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01. Hunger (2008, UK) Steve McQueen -

Excellent [A-]
Bold no-bullshit drama on the famed 1981 hunger strike of Irish Republican Army prisoners in Maze Prison is one of the best debut films in past years. Newcomer Steve McQueen is an heir to the great Alan Clarke in his direct approach to the political material. His actor’s dedication to their craft combined with McQueen’s long-takes and stripped down styling gets to the heart of matter, ditching all of the hyped up melodrama which tends to most often spoil these kind of films. This was everything I wanted The Wind that Shakes the Barley to be.

03. Monster from Bikini Beach (2008, USA) Darin Wood -

worthless [F]
Someone compared this to The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, and if I ever remember who that was I’ll be sure to call them an idiot. This is beyond “student film bad.”

04. The Cage (1947, USA) Sidney Peterson [short] B&W 28 Min. -

worth seeing
Ballet mécanique for the beatnik crowd.

05. Beyond the Darkness (1979, Italy) Joe D'Amato -

worth seeing
Sort of a Eurosleaze take on the Ed Gein story, this is one those horror films that is compulsively watchable despite never being quite successful at what its going for. It has quite a bit of notoriety amongst gorehounds for a few scenes of body dismemberment and yet another deadly cool score by The Goblins. Serious genre nuts only on this one…

06. The Night Stalker (1972, USA) John Llewellynn Moxey -

a must see

07. The Dead Next Door (1989, USA) J.R. Bookwalter -

worth seeing

09. Troll (1986, Canada) John Carl Buechler -

worthless

10. Bad Biology (2008, USA) Frank Henenlotter -

a must see [B]

11. Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture (1973, Japan) Teruo Ishii -

worth seeing

12. In the Mood for Doyle (2007, France) Yves Montmayeur -

worth seeing [C]

13. 100 Feet (2008, USA) Eric Red -

worth seeing [C+]

15. Death Note: The Last Name (2006, Japan) Shusuke Kaneko -

has redeeming facet [D]

16. Christmas, U.S.A. (1949, USA) Gregory J. Markopoulos [short] B&W 13 Min. -

has redeeming facet

17. Adventures of Jimmy (1950, US) James Broughton [short] B&W 10 Min. -

worth seeing

18. Interim (1952, USA) Stan Brakhage [short] B&W 24 Min. -

a must see

19. Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection (1953, USA) Stan Brakhage [short] B&W 29 Min. -

a must see

20. Viva (2007, USA) Anna Biller -

Excellent [A-]

22. Troll 2 (1990, Italy) Claudio Fragasso -

worthless

24. Dead in 3 Days (2006, Austria) Andreas Prochaska -

has redeeming facet [D+]

26. Home Movie (2008, USA) Christopher Denham -

worth seeing [C+]

27. Role Models (2008, USA) David Wain -

worth seeing [C]

29. The Way to the Shadow Garden (1954, USA) Stan Brakhage [short] B&W 11 Min. -

a must see

30. The Extraordinary Child (1954, USA) Stan Brakhage [short] B&W 13 Min. -

has redeeming facet

34. Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959, USA) Robert Stevenson -

worth seeing

35. Synecdoche, New York (2008,USA) Charlie Kaufman -

a must see [B]

36. Alien Raiders (2008, USA) Ben Rock -

worth seeing [C]

Cocktail mix of current trends in Torture Porn and 80’s slasher tropes that manages to bring out many of the worst and least interesting elements of each horror movement. A Jigsaw-like serial killer tortures innocent teens to ludicrous extremes and some 10 years after the fact returns to the same town to resume his M.O. on a fresh virginal flock. Angela Bettis (May) is completely wasted in a lead role that requires nothing more than a solemn facial expression and running in the dark. Some producer tried to spice this up after the fact by releasing it in 3-D, a decision only made worse by the film’s cruddy looking DV photography.