Alright, Remy and I can argue horror movies until the undead cows come home, throwing opinions around like heat-seeking missiles, but collaborative efforts are actually much more of a challenge. If we we’re both to pick our Top Five favorite horror films for example, that’s too easy. We both pick five films, tell why we love them, and boom, done. But then you run the risk of picking the same five films and repeating, which is a cop out in a way. With that in mind, Remy and I are going to get a little ambitious on your asses, and work backwards in time, year by year, bringing your our collective Top Ten for the entire year in question.
So why do joint Top Ten? Simple.
For starters, you readers get the most amount of recommendations out of us, giving you a wider degree of variation among titles. We’re bestowing ten nuggets of gold from EVERY SINGLE YEAR starting with 2011! No longer will you be excused for missing the best and brightest horror has to offer.
Why else? How about the true opportunity for debate? When making separate Top Five lists, we’d simply just be picking our favorites. By working together for a common goal, the list has to be approved by both of us, opening the door for controversy and disagreement. It’s not that I want to fight with Remy, but a little healthy debate never hurt anyone, eh? I’ll use 2012 as an example actually. My pal Remy here was quite fond of Pascal Laugier’s The Tall Man, while I found it to be horror rubbish, so obviously there would be some alpha ram-like butting of heads over Laugier’s inclusion on a Top Ten for 2012. In such an instance, expect a special section just for said rage-inciting incident.
So, with that explained, it’s time to accompany Remy and I as we venture back year by year, compiling a list of the most horrific, appalling, disgusting, gore-tastic crowd pleasers presented that year. This isn’t going to be easy, and we know that, so don’t expect us to post these types of articles all in a row, but every so often we’ll be returning to tackle a new year, eventually leading to lists that can span entire decades of horror goodness. Also note, we’re going by bigger release dates, not really counting if a film appeared in one bloody festival before getting national recognition the next year. We’re taking it when it was heard of most, because some films make more noise at festivals than others. Well Remy, you ready for this? I’ll let you lead us in.
In many ways, 2011 was one of the strongest years for horror in a long time. It seemed like there was something in every sub-genre for everybody. There were some foreign gems, wonderfully gory films, and Stake Land even made its case to bring the ferocity back to vampires in this post Twilight world.
When Matt and I began discussing 2011, and doing a best of list, we actually had a few moments of impasse. I tend to take the blame for that because I admit, I like some weird-ass shit. I often peel layers away and try to find things that some wouldn’t notice. In most cases, though, I end up finding things that are’t even there. At which point, I blame the drugs and crawl back into my pillow fort to cry myself to sleep while listening to Enya. In those instances, Matt just takes the reigns and acts as the single, sane voice of both of us, which I am forever indebted to him for. In this case, I took the odd numbers, and Matt took the even numbers, and joining forces, we created the ULTIMATE Top Ten Horror Films for 2011. Now if you are wondering why we are not doing a best of 2012 list, just be aware, him and I both already have plans to do so singularly, so be on the lookout for both.
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