21. The Host (2006)
For the most part, CGI deserves the bad rap it gets these days, but every so often somebody gets it just right. The Host is another victory for mixed messages, as much an absurd family dramedy as it is a horror movie--but the film's monster is a Promethean triumph of special effects, and the way it rampages across the banks of the Han River reminds you of why we thought computerizing our monsters was a good idea to begin with. You can't help but believe in this freakbeast, whose relatively small size and slimy versimilitude help it to reach Jurassic Park levels. The Host's environmentalist edge has gained a little extra poignance from the disastrous BP spill, but the film is so offbeat that it blunts the social comment a little. That's okay, because this is a one-of-a-kind creature feature that succeeds on its own terms. The obligatory (and late) American remake is reportedly in the offing, and it really seems like more of a doomed endeavor than usual: the original is so quirky and singular that even the upcoming sequel may be hard-pressed to replicate its magic.
20. Saw (2004)
After six sequels and numerous imitators, it's easy to forget what the original Saw is actually like. Watch it again, and chances are you'll find that (1) it's not really as bloody as you remember, and (2) it's still damned entertaining. Saw is essentially a mystery, with terrific pacing that feeds us new information bit by bit, as we struggle along with Dr. Gordon and Adam to figure out just what the hell is happening to them. It's not an especially scary film in my opinion, but it is a tense and compelling one, with a personality all its own. Honestly, I think comparisons to Seven are a bit misplaced and superficial; the real forefather of Saw is the terrific 1997 sci-fi thriller Cube, which also offers a blood-drenched take on game theory. But where Cube revels in its own refusal to provide answers, Saw is all about the Seinfeldian tie-up, with a twist ending that still works better than many of its contemporaries.
19. Marebito (2004)
Takashi Shimizu apparently shot Marebito in just eight days, while he was between incarnations of Ju-on. But don't make the mistake of thinking this is a throwaway: it's actually a huge departure from the harrowing, merciless Ju-on series, and an altogether unearthly, hallucinogenic head trip. The opening plays with your expectations, making you think you're headed into familiar J-ghost haunt-and-kill territory, but before long things start to get...odd. There's still the requisite riff on modern technology and alienation, but Marebito sucks you into a surreal fever dream more reminiscent of David Lynch or Cronenberg than any ghost story this side of H.P. Lovecraft. But unlike Lynch at his worst, Marebito is always coherent, while still offering a myriad of possible interpretations--and its underlying plot has that same eternal, folkish resonance found in the best J-horror. (The title can be rendered, in an eerie English translation, as "The Stranger from Afar.") In its depiction of an everyman disappearing down a rabbit hole of uncanny weirdness, it's also not unlike the work of Shinya Tsukamoto (the filmmaker behind Tetsuo: The Iron Man, amongst others), who also happens to be the film's star. The closest comparison might be Uzumaki, but I actually find Marebito both more watchable and even more bizarre. Compared to the brute minimalism of Ju-on, Marebito is a heady blend of ideas, mixing arcane lore, literary allusions, urban legends and dense, symbolic social comment. There's really nothing else like it.
18. Piranha (2010)
As a Joe Dante superfan, I was dubious about this one for sure. And at first, Piranha (3D) (2010) (Parentheses) seemed to be trying to antagonize me: by the time I got to the pandering Pixies reference I was ready to give up. But I'm glad I stuck around, because in the last act this pic becomes the most hysterical, over-the-top operatic bloodbath imaginable, like Julie Taymor's Titus with more dick jokes. This is a movie in the same spirit as the early Peter Jackson flicks or Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, with (literally) gallons of blood, pinballing punk energy, and a tongue planted so firmly in cheek that it threatens to tear its own face off. It even offers a kind of metacomment on the plague of CGI, shoving what seem to be deliberately shitty effects in your face whenever the screen isn't filled with gore and/or nudity (i.e. rarely). Alexandre Aja, the auteur behind dire bloodbaths like High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes remake, gets in touch with his inner goof here, and the results are priceless. Ludicrous, endlessly fun and totally unconcerned with the boring herbs that'll never take it seriously anyway, Piranha is the "Touch Me, I'm Sick" of horror movies. (How's that for an "indie rock" reference, you Hollywood hacks?!)
17. Dark Water (2002)
One of the weak spots in a lot of J-ghost movies is the flat, interchangeable characters; so much energy is invested in creating haunting imagery and atmosphere that the human element fades into the background. (This is partially by design, since a lot of these movies are about the dehumanization and anomie of modern life.) Not so with Dark Water, a film that depicts two of the most sympathetic, fragile characters you can imagine sinking deeper and deeper into a waking nightmare. This is Hideo Nakata's de facto follow-up to The Ring, but you could almost be forgiven for thinking it's a Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie, as Nakata channels Kurosawa's genius for location scouting to create a film world that positively seethes with menace. Nakata will likely never escape comparisons to his own pathbreaking megahit, but this might honestly be his best work: in contrast with the annihilating, spectral power of movies like Ringu and Ju-on, Dark Water is a heartbreakingly human film about love and loss. (The American remake, while not a terribly-made film by any means, is nonetheless the worst of all worlds: extremely faithful to the original, but significantly less frightening. Avoid it.)
Next time on Revenge of the '00s: bumps in the night, fast zombies, man-shaped stains, yet another holiday gone awry, and THAT scene.
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