Orphan (2009)

Brilliant! Collet-Serra finally got his hands on a decent cast (lets forget that he made House of Wax with a certain Paris Hilton) and a compelling script. The evil-children motif shows that it still got some juice left in it after all these years. Without resorting to fantastic or paranormal, this little gem shows that you can still accomplish quality horror (dare I say 'thriller') with a mere simple dose of psychology. This is not to say that it lacks any action, and by the end the crowd was cheering with each hit and gasping at every scare. Overall, Collet-Serra playfully riffs off on all the familiar horror tricks yet makes it fresh enough to enjoy. This one's a definite little gem of a film.

Dead Snow (Død snø) (2008)

Exactly what it sounds like - Undead Nazis! Carefully mixes horror and comedy à la Evil Dead with a Nordic twist. The soundtrack seems to alternate between a typical horror score and a Norwegian death metal soundtrack that, paired with the various snowmobile extreme-sports style sequences, give it an odd (perhaps unexpected) edge. The effects managed to be of high enough quality to not be dismissed, and the action (especially in the final Nazi assault scene) was bloody and fun. The undead Nazis looked alright, although seemed more organized and coherent than normal zombies (their commander even wields a pair of binoculars and commands his troops). Not amazing, but overall nice little flick.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Oh the joys! Transformer testicles or "enemy scrotum", the wonderfully racist "black" transformers with golden tooth grill who can't read. Megan fox in a hijab. Crossing the legendary Egypt-Jordan land border (guarded by an Indian Oompa Loompa of course). Driving back and forth between Petra and the Giza pyramids in the same day and Jordanian airforce coming to the rescue at the Giza pyramids. Jetfire as a bearded geriatric SR-71 Blackbird with a walking cane. Optimus' and Sam's death and resurrection thanks to pixie-dust which actually is shiny dust actually is referred to as 'pixie dust'. Chick decepticon transforming into human chick with extra long tongue and tail. Megan Fox running in slo-mo? always. Toy car robot humping Fox's leg. And of course, the signature Bay sunset? ahh, magic!