Up this week, more movies from across the pond. Flesh eating ghouls, people being hunted through the wilderness and foul-mouthed slackers graced the screen.

THE PACK (2010 – France) “La Meute” is another entry in the wave of French horror. We are first introduced to Charlotte (Émilie Dequenne), a very rough around the edges type of girl, who picks up a hitchhiker named Max (Benjamin Biolay). He’s a seedy sort of character and he leads Charlotte to an even seedier truck-stop. They meet the owner La Spack (Yolande Moreau) who has plans for Charlotte. She’s always in need for a fresh supply of flesh and blood for “the pack”, a group of ghouls who rise from the ground to feast. Turns out Max is her son and he helps do the “grocery shopping” by luring people to their trap. Throw in a wacked out cop played by Philippe Nahon (High Tension, I Stand Alone), and a lunatic motorcycle gang and you have a dark twisted flick. I really enjoyed this movie. The characters were all people you’d never want to meet but it worked well for the movie’s dark and eccentric tone. La Spack was an evil, cackling brute of a woman and very menacing. I loved Franck Richard’s direction. The camera glided around the dank and dirty sets. There’s no jarring, “found footage” camera work. The color pallette was dark and filled with shadows.
Once the ghouls rise from the ground you are in for a treat. It was like a page taken from a Tales from the Crypt magazine. The ghouls are awesome looking and in some scenes they shamble towards their victims with the full moon as a backdrop. Awesome visuals! “The Pack” is a great movie to throw in your player at the stroke of midnight. Available from Bloody-Disgusting Selects.

A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (2011 – UK) The Scottish Highlands are the breathtaking backdrop for this fast paced thriller. Five mountaineers are hiking and climbing through the wilderness. Their peaceful excursion is shattered when they hear cries drifting on the wind. The cries of a child. It leads them to a breathing pipe sticking up out of the ground. They brush dirt and leaves aside to reveal a door. They discover a little girl is trapped underground in a wooden room. With nothing but the breathing pipe and water, the little girl is weak and afraid. She is Serbian and they cannot understand her words. Alison (Melissa George) and the rest of her companions begin their trek back to civilization to take the girl to the police. That begins their nightmare as they are hunted down by mysterious assailants that aren’t too happy about them helping the little girl. To tell you anymore would spoil the intense adventure that unfolds for the remaining running time. Along the way there are several punches to the gut and by the end of the movie you will be exhausted. Beautiful cinematography, exciting mountain climbing action, startling violence and great performances are all wrapped up into one thrilling movie experience. Highly recommended. Available from IFC Midnight.

NEW KIDS TURBO (2010 – Netherlands) We’ll file this under “wild and weird”. Five yahoos get fired from their jobs and so they decide they are going to quit paying for things. They steal food and enormous quantities of beer. They are wreckless and idiotic, causing the police to send for the Ministry of Defense to put a stop to them. It all leads to a massive shoot out in the normally quiet village of Maaskantje. Well, I kinda liked this movie. Maybe because it was foreign and I didn’t know who the actors were. New Kids is a Dutch comedy sketch show featuring a group of rowdy foul-mouthed youths. Think a group of real life Beavis and Buttheads revved up on turbo juice. Hearing them shout obsentities in another language is funny. Their outfits and hairdos are fun; they look like retro gangsta rappers with mullets. I loved the hyper techno songs that were used as the soundtrack. Also, shock is the name of the game here. The humor was vulgar and very “un-PC”. There’s some gore thrown around during some of the film’s violence but it’s played for laughs. Maybe I’m getting old but the movie really went out of it’s way to be offensive and I didn’t care for some of it. I wanted to watch this because I’m anticipating the sequel “New Kids Nitro” in which this group of morons battle zombies. The trailer for that one looks cool. Kut!

Since I missed joining Doug and Craig with their top 10 of the year, I threw together my list of movies that chilled and thrilled me. My love for movies lie in the dark corners of the horror genre, the colorful worlds of animation, the spectacle of sci-fi and action adventure. I tend to like the little movies rather than big Hollywood blockbusters. Also, several of the movies on my list are foreign releases. They may be 2010 releases in their respective countries, but the U.S. was not blessed with them until 2011. So, here we go…

10. THE REEF (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011)
So Jaws is my number one shark attack movie and The Reef is right behind it. I thought this import from Australia was frightening. For most of the movie the camera is bobbing up and down in the water with the characters, and the director only lets you see as much as they can. And when the water splashes you know the shark is near and there’s nothing they can do until it’s too late. There’s a glutton of goofy shark movies out there but this is one that will scare you.

9. COLD PREY 3
I’m putting this Norwegian movie on my list even though it’s not a 2011 movie and there was no U.S. release for it. But I did see it in 2011 (my column, my rules). I love slashers and the Cold Prey series is top shelf. Part 3 gives a little insight into the origins and then flash forwards to the 80’s for more mayhem. The movie is beautifully shot and the suspense is thick. More of a moody piece than a gorefest.

8. DREAM HOME (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011) No, this is not the Daniel Craig movie, this is the blood soaked slasher movie from China. Gorehounds rejoice! The death scenes are so outrageous and gory you don’t know whether to laugh nervously or run away. It’s about a woman who begins murdering people in a condo to bring down the property value (which in Hong Kong is ridiculous). Flashbacks woven throughout her killing spree tune us in on why she’s flipped her wig.

7. I SAW THE DEVIL (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011)
Dark places is where you’ll be heading to with this Korean flick. You won’t have any time to catch your breath in between one brutal scene after another. A vengeful cop and vicious serial killer play a deadly game creating a nail-biting thrill ride. It’s a mash-up of unrelenting action and horror. If you want a taste of how wicked it is just watch the “Taxi Scene” on YouTube.

6. THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN
I was blown away by how real everything looked and yet it still had a comic book flair with the exaggerated features of the characters. This was a great adventure and I’ll be happy if there are more stories to follow. It reminded me of the glory days of Indiana Jones.

5. TROLL HUNTER (2010 – Released in U.S. 2011)
All the way from Norway comes this fun, mockumentary of a group of students who follow the “Troll Hunter” as he does his secret job in the dark and icy mountains. There are a variety of trolls to see and they are executed with flawless special effects. A ton of fun.

4. CARS 2
The talented people at Pixar never disappoint. More of an action-adventure than a heart-string puller, I had a great time at the theaters with my kids. The animation, colors and attention to detail are amazing! The spy-element was a great addition to the Cars universe.

3. ATTACK THE BLOCK
London street kids battle ape-like aliens with wicked teeth! At first I was put-off by the thuggish attitude of the main characters, but when alien ass needed to be kicked they came together to help. The main lead Moses went from a-hole to hero and with the help of his friends brought heat to the space invaders using everything from fireworks to samurai swords. The alien effects were awesome and the techno score pounded.

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
I love the Harry Potter books and films and Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a triumphant finish to a great series. Every frame was soaked in an inky darkness creating a sense of dread that built to an intense climax that will have you standing up to cheer. The special effects and camera work are stunning. Every performance is top-notch and I was teary eyed when the final frames rolled by.

1. SUPER 8
True story…my friends and I tried to make a zombie movie in the late 80’s on super 8 film. It was never finished because our lead actor was grounded. Anyway, I loved Super 8! It’s got humor, chills, action and a great deal of mystery and magic. It had the Spielberg touch and Abram’s direction was solid. The performances were so natural, I felt like these kids had known each other forever. I loved that they actually showed their finished zombie movie at the end. A great time at the movies!

Favorite DVD Releases of 2011:  Shout Factory’s Roger Corman Presents…
So far I’ve picked up Joe Dante’s Piranha, Humanoids from the Deep, Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden Planet, Star Crash…all of them cheap and cheesy gems from the 70’s and 80’s. These dvd collections are awesome! They all feature quality uncut presentations and the dvd sleeves are reversable with alternate artwork, all of them with the original poster art!