The Middlins of 2010

The Middlin's of 2010 aren't the best or worst of the year, they walk the middle ground. Some were better than expected, some worse than they should have been, and others were just plain ole' average. If you loved them or hated them, you're probably right. These are the movies that we could justify being one of the best or worst of 2010. Maybe because they confused us.

Shutter Island- Well-written, well-crafted, full of gorgeous scenery and solid performances by its stars... but that ending... the ending... that effing ending ruined it all. Granted, this isn't by any means your typical "twist" ending which makes you roll your eyes at its cheesy lameness. The problem with the twist at the end of Shutter Island, is that it pretty much negates most of the movie that came before it, and it just about killed the whole experience for us. At least everything leading up to the shit ending was fairly brilliant.
 The Experiment- As remakes go, this one isn't bad, per se, but it certainly lacks much of the power of the 2001 German original, Das Experiment. This movie plays exactly like you'd expect an Americanized version of a foreign movie to play, and that serves to diminish much of the intensity that the original film offered to its audiences. Not bad, but should have been better. How many genre flicks was Adrian Brody in this year anyway?

Legion- (Check the review here) I get the criticism that just about everyone threw at this movie, but am I crazy to think that this was pretty fun overall? Paul Bettany is always great to watch on screen, and Kevin Durand proves that he deserves more mainstream roles, as he was great as Gabriel. I just think if you check your brain at the door with this one, it's pretty enjoyable for what it is.
 A Nightmare on Elm Street- (Check the review here) Easily the most hated Horror movie of the year, ANOES 2010 was doomed from the start. Most Horror fans, especially those of the Fanboy variety, deemed it anathema to even attempt to remake the 1984 original classic. *I was a part of that group of Fanboys, for the record. Once I saw the remake though, and processed it a bit, I didn't hate it at all. In fact, I mostly liked it. I didn't like Freddy's new look so much, but Jackie Earle Haley was awesome in the role. The movie did some things really well, and didn't leave me as pissy as I thought it would have. I'm not sure what Horror reviewers use as criteria sometimes, as some of the people that lambasted this movie as the worst of the year, give tons of love to plenty of movies that suck, and on a pretty regular basis. And when I say that, let me also make clear that I am an elitist prick about my movies most of the time. Then again, I thought the F13 remake was fun too. Maybe I 'm crazy.
 The Wolfman- (Check the review here) I'm not the biggest fan of Werewolf movies, as most of them tend to kinda suck, but I liked this one. It had its issues, but it was pretty to look at, had some great acting talent on display, and delivered some bloody good moments. Once in a while, the slick Hollywood flicks get me to like them, and this was one of those times. Erin fell asleep during this one though, so again, maybe I'm crazy.

30 Days of Night: Dark Days- (Check the review here) You have to approach a movie like this with your common sense and Vampire knowledge in check. I did, and I thought it was pretty fun. Plot holes aplenty, this Direct-to-DVD sequel gives us some mindless fun for an hour an a half, and nothing more. I just don't think it's as hate-able as some people would have you believe.
 Daybreakers- (Check the review here) Another Vampire flick that drew the ire of many a Horror fan, Daybreakers was one that most of us here at THC liked. Sure, it needed some more action, and they could have done a whole lot more than they did with such an interesting concept, but it surely wasn't one of the worst of the year, as some proclaim it.

The Worst Horror Movies of 2010

2010 was filled to the brim with shitty movies. Here's the crap of the crop. Check out the original reviews if you want the in depth skinny as to why these movies were so bad. Overall, just avoid the hell out of these clunkers, and spend your time watching something else. Anything else, really.

Skyline- (Check the review here) This movie was so dreadfully bad, so sadly laughable, that I don't even know where to start. Skyline tricked us into thinking it was going to be another District 9; a lower budget movie that made the most out of what it had, and gave us a happy surprise for our money... but no. It made very little sense, gave us mostly unlikable characters, wasted some pretty decent acting talent and cool looking aliens, and offered us one of the worst ending sequences in recent memory. Say what you will, but this was an insultingly poor effort all around. We can only pray that there won't be a sequel. Ever.
 The Descent Part 2- (Check the review here) "Shit runs deep." That should have been the tagline on the poster, and it would have been perfectly fitting. Gone is any trace of the brilliance that made 2007's The Descent an instant classic, and in its place we get a cheesy, overacted, and mind-bottling mess of epic proportions. It felt as if everyone involved was trying to make an over-the-top, melodramatic parody of the first movie, only I think they were actually trying to make a good sequel. Lucky for the movie that Skyline came out this year too, because at least one movie got it more wrong than this one did.

My Soul to Take- It pains pains me to list this one amongst the years worst, but it had so much potential and ended up being tame and fairly lame, so what coul dI do? The concept of this movie was a strong one, and had Wes Craven stuck with that, he may have had a fun little movie on his hands. Instead, we get the supernatural O-Ke Doke when the plot reveals an uninspiring killer with confusing and silly motives, who uses silly means to get the silly killing done. Wes Craven is still fantastic, but this movie just fell way too short of anything good to be likable.
 Cabin Fever 2- (Check the review here) I understand now why Ti West wanted his name taken off of this movie. It took me a while to warm up to the first Cabin Fever, but in the end I think it's a campy, fun as hell little modern day cult classic. I was hoping for more of the same with the sequel, but it was such a mess, that I wonder how much crack/meth/crystallized Drano was smoked by this movies saboteurs. What they added in post, the re-shoots and re-edits, ruined what might have been a cool flick. Oh yeah, the producers and studio execs did all of that. This movie is a perfect example why people need to let directors direct, and not interfere.
 Survival of the Dead- (Check the review here) With Zombies being the latest popular trend in Horror, you'd think that the master of undead storytelling would be at the top of the heap, leading the pack and showing the rest how it's done... but alas, George Romero has made his 2nd bad Zombie movie in a row. Like Wes Craven, Romero definitely deserves our love as Horror fans, but the fact that this movie was boring and unremarkable makes us not want to share the love this time around.