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Top 10 Favorite Films of 2009: Jeff Allard's Picks
Source: Jeff Allard
December 19, 2009
Top 25 of the Decade | Top 10 Favorite Films of '09: Rotten's Picks | Best & Worst of '09: Doro's Picks | Top 10 Favorite Films of '09: Rob G.'s Picks
In this last year of the decade, horror continued to make a sizable mark on the cinema of the new millennium. Sure, not every film was a winner but on average the genre offerings of 2009 left this fan very satisfied. This year was so horror-heavy, in fact, that I still haven't had a chance to catch up with some of the year's most talked-about titles, like The House of the Devil, Pontypool, and Antichrist. For that reason, I won't be delivering a "Best Of" here but instead giving a shout-out to my ten favorite horror films of the year.
10.) My Bloody Valentine 3-D
I never thought I'd see a remake of My Bloody Valentine, much less in 3-D, but yet somehow it happened - and as a bonus, it was frickin' great! If you don't like slasher films, this one probably wasn't for you but for fans of the sub-genre, director Patrick Lussier and writer Todd Farmer proved to be a knowing, capable duo. MBV 3-D was a loving, irony-free ode to the joys of slasher cinema, a film that gave the 1981 favorite a deluxe revamp without losing its original appeal while putting Tom Atkins back on the big screen - I'd say it hardly gets better than that! Here's hoping that Lussier and Farmer can keep working together as a team for a long time to come.
Honorable Mention goes to the shameless 3-D goreathon of The Final Destination (disposable junk at its finest) and the surprisingly sharp Sorority Row (and a shout-out within a shout-out to Leah Pipes as Jessica, the undisputed Queen Bitch of Theta Pi).
9.) The Box
According to Cinema Score, writer/director Richard Kelly's sci-fi head trip The Box earned the unwanted honor of being one of the all-time worst ranking films in the company's long history of polling audience reaction. Personally, I loved it - flaws and all. It's far from perfect but I appreciated the fact that Kelly really went on a limb to try and bring something genuinely strange and difficult to mainstream audiences. It's not often that you see a studio spending $30 million on a movie this defiantly odd and given The Box's commercial performance, it's unlikely we'll see it happen again anytime soon.
8.) Jennifer's Body
With a script by Juno's Diablo Cody and a marketing campaign that was designed to remind people (in case they forgot) that Megan Fox is hot, Jennifer's Body was expected to be a commercial slam-dunk. Instead it did a massive belly flop in theaters with audiences staying away in droves - suggesting that 20th Century Fox made an enormous, audience alienating error in promoting Jennifer's Body as being about nothing more than T&A. Substantially quirkier and smarter than what it was advertised to be, this acerbic essay on a toxic female friendship is ripe for rediscovery on DVD.
7.) Pandorum
This sci-fi chiller played to empty theaters this past fall but what audiences missed out on was the best space-set horror film in ages. Director Christian Alvart crafted a taut, atmospheric mind-game of a movie (he also co-scripted Pandorum along with Travis Milloy) that will likely spring a surprise or two even on the most savvy of genre fans. Smart sci-fi didn't go entirely ignored in 2009 - witness the success of District 9 - but it's a shame that Pandorum wasn't a hit as well.
6.) The Hills Run Red
A slasher film from director Dave Parker (The Dead Hate The Living) and screenwriter and novelist David Schow that deserves an instant cult following.
Mean, nasty, with a few whiplash surprises and genuinely psycho villains ("Babyface" is the best masked killer to come down the pike in ages) that kick aging icons like Jason and Michael Myers in the ass, The Hills Run Red proved that in the right hands there's still plenty of life left in the slasher genre.
5.) The Burrowers
I wish this thoughtful horror/western hybrid had more of a chance to be seen on the big screen as it was blessed with gorgeous widescreen cinematography but even on DVD, writer/director J.T. Petty's The Burrowers is an impressive work.
Using its American frontier setting to address environmental and political issues that continue to plague us, Petty revives the kind of social commentary that is too seldom practiced by today's genre filmmakers.
4.) Paranormal Activity
The jury is still out on whether writer/director Oren Peli is anything more than a one-hit wonder or not but I hope that his next effort with prove his talent. His first feature, the videotaped document of a couple under siege by the supernatural, is every bit as divisive among fans and critics as The Blair Witch Project but, as with that earlier film, those who were affected by Peli's film swear by its greatness.
I was more amused by it (I loved seeing Peli's use of such low-tech, cheap parlor tricks like the Ouija Board bursting into flames) and admiring of its resourcefulness than I was terrified but I will say that any film that reminds studios and filmmakers that the tools needed to scare an audience are still as simple as things that go bump in the night has performed an invaluable public service.
3.) Orphan
Every generation needs a killer kid movie to call its own, a new shorthand reference for pint-sized evil, and this generation now has Orphan. This Dark Castle production (directed by Jaume Collet-Serra) was a surprisingly nasty piece of work that gleefully trampled on decency and good taste in a way that films from major studios rarely do.
Isabelle Fuhrman became an instant inductee in the ranks of classic movie psychos with her unforgettable performance here as Esther, a human monster capable of going where other killer kids only dream about. Although a big deal was made of this film's twist, it's ultimately not what Orphan hinges on. It's more about the sick spectacle of seeing Esther - 2009's best villain - unleash pure Hell on her woefully unprepared adoptive family.
2.) Zombieland
If mixing horror with comedy is one of the hardest tricks to pull off, it's even harder in the sub-genre of zombie comedies. There's no middle ground here - either you're going to end up with Return of the Living Dead or you're going to end up with Return of the Living Dead Part II.
Luckily for horror fans, this was an unqualified success with sharp writing, a winning cast, and the most talked about cameo of the year. If it wasn't already true before, Zombieland made it so - zombies have now become the stuff of mainstream entertainment.
Honorable Mention goes to Dead Snow, by far the best low-budget Norwegian Evil Dead and Shock Waves knock-off that I saw in 2009!
1.) Drag Me To Hell
I've already written about Sam Raimi's ass-kicking return to horror as part of Shock's Top 25 of the Decade so I have little more to add to my endorsement of this gem except to say that this was hands-down the best time I had watching any movie this year. More accomplished than just the return to Raimi's classic Evil Dead shtick that some fans enthusiastically pegged it as, Alison Lohman's cursed character is not just a female Ash.
She has more moral complexity and ruthlessness than Bruce Campbell's iconic wiseass (you'd never see Ash ice a defenseless kitty, that's for sure!) and the arc that she travels in this film is more psychologically arduous than anything Ash endured at the hands of the Deadites. Throw in a talking goat, an epic parking garage throwdown that rivals the alley fight in They Live (1988), and a climatic homage to Jacques Tourneur's classic Curse of the Demon (1957) and you've got my favorite horror film of 2009.
In this last year of the decade, horror continued to make a sizable mark on the cinema of the new millennium. Sure, not every film was a winner but on average the genre offerings of 2009 left this fan very satisfied. This year was so horror-heavy, in fact, that I still haven't had a chance to catch up with some of the year's most talked-about titles, like The House of the Devil, Pontypool, and Antichrist. For that reason, I won't be delivering a "Best Of" here but instead giving a shout-out to my ten favorite horror films of the year.
10.) My Bloody Valentine 3-DI never thought I'd see a remake of My Bloody Valentine, much less in 3-D, but yet somehow it happened - and as a bonus, it was frickin' great! If you don't like slasher films, this one probably wasn't for you but for fans of the sub-genre, director Patrick Lussier and writer Todd Farmer proved to be a knowing, capable duo. MBV 3-D was a loving, irony-free ode to the joys of slasher cinema, a film that gave the 1981 favorite a deluxe revamp without losing its original appeal while putting Tom Atkins back on the big screen - I'd say it hardly gets better than that! Here's hoping that Lussier and Farmer can keep working together as a team for a long time to come.
Honorable Mention goes to the shameless 3-D goreathon of The Final Destination (disposable junk at its finest) and the surprisingly sharp Sorority Row (and a shout-out within a shout-out to Leah Pipes as Jessica, the undisputed Queen Bitch of Theta Pi).
9.) The BoxAccording to Cinema Score, writer/director Richard Kelly's sci-fi head trip The Box earned the unwanted honor of being one of the all-time worst ranking films in the company's long history of polling audience reaction. Personally, I loved it - flaws and all. It's far from perfect but I appreciated the fact that Kelly really went on a limb to try and bring something genuinely strange and difficult to mainstream audiences. It's not often that you see a studio spending $30 million on a movie this defiantly odd and given The Box's commercial performance, it's unlikely we'll see it happen again anytime soon.
8.) Jennifer's BodyWith a script by Juno's Diablo Cody and a marketing campaign that was designed to remind people (in case they forgot) that Megan Fox is hot, Jennifer's Body was expected to be a commercial slam-dunk. Instead it did a massive belly flop in theaters with audiences staying away in droves - suggesting that 20th Century Fox made an enormous, audience alienating error in promoting Jennifer's Body as being about nothing more than T&A. Substantially quirkier and smarter than what it was advertised to be, this acerbic essay on a toxic female friendship is ripe for rediscovery on DVD.
7.) PandorumThis sci-fi chiller played to empty theaters this past fall but what audiences missed out on was the best space-set horror film in ages. Director Christian Alvart crafted a taut, atmospheric mind-game of a movie (he also co-scripted Pandorum along with Travis Milloy) that will likely spring a surprise or two even on the most savvy of genre fans. Smart sci-fi didn't go entirely ignored in 2009 - witness the success of District 9 - but it's a shame that Pandorum wasn't a hit as well.
6.) The Hills Run RedA slasher film from director Dave Parker (The Dead Hate The Living) and screenwriter and novelist David Schow that deserves an instant cult following.
Mean, nasty, with a few whiplash surprises and genuinely psycho villains ("Babyface" is the best masked killer to come down the pike in ages) that kick aging icons like Jason and Michael Myers in the ass, The Hills Run Red proved that in the right hands there's still plenty of life left in the slasher genre.
5.) The BurrowersI wish this thoughtful horror/western hybrid had more of a chance to be seen on the big screen as it was blessed with gorgeous widescreen cinematography but even on DVD, writer/director J.T. Petty's The Burrowers is an impressive work.
Using its American frontier setting to address environmental and political issues that continue to plague us, Petty revives the kind of social commentary that is too seldom practiced by today's genre filmmakers.
4.) Paranormal ActivityThe jury is still out on whether writer/director Oren Peli is anything more than a one-hit wonder or not but I hope that his next effort with prove his talent. His first feature, the videotaped document of a couple under siege by the supernatural, is every bit as divisive among fans and critics as The Blair Witch Project but, as with that earlier film, those who were affected by Peli's film swear by its greatness.
I was more amused by it (I loved seeing Peli's use of such low-tech, cheap parlor tricks like the Ouija Board bursting into flames) and admiring of its resourcefulness than I was terrified but I will say that any film that reminds studios and filmmakers that the tools needed to scare an audience are still as simple as things that go bump in the night has performed an invaluable public service.
3.) OrphanEvery generation needs a killer kid movie to call its own, a new shorthand reference for pint-sized evil, and this generation now has Orphan. This Dark Castle production (directed by Jaume Collet-Serra) was a surprisingly nasty piece of work that gleefully trampled on decency and good taste in a way that films from major studios rarely do.
Isabelle Fuhrman became an instant inductee in the ranks of classic movie psychos with her unforgettable performance here as Esther, a human monster capable of going where other killer kids only dream about. Although a big deal was made of this film's twist, it's ultimately not what Orphan hinges on. It's more about the sick spectacle of seeing Esther - 2009's best villain - unleash pure Hell on her woefully unprepared adoptive family.
2.) ZombielandIf mixing horror with comedy is one of the hardest tricks to pull off, it's even harder in the sub-genre of zombie comedies. There's no middle ground here - either you're going to end up with Return of the Living Dead or you're going to end up with Return of the Living Dead Part II.
Luckily for horror fans, this was an unqualified success with sharp writing, a winning cast, and the most talked about cameo of the year. If it wasn't already true before, Zombieland made it so - zombies have now become the stuff of mainstream entertainment.
Honorable Mention goes to Dead Snow, by far the best low-budget Norwegian Evil Dead and Shock Waves knock-off that I saw in 2009!
1.) Drag Me To HellI've already written about Sam Raimi's ass-kicking return to horror as part of Shock's Top 25 of the Decade so I have little more to add to my endorsement of this gem except to say that this was hands-down the best time I had watching any movie this year. More accomplished than just the return to Raimi's classic Evil Dead shtick that some fans enthusiastically pegged it as, Alison Lohman's cursed character is not just a female Ash.
She has more moral complexity and ruthlessness than Bruce Campbell's iconic wiseass (you'd never see Ash ice a defenseless kitty, that's for sure!) and the arc that she travels in this film is more psychologically arduous than anything Ash endured at the hands of the Deadites. Throw in a talking goat, an epic parking garage throwdown that rivals the alley fight in They Live (1988), and a climatic homage to Jacques Tourneur's classic Curse of the Demon (1957) and you've got my favorite horror film of 2009.
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Comments
Posted by: RJ Scriber on December 19, 2009 at 23:08:09
Man, it is nice to see some love given to The Burrowers. Sure, it seemed like a mixture of Tremors and The Descent, but for me, it definitely stands out on its own. Should've received a wider release, but that's Hollywood for you.
Good list, Jeff.
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 19, 2009 at 23:41:32
Thanks RJ! Glad to see another Burrowers fan out there!
Posted by: Mattsuzaka on December 20, 2009 at 01:12:54
Great list as always, Jeff! I have seen most of these films and most of these films would make my top horror films of the year for sure, but a slightly different order perhaps.
I have not seen the Burrowers as of yet, but I have it and along with a bunch of other 2009 films, I am trying to cram in as much as possible before the year is over.
You definitely need to see Pontypool though, that is one of my top five of the year and I have brought up Martyrs enough to probably over hype it to the point of annoyance for you!
Posted by: ico on December 20, 2009 at 12:39:42
I've seen all of those except Paranormal Activity. I've told this to friends and they would say "what the hell is wrong with you. Go see it!" The thing is that it never really caught my eye, even after all the hype. I obviously knew it was out but i didn't really have much drive to actually go out and see it. But, of course, i want to see it now.
Posted by: wrongturn687 on December 20, 2009 at 13:02:21
Interesting list and heres mine.
1. Trick R Treat
2. Zombieland
3. Orphan
4. Paranormal Activity
5. My Bloody Valentine 3D
6. The Last House On The Left
7. Drag Me To Hell
8. The Hills Run Red
9. Jennifer's Body
10. Sorority Row
Posted by: Eo on December 21, 2009 at 00:57:34
I've been pretty hard on jeff over the last year(mainly because 85 percent of his reviews are garbage.) Just when i was ready to trash him some more for seeing the oscar worthy, cash cow Jennifer's Body on his list.. i kept scrolling down and saw the burrowers and hills run red on here..for that i cant say anything bad..nice list man, still confused on how you can list movies like that then put garbage like JB on here..but we all can't agree on everything
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 21, 2009 at 02:26:34
So true, Eo, so true. Although I have to ask - have you seen Jennifer's Body or are you just assuming that you'll hate it? I'm curious.
Posted by: That Guy on December 21, 2009 at 09:26:54
Drag Me to Hell would have been good if Allison Lohman wasn't the star, the Mac Guy wasn't wisecracking throughout the movie, and Sam Raimi didn't mail it in. It was a cartoon and nothing more, just like his weak Spider Man movies. It's a shame the director of the Evil Dead films has been reduced to this.
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 21, 2009 at 11:05:19
That Guy, Raimi did anything but 'mail in' Drag Me To Hell. Whether you like it or not, this is a movie that is a perfect example of how much difference a director can make in interpreting material. Raimi's fingerprints are on every frame and what might've been a rote supernatural tale in other hands is on fire with inventiveness from start to finish. Sorry you didn't enjoy it yourself.
Posted by: Craig Friel on December 21, 2009 at 12:50:14
Theres a few I haven't seen on there like The Hills Run Red, The Burrowers and The Box.
HATED Jennifer's Body and Paranormal Activity was [retty **** too.. Loved Drag Me To Hell and Zombieland. Also glad to see Pandorum on there though. Everyone else seems to hate it. I've read so much **** about The Box now that I don't wanna see it...
Posted by: Slyone on December 21, 2009 at 14:28:22
I am amazed that Drag me to Hell is mentioned in the same sentence starting in Best Top 10. That steaming pile of Dog S**t is in no way a return to form for Rami as I remember him being a very good Director/ Writer. I obviously don't get it as everyone and their mother humped Rami's leg with praise. People must have either watched a different movie or got a piece of the box office gross. Either way, that movie was f'ing horrible
Posted by: Jud on December 21, 2009 at 14:40:02
Should you be fired from being a writer on a horror movie website because you didn't see The House of the Devil? Yes, I think so. Way to keep your finger on the pulse of the genre.
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 21, 2009 at 16:09:17
Jud, I like to keep up with new releases as much as possible but life does have other resposibilities and priorities. That means some films inevitably slip through the cracks - especially when I know they've already been covered by other writers here. Who knows, maybe Ryan will assign me the DVD to review then I can officially weigh in on House.
Posted by: A True Horror Fan on December 21, 2009 at 21:25:16
The only 3 movies on this crappy list that were actually good were "The Orphan","Zombieland", and "Pandorum". Drag me to Hell was a blatant Evil Dead/Army of Darkness rip-off!. Paranormal Activity was just internet hype crap, just like the Blair Witch. Burrowers was straight to DVD crap!. My Bloody Valentine was ridiculous, with a ridiculous plot twist. The Hills Run Red I have yet to see. The Box!. The mothereffin Box!. What a load of garbage, I actually enjoyed Jennifer's Body a 1000 times more than that snoozefest. But I at least Jeff did'nt include New Moon, even though deep down inside he wanted to!.
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 22, 2009 at 02:29:15
True Horror Fan, your comment made my day. I honestly never thought I'd see someone using both an exclamation point and a period back to back to end a sentence, so thanks. But overzealous punctuation aside, at least we agree on three out of ten movies - and I think that's about as much as I need to agree with anyone on.
Posted by: A True Horror Fan on December 22, 2009 at 03:57:37
Sorry, Mr. Allard, I did'nt know my placement of periods and exclamation points were going to be scrutinized by you, considering the fact that most of the people who post comments here cannot spell worth a sh!*(yes joe asylo I'm speaking to you). So I'm glad my comment made your day, which shows you are easliy amused, hence your crappy horror movie list!. Have a great day.
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 22, 2009 at 09:59:21
Thanks, THF! You know, I think sharing your opinions instead of berating someone else for having theirs might be the way to go. Had you simply disagreed with my picks and then offered your own choices for your favorite horror films of '09, I guarantee that would've been a better use of your time.
Posted by: adamant877 on December 22, 2009 at 18:07:24
I hate to say it but, I wanted to like Drag Me To Hell a lot more than I was inclined to after viewing it. It wasn't scary, containing nothing more than cheap "jump factor" scares, and an overabundance of orally-fixated gags. (*Has Sam Raimi developed some kind of oral fixation in his later years?!)
Ultimately, it didn't live up to the hype, and I was resultingly underwhelmed and dissapointed.
Posted by: chad on December 22, 2009 at 19:40:27
Great List Jeff! I'm not sure if I've ever read any of your reviews or I have and didn't know it was you....but by putting Drag me to Hell as number 1....I'm happy. Even my friends who don't watch horror movies loved it.
I would have added Trick R Treat to my list....one of the best halloween movies in a while.
And some guy mentioned House of the Devil.
I don't think that is a top ten movie. So slow and the pay off was so short. It was good on the point that it look like one of those old movies. But I think the director missed on recreating an old movie but making it better than those old movies.
I've had Burrowers for a while and didn't watch it....I will now...thx
Posted by: LaMorte on December 22, 2009 at 21:03:02
I stopped reading at "My Bloody Valentine 3D"
Posted by: Jeff Allard on December 23, 2009 at 02:10:41
Apparently Drag Me To Hell is a real love it or hate it movie! Although based on the comments, I think you could say that about most of the films on this list.
To Chad: I thought about including Trick 'r Treat but while I liked it a lot, I felt like it had been spotlighted enough and I wanted to give the space to some underappreciated titles.
As for House of the Devil, I did finally give it a look and I wasn't too taken with it:
http://dinnerwithmaxjenke.blogspot.com/2009/12/dance-with-devil.html
And LaMorte, I totally stand by MBV 3-D. Slasher movies are close to my heart and that one really worked for me.
Posted by: Feartone on December 24, 2009 at 11:31:49
I wanted to thank you for not putting Trick 'r Treat on this list...Take The Box off and move Drag me To Hell to 9th and you have a great list there.
Posted by: monsterofjonesboro on December 24, 2009 at 19:06:29
no love for Eden Lake?
Posted by: Eo on December 25, 2009 at 21:25:39
i actually found a torrent of it awhile back. watched it one afternoon when nothing was on...and hated every second of it. so no, jeff, im not one of those people who talk **** on it without seeing it. Everything about that movie sucked..adam brody being in it was awful. the lame one liners were awful, acting was awful, effects were awful. . i could keep going. only somewhat decent thing about it was that J.K. Simmons had a role..
Posted by: Eo on December 25, 2009 at 21:29:20
im not bein a smart ass just asking this one... wouldnt trick r treat technically be 2008. i mean..it screened a little, and was done well before 2009..i know the dvd came out this year but that shouldn't really count toward a 2009 list..that movie is the **** though
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