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~His Top 50 Favorite Horror Films~
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47. The Collector (2009)
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This film is written and directed by a collective crew, consisting of two of the main minds, behind a huge hit-franchise – a long-running series of films, which has become extremely famous for using a somewhat skilled two-parted technique, by twisting and turning both its bones and its story, respectively – each installment upping the level of explicit gore, as well as the overly complicated, and occasionally, truly problematical storylines. The subject of above dissection is of course no other than the infamous ‘Saw’-franchise. Now, I’m personally a fan of the franchise for various reasons, which I will not discuss at this time, but though excessively ghastly and even absurdly senseless at times, I still enjoy a selection of those creative traps from which the film pretty much gained its current reputation from. This film, named ‘The Collector’, could easily be a weird spin-off coming from the ‘Saw’-franchise. At the least it is easy to see the resemblance in both style and approach…
This film sort of brings me back to the reckless style and storylines of old exploitation films from the 70s and 80s. The music is extremely aggressive; the bloodshed is discomforting; and the story is simple and execution effective... We are dealing with a handful of very unlucky people, who gets into trouble with that one wrong dude, usually sporting a weird and twisted obsession for torturous pleasures. On the outside of it all, this film is pretty much an excuse for cool and creative ways for people to get hurt or killed, while on the inside, it is pretty much an excuse for cool and creative ways for people to get hurt or killed. On a more serious note though, what drives this film to that sky high level of excitement and nerve-wrenching pleasure, is first of all a brilliant actor playing the lead character, who sees himself turn from bad to good in order to save these poor people’s lives. His character is humble and sympathetic in many ways, which helps us believe and trust him, as the person he is portraying. Also, the killer is actually a rather interesting slasher-inspired creation, who sets up these traps and tricks that are just pure fun to wait for… on the edge of your seat. The bad side of this film, however, is mainly when it turns into a much too direct and boring take on the torture porn genre. But I do love and admire the film for the tension and the level of entertainment that it undoubtedly delivers for fans of this particular subgenre. But don’t bother with the sequel.
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Why is it on my list?
This film may take the easy route with the background story of its characters, and it might be a little too heavily inspired by others around it, while having plenty of time loving itself on the way as well. But when the film turns into a truly tense and claustrophobic nightmare, with a family held hostage and a thief caught in the middle of a situation he rather would want to pass on, it is quite truthfully a fun ride to attend.
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46. The Caller (2011)*
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As it was also the case with the second pick from my last set, this is a film that I truly wished stood stronger in my mind. But from what I can recall, this is a fairly overseen and underrated film, carrying an inventive storyline and using creative scare tactics to really get under your skin. And it only makes it better, that the film pretty much lands in that special category of horror, which I really enjoy. It is a story that never fully exposes its supernatural or ghostly core, and yet still manages to scare the hell out of you just by hinting at the terror instead of throwing it in your face. For people who don’t know about this film, the story centers on a troubled woman, who receives some very disturbing phone calls from a mysterious old woman, who claims to be calling from the past…
When it all comes down to it, this film generates some great tension with its audience, coming from the mind of a stressed and terrified lead character, bound together by frightening phone calls from what seems to be another place in time. It isn’t easy to make a film like this work as well as it does, because many of the elements that are used to scare the audience, are in fact not even physically there. We have a woman who are mentally tortured and pretty much stalked to a startling state of mental confinement, just by the help of some very peculiar long-distance calls. 
Even though these calls actually do catch up with her to some degree, they are mostly so terrorizing in themselves, that the main character don’t know what is really and what is not, which brings the audience in that exact same situation as well. I don’t remember just exactly how rough the line is between real and potentially untrue elements, but I do remember the story to play expertly around with those two features, whether or not it wants the audience to believe one thing or the other.
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Why is it on my list?
Coming from my deep affection for horror films that hides in the dark, so to speak, but still manages to make its presence very known to the audience all the way through. A film that dares to play around with the very psychology of the human mind, and then builds upon this element to a hugely horrifying result. Whether or not it really is as smart as I remember to be, it is definitely an effective compilation of thrilling scares and spirited originality that never lets up its grip, on this continuing journey of exploring past and present, mind and matter, and how they can all intervene expertly with each other.
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45. Stir of Echoes (1999)
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Following up my past pick, this is purely a conditional same-subject film, which just so happens to also deal with a main character being haunted by the past, in a somewhat illusory way, which might or might not be real. As you will come to learn as we dwell deeper into this list: I’m very fond of all types of horror films, but I can’t help but love the subgenre of supernatural horror in particular. I also believe that the kind of horror, which terrifies you the most, comes from the fact that you feel closer and more connected to it, in one way or another. I wouldn’t call myself a true believer in ghosts and spirits, but I do think that there are unexplained events happening from time to time, and that life after death, in some shape or form, is very genuine. So when this film combines these elements, and mash them together with the truest power of mind control we know, that of hypnosis, then you have a pretty damn exciting piece of filmmaking on your hands…
The main character is being portrayed skillfully here, by an anxious and unsettling performance from Kevin Bacon, who utilizes a hypnosis experiment gone wrong, to dig up the past and set things straight. Despite of the horror elements present here, this film does indeed lean more towards a mystery thriller of some kind, but whatever genre it might be it is most definitely a genuinely great one at that. It captures your attention right from the start and you keep on guessing along, as Bacon slowly fries his brain in this slow-burn thrill ride, when trying to understand what is happening to him and exactly why it is happening. There is a lot of skill put into this film, and the overall idea of it is really interesting and makes for a very entertaining film.
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Why is it on my list?
A great blend of mystery and supernatural horror, held together by strong dramatic and thematic elements, which creates a very interesting film in the end of it. It is fairly simple in its execution and it isn’t exactly pushing every horror button in the books, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining, exciting and a rather solid entry in the horror genre, despite of how lightly it treads on those elements. After all, this is also why it works as great as it does. I actually just looked up some pictures from the film, and it might be more horror-orientated than I remembered, but wherever it might land, the most important thing is that it is a good film, and after all, made my list of horror as well!
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Last edited by MovieMeditation; 05-31-15 at 12:22 PM.
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