The 10 Best B-Movies of 2011

 

Now that we're at the end of the year, every Site seems to be doing a 'Top 10 Movies of 2011' list and it made me want to do my own - but not some generic list that you can find on any site, that would include mostly all the same films as each other - no, I wanted to do one such list that fits my personal tastes - a list of the 10 Best B-Movies of 2011! Now to be honest, this entire list is pretty much being done on the spot, with no research behind it other then my own memory of what I've seen so far this year and which ones still stick out as having been really good in my memory after all this time, so forgive me if I ended up forgetting some by accident. Also, there is still plenty of movies from this year that I haven't yet seen, so it's possible I've potentially skipped over a few diamonds in the rough due to that as well, since this list is based off what I've actually watched myself.

The following list won't be in any specific order, as I clearly love all of them for them to even be on the list, so putting them in any kind of ranking order is a bit moot.


- Asylum puts out one or two movies about every single month, at least. Some are honestly not that good, at all, but most are a blast of low budget cheesy fun, and out of those ones this mockbuster of the more well-known Battle: Los Angeles has got to be one of my all-time favorites. You can read my full, previously-released, review of Battle of Los Angeles here.






- With the amount of movies Asylum releases, it's no surprise that more then one would make their way onto this list. This is the movie that Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus promised to be, but stumbled to deliver. Mega Python vs Gatoroid is filled with non-stop cheese and laughs from beginning to end, with 80's pop sensations Tiffany and Debbie Gibson stealing the show from the title creatures on more then one occasion. This is how you make a fun low budget monster movie.




- This one originally aired on TV in 2010, but was released on DVD and BluRay this year, so I'm counting it as a 2011 movie. Roger Corman is famous for a ton of well-known B movies from the 60's onwards and he returns this decade with Sharktopus - a movie that you can pretty much accurately guess what you'll be in store for based off just the title and cover art. Pure cheesy goodness all the way through with never a dull moment. This is one that one day I hope to see a sequel to.




- Hostel: Part III may not be as good as the first, but way better then the horrid second movie, and quite faithful to the tone of the series despite that it's not made by Eli Roth. Some really nice kills and unexpected twists throughout. Should have ended 5 minutes earlier then it did though, as the actual ending wasn't nearly as good or leave as much of an impact as the 'first ending'.






- Honestly, there's not really any plot to speak of with this movie, just seemingly random scene after random scene. But it's entertaining random scene after entertaining random scene, filled with really inventive and gory zombie kills by way of a whole slew of unique weapons, within some great post-apocalyptic set pieces, making it really feel like a fast-paced FPS video game adaptation. Plus it has Zombie Tigers.




- I'm never one to turn down a made-for-TV creature feature, but it's always an added bonus when it actually turns out good. Swamp Shark stars the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer as she battles a really old, really vicious shark that has made it's way into the swamp lands of her small town. Both the CGI shots, and the quick practical shots of the shark were surprisingly detailed and well-done, and the movie itself had a better-then-average plot, filled with better-then-average actors for this kind of flick. This one was a blast and a half.




- I love the Spanish horror flick [Rec]. I'm also one of the few that love the American remake of it, Quarantine. And as much as I enjoyed [Rec] 2, I'm glad this direct-to-video sequel decided to go its own path, because to my surprise, I ended up liking Quarantine 2: Terminal even more then I did the first Quarantine. Well-worth checking out for fans of the first, because this one is not only better, but also builds upon it in ways I never expected. It's more then one of my favorite B-Movies of the year - it's also one of my favorite horror movies of the year.




- While this is a sequel-in-name-only, when it comes to going direct-to-video that's almost a better route to take sometimes. This however felt like it could have easily gone to theaters. It was highly entertaining with a competently-written script, filled with very well-acted characters, excellent use of genuine tension, some really fun and explosive action scenes, and a creepy villain that you just love to hate. What more can you ask for in an Action B-Movie?




- Asylum's modern-day mockbuster of this classic story is pure adrenaline-fueled entertainment from beginning to end, with fun quirky characters that I never got tired of following, and well choreographed action scenes. Even has a couple of sword fights thrown in for good measure, which is quickly becoming a staple of Asylum action flicks. I wouldn't mind at all seeing further adventures of this group of Mission: Impossible wannabes.




- Sure, the actors may not be the greatest, the dialog is atrocious, and parts of the script are incredibly messy - but it's still the best of the Howling sequels, and overall a pretty damn fun little popcorn werewolf movie, with a gothic castle-like school as it's main setting. They also stick to mostly old-school practical man-in-suit effects for the werewolves which I can very much appreciate, keeping the design pretty close to the design of the werewolves from the original movie (which is something none of the other sequels ever bothered to do). As a werewolf fan, despite it's shortcomings, I can't help but see the genuine effort that went into this one and enjoy it based on that alone. The gory kills and fun werewolf-on-werewolf fights help as well though.

Honorable Mention

- I have a few too many issues with this one to count it as among 'The Best' of the year, but despite those issues it's still a really entertaining movie if you're a fan of the series thus far, and it's extremely short runtime (about an hour if you don't count the opening and closing credits) helps you to overlook a lot of it's problems because the movie moves at such a fast pace that it's over before you have much time to think. If you're not a fan of the previous two movies though, then there's no need for you to attempt this one because nothing in this will make you like it above the others.