This little recap goes beyond the Best/Worst film's of the year to give some kudos to the people that made horror great this year; jeers for the ones that made us wince in pain.
I had issues this year; a few of the best movies of the year were actually "released" in 2007 (Inside, REC, Teeth, Frontiere(s)), and in Mandy Lane's case, 2006, but that was only via festival circuits or outside of the U.S. One movie, Trick R' Treat hasn't even been released and is making Best of 2008 lists... In the end, Inside and REC didn't make the 2008 list, because I felt that they were more a part of 2007.
The list that follows is a collection of great and not so great moments from the past year, all of which helped shape the horror landscape in some way... It's like our version of the Oscars and Razzies all rolled into one!
Best Film: Let the Right One In
Best Direction: Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) Runner Up: Pascal Laugier (Martyrs)
Best Actor: Bruce Campbell (My Name is Bruce) Runner Up: Bill Pullman (Surveillance)
Best Actress: Jess Weixler (Teeth) Runners Up: Amber Heard (Mandy Lane), Liv Tyler (The Strangers)
Best Supporting Actor: Vinnie Jones (Midnight Meat Train)
Best Supporting Actress: Lena Leandersson (Let the Right One In) Runners Up: Julia Ormond (Surveillance), Selma Blair (Waz),
Worst Film: The Happening
Worst Director: M. Night Shayamalan (The Happening) Runner Up: Uwe Boll (Seed)
Worst Actor: Mark Wahlberg (The Happening) Runners Up: Costas Mandylor (Saw), Everyone in Wicked Lake
Worst Actress: Shannyn Sossamon (One Missed Call) Runners Up: Zooey Deschanel (The Happening), Everyone in Wicked Lake.
Worst Supporting Actor: Nick Cannon (Day of the Dead) Runners Up: Johnathon Schaech (Prom Night), Everyone in Wicked Lake
Worst Supporting Actress: The Chicks of Wicked Lake.
Best Sequel: Joyride 2: Dead Ahead.
Worst Sequel: Saw V. Runners Up: Return to Sleepaway Camp, Pulse 2: Afterlife, Feast 2: Sloppy seconds, Lost Boys 2: The Tribe.
Best Remake: Mirrors.
Worst Remake: Shutter. Runners up: Prom Night, One Missed Call, Funny Games.
Best Scene: The pool scene (Let the Right One In) Runners Up: The table saw (Frontiere(s)), The rottweiler scene (Teeth), The amputation (The Ruins Unrated Cut)
Best Villain: Mahogany (Midnight Meat Train) Runners Up: Mademoiselle (Martyrs) The vagina dentata (Teeth), The Neo Nazi's (Frontiere(s))
Worst Villain: The plants of The Happening Runners Up: The killer (Prom Night), Seed, Det. Hoffman (Saw V)
Best New Talent: Amber Heard (Mandy Lane) Runners Up: Jess Weixler (Teeth), The kids from Let the right One In.
Hottest Hottie: Anna Paquin (True Blood) Runners Up: Amber Heard (Mandy Lane), The girls of The Ruins; Carissa Capobianco (Dance of the Dead), Jennifer Ellison (The Cottage)
Best Trend: The rise of foreign horror.
Worst Trend: Remakes, PG-13 crap, Shaky cam, Double dipping "Uncut" DVD's, Fake Vampires.
The 2008 award for originality: Everyone involved with Teeth.
The 2008 award for lack of originality: M. Night Shayamalan. You suck.
Biggest WTF?!? Moment: People pretending that Twilight is a horror film.
