A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year

[10 of 13]

LAST SHIFT

(October 2014)

"I am safe in the arms
Of my master, my king,
On the last day, I will follow,

My soul, I will bring…”

Anthony DiBlasi has become something of a regular ¡Qué Horror! fixture ever since his excellent adaptation of Clive Barker’s Dread slotted itself neatly into the 2010 final rundown. (His Cassadaga was a 2012 Candidate. Additionally, he also Executive Produced Ryuhei Kitamura’s The Midnight Meat Train adaptation, which settled comfortably into the 2008 final rundown.)

He’s back ‘round these parts with Late Shift, where rookie cop Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) is given her first assignment: be the sole officer on-site at a police station that’s being shut down in favor of a brand new one.

And since we’re here deep in this year’s final rundown, then you know that Jessica’s first shift on the job goes spectacularly awry as only one can in a horror movie…

It’s an interesting take DiBlasi has on the traditional haunted house set-up, where the protagonist spends a portion of the running time wandering the (supposedly) empty halls and rooms of the structure, while the weird goings-on begin to gradually escalate in frequency and intensity.

So, yes, the manner in which Last Shift unfolds will be familiar to the long-time horrorhead, but, there is also a lot to be said for a masterful execution of this kind of horror film, and Last Shift is a chillingly efficient take, with well-timed and disturbingly executed funhouse scare/set pieces strewn about the film’s nearly hour-and-a-half running time.

“Missy, if you can’t handle one night alone in an empty police station, then I think you picked the wrong line of work.”

(Last Shift OS and Blu-ray cover art courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2015

Candidate #17

LAST SHIFT

(October 2014)

"I am safe in the arms
Of my master, my king,
On the last day, I will follow,

My soul, I will bring…”

Anthony DiBlasi has become something of a regular ¡Qué horror! fixture ever since his excellent adaptation of Clive Barker’s Dread slotted itself neatly into the 2010 final rundown. (His Cassadaga was a 2012 Candidate. Additionally, he also Executive Produced Ryuhei Kitamura’s The Midnight Meat Train adaptation, which settled comfortably into the 2008 final rundown.)

He’s back ‘round these parts with Late Shift, where rookie cop Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) is given her first assignment: be the sole officer on-site at a police station that’s being shut down in favor of a brand new one.

And since we’re here hip-deep in this year’s ¡Qué horror! Candidate rundown, then you know that Jessica’s first shift on the job goes spectacularly awry as only one can in a horror movie…

It’s an interesting take DiBlasi has on the traditional haunted house set-up, where the protagonist spends a portion of the running time wandering the (supposedly) empty halls and rooms of the structure, while the weird goings-on begin to gradually escalate in frequency and intensity.

So, yes, the manner in which Last Shift unfolds will be familiar to the long-time horrorhead, but, there is also a lot to be said for a masterful execution of this kind of horror film, and Last Shift is a chillingly efficient take, with well-timed and disturbingly executed funhouse scare/set pieces strewn about the film’s nearly hour-and-a-half running time.

“Missy, if you can’t handle one night alone in an empty police station, then I think you picked the wrong line of work.”

(Last Shift OS and Blu-ray cover art courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (11)

11.1 They’re like the coolest comic book team-ups ever! Seriously.
I mean, Guillermo Del Toro and Clive Barker?! Guillermo Del Toro and Neil Gaiman?! Awesomeness!
Awesomeness on a level so high, this wasn’t even on my most fevered wish list.
Awesomeness…
Oh. Right. Sorry.

Pause.
Rewind.
Play.

Like directors Luc Besson and Michael Bay, Guillermo Del Toro has, of late, made himself mighty conspicuous on the producing end of things, with films like Cronicas (Chronicles) and El Orfanato (The Orphanage).
Now, among the film projects Del Toro is currently producing are two of particular note.

The first, the long-awaited film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Death: The High Cost of Living.
Having languished in what Gaiman calls “… a kind of weird `getting-it-made’ hell” for quite a while now, this one’s gradually coming together at long last, and will reportedly contain scenes Gaiman had to cut out of the comic book due to the limited page count. Shia LaBeouf is also reportedly in the running to play Sexton Furnival, in what will be Gaiman’s feature film directorial debut.

The second, Daniel Simpson’s Born, a horror film starring Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, with Del Toro and Barker in two of the producing chairs; Barker also co-wrote the script.
It’s about a stop-motion animator whose creations begin to live out some horrific nightmare in the real world.

What did I say?
Awesomeness.

11.2 And while we’re talking about Clive Barker, there’re some more Barkerian projects coming down the pike.

First up is the currently filming Midnight Meat Train (based on the Books of Blood short story of the same name), starring Bradley Cooper (Will Tippin from Alias) and Bullet Tooth Tony himself, Vinnie Jones. Also in the cast are Brooke Shields, Roger Bart (hilarious in The Producers and Frank Oz’s The Stepford Wives, and I’m guessing not so hilarious in Hostel: Part II), and Popular’s Leslie Bibb (soon to be seen in Trick ‘r Treat and Iron Man).
This one’s got the excellent cinematographer Jonathan Sela (John Moore’s The Omen remake and Martin Weisz’s Rohtenburg: review in Achive: June 2007) on-board, and is being directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (who helmed the bizarre gangsters and zombies flick, Versus).

Also in development are two other Books of Blood tales, Pig Blood Blues and The Book of Blood.
Additionally, Barker has penned the script for the upcoming Hellraiser remake.
There’s also the long-in-gestation The Thief of Always, which has been knocking about for a yonk’s age. It was recently reported that Shrek 2 and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron helmer Kelly Asbury, was taking the director’s chair.

Meanwhile, I honestly have no idea as to the status of Barker’s Tortured Souls, which seems to have fallen into the same “`getting-it-made’ hell” The High Cost of Living was in till recently.

Ah, well. There’s Midnight Meat Train to look forward to first.
And Born.
Sweet.

(Images courtesy of telegraph.co.uk [Guillermo Del Toro]; www-news.uchicago.edu [Neil Gaiman]; locusmag.com [Clive Barker]; clearvisionmpg.com [Born OS]; and shocktillyoudrop.com [Midnight Meat Train image of Vinnie Jones as Mahogany].)