Frightfest

The best horror movies I’ve seen recently in no particular order:

Wolf Creek – This movie opened on Christmas Day of 2005 in the US, which explains why few people saw it. Who wants to see a movie about three unsuspecting backpackers in Australia who get taken in by a nice Crocodile Dundee stranger type only to be brutally murdered? Not too many people – especially around the holidays. But this has to be one of the greatest horror movies to be made within the past 10 years simply because the feel of it in the beginning is anything but scary. That’s what the good horror movies do. They make you feel safe and calm and then suddenly … BAM! Something so terrifying, and almost unexpected, happens that you are completely shocked and scared. Kristy, Ben and Liz are three friends who set out to hike through the scenic Wolf Creek National Park in the Australian Outback. When they get back, they find that their car won’t start. The trio thinks they have a way out when they run into a friendly local bushman Mick Taylor. The first 40 minutes of this movie are nothing but the three friends, doing what typical friends do a road trip: drive, sing, smoke, laugh and make fun of each other. When they are drugged by Mick and wake up separately, you are reminded that this is a scary movie and not only that, but this is a true story based on a Australian serial killer who murdered backpackers, making it all the more disturbing. Wolf Creek accomplishes what few movies in the genre can. They develop the characters so when these characters are put in mortal danger, you actually care about what happens to them.

Dawn of the Dead – I saw this movie in Milwaukee with Bill and my former roommate Michele and I remember how excited we were when we walked out of the theater. Wow! That was a great movie! There were scares, gore, violence, humor, likable characters. What wasn’t there to like? And the fact that it took place in Wisconsin at a mall we had all been to made it all the more enjoyable for us. The basic plot of the movie is the survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing the flesh-hungry undead take refuge in a mega shopping mall. The first 10 minutes are spectacular, the director once again choosing to make you feel safe. Anna, a nurse, works a long shift at the hospital, goes home and cuddles with her husband to watch television. Everything is right in the world. Of course, when tomorrow comes, nothing will be the same. And using Johnny Cash’s “When the Man Comes Around” for an opening credits song is never a wrong thing to do.

Land of the Dead – Yes, it’s another zombie movie but another GOOD zombie movie by the zombie guru himself George A. Romero. I bought this movie at Best Buy on a whim simply because they were having a ridiculous sale and this only cost $5. I’m glad I did buy it though because it’s a different kind of zombie movie than the ones I have previously seen. The living dead have taken over the world, and the last humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they come to grips with the situation. The scary thing about this movie though is that the zombies are evolving and learning. There’s no stopping them and when the movie’s over, it isn’t exactly a happy ending. The zombies have broken into Fiddler’s Green, the walled-in city, and will continue to walk the earth. It’s interesting to see a movie that begins well after zombies have begun to exist and how humans are trying to survive now that they are in the minute minority. I like horror movies that try to be different even if using a familiar monster in the plot to do so.