Best of 2011: Horror Movies

2011 was a pretty crappy year for mainstream horror flicks but thankfully, there was alot of indie projects that delivered scares. Here are the flicks that scared me shitless this year.


The Woman

Director: Lucky McKee
Starring: Pollyanna Mcintosh, Angela Bettis
Scares Delivered: McKee and Bettis team up again after making the creepy May back in 2002. The Woman documents the tale of two very different women, both being repressed in their own way. Both women use opposite methods to come out of their shells. Not your conventional horror film (are any of McKee's films conventional?), as it uses subtlety to make you jump, rather then in-your-face scares. Angela Bettis can transform any movie into a creepfest, if only with those terrifying eyes of hers.

Insidious

Director: James Wan
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye
Scares Delivered: I was expecting such shit when I first saw this preview, mainly because Wan was attached to the project. Have you seen Dead Silence? Don't! But through the mucky mess of Wan, came a very chilling story about a boy in a coma. Yeah, I Know, can't be that scary right? But when the past comes to haunt (or help?) the family, that's when the gooseflesh begins and the hair begins to rise on your arms. It's like American Horror Story minus the Cheese Factor. A rare ghost story where you actually feel like something threatening could occur. I'm looking at you Amytiville Horror remake!

In its own right though, Insidious was the most profitable movie of 2011, earning over $90m worldwide on a measly $1.5m budget.

I Saw the Devil

Director: Kim Ji-woon
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik
Scares Delivered: Korea strikes again! No pun intended. After laughing and gasping throughout The Host, I was skeptical at watching another Korean exploit. But seriously, this movie is terrifying!! There is something sinister about the dead of winter and two Korean guys trying to survive each other. The ambiguity here lies in the fact that you don't know who the bad guy is and who the good guy is. It's hard to figure out who to pity, who to hate. Where LOST failed in the fight between Villain vs Hero, I Saw the Devil triumphs with subtle subplots and not-so-subtle bloodloss. If you like foreign, you'll like Ji-woon's newest movie!

Other Notable Scary Movies of 2011:

• Scream 4
• Attack the Block
• Seconds Apart
• The Innkeepers

What frightful film scared the bejesus out of you this year?

Candles are out,
Eleven's Ink