R2D2's Ultimate Top 10 Countdown Of The 2000s #5 - Horror.

[For the last 10 days of the decade, I'm doing a Top 10 list a day, all culminating into an ultimate post of Top 10 lists. We have previously seen Top 10 Comedies, Dramas, Animation, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Now we're moving on.]

Top 10 Horror Films of the 2000s

The day after Christmas... crazy sales... more shopping... going to wal-mart is like a horror film in and of itself. So it's only fitting that I discuss the best horror films of the decade now. Let's get it goin'.

10. Identity (2003)

Basically 10 Little Indians with a psychology twist. What I will always remember about this movie is that I was able to call the killer based on the trailer alone. Not because it was easy, but because I decided that the killer would be the least likely character. Granted, it actually made sense in the context of the movie. Anyway, it had one heck of a cast, too. John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, John C. McGinley, Jake Busey, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. I also love the ending, especially how it ties back in a poem repeated earlier in the film. It's quiet and creepy. Love it.

9. Planet Terror (2007)

Robert Rodriguez's half of Grindhouse (the better half, if I say so). It's wild and crazy and totally fun. Mutant "zombies." Fuzzy screens. Missing reels. A chick with a machine gun leg. Bloody action. It's almost too awesome for its own good. I put it this low on the list because it's really not scary whatsoever. I wouldn't even say it's marginally scary. But it's a horror film nonetheless. And, therefore, it's on my list.

8. Silent Hill (2006)

Video game movies aren't known for being the best films ever created, but sometimes you get something at least halfway decent. Silent Hill is one of those. Sure, it has some flaws. If you know anything about the making of the film, it was originally going to be an all-female cast, but the production company didn't think that'd work. So what'd they do? They forced them to re-write the script and give the husband character a bigger role. And you can tell in the movie. Pretty much every part of the husband's part of the story is meaningless and somewhat boring (I always wanted to go back into the "Silent Hill" world when it flipped to the husband). Also, the ending is terrible and demands a sequel (which, luckily, I think they recently greenlit). But every other part of the film is fantastic and creepy. Pyramidhead is scary, as are all the other creatures. And the climax gets surprisingly violent. Fun stuff.

7. Frailty (2001)

So... have you seen this movie? It's freaky. Not really much more to say after that. It has Matthew McConaughey in a role that isn't his usual. Is also has Bill Paxton (who also directed). It's a religious horror film, and you're never quite sure if all the religious stuff is true or not. But either way, it's unsettling. That's probably the best way to put this movie. Unsettling.

6. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Most horror films these days are all about the shock factor. The jump scares. The blood and gore. The Mothman Prophecies has virtually none of this. And I don't know about you, but this movie scares the living crap out of me. What does it have? Creepy occurrences, telephone conversations, unexplained scenarios, and subtle scares that you have to be paying attention to get (the mirror lag, anyone?). Not to mention those red eyes. I always get scared to drive at night whenever I watch this movie. I know the first time I saw it, I had to drive home at night afterward, and at that time, I lived out in the middle of nowhere. So at one point, in the pitch black, my brake lights reflected off these two, well, reflectors that stood on either side of this little bridge... and in my rear-view mirror, they looked JUST like the two red eyes. I about had a heart attack. So it might not have the blood. It might not have the overt musical cue scares. But this is by far one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen. So why, if it's so scary, do I have it at number 6 on the list? Because sometimes "fun," "concept," or even "depth" can trump ultimate scares.

5. Final Destination (2000)

Talking about the original here, of course. This is the case where "concept" and "fun" can trump scares. Is this movie scary? Not really. But its concept is super fun, and I love the heck out of this little film. It has some wickedly dark humor. It has creative kills. It's also the film that, believe it or not, really first introduced the world to Seann William Scott. And who didn't go "oh crap!" when you see the plane explode in the far background outside the terminal, right before the windows explode?

4. Feast (2005)

One of my favorite horror/comedies, and I place it under horror, as I believe there are more scares than laughs (though there are some good laughs). This is a film that totally takes the horror genre and turns it on its head... and then laughs mercilessly at it. From the opening moments with the "title cards" to the breaking of all horror rules, this movie is hella fun. It's just incredibly unfortunate that its two sequels are two of the most disasterous, unholy abominations ever put on celluloid (and I'm not being hyperbolic here).

3. 28 Weeks Later (2007)

It's rare to get a great sequel to a great film, but this was apparently one of the exceptions. It starred none of the original cast, nor did it have Danny Boyle behind the camera. But after the brilliant opening scene, you know you're in for a good ride. Sure, it doesn't have the depth of the original, but what it lacks in overall social commentary (I mean, it's there, but it's not as explored, I suppose), it totally makes up for in suspense.

2. Saw (2004)

Unlike the previous choice, this began a series wherein the sequels never quite lived up to the original. I mean, there's been some pretty good ones (2, 3, and 6 being the better ones), but there have also been a couple... not so great (4 and 5). Ironically, movies 4-6 were written by the same dudes who wrote Feast (and its sequels). So I suppose their record is for every good film they write, they also write two... well... not so good ones. But also, the guys who wrote and directed the first one didn't do that for any of the others (well, they acted as executive producers and helped with script ideas, but that was about it). Long story short (too late), the first Saw had a brilliant story and a jaw-dropping twist ending that's gone into the history books. I've seen this movie a ton of times, and I'll probably see it a ton more. And I love the main theme song, too. So... yeah.

1. 28 Days Later (2002)

I don't think I'll get a lot of arguments here. Danny Boyle created a horror film with complex characters, heavy themes, and strong social commentary. With a brilliant (second) opening that is essentially 15 minutes of Cillian Murphy walking around an empty London saying "hello?", the movie starts out artistically fantastic. It also had the balls to show full-frontal male nudity (Yes... yes... pun intended). I also love the main theme for this film, as well (the whole thing is nearly 30 minutes long in and of itself, but it has great pacing from slow and steady to fast and chaotic). And no, for the bajillionth time, they are not zombies.

Thoughts On The 28 _____ Later Movies.

I thought I should do a thoughts on on two of my favorite horror movies: 28 Days Later… and 28 Weeks Later. Unlike the previous thoughts on segments, however, this one will be both a discussion and a set of reviews (including scores). So why not just do a 2 In 1 you ask? Because there’s more I want to talk about than just the acting or cinematography or whatnot. Plus, it’ll be easier to focus on both movies simultaneously.

So first and foremost, I need to bring up the most discussed topic on these two movies: What, exactly, are The Infected? Well, they’re not zombies. I repeat:

They are not zombies.

I love zombies. I’m a zombie fanatic. I’ve studied them left and right, from the voodoo variety to the heights of George Romero and the lows of Uwe Boll. So I can safely say that to be a zombie, you must have the following three primary characteristics:

1) You must be dead.

This is key to being a cinematic zombie. You have to be a reanimated corpse, whether slow or fast for whatever reason.

2) You must eat human flesh.

This is second most important, and most obvious, trait of being a zombie. Zombies eat people. That’s why they’re so fearsome. They don’t just go for brains (as the awful Return of the Living Dead movies portray), but any bodily flesh.

3) You can only be killed via brain damage (such as a gunshot) or decapitation.

Shoot them in the knees, they’ll get back up and continue stumbling for you. Cut them in half, they’ll pull themselves with their guts dragging behind them. Set them on fire, they’ll keep on after you (at least until the fire damages the brain). No matter what, the only things to keep a zombie down is damaging the brain or severing it from the spinal column.

So, taking all of these three key characteristics into mind, let us look at The Infected:

1) They are not dead. They’re living people (albeit very angry living people).

2) They do not eat human flesh. In fact, they don’t eat period (they end up starving to death by the end).

3) They can be killed just like any other human being can be killed (as portrayed quite a few times in both movies).

The Infected follow none of the key traits of a zombie. Therefore, they’re not zombies. They’re highly enraged humans who have lost all other thoughts except for the primal urge to destroy. And that’s what they do. They use what they have (teeth, fingernails, etc.) to attack a person until they either die or become infected themselves.

So now that all of that is out of the way, we can get to my thoughts on the actual movies. I think both movies are extraordinary in what they do, and they both do different things. Days is the more philosophical one with strong characters and strong character growth. You really feel for the main group and their plight and journeys. And you feel awful when things happen to them. Weeks, on the other hand, focuses more on the heart-pounding, nonstop suspense and the family unit. But that’s not to say you don’t feel for the characters of the sequel. You do; just not in the same way. Days had a slow pacing with the suspense spread out, allowing you to really get some calm, character-knowing moments. Weeks, however, was almost non-stop action, so while you might have really liked a character and felt for them (such as Doyle), you really don’t get to feel you really know them, if that makes sense.

The next big thing to notice about each movie is the visual styles of each. Days has more of a grainy, hand-held, realistic approach, while Weeks is more mainstream high-def camera work. However, where Weeks loses in the grainy picture, it gains in the unique situations that the main characters get put into. When Andy gets stuck in the dark garage full of people, and they start becoming infected, you wonder how on earth he’s going to get out. Or when they go into the subway tunnels and it’s pitch black, so they have to rely on the night-scope and vocal orders to get through safely. Both movies have a unique style for what each does, and both work amazingly well. I would also like to take this moment to mention one of my favorite shots out of both movies, which just so happens to be in Days: When Jim first enters the church (and after passing the ‘the end is fucking nigh’ in blood on the wall), he looks down from the balcony to see a bunch of dead bodies sprawled out right underneath a painting/stained glass window of bodies sprawled out on the ground. It’s just beautiful imagery.

As for acting, Days is far superior. Cillian Murphy knocks it out of the park as Jim, and his character growth is astounding. He begins the movie as a nervous, naïve-to-the-situation, what-the-hell kinda guy. But by the end, he’s a badass, taking charge and wrecking havoc against the military guys. Naomie Harris as Selena probably has the biggest character change, though, going from heartless, tough-as-nails, take-no-shit, I’ll-kill-you-in-a-heartbeat kinda gal, to a caring, loving, compassionate individual (though still pretty tough). Brendan Gleeson as Frank the loving, though worried and protective father was great. You can’t help but feel for him and his dead-set mission on finding the military base so that his daughter can be in safe hands. If there were any downfalls in the acting, it would be Megan Burns as Hannah, Frank’s daughter, who talked really blandly half the time as if she were stoned (though, she is stoned for the entire climax, so that might be alright…).

The best performances for Weeks, on the other hand, were Robert Carlyle as Don (mostly because of his eyes and facial expressions)--at least early on in the movie, anyway--and, of course, Jeremy Renner as Doyle, who is the most likeable character in the movie. And I like him even more, as I saw in a behind-the-scenes that he shares the same opinion with me on the not-zombie issue. As for the kids… well, with real names like Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton, who needs anything more?

It really goes without saying that the winner on the suspense level is Weeks. I’ve said it before, but Weeks has one of the greatest and most suspenseful movie openings ever. And the openings for each movie really show the differences in the two movies. After the monkey sequence, Days has about 10-15 minutes of Jim walking around a beautifully desolate London all alone, slowly realizing that the entire city has seemingly evacuated completely. And then he reaches the church, has the run-in with the priest, and then is chased for about a minute or so before there’s a huge explosion, and that’s it.

Weeks, on the other hand, has a few first slow minutes before there’s a break for quick suspense, then another minute to catch our breath, and then about 5 minutes of non-stop, heart-pounding suspense. And not only that, but there’s so much emotion in that little time frame, especially with Don’s escape.

The two movies were compared in level of greatness with George Romero’s original films. Days was like Night of the Living Dead: classic and amazing. Weeks was like Dawn of the Dead: taking everything great in the first, and making it even better. I used to agree whole- heartedly with that statement, but I really think now that both movies really do two different things in amazing ways that it’s hard to say which is better than the other. The style of Days, uneasy and slow-moving, worked for the story it had to tell. But the style of Weeks, fast-paced and terror-filled, worked for its own story, as well. So in the end, they’re both great, and they’re both two of my favorite horror films. The third one better come soon. But for now, I have to give the two that are currently available both an equal score.

Royale With Cheese

(P.S. I totally forgot to mention this, but the main musical theme in both movies is one of my favorite horror movie themes ever. Purely amazing.)

Great Opening Scenes.

The opening scene to a movie can be vital in whether or not you enjoy a movie. The beginning sets the pace for the rest of the movie. It gets you thinking about whether or not this movie will be good or bad (though it’s not always faithful. Sometimes the openings can be awesome and the rest awful, or vice versa). However, there have been some pretty awesome opening scenes in cinema, and I want to discuss five of them. Keep in mind that this is not a ‘Top’ list, and I’m certainly not saying these are the best 5 opening scenes of all time… just that these are five really good ones. So let’s get started, shall we?

Léon (The Professional).

The Opening: The music slowly fades in and the camera scans across the ocean and over trees before panning up to a city. The camera shows us the streets until we reach two men in a restaurant talking business. The older of the two is talking to a man in sunglasses that the camera barely shows, drinking some milk. The man in sunglasses accepts a job offer.

We are then taken to a man walking down a hall surrounded by men. A picture of the man had just been handed to the man in sunglasses right before. The next thing we know, “somebody serious” has arrived at the hotel. The men get their guns to fight whoever this mystery man is that is coming up. They separate to look for this man and our quickly killed off one by one, stealth style. The boss man is panicked. And then he’s alone. Or is he? He decks himself out in weapons to protect himself… but it’s no use. As he backs himself into a corner of safety, trying to call the cops, he backs himself into the shadows concealing the man in the sunglasses. His hand slinks from the darkness, putting a knife around the boss man’s throat.

The man with the sunglasses gives him a phone number to dial. He’s threatened to get out of town, and he agrees. The man in the sunglasses disappears back into the shadows, first his body, then his hand with the knife, and he’s gone.

Short Thoughts: Léon’s opening scene is one of awesome suspense and just cool stealth killing. It lets the audience know just what kind of skills this man has, and it shows. Léon is not a man to be reckoned with.

X2: X-Men United.

The Opening: After the opening credits, we are shown that we are in the White House as a tour leader begins her tour. Then there’s a mystery man in a hat and sunglasses. One of the guards hears a noise and goes to inspect it. The disguised man is not where he should be. Then he grows a tail and leaps into the air, doing crazy acrobatics and teleporting around all the secret agents, kicking their butts. The secret service tries to protect the president, but all get beat up by a blue teleporting creature. Then there’s gunshots on the other side of a closed door… and silence. The door opens to emit blue smoke, and the creature is in the room, teleporting around in slow motion, knocking everybody out. He leaps onto the president and is about to kill him when he’s shot and teleports away. The camera pans to the knife in the desk next to the president, on which a note is tied: Mutant Freedom Now.

Short Thoughts: This is one of the coolest opening action sequences in a movie, especially a superhero movie. Nightcrawler is awesome, and that was one of the most perfect ways possible to begin the movie.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The Opening: The WB logo and the movie title glide by as the Harry Potter theme plays. A shining light is seen in the cloudy distance, which turns into the sun on a smoldering and dry day. The camera pans down over a vast expanse of dry land and up through the dead grass toward a park. A family leaves the playground as Harry sits alone on a swing when his cousin Dudley and friends appear. They start arguing and Dudley taunts Harry with the nightmares Harry’s been having. Sad music plays and Harry looks sad. In a rage, Harry jumps up and points his wand at his cousin while his friends laugh. Then the sky gets dark and the wind blows faster. Dudley’s friends run off, and so do Dudley and Harry. Running down the country road as the rain begins to set in, they make their way to an underpass tunnel. Then the air turns cold and the lights begin to flicker on and off. And a large, cloaked Dementor shows up and attacks Harry. Harry tells his cousin to run, but he slips and is attacked himself. Pulling out his wand, Harry knocks the Dementor away at the last second and produces his stag Patronus, sending the Dementor away. He then throws the Patronus at the Dementor attacking his cousin, then runs over to check him… and a little old lady, Mrs. Figg, shows up and tells him not to put away his wand…

Short Thoughts: There’s a lot more to it in the book, but the movie cut it down a bit and got right to the point. The day starts off depressing and lonely, then out of nowhere these black-cloaked monsters attack, forcing Harry to use magic. It was a great opening of the book, and an even greater opening on film.

Scream.

The Opening: The phone is ringing. Drew Barrymore is on screen as she answers the phone and has a back-and-forth with the mysterious caller. She thinks he has the wrong number and hangs up. The phone rings again. She answers, and it’s the same man. The man says he wants to talk, but she hangs up again. She turns on the stove and puts on some Jiffy-Pop. The phone rings again, and it’s the same man. They begin asking each other more questions. “What’s your favorite scary movie?” She walks through the house talking on the phone. The man on the phone asks if she has a boyfriend, then asks her name. She asks why, and he says he wants to know who he’s looking at. Drew Barrymore freaks out and hangs up, locking her doors.

The phone rings again. The man is getting upset with her, and she’s getting freaked out. Then he calls again and threatens to kill her. She hurries to lock all the doors, as the man on the phone keeps freaking her out, threatening her. The doorbell rings, then the phone rings again. He mocks her a few times, and she threatens that her boyfriend will beat him up. The man on the phone tells her to turn on the patio lights, and she does, seeing her boyfriend tied up. The man wants to play a game or else the boyfriend dies. She agrees. She gets the first answer right, but the second wrong. Her boyfriend is killed. The man asks her what door he’s at. She doesn’t answer, and the killer bursts through the window. Long story short, he catches up and kills her.

Short Thoughts: The reason I included this scene is because it’s so iconic, and no opening scene list would be complete without it. Drew Barrymore was on the main cast list, so she was credited with a starring role… and then she dies within the first ten minutes. It just went to show the audience that nobody was safe in the movie, no matter what their star status was. Brilliant move.

28 Weeks Later…

The Opening: Everything is quiet. A match is lit. A couple talks about what’s going to be cooked, and the man puts more logs on a fire. They look through their food stores, and he finds some good wine. They talk about their children and how they know they’re safe. The share a kiss. Then an elderly woman walks in and interrupts them. A man lays reading an old newspaper. A whole group sits down to a table to eat. A young woman saves a bowl for her boyfriend who had left a few days prior and had not come back. A man named Jacob gets into an argument with her, saying her boyfriend is already dead.

Then there’s a knocking at the door. It’s a boy. The music begins to swell. They run to the door and quickly undo all the locks. The boy is screaming. The man, Don, opens the door and a bright light erupts before the boy runs in and they close the door and re-lock it. Eating, the boy tells his short story. But the young woman now believes her boyfriend has hope and makes her way to the door to peer outside. And then Infected eyes stare right back at her and the creature busts through the door. The music starts to swell once more as the Infected begin rushing the house and bursting through the windows. The group is scattered, some rushing upstairs, some rushing to the garage. Jacob climbs a barn ladder while the old couple hold the door. Don’s wife searches for the young boy as Don searches for his wife. The old man dies, and as does the old woman. Jacob makes his escape out the upper window.

Don rushes into an upper bedroom as the Infected barge into the room. Don and his wife/the boy are on opposite sides of the room, and Don slams the door and leaves them there, climbing out a window to escape the house. He begins to run into the open field as more Infected barge into the house. His wife beats on the window and he looks back, seeing her pulled into darkness. Don runs the open field alone, being chased by the Infected. The music is almost at it’s climax as he now has at least a hundred Infected after him. He gets to a pier where Jacob is untying a boat. They leap in and start the boat, but Jacob is pulled into the water and turns into one of them. Don gets the boat started and is attacked by an Infected Jacob, and he finally kicks him off. The boats motor chops Jacob up, and Don finally sails into safety. The music comes to a peak then ends. “Oh shit,” Don repeats and continues on into the unknown.

Short Thoughts: This is one of my favorite movie openings ever. Seriously, it was brilliant. It starts off very slow and calm, then everything slowly turns to chaos. The build of the music is perfect (and I love that theme, taken from the first movie). The suspense is insanely high, and just when you think you can’t take any more… it ends and cuts to the title sequence, giving you a moment to breath.