The scariest films of the decade

One of Polish websites (a very virtual one) made a gallery of "Top10 scariest films of the decade." As I'm lately in the horror business I allowed myself to comment about those.

So here we go!

10. [REC] (2007)

Why? Why?! It's deserves a place in the Top3! I must admit that it's one of the best horrors I've seen in years (but the Spanish version; quoting "American remakes change horrors into action comedies").

A reporter is doing a piece about firemen on night shift. They are called for an intervention to an old tenement house, because of weird noises coming from an old lady's apartment. When they come in the lady is covered in blood and attacks one of the firemen and bites off his ear.

I shall tell no more! Except that it's really worth watching. I was glued to the screen for the whole time*

9. Ju-on (2000)

You have to like Japanese (or Asian) horrors. One thing is that most of those are very drastic. Before the Saw puritan America hasn't seen anything like that. Another bonus is that if you're used to horrors made in the USA - you don't know when to get scared - there's no creepy music, random snapshots. Those are films different. But this works as a double-edged sword - as the busty chick runs down the stairs, not up when a killer is hunting her, there in fact may not be a killer running after her. The spooky part may be a sound of something hitting the wall, but first you have to believe that those are corpses hanging on the lamp.

If you can believe that everyday things can be scary, that tv shouldn't turn on by itself - Asian horror cinema is for you.

8. Låt den rätte komma in (2008)

Now a piece from the land of IKEA which unfortunately I have to comment as "and it could be so beautiful."

A boys (who is bullied) meets a weird girl (who is a vampire) and they end up being friends. Above the average, but... something missing. As soon as I find one picture (or scan it) I shall comment more about this film.

What scares me the most is that they are making an US-remake.

7. El orfanato (2007)

Another Spanish film I liked.

Laura comes back after many years to the orphanage where she grew up and wants to bring it back to life. But then her son starts to tell very disturbing stories about other kids he hears, sees, plays with. However this play with what's real and what's not is a little bit annoying if you watch it for the 2nd or 3rd time (because more less in the same time El laberinto del fauno was released). So if you take a reasonable brake between one and the other motion picture - that's a very good idea.

A huge plus for the ending!

6. Saw (2004)

First part was scary and interesting. The whole rest - disgusting.

5. 28 days later(2002)

British! So a bonus from me as I'm a fan of Monty Python sense of humour.

Eco-terrorists break into a secret lab where an infected monkey bites one of them and a killer disease (fury) is spreading around the world changing humans into killing zombies. Our main character was hit prior to those events and wakes up those 28 days later. Left alone, no soul in London.

Generally the film is a good one. What I like - is that characters are real. The problem of transporting when the underground is not working, looking for a hideout in a zombie-land or the most prosy thing - food.


4. The Strangers(2008)

Haven't seen it yet. However after seeing the ratings I'm wondering how the hell it got so high...

3. The Descent(2005)

For details go here.

2. Paranormal Activity(2007)

Also a thing I haven't seen yet. However after another "para-psychological thriller/horror" I'm afraid about such kind of films and it's not because that they look so real...

1. The Ring (2002) and Ring (1998)

The American version (in the gallery) is the best film of the decade. Bullshit. Asian (even though it's from the 1998) is better. Much better.

Naomi Watts watching some scary video tapes with horses? It was more a "wtf" face than crying "someone please take my back to my mummy."A Japanese director doing an American film... Not the best idea if you ask me, because what came out is this hybrid (ni pies, ni wydra) with absolutely no thrill in it.


Summing up: few good things were chosen, but many others are missing. Because... Where's Shutter (Thai version) or Janghwa, Hongryeon?

Yet there's something that makes me happy when I look at this Top10. That there is no domination of typical US productions where mentioned busty blond girl runs into murder's hands. Or the n-th remake of Elm Street. But I still want more... moaaaaaaaaaaar...

offtopic: If you ask me Koreans make the most hardcore horror movies. The same goes for thrillers, so if you have a free time I recommend watching Chan-wook Park's trilogy of Vengeance (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance and Oldboy). Not exactly horror, but a good piece of Asian cinema.

*Because my D&B (dear and beloved) whines that I'm too picky when it comes to films and have too high standards. So there you go! Another thing I was delighted to watch.