31 Years in 31 Days: Horror Flicks from 2005

This is more like it. Lots of good movies this year. 2005 was the real return of horror movies to the local movie house. With such a large chunk I figured it would be best to highlight a few greats below and give you a few quick hits here. The Amityville Horror starring Ryan Reynolds was a super solid remake of the original film with some really nice scares and excellent performances. The Devil’s Rejects, a follow up to House of 1000 Corpses, was a logical extension of the first film that upped the gore and had some really bad ass moments. Doom, yes based on the game, is terrible but in a really fun way with a ridiculous FPS scene at the end. The Exorcism of Emily Rose was a really, really creepy possession flick with great atmosphere. Also, Man-Thing is a movie, as is Constantine.

Image result for Hostel 2005Image result for The Skeleton KeyThe first highlight is Eli Roth’s Hostel. The basic structure is that two college kids go backpacking in Europe and stay at a bunch of hostels to save money. The only problem is that at one of the hostels they stay in, they fall victim to the old bait ‘n switch and end up kidnapped by a group of deranged killers who torture their victims for a price. What makes this movie really scary is how realistically the scenario is portrayed. The idea that you could buy a human to torture is entirely possible and entirely horrifying. The gore is plentiful but it isn’t played for the ridiculous. This is a brutal movie about trust and the stupidity of youth. Watch it now. The second movie to highlight is one of my favorite creepy flicks of all time, The Skeleton Key. Kate Hudson plays a caretaker in this flick and is so damn good. She works for an invalid old man and his creepy ass wife. Except that the man is clearly terrified of something and Kate Hudson is determined to figure out what. The movie, which I won’t spoil, involves tons of voodoo, really beautiful imagery, fantastic performances, and a wonderful, twisty story. If you have never seen this movie you absolutely must. It’s brilliant.

Dan Ryan


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