As predicted last year, my top 10 has been heavily influenced by my trip to Fantastic Fest in September with four films breaking into the list from that particular event. Admittedly, I have missed a lot of hyped releases this year and won’t get chance to catch up now until 2014, but it’s still a pretty solid top 10.
Not a great year in terms of volume for me, averaging roughly 20 movies a month. That meant I had to be very careful with my viewings. And aside from the occasional side-step – Nukie and Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut – I managed to see some pretty great older movies.
The top 3 were so hard to separate as nothing I have seen this year has stuck with me more than these three movies. I could watch either of them again right now. In fact, I find these almost impossible to compile in order past the first 5 or 10, so don’t pay too much attention to the numbers as you go down. And there were far too many honourable mentions to list. Yes, even more than I already have.
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I am fortunate each year to avoid bad movie experiences, and am always very careful with what content I allow my eyes and ears to soak up. I guess having a huge watch-list means I am never short of solid options, but some will always catch me off guard.
Like last year, I actually struggled to compile 10 movies for this list, and so Percy Jackson was a late addition, but one I did not really enjoy, despite being a huge fan of the first. I guess you could call this a bottom 9 list.
I was roped into catching the Metallica ‘film’ at Fantastic Fest, believing it had some sort of narrative. It did not. It’s a Metallica concert video, nothing more. I fell asleep five times during this shower of shit, constantly fighting the urge to rest my head on Eric Vespe’s shoulder throughout. Can I even class it as a movie? Maybe the worst experience is better. I am doing so anyway.
And I so wanted either Septic Man or Evil Dead to remain at the number 1 spot too…
I only wish I had the time or effort to go into each selection with greater detail.
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2013 has probably been one of the driest years in a long time for VHS hauls. Relying on internet forums and the usual auction sites such as ebay and Amazon is not the way I like to secure tapes, but after a miserable car boot season, and very few leads to call my own, I have had little choice other than to revert to such avenues for my video pleasures.
This was until I found a guy online who was selling hundreds of rare pre-cert VHS tapes (his own personal collection). Unlike car boot discoveries, he was looking for a lot of money for them, and rightly so, as i’d seen some photos and there were treats aplenty.
I cheekily got in touch and offered him a set amount, which was way below his asking price, but acceptable if he wasn’t able to sell them and wanted to shift the entire lot as soon as possible. Luckily, he accepted my offer.
The VHS Horror All-nighter at the Prince Charles Cinema, London.
After the mildly successful VHS all-nighter in late July, I was this time offered a second opportunity to unleash some magnetic mayhem on a crowd, but with the films all being of a horror nature this time. Like always, there are certain limitations to the selection, but this is never a problem.
