Coming up with great movie wolves that aren’t werewolves is harder than you may think, especially these days when animals tend to be realised by shitty CGI (looking at you The Day After Tomorrow wolves). Most horror movie wolves tend to be of the Were (aka lycanthrope) variety, which sucks because I’m of the firm belief that werewolves should be man-wolves and not the on-all-fours types you find on the Discovery Channel. So without further adieu here’s Deadly Movies favourite non-werewolf wolves:

5: Disney’s Big Bad Wolf (1933 – Present) and Tex Avery’s Wally Wolf (1942 – Present). These two guys are, for many, the first exposure to the classic Big Bad Wolf. Disney’s wolf was a kind of insane hobo who started his cinematic career as the arch nemesis to those winging pork-chops The Three Pigs. With his love for cross-dressing, demented eyes, and a grin worthy of any British dentist, Disney’s wolf is a character symptomatic of a time when animation didn’t dumb it down for the kids. Tex Avery’s wolf was even more of a freak, a sex freak in fact, who had the permanent horn. Yes this is the proverbial dog-with-two-dicks. Where Disney had their demented hobo, Avery channeled Hollywood leading men such a Clark Gable for his wolf that wanted nothing more than to bone a plethora of starlets who would shake their junk up and down fancy martini soaked stages.

4: Black Wolves in ‘Wolfen’ (1981). The embodiment of gods or spirits? Super intelligent beings? Metaphor for the Native American plight? I’m not exactly sure what the definitive answer is, but the black wolves in 1981′s Wolfen are pretty bad-ass. Roaming the deserted streets of South Bronx ripping out the throats of executives and bums alike, these fuckers aren’t choosey. Interestingly they also have Predator vision (including Predator audio) a full six years before McTiernan’s sci-fi classic.

3: Gray Wolves in ‘Frozen’ (2010). These wolves aren’t particularly evil as such, they just know a free meal when they see one. But when Dan (Kevin Zegers) takes a tumble off the stricken chair-lift, breaking his leg in the process, the ensuing wolf attack is nail-bightingly savage and stomach churning. I mean seriously, can you imagine just sitting there as wolves chewed at you face-parts whilst the misses looked on from 50 feet above? Brutal.

2: Badass Alasken (presumably Gray Wolves) in ‘Grey’ (2012): These wolves select themselves for this list for one simple reason; If you’ve ever bare knuckle fought with Liam Neeson wearing broken glass gloves then you deserve to make any kind of Top 5 list, such as: Top 5 fights with Liam Neeson, Top 5 broken glass wolf fights, or Top 5 people from both Star Wars and Batman franchises that you’ve had a fight with if you’re a wolf. Oh and like the Frozen wolves they also bite faces off, which is neat.

1: The Gmork in ‘The Neverending Story’ (1984). One of the most terrifying sights from my childhood. The Gmork is freak-show, taunting and stalking poor Atreyu throughout Wolfgang Peterson’s classic children’s adventure. Yes he spends most of his time gurning through a whole in a wall with his animatronic snout lurching absurdly from side-to-side (you really feel for Alan Oppenheimer trying to match up the voice to the random mouth movements) but his piercing yellow eyes, protruding (double rowed) fangs, and fierce overbite have kept dry cleaners in business for three decades (yes that’s a pants soiling joke).

In 2010 I was invited to the UK press screening of Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. On a wet London evening I had to surrendor my cell phone and (embarrisingly old) backpack in exchange for a shinny press kit containing pages and pages of information praising the cast and crew who had ‘re-invented‘ a horror legend. Well, we all know how that turned out (see Deadly Movies review here). One such page heaped praise upon up-and-coming leading lady Rooney Mara, a real find and star  of the future it suggested, performing in her first real feature film of any notability. Deadly Movies was less than complimetary toward Mara’s performance back in 2010, in fact I barely mentioned her in the review at all (which is saying something as she was playing Nancy, one of slasher’s leading ladies). What little I did have to say about her can be found in these uninspiring words:

“ In trying so hard to make Nancy a ‘plain Jane’ (as opposed to Katie Cassidy’s hot but disposable blonde) the filmmakers have forgotten to give her any personality. In fact she’s incredibly boring.“

Ouch. So It’s time to eat some pie. And I don’t mean the kind of apple pie that only your mum makes. I talking hot, steaming, and surprisingly tasty, humble pie. Rooney Mara’s performance in David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the standout reason to see the movie (along with Fincher’s usual visual flair). The transformation in 12 short months from Nancy to Lisbeth is staggering. And hats off to Fincher for making this bold, brave, and very surprising casting. Mara’s physical transformation in both the literal and performance sense results in a wonderful display in a very demanding role. Not only was Fincher asking Mara to up her game tenfold for a role that involves traversing very heavy subject matter balanced with the always tricky obstacles of a foreign accent and well placed comic timing, but she also had that Elephant in the room to deal with; Noomi Rapace’s deservedly lauded turn as Lisbeth in the original Swedish Larsson-trilogy. In short It’s a mind blowing leap in performance that has rightly earned her an Oscar nod for best actress and, for me at least, the main reason I’m keen to see Fincher head back to Sweden for two more outings with Lisbeth and Mikael.

There’s always those moments in movies you forget about, especially in awesome and notorious films. You tend to remember those famous moments – sure you remember the Ghostbusters defeating the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man but do you remember than Ray gets a blowjob from a ghost (and yes that actually happens in the movie, take a look here)? When it comes to this Universal classic monster movie  you tend to recall those iconic moments like The Creature swimming upside-down stalking Julie Adams or carrying the poor swimsuit clad damsel through the corridors of his dark, dank cave (as immortalised in the infamous poster). So it always comes as a pleasant surprise upon re-watching that The Creature (aka stuntman Ben Chapman) gets set on fire and takes a swan-dive off the side of a boat, safely putting himself out in the recesses of his trusted Black Lagoon. Setting characters on fire is always a pretty cool spectacle for audiences. Setting a Universal classic monster on fire is all the more satisfying. And just to satisfy your burning (get it? Burning!?) curiosity, here’s a close up of The Creature having his face and tits well and truly barbecued.

Lets have a quick and very paraphrased history lesson. Back in 1996 Kevin Smith landed the dream gig of pitching his vision of a rebooted Superman to Warner Bros and producer Jon Peters. Smith’s never-made ‘Superman Lives‘ makes for long and fascinating reading. The project never made it to fruition because of major creative differences between Smith and Peters. Peters had some very misguided and very shortsighted ideas of how to approach a new Superman movie. Typical of the 90s approach to superhero films, Peters wanted to change the source material as much as possible, rather than embrace and celebrate it which, is thankfully the trend we largely see today. Amongst Peters’ demands were that Smith’s Superman was to wear a black costume (apparently red and blue was too “faggy”), wasn’t to fly (a Superman that doesn’t fly? Go figure), and had to fight a giant mechanical spider during the movie’s finale. Incidentally Peters would get a giant mechanical spider in 1999 in his totally not dogshit production ‘Wild Wild West‘. Smith actually managed to turn a script in that met all of these whims of a lunatic and was still removed from the project.

These daysWB has much more sense when its comes to its DC prpoerties (‘Green Lantern‘ aside, woops) and this is no more evident than in the wondrous animated features produced under the banner of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. 2007′s ‘Superman Doomsday‘ (a PG-13 with some pretty awesome slug-fest violence) features an animated version of none other than Kevin Smith taking a great side-swipe at Jon Peters. As Toyman scales a building in a (you guessed it) giant mechanical spider and is suitably nailed by clone-Superman, Smith can be heard saying “like we really needed him to bust up the mechanical spider right? Lame!” (and yes that is Smith’s voice). It’s a great moment that shows just how far WB has come in the treatment of its most valuable asset.

The Friday the 13th franchise is probably full of more moments of randomness and hilarity than any other famous horror franchise. The Friday films have never taken themselves quite as seriously as their counterparts, with directors and writers trying to insert in-jokes, parodies, and humour into tight budgets and short shooting schedules. There are far too many wacky scenes to fit into a Top 5, so consider the moments below as less definitive and more a homage to the oddness that distinguishes the wonderful world of Friday the 13th.

5: Jason turns into a little boy in his underwear in ‘Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan’ (1989): With a title that’s more reminiscent of ‘Debbie Does Dallas‘ than a horror movie, Friday the 13th Part 8 is a pretty campy two hours. Things take a turn for the really odd when the daddy of brutal homicide is incomprehensibly  turned into a child by sewage cleanser. Yep sewage cleanser. It turns out that after all that carnage all you had to do was throw toilet bleach at the big man.

4: Worm-thing Jason crawls up-skirt in ‘Jason Goes to Hell’ (1993): Ummm…, Jason is a worm thing when he’s not in his zombie body.., apparently. So when a body is needed Jason-Worm (who I guess is a bit like Brundle Fly) makes like a paparazzi in need of rent and heads for the nearest vagina. Classy.

3: Jason wears a fetching pair of Chinos in ‘Friday the 13th Part 3D’ (1982): Before joining the ranks of the unwashed undead, Jason just wanted to be a beloved member of the yachting fraternity. What better way to achieve this than to adorn a swell pair of Chinos. Not only does this fashion choice look ridiculous on one of horror’s great serial killers, it also makes him look like a science teacher at a high school dance.

2: Jason’s mask explodes in ‘Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood’ (1988): Ahh Tina, along with Tommy Jarvis, one of Friday’s most loved characters. And what better reason to love her than the fact she made Jason’s infamous hockey mask explode off his face revealing a kind of pissed off bulldog beneath. Unlike the FBI in Part 9, this explosive action isn’t caused by gun powder or air-strike but rather by the power of the teenage mind. Obviously.

1: Jason surfs an RV in ‘Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives’ (1986): Jason is surfing an RV with fire trails. That’s all I have to say on the matter.

Obviously there are many other cool moments in the Friday franchise, you can see some others here, like Crispin Glover does his wacky dance or Bernie from ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ makes his Friday debut. Sweet memories. Happy Friday the 13th everyone.

Feel free to share your favourite Friday moments below

Luke Halpin was once a smooth, baby-faced, teenage dreamboat. His satin-like face scrawled across countless teen magazines during the 1960s. Halpin was best known for his role as Sandy Ricks (a name almost as smooth as his goose-fat-like smooth face) in the ‘Flipper‘ movies and TV shows. But when Haplin had had his fill of teenage girls (not sure about the wording there) he moved onto to bigger, scarier, and hairier things. With new found man testosterone coursing through his veins, Halpin turned his hand to more adult movies including the fabulous 1977 Nazi-Zombie schlocker ‘Shock Waves‘. As the manly named Keith, Haplin grew an equally manly and notably noble moustache (equalled only by his flowing Greek-god-locks). Haplin’s moustache commands the screen and the respect of both Nazi-Zombies and 70′s hottie Brooke Adams. It’s moustaches like this that won the war.

Captain Max Cash has everything a man could desire; a tropical island life, a cooler full of beer, very small tight Speedo’s, a teenage blonde secretary, and a hot British client willing to wear nothing but bikinis during most social situations (played by the beautiful June Chadwick of ‘V‘ fame). The one thing Max doesn’t have (aside from better fitting swimming attire), ironically, is any cash.., an irony lost on this film. Director Wayne Crawford cast himself as Max Cash but sadly didn’t have the hindsight to make this a funny, self-knowong, action romp.., instead he made a piece of boring nonsense that sandwiches in some last minure satanic elements to try and sex-up the fact that it’s a dull TV movie at best which, should really have been nothing more than an episode pitch for ‘Macgyver‘.

Running around a tropical Island full of British and Australians in his tiny Speedo’s, Max and Sarah (Chadwick) search for the wreck of a sunken Spanish galleon which, has been cursed and therefore needs to be blown up rather than pillaged. When the movie tags on Its bizarre paranormal bookend to try and convince us this was an attempt at a horror movie, the bad-guy actually turns up in a hat and cape circa 1920s fiend tying a damsel to the train tracks. All of this would be hilariously entertaining if the movie knew how stupid this all was. But it doesn’t. Even funnier, Crawford has the balls to suggest a sequel, which oddly enough never came to be. Here’s to you Captain Max Cash, the man with no cash.

So let’s see a show of hands.., who out there has seen this Speedo fetish dream-boat?

You can see the other 17 movie’s you’ve probably never heard of here

With the Mayan calendar ticking down, Harold Camping moving his prediction forward a year, and Kim Jong-un sitting with his finger on the big red button, It’s easy to understand why some folks are getting a little tetchy about the coming end. But fear not, If movies have taught us anything It’s that a handful of humans will not only survive the apocalypse but maybe even have a little fun in the empty malls left behind. To clarify you won’t find your more infamous zombie flicks in here (aka the Romero movies) as you could fill a list with post-apocalyptic zombie movies alone. That’s for another day. So, here’s Deadly Movies favourite (non zombie) Post-Apocyalpse movies:

The Quiet Earth (1985): A real odd New Zealand treat this. No hideous post-fallout monsters or zombies. Just a seamlessly empty world inhabited by one man.., one man who’s eventually joined first by a young lady, and second by another competing alpha-male. It’s more of a character study of what the human mind might go though in such a scenario than most other movies of Its type. The reason behind the end of the world is a neat one, and so is the visually splendid ending.

When Worlds Collide (1951): I love this movie. It gets to the point nice and early. A huge planet is going to crash into the earth and destroy it. Fact. End of. No amount of Bruce Willis space missions can do shit about it. So on with the movie which essentially is about building a rocket to get a handful of humans (only 40!) off the planet on an escape-craft. The science is insane in places (the planet mankind will repopulate is a moon belonging to the planet that will destroy Earth.., a planet spinning out of control though space??) but the human interplay is great and the finality from the beginning particularly unique. OK you have to wait to the end for this to be strictly ‘post-apocalyptic’ but that end scene is hilariously entertaining, with the human survivors taking their first steps onto their new home.., a Disney-esque watercolour painting worthy of Uncle Remus.

The Last Man on Earth (1964): There’s nothing better than watching Vincent Price run around the streets of post-apocalpse Rome steaking mutant vampires to death in the first movie adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. Yep Price is battier than a bucket of turds as he shuffles about the place narrating to himself. A great late night watch.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981): The quintessential modern post-apocalyptic movie. Most movies since have taken their visual cue from George Miller’s followup to his 1979 ‘Mad Max’. Plus this was a time when it wasn’t just ok, but actually cool to like Mel Gibson, a truly apocalyptic thought. If you think of the post apocalyptic world as long desert roads and one-eyed biker pillagers then this is where it all comes from.

The Road (2009): Depressing as hell (in a good way) vision of a bleak, terrifying future where one man and his son simply have to survive the hardships of a ruined earth and the ruined remains of mankind and its social rules. Like ‘The Quiet Earth’ there’s no mutants or monsters here, but there’s also no malls or nice apartment buildings to romp around in looking for PS3′s or fashion montages. Unrelentingly oppressive.

On The Beach (1959): A very different approach to the post apocalyptic world where all survivors of a nuclear holocaust live in Australia, including Gregory Peck, Anthony Perkins, Fred Astaire, and Ava Gardner.., now that sounds like a future worth saving. This is more melodrama than it is mutant horror, highway adventure, or brooding depression. Though the threat of Australia suffering the inevitable same fate of the rest of the planet constantly hangs over the movie.

Also see: ‘The World, The Flesh, and The Devil‘ (1959), ’Panic In Year Zero‘ (1962), ‘La Jetee‘ (1962), ‘The Omega Man‘ (1971), ‘A Boy and His Dog‘ (1975), ‘Delicatessen‘ (1991), ‘12 Monkeys‘ (1995).

With 2011 behind us Deadly Movies previews some pick movie choices for 2012.

Hostel Part III (December 2011/January 2012): The news that the third part of the torture-porn franchise would be a direct to DVD release was never overly promising, especially now that Eli Roth has taken a complete creative backseat. Interestingly the torture has been bought home (for domestic audiences anyway) to America, specifically Vegas (which does sound fun). Obviously only for fans of Parts 1 and 2.

The Grey (January 27): I love survival movies. And when a survival movie is essentially Liam Neeson vs wolves, i’m in. Neeson and his oil drilling buddies crash land in the Alaskan wilderness and have to duke it out with a bunch of hungry hounds. I’m sure Fox news will take great pleasure in pointing the finger at liberal Hollywood for depicting oil workers getting their comeuppance from nature. Oh and Neeson has a beard, and he always kicks ass with a beard.

The Wicker Tree (January 27): By my calculations It’s been 38 years since ‘The Wicker Man’, making this one of the longest periods between original and sequel in history (there was 43 years between ‘It Came From outer Space‘ and the imaginatively titled ‘It Came From Outer Space 2‘). Hilariously this is only director Robin Hardy’s third movie over his 38 year career, averaging one film every 12 and a half years. Now that’s a work level I can aspire to. Don’t expect this to match the wonderment of  ’The Wicker Man‘ but you can expect a similar plot (but lighter tone) when young American Christians preach the good gospel door-to-door in Scotland, with less than evangelical consequences.

Husk (January 28): If it wasn’t for the setting this probably wouldn’t make the list. But this standard looking teenage-stalk-and-slash looks to be lifted by the always effective setting of corn fields, run down farm buildings, and best of all scarecrows. Clearly calling on the 1988 movie ‘Scarecrows‘, this has a chance to hold it’s head above the rest of the standard modern slasher crap.

The Woman in Black (February 3): A period haunted house movie that checks all the boxes: Scary looking isolated old building, kids with spooky British accents, eyes missing from photographs, warnings scribed into the wall, mysterious figures roaming the corridor, and that bloke what plays Harry Potter. It may look all a bit familiar, but the production values look grand and I’m sure Mr Radcliffe wouldn’t choose any old pap for his first notable solo outing since Lord Voldemort  bit the dust.

[REC]3 Genesis (March 30, Spain): Deadly Movies’ absolute favourite modern zombie franchise returns with a third instalment. Whether or not director Paco Plaza can keep up the feverous pace of [REC] 1 and 2 will be the watermark for this one. The fantastically playful teaser trailer doesn’t let on much except that someone is about to have a very bad wedding day AND importantly, the first person point-of-view camera technique looks to have been ditched in favour of the traditional filmmaking approach.

The Cabin In The Woods (Aril 13): The Joss Whedon written, Chris Hemsworth starring, distortion of the familiar kids get lost in woods tale finally gets it’s theatrical release. And about time too. This looks like a slick and clever genre movie that will keep audiences guessing as to the nasty meanies causing all kinds of hell for the poor unfortunate teens that have stumbled across the worse possible cabin in the woods.

Prometheus (June 1): Perhaps the biggest Deadly Movie of the year? Certainly THE biggest sci-fi event of the year. Ridly Scott returns to the genre that made him famous, and more importantly, the film that made him infamous.., ‘Alien‘. While it’s seems certain that there’ll be no xenomorphs (aka the Alien) in the movie, It’s now undeniable that this is an Alien Prequel and not just a same universe story. It looks stunning, very intriguing, the cast is fabulous, and It’s Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel. Tell me, what’s not to like?

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (June 22): High concept period horror is going to be hot over the next few years as the genre pillages legends of the past for new narratives. Books, or ‘books’, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for  Christmas will no doubt be next. In the mean time we’ll settle for America’s greatest president revenging his mother’s murder at the hands of nasty blood suckers.

Halloween 3D (August/September): File under ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’, but Dimension are pushing for a 3rd Halloween movie (In 3D.., yay) in time for 2012. The creative’s in place, but with nothing yet shooting this’ll have to get behind the lens quickly to avoid being a 2013 release. Either way, no matter what the story, Michael Myers is always welcome back in the theatre.

The Lords of Salem (TBC, likely September): Divisive director Rob Zombie’s first movie since his equally divisive ‘Halloween‘ movies sees him visit one of horror’s most infamous locations, Salem. Plot-wise this is right up Zombie’s alley: Vinyl rock records that bring back the ancient lords of Salem and with them their lust for man-flesh. RZ fans will delight in the cast, filled to the brim with Zombie regulars and genre journeymen.

World War Z (December 21): Not too much is known about how closely Marc Forster’s film will stick to the Max Brooks beloved zombie novel, but with Brad Pitt at the head of the cast It’s certainly, curiously intriguing. The structure is of most interest, given that the book is largely a collection of first person accounts about the great Zombie War. It has the potential to be the zombie movie of the year.

2011 was a funny year in horror. The remake itch is certainly being scratched less by the major studios, a mixture of poor public response and the well being all-but-dry of titles has seen to that. Paranormal Activity continues to be the new annual Halloween tradition, filling the void left by SAW. It was also a much better year for Indie horror, with some absolute gems getting wider recognition in theatres or on DVD. Scandinavia also continues to be the game leader in quirky, beautifully crafted, fairy-tale horror. So looking at the horror genre with broad strokes as ever (inc sci-fi, creatures, monsters etc) let’s take a look at Deadly Movies favourites.

10, ‘Scream 4′: For sheer nostalgia reasons, and for the fact that it was much better than anticipated, Wes Craven’s return to the franchise creeps into the Top 10. Yes Craven shoved the ‘Meta’ message down your throat until you gagged uncontrollably, and yes the plot was unspeakably silly, but the fact remains that for genre fans it was great to see Gail, Dewey, and Sydney back together again fighting Ghost Face. All the boxes were checked for the series fans, and the gore was surprisingly gruesome. And you have to take your hat off to Craven for duping us into thinking this would be a Scream The Next generation type hand-over, when in fact the ending most certainly suggests otherwise.

9, ‘Rise of the Apes’: Perhaps the biggest surprise of the year in terms of exceeding expectations, ‘Rise of the Apes‘ was not just a highly enjoyable slice of creature Sci-Fi, but it also fitted surprisingly well into the larger ‘Apes’ cannon. The movie was always going to live or die by it’s success in portraying a fully CG Cesar (voiced and motion capture by Andy Serkis) and despite some dodgy moments (especially when depicting Young Cesar who’s often a blur) Weta Workshops did a fantastic job, not only with Cesar, but with all the apes. The tie-in’s to the 1968 original were spot on, the action was decent, and the set-up for future movies was handled well. Aside from some superfluous characters, this was top-notch creature sci-fi.

8, ‘Insidious’: I can hear fans of James Wan now calling for my head. But as good a haunted house/possession/exorcism film as this is.., and it really is, all the terror and suspense was let down by a silly final 15 minutes when Patrick Wilson entered the Beetlejuice-esque netherworld. That aside though, the rest of the movie is about as butt clenchingly chilling as you could find in 2011, and for me, much better than the fun, but all to obvious, scares offered by the Paranormal Activity sequels.

7, ‘The Thing’: What a crowd splitter this turned out to be. To those who hold John Carpenter’s original in such high regard (I am one) that it can’t be touched, sequeled, remade (I am not.., IT IS A REMAKE YOU MORONS!) then there was probably nothing that director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr could do to please them anyway. But the end result was a love letter to Carpenter’s masterpiece rather than a slander on it’s reputation as some would have you believe. And for true fans that is no bad Thing (pun intended). The CGI creature effects were a real shame, surely practical effects were the way to go? And the remake elements of the plot were a safe but rather unsatisfying aspect. But the film’s strength lies in its prequel elements which were a real joy, and I for one loved how the film ended by playing straight into Carpenter’s original.

Read the Deadly Movies review here

6, ‘Black Swan’: (2010 for some, 2011 for others). Not necessarily a horror film as such, but then again not unnecessarily a horror film. The investigation into one person’s personal horror was something to be celebrated by horror fans and learnt from by filmmakers. This is how you successfully convey a characters internalised horror. What Natalie Portman’s character goes through in the movie, whether real, projected, or both, is fantastically realised by Aronofsky who brings the audience right into her world and makes you feel very uncomfortable and clostrophobic. Plus the fingernail and toenail scenes are bloody excruciating!

Read the Deadly Movies review here

5, ‘I Saw the Devil’: Intense! Korean horror delivers another intense, visceral, and disturbing movie. The movie  takes the serial killer revenge narrative and squeezes every ounce of tension and disturbia out of it. Reminiscent of everything you love about ‘The Silence of the Lambs‘, ‘I Saw the Devil‘ is a lesson in repulsive violence without the need for obvious gratuity. The two leads are fantastic, with Min-sik Choi delivering a performance worthy of Hannibal Lector, John Doe, and Albert DeSalvo with his Kyung-Chul. But the real success is director Ji-woon Kim who keeps things tight and deliberate to make you feel all the more ill at ease.

4, ‘Super 8′: Wonderful alien movie from JJ Abrams that manages to evoke all the very best from the adventure movies of the 80s without the need for parody. The real success of this movie is the child cast who were given great material to work with and didn’t have everything dumbed down which is the temptation with most movies that have attempted to recapture the magic of films like ET and The Goonies. It is a nostalgia-fest, but deep down it’s not nostalgic for the past, or even the music and fashions, but for a type of story telling which seemed to have escaped most filmmakers (including Spielberg himself it must be said).

Read the Deadly Movies review here

3, ‘Rubber’: “Ladies and gentleman, the film you are about to see today is an homage to no reason“. This is opening line delivered to us, the poor unexpecting audience, who, are about to watch 90 some minutes of the most bizarre, Americana cinema you could’ve wished for in 2011. if you didn’t get to see ‘Rubber‘ then search it out if your sensibilities are attracted to the notion of a crazed, murderous tire. Yes a car tire. An actual car tire. The murder is an abandoned old tire. Yes a tire that rolls through the desert coming accross equally strange groups of people and at times killing them. Not only that the tire also manages a few every day tasks; it takes a swim, has a shower, watches TV, and even checks into a motel for the night. There’s so much more to say, but It’s hard to get it all in given the true madness of this movie and It’s in your face destruction of the cinematic fourth-wall. It’s just bat-shit crazy, but loveably awesome.

2, ‘Attack the Block’: All the very best of British to you. This fantastic British sci-fi is as entertaining as it is thoughtful. Not only does it provide an excellent alien invasion narrative, it also manages to both poke-fun at the absurdity chav culture whilst simultaneously commenting on the causes of it and the difficulties faced by those born into Britain’s growing, ghettoised, under-class. What exactly a chav is may be lost on non-British viewers, but the dialogue between the excellent teenage cast is razor sharp and hugely enjoyable for anyone. The film cleverly navigates celebrating or condemning this social group which is to the credit of writer/director Joe Cornish. All of this plus giant space bear-dogs attacking a London council block. Superb, and a real standout in 2011.

1, ‘Troll Hunter’: Call me romantic, but I just can’t get enough of these Scandinavian horror fairytales and I don’t seem to be alone here, with almost every Scandinavian horror from the past ten years either in the process of being remade or in some stage of development. Shot in perhaps my least favourite style, fake first person documentary, the search to uncover a government secret which keeps Norway’s troll problem hidden from the public is simply a wonderful concept. It’s a romantic journey to go on and the characters are great to spend time with, especially the Troll Hunter himself Hans. As for the trolls, well they are fantastically realised, walking the fine line between realism and watercolour sketches from a children’s book. It’s probably my bias towards creature features, but for me Troll Hunter was the Deadly Movie of 2011.