concerned. Different countries and cultures have their own voices that make the genre stronger, and we truly need to hear them all. Aww, look at all of that diversity!

So let's take a look at the best of what 2009 had to offer us, shall we?

Something about this little Aussie Thriller just struck a nerve with us, and me in particular.

Visually the movie is stunning, the characters are believable and likable (though sometimes absent-minded), and the concept is interesting and keeps you guessing. Oh, and it's pretty creepy too.

Some have said that the beginning half of this movie dragged a little, but I beg to differ; the first half of Acolytes seemed to me a meditation of sorts on teenagers, in which sexual angst and troubled pasts are set up to play an important role in what comes later. Good stuff.

Ever since Wolf Creek, we've been impressed with the Horror/Thriller efforts coming from down under, and Acolytes only serves to strengthen our resolve in the fact that we love them.

 

I love this effing movie. I can't remember having this much silly, no-brainer  fun watching a Horror flick in a very long time.

It's tongue-in-cheek nature is reminiscent of Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, or Shaun of the Dead in that it mixes humor and Horror so well,in a completely self-aware manner.

We loved the over-the-top and ridiculous action too. From the foot stomping at the edge of the cliff, to the Zombie wake up call scene, it's almost melodramatic in its mechanics, but it works. A machine gun mounted on a snowmobile? Count me in!

How can you not love a bunch of Nazi Zombies terrorizing innocent Norwegian people? Isn't that all we ever really want fro any movie that we see?

Here we have a remake that was actually really, really good, and what a nice change of pace that is for a change.

I'll admit that there's one scene at the very end of the movie that felt a bit out of place to me, but aside from that one small thing, LHOTL is a nasty little piece of remake bliss.  

Dennis Iliadis directed the hell out of this movie, and he has a bright future ahead of him in this genre. He created a dark and foreboding atmosphere, and made the story believable. Most American-made Horror films fail to reach this level or craft and realism anymore. Kudos my good sir.

I went into Orphan thinking that it would be just another in a long line of bland PG-13 cookie-cutter snooze-fests that Hollywood is so keen on churning out on the reg; you know, the ones that don't seem to understand what makes for a good Horror movie?

Well, I was totally wrong.

Orphan didn't play it safe at all, and in fact, it pushed the limits of disturbing quite often. To say that I was surprised with some of the places that this film went would be putting it mildly.

This is also a gorgeous film too look at; the camerawork capturing the mood through sparse winter landscapes which always make for a gorgeous setting. I'm a sucker for a snowy setting, what can I say?

...and in our final spot... We have a tie! Sure, something about claiming a tie cries cop-out to me, but we have more than enough love to go around. Come on, it's Christmas time!

Antichrist is a film that I will have to meditate over for some time to come. Sure, maybe it was a tad bit pretentious, but good lord it was also pretty horrific and engaging.

Was she evil? What happened to her in the forest with her son? Is this movie a misogynistic bash on all of woman kind? I have no answers, but I will be trying to come up with some for quite some time.

This film is unbelievably gorgeous to look at, and ridiculously so. Each of the film's "chapters" has its own look, from monochrome to black and white, and it's just something special to behold.

With Antichrist, Lars Von Trier captivates visually even if he manages to lose some of his audience thematically. Is this his masterpiece? I don't know, but it sure feels to me like it may be.

Either way, we'll never view mill stones or scissors in the same way again.

Killer Movie was a pretty damn good Slasher flick; yes it's fairly typical, and it doesn't come anywhere close to breaking any new ground, but it's smart, witty, and an overall fun time. 

I love how the smart script had just the right mix of humor and Horror to make it seem fresher than most movies of its kind, especially those of late. Slasher flicks can be fun and still work, and this movie reminds us of that.

Did we mention that this movie stars a pre-Big Bang Theory Kaley Cuoco? It does, and she is as smoking hot as ever here. She's definitely a bonus reason for watching this one.

The Best Movies of 2009- The Honorable Mentions

Not every movie can make our Best of 2009 list, and there were plenty of movies that didn't, which still deserve their share of mention and praise.

Some were fun, some were creepy, some were really well-made, and some were really enjoyable despite their flaws. (Once again keep in mind that many of these movies may have been made/released in other countries, or had festival screenings prior to 2009, but they weren't released proper until this year.)

*To be fair, if we were to go back and do our Best of 2009 list over again, Home Movie, The Collector, Paranormal Activity, and The Red Riding Trilogy would probably top the list. We're not revisionists though, so we're letting our original list stand, as it's still full of top-notch flicks.