Top 10 Sci-Fi, Horror & Fantasy Films of 2005 (Adam’s Picks)

9.  OLDBOY (Korea, 2004)

Award-winning slick and gruesome revenge thriller that sealed Chan Woon Park as a name to watch in International Cinema.  Just don’t mention that bloody ending! The flick also boasts an awesome orchestral soundtrack well worth buying on its own.

8.  SERENITY (US, 2005)

Cancelled in first season TV show rises from the grave as big budget kick-ass sci-fi adventure film. And deservedly so.  Captain Mal reminds us why the new S-Wars Trilogy so badly needed a Han Solo character: sure he’s a scoundrel, but he makes for bloody fun viewing.

7.  ONG BAK (Thailand, 2005)

No wires, no CGI, just shockingly real fight scenes, done the old-fashioned way in this young apprentice coming of age story. This is the film that introduced a new name in Asian Action Cinema for us to keep our eyes on:  the ridiculously youthful yet extremely gifted Tony Jaa.  Now if he could just work on deepening his voice…

6.  KING KONG (US, 2005)

The film that reminds us why we should still be greatful for $200 million dollar Hollywood film budgets. Occasionally they fall into the hands of a true genius, in this case, Peter Jackson.  This guy knows how to tell epic fairytales through characters and moments you’ll care about.  See this film, and find yourself sympathizing with a 25 foot tall CGI-enhanced ape.  And of course thrilled by jaw-dropping dinosaur fight sequences that put Jurassic Park to shame.

5. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DORKS (Germany, 2004)

Audience favourite at numerous film festivals worldwide: it’s Ferris Bueller meets Dawn of the Dead. This wonderfully endearing Cinderella zombie story has something for everyone: flesh eating teens, sex, drugs, and comedy, all accompanied by a kick-ass German punk rock soundtrack. A guilty pleasure and then some.

4. WOLF CREEK (Australia, 2005)

Shocking gets-under-your-skin slasher road movie, based on actual events, shot in a brutally realistic style. This is Blair Witch meets Texas Chainsaw, and boy, is it hard to watch some scenes. Full of twists and turns as the killer plays cat and mouse with three trapped young ‘guests’. Guaranteed this film will leave you emotionally drained by the end. Although this wouldn’t normally be my cup of tea, I ended up really thrilled by the ride.

3.  SHUTTER (Thailand, 2004)

My favourite horror film in perhaps a decade, and from Thailand of all places! Sure it’s derivative of J-Horror (long black haired dead girl terrorizing a group of people to their deaths). But the WAY this slick supernatural thriller chiller reveals its story through twists and turns, disturbing events, and awesome sound effects, will leave you shrieking with fear and delight.  And has one of the cleverest endings to a horror film I have ever seen.

2.EVIL ALIENS,(UK, 2005)

Sci-Fi – Horror splatter comedy of the highest order.  This homage to early Peter Jackson (Brain Dead) throws everything at the screen and then some: Killer Aliens, scantily clad TV presenters, endearingly geeky UFO spotters, sheep-shagging shotgun-wielding farmers and of course buckets of blood. If you can appreciate Evil Aliens in the over-the-top spirit it’s been so obviously made, you’ll agree it’s pure genius. And did I mention the jaw-droppingly impressive CGI special effects?  Good unclean bloody fun. 

1. STRINGS (Denmark, 2004)

Stunning storytelling, art direction, music and fight scenes litter this mythical, magical fantasy adventure. OK so the tagline imagine Lord of the Rings as told with puppets on strings doesn’t sound that amazing.  But there’s a reason this epic has been winning awards across Europe, and left audiences at FantasticFest Austin stunned . Four years in the making, you will be blown away at the detail and beauty of this masterpiece. My top film of the year.

CLOSING PLUG: A NEW FILM FESTIVAL FOR FANS OF TWITCHFILM

Maybe it’s just me, but especially with fantastic cinema of the kind I’ve plugged above, I find it’s just not the same watching it on the small screen! Also I find there’s nothing better than the phenomenal atmosphere of being in a theatre at a film premiere of a great new SF, Horror or Fantasy film surrounded by an excited and appreciative festival audience. 

That’s one of the main reasons Todd and I and a bunch of other fantastic film enthusiasts are working on launching the After Dark Film Festival this coming year. We’ll be premiering in Toronto on the big screen a number of the films that have been featured in posts on Twitchfilm, We hope many of you can come and join us all at the Bloor Cinema for what promises to be a thrilling cinematic event, during October 19-22, 2006.

Oh and it’s not just cinema-viewing pleasure we’ll be getting up to, we’ll be partaking of more than a few drinks and fun conversations over TWO festival parties book-ending the festival.  More news including announcements of the official line-up coming as we go through 2006.

If you’d like to lend a hand in launching the film festival or are thinking of attending, just send me an e-mail, and I’ll add you to our Festival Alert List (we’ll be sending out monthly updates from early 2006 onwards).

Hope to see many of you in October, if not sooner!

Have a Very Happy 2006.

Adam

Adam Lopez
Festival Director - After Dark Film Festival