The 100 Best Horror Films from Best Horror Movies. Com for 2010

The For horror-freaks out there - thought I'd share with you the top 100 horror movies of all time from best-horro-movies.com, which is pretty insightful is you ask me. Check it out here. For those too lazy to hyper jump to the link, this is the brief summary: 

100. The Live (1988) - John Carpenter

99. Hostel (2005) - Eli Roth

98. Scream (1996) Wes Craven

....

3. Dawn of the Dead (1978) George A Romero

2. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott

1. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin

So there you have it, the list of what scares us silly from 100 all the way up to 1. What I'm really curious is this - why hasn't anyone ever topped The Exorcist as the scariest movie of all time? I guess the writers and directors nowadays seek to scare people by adding more gore, and using CGI in almost everything. Real horror has its roots in terror, and terror stems from the generally accepted idea of unimaginable things waiting in the dark for us, waiting to spring out shrieking. Most often it is not visual, but something imagined and the trepidation that comes with it. The build-up, the tightening of the screws, the final payoff and the basic intention of the evil itself as something with its own intelligence.

Having said that, would you be able to watch The Exorcist ALONE, at NIGHT, in a DARK HOUSE? Give it a try, I DARE you ...

Ong Bak 3 (2010)

Ong Bak  effectively put Thailand on the global map of awesome kick-assness. Who can ever forget Tony Jaa smashing open a motorbike helmet off a poor guy's head with his elbow? Or giving a big white dude the double elbow smash on his noggins clocking it effectively? We felt the pain because there was no special effects used. This fighting continued with Tom Yam Goong where a central scene had the camera follow Jaa non-stop for more than 10 minutes without editing as he ran up a huge spiraling staircase kicking ass all the way up. 

The Skinny: Following directly from the end of Ong Bak 2, where our hero Tien (Jaa) is beaten to a pulp by Ghost Crow (dude who looks like a dudette dressed in a drag from the deepest bowels of hell) he is taken away in chains by the evil king whereupon he has his ass whupped big time thereby convincing us the viewers that he will never ever avenge his father ... but he's a plucky kinda guy after all so obviously he's not going to take it lying down. The dude is after all, destinied to kick ass ... 

The Helmer: Tony Jaa

The Casts: 

• Tony Jaa as Tien
• Nirut Sirichanya as Master Bua
• Sarunyoo Wongkrachang as Lord Rajasena
• Dan Chupong as Crow Ghost (uncredited)
• Primorata Dejudom as Pim
• Petchtai Wongkamlao as Mhen
• Supakorn Kitsuwon as Guard in Golden Armour (uncredited)

The Prediction: Ong Bak 2 was an impressive effort from Jaa himself as he wrote and directed a mini epic scale medieval actioneer. The ending of part 2 kinda crapped it for most, as there were rumours that the movie ended there due to budgetry constraint. As a result most thought it just ended there, with Jaa's hero dying at the hands of his enemies without avenging his father's death. But apparently that is not the case. Part 3 seals the deal with a closure, neatly wrapping up a pretty decent martial art trilogy. When you think about it, theres not many trilogy of kick-assness. Unless if you consider Chuck Norris' MIA series as a trilogy of sorts for ass kicking.

The Awesomeness of the Expandables: Countdown Begins ...

This is an update of new trailers for the Expandables, Sly Stallones action epic. AKA, kick-ass extravaganze AKA, bare-knuckle bonanza AKA massive dynamic awesomeness. Check it out at Apples link which displays the 4 trailers of the much awaited fight-fest.

Read the previous review here.

Release date: 13th August 2010

Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa aka The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines (2010)

Films have the ability to recreate ideas and shift perception about almost everything; it can redefine the image of a nation, catapult actors into superstardom and change the history of movie making for any country. Provided the movie is groundbreaking and well executed. The South Korean movie industry had their pivotal turning point with espionage actioneer Shiri   , a North vs South, spy-vs-spy tale injected with romance in 1999. Similarly with Thailand and their stomach churning real-action bone-cracking fight-porn Ong Bak in 2003. So what is Malaysia's turning-point movie that can change history? Has there been one? Sadly, no. Until now that is. Possibly, with Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, also known as the Malay Chronicles: Bloodline.


The Skinny: "Based loosely on the 16th century historical document entitled ‘The Malay Annals', ‘The Chronicles of Merong Mahawangsa' is an action-packed epic feature film, with mythical characters, magical moments and dazzling visual-effects sequences. Merong Mahawangsa was a descendant of Alexander the Great, a renowned naval captain and traveller who came to Asia several hundred years ago." Synopsis taken from The Film Catalogue.

The Helmer: Yusry A Halim - Cicak Man 2: Planet Hitam (2008), Cicak Man (2006)

The Casts: Stephen Rahman Hudges (Malaysia/UK), Jing Lu (UK), Gavin Stenhouse (UK), Hendrik Norman (Sweden), Craig Fong (Australia). Other local talents also includes, Dato Rahim Razali, Wan Hanafi Su, Ummi Nazeera, Khir Rahman, Nell Ng, Keith Chong, Jehan Miskin, Deborah hanry, Ravi Sunderlingam, Kuswadinata, Mano Maniam and Faiz Aizuddin Azmi.

The Prediction: This big budget (by Malaysian standards) movie is the brainchild of brothers KRU, the extraordinary Norman, Edry and director Yusry. Best known early in their career as rap singers for group KRU. Nowadays, they're mainly in the business of producing new talents and making movies. This movie looks pretty good going by the trailer, although the pale sheen of CGI somehow shines through the hectic scenes drops it several notches below a full-fledged epic. Having said that, it would be good if the whole movie expands on the promise of what we've seen in the few minutes shown.

Trailers and Write-Up

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