PopSyndicate.com

Crappy New Year everybody! In this year end recap episode we go over the major release horror films from 2007, compare it to the year before (2006), and ten years prior (1997).

Voicemail: 206.350.4030

http://www.CinemaDiabolica.com
http://www.myspace.com/cinemadiabolica

-
The below is the companion list to the show. start from the bottom and read along! Yay listener participation!

2007        
1   1408   PG-13   $71,975,611
2   Saw IV   R   $63,270,259
3   Halloween   R   $58,267,261
4   30 Days of Night   R   $39,568,996
5   Pan’s Labyrinth   R   $37,065,974
6   The Messengers   PG-13   $35,374,833
7   28 Weeks Later   R   $28,798,831
8   The Reaping   R   $25,126,214
9   Grindhouse   R   $25,031,037
10   The Mist   R   $24,365,610
11   The Hills Have Eyes II   R   $20,804,166
12   Hostel: Part II   R   $17,544,812
13   Dead Silence   R   $16,574,590
14   P2   R   $6,348,315
15   Black Christmas   R   $5,317,820
16   Blood and Chocolate   PG-13   $3,526,588
17   Captivity   R   $2,686,800
18   The Abandoned   R   $1,255,524
19   Skinwalkers   PG-13   $1,018,965
20   Paprika   R   $881,302
21   After Dark’s Horrorfest 2007   Not Rated   $874,635
22   Fido   R   $298,110
23   Rise: Blood Hunter   R   $114,306
24   Black Sheep       $82,987
25   Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon   R   $69,136
26   The Last Winter       $32,921
27   Wind Chill   R   $31,388
28   The Tripper   R   $23,200
29   Hatchet   R   $9,152
       
  Total Gross of All Movies     $486,339,343
  Total Tickets Sold     74,250,279
       
2006        
1   Saw III   R   $80,238,724
2   The Omen   R   $54,607,383
3   Final Destination 3   R   $54,098,051
4   When a Stranger Calls   PG-13   $47,860,214
5   Hostel   R   $47,326,473
6   Silent Hill   R   $46,982,632
7   The Hills Have Eyes   R   $41,778,863
8   The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning   R   $39,517,763
9   The Grudge 2   PG-13   $39,143,839
10   Stay Alive   PG-13   $23,086,480
11   Pulse   R   $20,264,436
12   An American Haunting   PG-13   $16,298,046
13   See No Evil   R   $15,032,800
14   Black Christmas   R   $10,917,918
15   Slither   R   $7,802,450
16   Wolf Creek   R   $4,029,778
17   8 Films to Die For   Not Rated   $2,310,680
18   Hard Candy   R   $1,024,640
19   Pan’s Labyrinth   R   $568,641
20   Tamara   R   $206,871
21   Feast   R   $56,131
22   The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde       $24,216
23   Cruel World   R   $17,986
24   Hellbent   R   $8,039
25   Marebito   Not Rated   $7,661
26   Dead Man’s Shoes       $6,408
27   Hair High       $5,342
28   The Ordeal       $2,623
       
  Total Gross of All Movies     $553,225,088
  Total Tickets Sold     84,461,845
       
1997        
1   Scream 2   R   $85,492,042
2   I Know What You Did Last Summer   R   $70,396,279
3   Anaconda   PG-13   $65,598,907
4   Scream   R   $63,962,211
5   The Relic   R   $33,956,608
6   Event Horizon   R   $26,673,242
7   Mimic   R   $25,514,166
8   An American Werewolf in Paris   R   $20,056,331
9   Wes Craven’s Wishmaster   R   $15,719,109
10   Thinner   R   $364,078
       
  Total Gross of All Movies     $407,732,973
  Total Tickets Sold     88,830,713

Gawd, I hope they have good soap.

That’s quite a bit of research.

To F13: Seriously, watch Black Sheep. It was one of the best horror films I’ve seen all year.

P.S. I greatly enjoyed Dead Silence, it was brainless fun.

TonyHex - 02 January 2008 01:45 AM

P.S. I greatly enjoyed Dead Silence, it was brainless fun.

I’ll take from F13’s Book of Responses and say UGH!

Viewer responsibility people!

30 days of Night ..

I have not read the graphic novels, but I could tell it was based off some. This, in some regards I think can hinder a film developmentally, or it can make it great. Highly stylized features often come off vapid, but I can appreciate the ‘pretty’ of a movie removed from the context. This film was too frantic (I believe you touched on this in the podcast in regards to trying to cover too much in a short time and making it seem especially long despite). I also felt that many of the gruesome scenes were too frantic. One has to be in the mood for the voyeuristic lingering a la Fulci, however the editing on this felt forced. Like the viciousness of the vampires was represented by the fast camera work, salvage and all that rah rah. Whatever editors, speak not to my ADD, but to my inner voyeur, please?

I did enjoy the areal shot ... nice contrast/composition. But I am surprised the beheading scene was not brought up. That actually made me kind go ‘oh snap!’ Head lopping was kind of cool.

Overall, I hate vampire movies. I hate people who want to live their lives like vampire movies. I hate their stupid vinyl trench coat mafia bulls*it, and their stupid MyStReSs RaVyN 666 crap. Give me Near Dark, or give me death!

zombettie - 02 January 2008 01:56 PM

Overall, I hate vampire movies. I hate people who want to live their lives like vampire movies. I hate their stupid vinyl trench coat mafia bulls*it, and their stupid MyStReSs RaVyN 666 crap. Give me Near Dark, or give me death!

Be still my beating heart, you’ve tapped right into my warm creamy nougat center. On my long, long list of people I hate, the neuvo-“goth” crowd that proports to listen to “industrial” and haven’t heard an album earlier than “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” take the cake.

zombettie - 02 January 2008 01:56 PM

I did enjoy the areal shot ... nice contrast/composition. But I am surprised the beheading scene was not brought up. That actually made me kind go ‘oh snap!’ Head lopping was kind of cool.

Yeah, I should have mentioned it. I was taken aback by it because I really didn’t think it would be that kind of film. It was pretty well executed and definitely an appreciated island of interesting in a sea of “who cares”

Oh yeah, I have no love for Underworld, or any of those new fangled fancy vampire spins.
Hate it.
And I am a dork, just not that kind of dork.

I thought 30 Days of Night was fairly good. Flawed, but still pretty good.

TonyHex - 02 January 2008 03:56 PM

I thought 30 Days of Night was fairly good. Flawed, but still pretty good.

What did you like about it?
I am curious. Maybe there is something I missed.

I know sometimes stuff is just ‘fun’ and that is a very different flavour for everyone, but I failed to find even that in this one. Except the beheading.

zombettie - 02 January 2008 04:19 PM

TonyHex - 02 January 2008 03:56 PM

I thought 30 Days of Night was fairly good. Flawed, but still pretty good.

What did you like about it?
I am curious. Maybe there is something I missed.

I know sometimes stuff is just ‘fun’ and that is a very different flavour for everyone, but I failed to find even that in this one. Except the beheading.

I thought the visual were very close to that of the book, and I really enjoyed that “look” on a whole. I also thought it was a very intense movie, and the whole atmosphere combined with the situation the characters were in was, in my opinion, effective. And, like everybody and their dog will tell you at this point, I liked how the vampires were depicted. They were merciless, bestial, and bloody.

That’s not to say that there were plenty of things wrong with the movie, but while I was watching it, the good mostly outweighed the bad.

Fair play.
Having bestial vamps instead of naughty erotic bi sexual sexual deviants was a nice twist. In this case, for me personally though, it was a good concept (kudos to the graphic novel) but the execution was a bit too MTV generation for me.
It did have creepy moments, for sure.

zombettie - 02 January 2008 06:30 PM

Fair play.
Having bestial vamps instead of naughty erotic bi sexual sexual deviants was a nice twist. In this case, for me personally though, it was a good concept (kudos to the graphic novel) but the execution was a bit too MTV generation for me.
It did have creepy moments, for sure.

I can completely understand why somebody wouldn’t like it.

Hey guys,

The Ordeal, Dead Man’s Shoes and Marebito are all foreign films from years earlier whose theatrical run in 06 would have been in theatres numbering in single digits with zero marketing. With exception to Marebito (which I haven’t seen) they were quite good. DMS being a personal favourite.

The Ordeal is titled Calvaire, btw.

Fun show.

That ‘97 list made me want to shoot myself in the face. Except Event Horizon, great flick.

TonyHex - 02 January 2008 04:44 PM

zombettie - 02 January 2008 04:19 PM

TonyHex - 02 January 2008 03:56 PM

I thought 30 Days of Night was fairly good. Flawed, but still pretty good.

What did you like about it?
I am curious. Maybe there is something I missed.

I know sometimes stuff is just ‘fun’ and that is a very different flavour for everyone, but I failed to find even that in this one. Except the beheading.

I thought the visual were very close to that of the book, and I really enjoyed that “look” on a whole. I also thought it was a very intense movie, and the whole atmosphere combined with the situation the characters were in was, in my opinion, effective. And, like everybody and their dog will tell you at this point, I liked how the vampires were depicted. They were merciless, bestial, and bloody.

That’s not to say that there were plenty of things wrong with the movie, but while I was watching it, the good mostly outweighed the bad.

I’m reminded of a Chris Rock joke where he talks about people that take credit for things they’re supposed to do anyway. ( I take care of my baby! I pay my bills!) Sooooooo… we’re giving credit for the ability to create something that just doesn’t suck? That’s like being the hottest Denny’s waitress. JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING SUCKS LESS THAN SOMETHING ELSE DOESN’T MEAN IT’S GOOD.

Sure the presentation of Vampires in films has been nothing short of laughable as of late but a more favorable presentation doesn’t make up for lackluster writing and cinematography.

WHY OH MY smurfin GOD WHY do directors try and pass off shaky camerawork with a bluish filter as edgy filmmaking?  Unconventional shot composition, innovative editing techniques, and use of “in-the-moment” verite camerawork are cutting edge.  30 days of night however is like a silly putty newspaper transfer of films like 28 days later or Children of Men.

Josh Hartnett and Melissa George’s acting was like an overly dramatic, vampire themed episode of Beverley Hills 90210.

The attic scene that COULD have been a claustrophobic and agonizing affair depicting the people starving to death and hiding in silenced fear was crammed into about 15 minutes of rushed footage.. why? BECAUSE THERE WEREN’T ANY JUMP SCARES OR CHASES FULL OF SHAKY FAKE VERITE CAMERA AND THEY DIDN’T WANT THE TWITCHY NO-ATTENTION SPAN TWERPS IN THE AUDIENCE TO FALL ASLEEP BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ON-SCREEN ACTION.

There should have been MUCH more development of the townspeople AND more footage of the systematic stalking and killing of them by the vampires, it would have fostered more of a creeping doom vibe and a more explosive massacre when their cover was blown.

INSTEAD, we have an hour and forty-three minutes of a film with the WRONG scenes expounded upon, a world where puddles of blood don’t dry up for a month, a just-turned vampire can punch a hole in the head of the seasoned leader, a new vampire can smell the blood of humans but the crowd of elder vampires cant smell a girl and woman under a car 7 feet away,  The front door of the safe house that was boarded up after they went in is miraculously free of boards and nails when they chase after the old man that just disappears and we never hear from again, The power lines don’t feel the need to move at all during a “raging blizzard”, blah, blah, blah..

30 Days of Night was a rushed, sloppy and poorly adapted film from a story that borrows from Night of the Living Dead to begin with. It defenestrates continuity and story development in favor of cheap gratuitous visuals and choppy amateurish editing. The only things that this films does well have been done many times before and many times better…
Just another forgettable entry in an era of forgettable entries.

0/10

Fail.

Dread - 02 January 2008 06:58 PM

Hey guys,

The Ordeal, Dead Man’s Shoes and Marebito are all foreign films from years earlier whose theatrical run in 06 would have been in theatres numbering in single digits with zero marketing. With exception to Marebito (which I haven’t seen) they were quite good. DMS being a personal favourite.

The Ordeal is titled Calvaire, btw.

Fun show.

That ‘97 list made me want to shoot myself in the face. Except Event Horizon, great flick.

A wealth of pertinent knowledge as always Des. I’m gonna look into that a little and mention it on the next show.  Thanks maaaaaan!