I did not get to as many movies in the theater this year as I'd hoped. Still, some new and interesting stuff made its way into my Top 5
#5 (A TIE!) THE BAY and V/H/S 2...
A Double Creature Feature! Both effective and creepy little horror films. THE BAY was filmed in Georgetown, SC a few years ago but only recently made its way to Netflix. The story follows the scifi premise of real-life parasites growing really large and nasty due to toxic waste and invading an entire seaside town. I hate bugs, I hate things that crawl out of you and aren't supposed to be there, and what makes it worse, these things are REAL!!!
VHS 2 - I watched this back in October as part of my annual 30 in 30 Celebration. Reminded me of old school anthologies like Creepshow from the 1980s. Scary imagery and effective gore. My favorite short was Safe Haven - featuring the Shepherd of Paradise - YIKES!
#4 MANIAC...
A remake of an early 80s low-budget slasher flick. Elijah Wood plays a serial killer who lurks the streets in search of female victims. Shot almost entirely in first person from the POV of Wood's character - a very original take on horror genre. This is a very stylish and well-made film given the subject matter. Not what you would expect from Wood in the slightest but he is very good in this!
#3 EUROPA REPORT...
Incredible "real-world" space exploration movie. A team is sent to one of Jupiter's moons (Europa) to search for the proof of water and more importantly - life. Along the way they run into obstacles that they must overcome. Part Alien - Part The Abyss - Part 2001 - its a found footage type film but that doesn't get in the way of a good story and visuals. The found footage is actually the recordings taken from the starship's onboard cameras so its like watching a NASA program. Very refreshing scifi that doesn't need pew pew lasers to succeed.
#2 EVIL DEAD...
This had enormous potential to suck hard. Instead it blew those fears into a million bloody chunks. A remake of the 1983 original classic. Some minor details of the story are changed....No Ash!...but it more than makes up for that with truckloads of gore and demons. This is its own story and can stand firmly on that. Small nods do exist to the previous films and talk of more sequels to this as well as Army of Darkness have resulted. Mission Accomplished.
AND HERE IT COMES...
#1 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS...
What a shock right? Not the revelation that the 2009 film was but still the most fun I had all year in a darkened theater. KHAN, Klingons, Section 31, the USS Vengeance, Spock in a Volcano, I loved it all! Abrams knows how to open his Trek films, and seeing the aliens worship the ascending Enterprise was a wonderful way to begin. I often do the same thing. HAH! Admiral Robocop is great as Khan's enabler. Carol Marcus is introduced and we get several incredible scenes of the Enterprise warping, falling, and getting the crap shot out of it. Really - not one shot fired in the whole movie? Come on!!! All in all, the nods to Wrath of Khan are plentiful but not over the line in my opinion. They make sense within the context of these new versions of the characters. I can't wait to see what deep space holds for this crew in the next movie. Please make several more with these actors!!!!
HONORABLE MENTIONS - Pacific Rim / Machete Kills / The Hunger Games - Catching Fire / Olympus Has Fallen
INCOMPLETES (not seen but want to) - Thor - The Dark World / Elysium / Gravity / Anchorman 2 / Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug
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