A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year
[4 of 13]
The Zombie Apocalypse Slot
SEOUL-YEOK
(SEOUL STATION)
(April 2016)
(April 2016)
Yeon Sang-ho's animated prequel to Busanhaeng (Train to Busan) actually plays better
than its live-action sequel, and that’s probably all down to the fact that it’s
a more atypical zombie cinema viewing experience than Busanhaeng.
Why
is that, you may ask?
To wit:
A: Animated zombies are far more uncommon than live-action ones.
To wit:
A: Animated zombies are far more uncommon than live-action ones.
B:
Unlike Busanhaeng, we don’t really
see your usual zombie cinema character types here.
C:
The social commentary is far more satisfactorily evident, with some barbed
rants against country and government. And the class divide is likewise more overt
here.
It
should be noted though that there are some rather cruel and vicious moments in
this one, some moments having nothing at all to do with the zombies…
If
that all still sounds like your cup of (zombie) tea, then take heed: ¡Qué horror! strongly approves Seoul-yeok!
THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
(August 2016)
Now here's a zombie film that very consciously
takes some relatively unfamiliar routes in its narrative, and that kind of
zombie film is definitely worthy of
some ¡Qué horror! love.
Mike
Carey--yes, that Mike Carey--adapts
his own novel, The Girl with All the
Gifts, and helps (heh) gift us with a title that should settle in nicely in
the annals of zombie cinema.
Now,
in lieu of getting all spoiler-y, let’s take a look at some of the film’s other
personnel:
Director
Colm McCarthy first landed in ¡Qué horror!
territory in the 2011 rundown, with his feature debut, Outcast. Now he’s back with his sophomore feature.
(He’s
apparently been keeping busy on the telly front. And speaking of, he’s set to
direct the Krypton Pilot for SyFy--yes,
that Krypton--so that should be
something!)
Composer
Cristobal Tapia de Veer, who positively killed
on the score for the late and very much lamented Utopia, slays once again here.
(He
also worked on the first series of Humans,
though sadly, he didn’t score the second.)
And
that cast!
Not
only do we have Paddy Considine and Gemma Arterton, we’ve also got Glenn Close!
Glenn!
Close!
And
the feature debut of Sennia Nanua isn’t too shabby neither!
So,
if you feel like supporting atypical zombie fare (and you really really should!), then by all means, pay The Girl with All the Gifts a visit!
Parting
Shot:
While
Carey is possibly better known in the comics world for his work on Lucifer or Hellblazer, as far as I’m concerned, his magnum opus in graphic
literature is definitely The Unwritten.
(Seoul Station UK quad courtesy of impawards.com & The Girl with All the Gifts UK quad
courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; novel blurb OS courtesy of orbitbooks.net.)
.jpg)
