Scott’s Favorites of 2015

Hi Everyone! I hope you’ve had a great 2015 – at the very least, survived, and can stumble into the New Year with renewed vigor and reduced credit card charges. For me, 2015 was pretty great overall, especially as this website took a chance on a Canucklehead who loves to write about horror. So before I get started I’d like to give a shout out to the amazing folks at Daily Dead: Jonathan, Heather, Derek, Patrick, Monte, and Tamika (and if I’ve forgotten anyone, I apologize). Great writers and horror junkies, all, but more importantly – great people. Thanks everyone for letting me do my thing. Without any ado, my faves of 2015!

FAVORITE TV SHOW

Wayward Pines: M. Night Shyamalan seemed to be back in favor this year, what with this summer replacement series and on the big screen with the surprise success of The Visit. Based on the books by Blake Crouch, Wayward Pines draws you in with the deceptively simple premise of a man trapped in a mysterious small town. A dash of Twin Peaks, 2 heaping cups of The Twilight Zone, all served up with a dark humor and twists galore. And 10 episodes seemed just right (until of course season 2 debuts next summer).

FAVORITE PODCAST(S)

F This Movie!: The F This Movie! website, whose motto is “Movie love for movie lovers”, has an amazing weekly podcast spearheaded by Chicago based film critic Patrick Bromley (who also writes for Daily Dead) and a revolving cast of writers from the website. Covering everything from horror to action, comedy to sci-fi (with some lapses towards good taste in between), the podcast is informative, good natured, and most importantly, hilarious. Patrick and his various cohosts never fail to put a smile on the pucker, and you might just learn something. Is that so wrong?

Really Awful Movies: A Toronto based website and podcast, Really Awful Movies is the brain trust of 2 fellas, Jeff and Chris, with various entertainment credentials on the Canadian scene, including TV, books, and being banned from all Tim Hortons within the greater Metropolitan area. RAM covers all areas of exploitation, sci-fi and horror, from good to bad, frequently in a tidy half hour format (unless they have a particular windbag on, who stretches the show to an hour). Always funny, entertaining, and informative, RAM is a great place to hear about some unearthed gems, and more than a few that could use a couple extra shovelfuls of dirt.

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If you went by their titles alone, you would think these podcasts were snarky, cynical treatises on the worst of cinema. You’d be very wrong. The full, filmic spectrum is covered on both - these folks have a true love of film, and it shows.

FAVORITE MOVIES

Up front, here’s a list of some of the films I haven’t seen (yet): Krampus, Tales of Halloween, He Never Died, Bone Tomahawk, Deathgasm. However, what I have seen this year has been very impressive – a truly great year for horror. Here, in no particular order, are my faves.

We Are Still Here: A husband and wife, grieving the loss of their son, take up residence in a farm house on the outskirts of a sleepy little town. Sinister forces at work insist that the couple make this their new home. For good. Assured direction, sympathetic performances, and an atmospheric, retro feel held me spellbound. Upon my first viewing, I described Ted Geoghegan’s WASH as a “Fulci ghoul, lovingly wrapped in a Carpenter quilt, rising as its own being.” I’m sticking with that.

What We Do In The Shadows: ooh horror comedies are hard to pull off. Tone is key, balance is crucial. Make no mistake, WWDITS leans heavily on the comedy - which is wise when you have Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark) at the helm. A mockumentary following the day to day lives of a group of vampires sharing a flat, WWDITS is filled with one liners ranging from low key to slapstick. It’s all here, layered for the faithful (and that should be you) to revisit time and again, unearthing new gems upon each viewing. So much damn fun.

Turbo Kid: I know, not horror. But…have you seen it? This lives right next door to horror, blasting its synthesized Cannon soundtracks until 3 in the morning, with viscera splattering against the walls like nobody’s business. Listen, if you were watching movies in the 80’s, at the video store you always picked up a post apocalyptic saga to go along with your Friday the 13^th. These usually involved a plucky hero (or heroine), fighting the odds against a violent overlord to gain control of a) water, b) gas, or c) women. Francois Simard & Anouk Whissell’s Turbo Kid faithfully transports you back to those days, but with a disarming sweetness, and loveable characters that draw you right in. In addition, they throw in so much over the top gore that William Lustig would blush. It’s a 2 for 1 video rental mashup! I promise you, this movie is so infectious it will inspire Turbo Kid themed weddings. Or at least it should. Maybe when I renew my vows…

Creep: Essentially a two man game of cat and mouse (with one of the most insidious cats I’ve ever seen), Patrick Brice’s Creep has stayed with me since first viewing it in May of this year. I can’t shake it. Story? Simple. Dying man hires a videographer, for one day, to film a journal that’s to be given to his unborn son years after he has passed. However, as the story unfolds, little by little, the screws are turned until they burrow under your skin and stay there. Creep is not flashy – yes it is found footage, but logically so, and most important, offers no distraction to the events at hand. Wonderfully acted by Mark Duplass and Brice himself, it’s a film about trust – in others, but especially oneself. Sometimes, one good deed is one too many.

The Editor: While WASH certainly has Fulci blood running through it, The Editor slits the main arteries and sprays the audience with its smarts and enthusiasm. Made by the collective known as Astron-6 (Father’s Day), The Editor is a loving tribute to the giallo (and supernatural) films of Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento, circa ’75 to early 80’s. If you’re a fan of surreal, gruesome, nonsensical Italian horror, this is the film for you. Don’t expect a spoof of the genre – this isn’t a joke a minute pop culture travesty ala Scary Movie 9 – but rather a full bodied story told through the cock eyed filter of Astron-6. Engaging characters, a hilarious script full of one liners that you wish were littered throughout Fulci’s films, amusing performances played just right, and unflinching gore, as it should be. Imagine a supercut of all your favorite Italian horror moments (except for zombies – sorry, no zombies here) without the deadly dull stretches. If The Editor were released in 1980 (probably via Wizard Video), I would have wore that tape out, copy after copy. As it stands today, I’ll just wear out my wife watching the Blu-ray.

Well there you have it, my favorites of horror for 2015. Stay safe, be kind, and I’ll see you next year!