antichrist

Even though I got my start writing about horror by creating a blog called Horror's Not Dead, I don't jive with the idea that good horror is becoming an endangered species. Sure, who is actually making and delivering good horror is always in a state of flux, but considering the sheer crop of films to choose from is constantly on the rise, there will always be gems to found. Now before getting to the list proper, let's explain my own personal criteria for what qualifies as a 2009 film.

Basically, what matters is if the film was given its widest release during the course of the year. For example, despite being first shown publicly years ago, I consider Trick 'r Treat an eligible title, as 2009 finally found it going wide (albeit straight-to-video). Daybreakers, on the other hand, played a few festivals in 2009 but will not have its wide release until 2010. Conversely, most people in America won't see [REC] 2 until 2010 or beyond, but it went wide in its native Spain in 2009, thus it is eligible. Make sense? On to the show!

10. Paranormal Activity
I went back and forth on excluding Paranormal Activity from my Top 10 list because, really, it didn't do much for me in the scare department. I found it pulse pounding to watch for the first time, but it has scarcely popped into my brain since then. However, I do remain in awe of what Oren Peli accomplished with a mere $15,000. I have a lot of respect for the process that goes into engineering any thrill ride, so to speak, so even if it didn't severely impact me, it still commands a placement.

9. Thirst (my review)
Chan-wook Park's Thirst is, hands down, not only the best vampire film of the year, but I'd put it in league with another similarly atypical fang-set film, Let the Right One In. It's not particularly scary, but it is a deft, engrossing blend of lust and violence that gets back to the eroticism of the vampire that no film (or TV show) has properly explored in years. If you're feeling burned out on vampires these days, and that would be perfectly understandable, at least put this in your Must Watch queue simply because it's another brilliant film from the mind of the man who gave the world Oldboy.

The influence of Lars von Trier's latest magnum opus Antichrist reaches far and wide. The overarching theme of the film, "chaos reigns," became the unofficial slogan of Fantastic Fest, and although recently cancelled to legal issues, CHUD.com and IFC sponsored a "make your own Antichrist poster" contest so that similarly disturbed individuals could artistically express their love for what has come to be, for me, one of the worst horror films of the year.

This sort of reaction is not what I would have expected from such a brilliant filmmaker. My experience with the film prior to viewing it was simply reading the words, "Lars von Trier to make a horror film called Antichrist," and that was all that was needed to get the anticipation flowing through my veins. What we have here, then, is another example of the hype machine working its magic, instilling in me expectations that can in no way be met or exceeded.

Antichrist features all of two people throughout its muddled storyline. A nameless couple, played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, are grieving over the loss of their child Nic, who fell out of the window while the two made love. Although He has begun to come to terms with the death of his child, She has trouble moving on, collapsing at his funeral and waking up in the hospital. From there He, a therapist, decides to take her care into his own hands. Eventually they end up at a cabin in a forest named Eden, which turns out to be the focal point of her fear and the location at which She, along with her son, spent time working on her thesis, which focused on the subject of gynocide. Once there strange things start to happen. Genital mutilation ensues.

So Peter got all excited for the first wave of announced titles for Fantastic Fest, despite having never been before. Then Scott brought the love when it came to the second announcement, having been time and time before. And now it's my turn to assure you that, after having only attended last year, I really, truly can't wait for this year's festivities to kick off, and the most recent reveal of what's on the slate certainly didn't hurt my interest.

The controversial Antichrist will make its U.S. premiere, as will [REC] 2 (hec yeah!). The director of Ninja Assassin will be there with his film, the stars of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant will be there with theirs (read: John C. Reilly), and the very clever Hirsute bodes well for the shorts program to boot. And there'll even be a couple of secret screenings that we can only hope our fellow Twitter types will have the courtesy not to spoil prior.

Check out the rest after the jump. 17 more days!

By Jenni Miller

What does Willem Dafoe's junk, a talking fox, and a dead child all have in common? Well, they're going to star in a video game adaptation of Lars von Trier's Antichrist courtesy of Morten Iversen, a developer with some serious credentials in the world of game geekery. Formerly of Io Interactive, Iversen now works at von Trier's Zentropa production company.

Russ Frushtick over at MTV Multiplayer tracked down Iversen to ask him what the hell is up with this project, so to speak, and here's what he had to say.

"Von Trier has been extremely fond of video games for ages, and has been an avid player of 'Alone in the Dark,'" explained Iverson. "He's been circulating the idea internally... that making games would be a good idea." He describes it as "a nightmarish version of 'Myst.'"

("Alone in the Dark"? Really? Come on, Lars!)

But apparently Zentropa's game dev people have some rather cool ideas in mind. If dead kids aren't your biggest fear in life, you can tweak your profile to indicate what scares you most and the game will respond in kind.