Love Film- Who's renting what?
Number One: World War Z
Genre: Zombie, action adventure
Plot synopsis-Big-budget zombie apocalypse thriller starring Brad Pitt. UN employee and committed family man Gerry Lane (Pitt) is forced to abandon his wife and children when a global pandemic hits, turning ordinary people into violent subhuman monsters with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Due to the nature of his job, Gerry is deemed one of the very few people left on Earth with the ability to find the source of the virus and ultimately a cure, but will he be able to do so before the last remnants of humanity are completely eradicated?
Genre: Zombie, action adventure
Plot synopsis-Big-budget zombie apocalypse thriller starring Brad Pitt. UN employee and committed family man Gerry Lane (Pitt) is forced to abandon his wife and children when a global pandemic hits, turning ordinary people into violent subhuman monsters with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Due to the nature of his job, Gerry is deemed one of the very few people left on Earth with the ability to find the source of the virus and ultimately a cure, but will he be able to do so before the last remnants of humanity are completely eradicated?
Number Two: Deep Blue Sea
Genre: Action/adventure, thriller, sci-fi
Plot synopsis-Off the coast of Mexico, Dr Susan McAlester's (Saffron Burrows) team of scientists are working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease by injecting degenerate human brain cells into mako sharks. The three sharks selected grow to over forty feet in length, and begin to demonstrate signs of intelligent behaviour. When pharmaceuticals' president Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives with funding in mind, one of the sharks attacks scientist Jim Whitlock, biting off his arm. However, the helicopter taking Whitlock to surgery crashes into the research centre and disables the protective security systems which keeps the killer sharks at bay.
Genre: Action/adventure, thriller, sci-fi
Plot synopsis-Off the coast of Mexico, Dr Susan McAlester's (Saffron Burrows) team of scientists are working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease by injecting degenerate human brain cells into mako sharks. The three sharks selected grow to over forty feet in length, and begin to demonstrate signs of intelligent behaviour. When pharmaceuticals' president Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives with funding in mind, one of the sharks attacks scientist Jim Whitlock, biting off his arm. However, the helicopter taking Whitlock to surgery crashes into the research centre and disables the protective security systems which keeps the killer sharks at bay.
Number Three: Byzantium
Genre: Thriller, vampire
Plot synopsis-Two mysterious women seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Clara meets lonely Noel, who provides shelter in his deserted guesthouse, Byzantium. Schoolgirl Eleanor befriends Frank and tells him their lethal secret. They were born 200 years ago and survive on human blood. As knowledge of their secret spreads, their past catches up on them with deathly consequence.
Genre: Thriller, vampire
Plot synopsis-Two mysterious women seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Clara meets lonely Noel, who provides shelter in his deserted guesthouse, Byzantium. Schoolgirl Eleanor befriends Frank and tells him their lethal secret. They were born 200 years ago and survive on human blood. As knowledge of their secret spreads, their past catches up on them with deathly consequence.
Number Four: Red Riding Hood
Genre: Thriller, monster
Plot synopsis-Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.
Genre: Thriller, monster
Plot synopsis-Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.
Number Five: Human Centipede 2
Genre: Torture, drama, super messed up
Plot synopsis-Martin is a mentally disturbed loner who lives with his mother in a bleak housing project. He works the night shift as a security guard in an equally grim and foreboding underground parking complex. To escape his dreary existence, Martin loses himself in the fantasy world of the cult horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence), fetishizing the meticulous surgical skills of the gifted Dr. Heiter, whose knowledge of the human gastrointestinal system inspires Martin to attempt the unthinkable...
Genre: Torture, drama, super messed up
Plot synopsis-Martin is a mentally disturbed loner who lives with his mother in a bleak housing project. He works the night shift as a security guard in an equally grim and foreboding underground parking complex. To escape his dreary existence, Martin loses himself in the fantasy world of the cult horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence), fetishizing the meticulous surgical skills of the gifted Dr. Heiter, whose knowledge of the human gastrointestinal system inspires Martin to attempt the unthinkable...
Number Six: One Missed Call
Genre: Supernatural, thriller
Plot synopsis-Supernatural horror about a group of college students who start receiving phone calls from the future, with each hearing themselves being murdered. One by one, a group of student friends begin receiving voice-mail messages from the future, that appear to feature the sounds of their last moments alive. With the tapes foretelling the time, date and manner of their demise, the chilling prophesies begin to come true, throwing those still alive into a state of blind panic. When she receives her own phone call, fellow student Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) faces a race against time to solve the deadly mystery.
Genre: Supernatural, thriller
Plot synopsis-Supernatural horror about a group of college students who start receiving phone calls from the future, with each hearing themselves being murdered. One by one, a group of student friends begin receiving voice-mail messages from the future, that appear to feature the sounds of their last moments alive. With the tapes foretelling the time, date and manner of their demise, the chilling prophesies begin to come true, throwing those still alive into a state of blind panic. When she receives her own phone call, fellow student Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) faces a race against time to solve the deadly mystery.
Number Seven: Dark Skies
Genre: Sc-fi, Supernatural
Plot synopsis-Supernatural horror in which a suburban family are terrified by mysterious spirits. Like many loving parents, Lacy and Daniel Barrett (Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton) have retreated to quiet suburban streets to raise their children. They are more or less content until a series of strange occurrences at night unsettle them. Their son Jesse (Dakota Goyo) is particularly disturbed by events which include a confluence of migrating birds smashing into the house. With the police and other authority figures apparently unable to help, Lacy and Daniel are gradually drawn to a supernatural interpretation of events. Unfortunately, as an expert on the paranormal (J.K. Simmons) informs them, there may not be much they can do to resist the spirits. Even worse, when Lacy and Daniel begin to feel themselves losing control of their own actions, it raises the possibility that the spirits aren't merely within the house; they may be within them...
Genre: Sc-fi, Supernatural
Plot synopsis-Supernatural horror in which a suburban family are terrified by mysterious spirits. Like many loving parents, Lacy and Daniel Barrett (Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton) have retreated to quiet suburban streets to raise their children. They are more or less content until a series of strange occurrences at night unsettle them. Their son Jesse (Dakota Goyo) is particularly disturbed by events which include a confluence of migrating birds smashing into the house. With the police and other authority figures apparently unable to help, Lacy and Daniel are gradually drawn to a supernatural interpretation of events. Unfortunately, as an expert on the paranormal (J.K. Simmons) informs them, there may not be much they can do to resist the spirits. Even worse, when Lacy and Daniel begin to feel themselves losing control of their own actions, it raises the possibility that the spirits aren't merely within the house; they may be within them...
Number Eight: Mama
Genre: supernatural
Plot synopsis-Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?
Genre: supernatural
Plot synopsis-Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?
Number Nine: Stoker
Genre:Drama,Thriller
Plot synopsis-Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode star in this psychological thriller from Korean director Chan-Wook Park. Following her father Richard (Dermot Mulroney)'s death in an unexplained road accident, reclusive teenager India Stoker (Wasikowska) withdraws further into the quiet rural life she shares with her emotionally disturbed mother Evie (Kidman). But her curiosity is stirred when her mysterious uncle Charlie (Goode), who she has never met, suddenly arrives unannounced. Told that the darkly charismatic Charlie will now be staying at the house, India's initial well-founded distrust of her uncle's motivations begins to waver as she finds herself becoming ever more deeply entranced by his sinister charms.
Genre:Drama,Thriller
Plot synopsis-Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode star in this psychological thriller from Korean director Chan-Wook Park. Following her father Richard (Dermot Mulroney)'s death in an unexplained road accident, reclusive teenager India Stoker (Wasikowska) withdraws further into the quiet rural life she shares with her emotionally disturbed mother Evie (Kidman). But her curiosity is stirred when her mysterious uncle Charlie (Goode), who she has never met, suddenly arrives unannounced. Told that the darkly charismatic Charlie will now be staying at the house, India's initial well-founded distrust of her uncle's motivations begins to waver as she finds herself becoming ever more deeply entranced by his sinister charms.
Number Ten: I Spit On Your Grave 2
Genre: Rape revenge
Plot synopsis-Horror sequel starring Jemma Dallender as a young woman who sets out to exact vengeance on the men who abused her. Katie (Dallender) has dreams of becoming a model. Naturally, she is delighted when she receives an offer to attend a photo shoot, however the experience quickly turns into a nightmare when she is kidnapped and sexually and physically abused. When freed from her ordeal, Katie's first impulse is revenge. Will her abductors come to regret their vile behaviour when victim turns tormentor?
Genre: Rape revenge
Plot synopsis-Horror sequel starring Jemma Dallender as a young woman who sets out to exact vengeance on the men who abused her. Katie (Dallender) has dreams of becoming a model. Naturally, she is delighted when she receives an offer to attend a photo shoot, however the experience quickly turns into a nightmare when she is kidnapped and sexually and physically abused. When freed from her ordeal, Katie's first impulse is revenge. Will her abductors come to regret their vile behaviour when victim turns tormentor?
Though the most recurring sub-genre on this list seems to be supernatural highlighting the genres consistent success the movie that takes the top spot is WORLD WAR Z (2013). This along with rise of other zombie themed works such as THE WALKING DEAD and the horror comedy WARM BODIES shows the re-emergence of the zombie sub-genre in popular horror culture. Making it important to capitalise on the genres success before it ebbs back into the realm of mediocrity and parody.
D.S.