Top 10 films of 2013

1. GRAVITY

Spectacular science-fiction which  in spite of its many inaccuracies and contrivances tops this list as the greatest movie experience of 2013. Director Alfonso Cuarón had already shown with his previous master work ''Children of Men'' that he could create suspense and intensity in a way that few can, and with ''Gravity'' he has found the perfect scenario for wracking our nerves. It has been compared to Kubrick's classic ''2001: A Space Odyssey" but it is far more entertaining than that, much thanks to Steven Price's music, father and son Cuarón's script and Sandra Bullock's utterly convincing performance.

2. EVIL DEAD

As a massive fan of Sam Raimi's original ''Evil Dead,'' this was of course the event of the year for me. Personally, I had no expectations going in, and it did not disappoint. One could make a list consisting of just the many references to the old movies, which goes to show that the film was made as much for old fans as new. Both a sequel, remake and a reboot, director Fede Alvarez delivered and with excellent gore, performances and story we not only got a worthy new rendition of the iconic horror movie but a great new version to boot. It is also the first time in a ''cabin in the woods'' movie where there is a legitimate reason for the characters to remain in the scary setting despite some horrible shit going down.

3. UNDER THE SKIN

It's not just about Scarlett Johanssen in this one, although she is the main attraction. It's also about the sound, the music, the cinematography, the atmosphere. Jonathan Glazer's ''Under the Skin'' is one of the most artistic and remarkable films to grace our screens in the past decade. The story of an alien trying to survive on Earth by devouring men while driving around Scotland in a van, is based on a novel by Michel Faber (which must be an amazing read, considering what an amazing film it is). Apparently it took over a decade to make the film, and I'm so happy that it ended up as weird and esoteric as it did. Falls into the cateogry of either you hate it or you love it, which in my book is a good classification to fall into.

4. THE DOUBLE

British auteur Richard Ayoade did not particularly wow me with his debut film ''Submarine,'' so I wasn't exactly expecting greatness with his sophomore effort ''The Double,'' but happily I got a stunning cinematic experience which makes me put the man on the map, so to speak. Loosely based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story, Jesse Eisenberg (in a truly impressive performance) plays a man in a very Terry Gilliamesque milieu who comes across a doppelganger, a physically identical individual, who is basically his superior in all intents and purposes. What the makers of the film have managed to achieve when it comes to sound, look and atmosphere is remarkable, a perfect gem in my eyes and a viewing experience that is pretty much unparalleled.

5. OBLIVION

Based on a graphic novel (which shows), Joseph Kosinki's dystopia was everything that similar movies of the year failed to be (I'm thinking here of Neill Blomkamp's ''Elysium'' in

particular), much thanks to wonderful artistry and M83's magnificent soundtrack. Tom Cruise carries the movie as a man working on Earth when the rest of humanity has left and the planet is basically a source for energy. It's really beautiful, entertaining and quite rewarding, but frankly if you have a short attention span it might not be for you.

  

6. MAN OF STEEL

As a fan of Zack Snyder's work, I found this Superman-reboot to deliver on all fronts, particularly after the immensely uninteresting previous effort in 2006; it had a perfect leading man in Henry Cavill, a worthy heir of Christopher Reeve's mantle, spectacular special effects and an engaging plot. It may just have been a clever introduction to the upcoming Superman vs. Batman franchise, but it sure got me going, thanks to kickass action scenes and the whole epic-ness of it.

7. AS I LAY DYING

James Franco's adaptation of William Faulkner's novel may come across as boring and slightly incomprehensible to viewers unfamiliar with said author's work, but for someone who has read the book, this is a brilliant film. Great acting, beautiful cinematography and a great script of course, since it's basically a word-for-word filming of Faulkner's gut-wrenching text. Keeping Franco's other film of the same year in mind, ''Child of God,'' this is a man who, despite his celebrity persona and oftentimes ridiculous acting choices, can be relied on to deliver spellbinding art movies and solid readings of great drama (his ''Of Mice and Men'' on Broadway was also praised).

8. TRACKS

Australian actress Mia Wasikowska had a great year in 2013, co-starring in aforementioned ''The Double,'' Jim Jarmusch's vampire indie flick ''Only Lovers Left Alive,'' and Park-Chan Wook's (director of ''Old Boy'') ''Stoker.'' Lately we've been seeing great dramas of strong women in tough situations, like this true story of Robyn Davidson's trek across the Australian outback in the 1970's on camelback. The story is spellbinding in and of itself, but it's made even more so by its beauty and awe, plus Wasikowska's performance, an actress who has had a very interesting career up to now and someone I will be following with great keenness. 

9. PACIFIC RIM

It's a shame that we never got to see Guillermo del Toro's version of ''The Hobbit,'' because if I know that man, it would've been far superior to Peter Jackson's finished trilogy. However, we did get this tribute to Japanese entertainment, a kaiju/mecha extravaganza. Kaiju of course is the Japanese term for monster movies (think, ''Godzilla'') and mecha, for those of you unfamiliar with manga and anime, is about robots and machines. Here, enormous dinosaur-like havoc-wreakers from another dimension invade our world and it's up to humanity in huge robots to save the day. Genius filmmaker Guillermo del Toro knows how to deliver a perfect matinée feature and despite its criticisms, there isn't a boring moment in the whole film. 

10. BIG BAD WOLVES

Isareli filmmakers Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado's thriller ''Big Bad Wolves'' got a lot of attention stateside thanks to Quentin Tarantino, who announced it as the movie of the year. He wasn't wrong. ''Big Bad Wolves'' has the balls to be everything that ''Prisoners'' wanted to be but wasn't. It's dark, it's cringe-worthy, it's horrible, and it's also funny and moving, in its somewhat askew and often tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a few individuals' attempt to have their revenge on a supposed child molester and killer. On a side note, the directors' previous film, ''Rabies,'' from 2010 is also worth a watch.

Honourable mentions: Spring Breakers, Her, The Place Beyond the Pines, The World's End, Inside Llewyn Davies, The Croods, Frances Ha, World War Z, Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Only Lovers Left Alive.

Top 10 J-Horror movies

1. Ring (Ringu)

It's fitting to start with the movie that gave rise to the epithet J-Horror. Ring was a huge success back in 1998 and has spawned numerous imitations, sequels and remakes. Japanese ghost stories are nothing new, they were in fact particularly popular in the 1960's, but Ring revitalized the genre and made it into a trend that lasted for roughly twelve years. Whereas American horror movies tend to rely on jump scares and gore, J-horror favours suspense and silence. Ring is based on the first in a series of novels, all of which were later filmed (although only Hideo Nakata's adaptation is worth your time, imo). The vengeful ghost of Sadako kills anyone who watches her videotape and it's up to reporter and single mother Reiko, along with her psychic ex-husband Ryuji (played by internationally renowned Hiroyuki Sanada) to solve the mystery and break the curse. Watching it again after many years, I find that the creepiest thing about the movie is the videotape itself, and what they've accomplished with the music and the sound effects is amazing. 

2. Ju-On: The Grudge

Takashi Shimizu's classic Ju-On: The Grudge from 2002 was actually the third film in the Ju-On series but the first to be released theatrically and internationally. One of the most unforgettable ghost films ever made. Watching it again after more than a decade, I'm in awe at how scary the film (still) is even though it basically doesn't feature anything but a woman and a boy with whitened faces. Of course, the look of the ghosts in J-horror - the white make-up, white burial kimonos and long, unkempt hair - ultimately derives from traditional Japanese kabuki theatre. Ju-On: The Grudge, for those of you who don't know, tells of a curse that befalls anyone who comes into contact with the house where a woman and her son were brutally murdered; an all-consuming curse that so far has eight cinematic reincarnations to its name. Unlike the Ring films, the Ju-On films are all enjoyable on some level. I particularly love the non-linear narrative, it's very suitable.

3. Pulse (Kairo)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's cult classic from 2001 is definitely one of the best films on this list, although not necessarily the scariest. True, you're probably not going to jump out of your seat with fright, but it very well might stay with you for a very long time, it is very haunting. It's also very beautiful and poetic. It has often been called depressing, which is not surprising considering the film's central themes are loneliness and suicide. In this story, which incidentally is based on a novel, ghosts start to invade the world of the living through computer technology, because death equals ''eternal loneliness,'' and eventually bring about the apocalypse. If nothing else, you will find that there is something deeply unsettling about hearing a disembodied voice whisper ''help me'' over and over again.

     

4. The Curse (Noroi)

This somewhat obscure J-horror masterpiece by Kôji Shiraishi from 2005 is a mockumentary that, in the vein of The Blair Witch Project, is made to look like the compiled found footage of a documentary filmmaker's last paranormal investigation before his disappearance. Japanese demonology and mythology is the very vibrant backbone of this movie. The Curse skillfully builds tension over almost two hours and is so realistically made that it makes for a riveting viewing experience despite its lack of ghosts or monsters. Also reminiscent in style and content of Adam Green's excellent Digging up the Marrow from 2014.
 

5. Premonition (Yogen)

After the success of Ring came a set of J-horror movies that were distributed internationally under the banner of 'J-horror theater' (which also included Infection, the last selection on this list). Premonition, directed by Tsuruta Norio in 2004, is based on a manga and tells the story of a man who is cursed with psychic visions after the death of his child. I love that it also tells the story of a husband and wife who find their way back to each other, and ultimately salvation, after said tragedy. This is a mystery thriller with some great acting and a couple of really good scares.     

6. Dark Water

Japanese filmmakers and storytellers know that all horror is rooted in tragedy, as Hideo Nakata's Dark Water from 2002 demonstrates very well. There seems to be a rule that a good J-horror movie always gets a slightly worse American remake, and this is no exception (the exception, in case you're wondering, is Takashi Miike's One Missed Called, where both the original Japanese and the American version were awful). The plot is simple. Mother and daughter move into a creepy and seemingly empty tower block after a brutal divorce, where they are summarily haunted by the ghost of a drowned girl who appears through the eponymous murky water of the film's title. In American ghost stories, the ghosts are usually seeking justice for what was done to them but in J-horror, the ghosts are out for revenge and don't care against who. Sometimes, these ghosts are just angry and confused. Other times, they're just lonely.

         
7. Carved

From the man behind The Curse (Noroi) (see above) comes this 2007 J-horror movie, one of several that is based on an actual Japanese urban legend. The legend being that of a tall woman in a trench coat and a surgical mask that approaches children and asks them if they think she's pretty. If they say yes, she removes her mask to reveal a mouth that is slit open from ear to ear, followed by another line of questioning and a swift death. Surgical masks are apparently a common sight in Japan, where they're often worn in case of sickness, so for Japanese viewers it must be a disturbing thought to consider what horrors may lie behind such a mask. Carved is more of a slasher than a ghost story, but it has the intelligence to realize that imperiled children is a key ingredient to a good and effective horror movie. It also features a touching side story of child abuse and an ending that I found to be insidiously defiant.  

 
8. Apartment 1303

Ataru Oikawa's Apartment 1303 from 2007 may not be the most original or distinguished J-horror movie on this list, but it deserves a mention because it is nevertheless very effective. You've seen the plot before; young woman moves into a haunted apartment where her sister, and all other previous female tenants, committed suicide after encountering something sinister. A trademark of J-horror is the long black hair of the malicious spirits, and in Apartment 1303 it is cleverly used as a weapon. Even though the film has some shoddy acting and dialogue, there are several terrifying moments in it, which just goes to show that J-horror filmmakers can make really scary films seemingly without even trying.

   

9. Audition

Although I personally consider Takashi Miike's modern classic Audition from 2001 to fall into the category of ''torture porn,'' it is difficult to compile great J-horror movies without including it. If you've somehow managed to miss this, it tells the story of a widower who starts to hold auditions for a fake TV show in an attempt to find a date. Being a horror movie, this naturally backfires quite horribly. Ignoring the debate about whether the film is misogynistic or in fact a feminist revenge fantasy, I like to stick to the facts, which are that it is a masterpiece in filmmaking with terrific acting, writing and directing (one of hit-and-miss auteur Miike's most sure-fire hits). Starts out as a rather cheesy romcom before it's suddenly turned on its head, its leering snaggletoothed nightmarish head.

      
10. Infection (Kansen)

If there isn't, there should be an official subgenre of horror movies just called ''hospital horror,'' and Masayuki Ochiai's 2004 Infection is one of the best I've seen in that area. The script is great, although you could argue that it isn't very scary, but I guarantee that it's thoroughly enjoyable. Stylistically reminiscent of old 1950's sci-fi horror movies, and in some respects The Shining, it tells the story of an understaffed, drab and run-down hospital where a strange infection spreads that makes the staff hallucinate and dissolve in a puddle of green goo. If you can come across this little gem, don't skip it - give it a try and if you're like me you'll be highly entertained!