Creature from the Black Lagoon, Aaaah! Zombies!!

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Yet another classic horror movie I had never seen.  There's really not much to say about it.  The creature was in a rubber suit.  The female scientist wore skimpy (for her time) bathing suits and swam in water that they knew housed a fish-man.  For some reason, the scientists traveled with a big game hunter, who wanted to kill the creature.
It was a terrible movie, but it was a highly enjoyable movie.  Like Galaxy Invader, but in black-and-white.

Rating: 3 stars

Aaah!  Zombies!!

I have seen a number of low budget zombie comedies.  From what I've seen of them, they're fairly hit-and-miss.  In fact, for the most part, they're usually more bad than good.  So, when I started this one, I did not have high hopes.  It was clear that this was a very low budget movie.  It was also clear that the acting looked to be terrible.  It started off like a normal zombie movie: the government had accidentally developed a formula that would turn humans into zombies.  A barrel ended up outside of a bowling alley, where it leaked into some milk, with which our main characters made ice cream (or "Ale Cream", since they mixed it with beer) with.  They turned into zombies.
From here the movie took a turn.
The movie was shot in black-and-white and in color.  The scenes in color showed the characters as they saw each other...but the scenes in black-and-white showed the reality.  In color, they saw themselves as normal...but everyone else was moving fast (and talking fast).  We would see the characters in color, and they would be talking to each other like normal.  In one scene, we see them trying to hail someone who is down in alley.  From their point of view, they were like regular people: raising their hands and saying, "Hey man...come here for a second."  Then it would switch to black-and-white, and we'd see them as they really were: zombies growling and snarling and reaching out.  It was a funny gag...but it did seem to get old after a while.
Anyway, we watched the characters shamble through their lives.  Trying to survive.  Trying to find love.  All the while they're losing body parts and getting shot and everything else zombies endure.  While it was the same general concept as Colin (seeing things from the zombie's point of view), it was a completely different movie.  Where Colin was touching and raw, this movie was funny.
I wouldn't say it was amazing, but it was pretty funny, and definitely better than your average low budget zombie comedy.

Rating: 4 stars

Colin

Once again, it has been a while since we've had zombie club.  But, just because we haven't officially met for a while doesn't mean I have to stop watching zombie movies.
I have been looking forward to this one for a while.  A considerable buzz has been building for this movie ever since it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.  These two things always came up when this movie was reviewed:
1. The movie was told from the perspective of a zombie.
2. It was made for $70.

It's difficult not to mention those things, so let's get them out of the way.  The movie follows a single zombie (Colin).  We see him become a zombie, and we follow his shambling zombie self through zombie-infested London.  Where most zombie movies follow the survivors, this one follows a single zombie, trying to navigate through these strange streets that he once knew so well.  On his journey, he encounters a number of stereotypes in the zombie movie genre: the twisted survivor with a dark secret, a band of zombie hunters, the family member who wanted to try to save him (and the family member who wanted to kill him), people running and fighting for their lives, and some who have accepted their fates.  The only difference is that we're seeing it from the other side.  We know Colin, and now we're following him as a zombie.  These zombie hunters appear to be terrible people in this movie...but put them in a Romero movie and they look like heroes.
I can't say that I was necessarily cheering for Colin, but I did feel a certain attachment to him.  This isn't a faceless zombie, hell-bent on eating human flesh.  This is Colin, a victim of circumstance.  We see what he sees.  He eats human flesh, not because he's a demon, but because he has no other choice.  It is now in his nature.  Furthermore, it shows what we could become.  If Colin - a nice guy with a good life - could become a zombie, so can we.  It wasn't his choice, just like it wouldn't be ours.
Throughout the movie, we see Colin recognize different objects and places from his "past life".  This was reminiscent of Day of the Dead, when Bub was able to remember things from his living days.  It didn't seem to apply to everything (he didn't recognize his sister or mother at all), but it did occur from time to time.

The movie was made for $70, which is pretty impressive.  Sure, you can tell that it did not take a lot of money to make this movie.  Still, for how much it costs, it looks pretty good.  The lighting is a bit off, and there are times when the sound left something to be desired, but, for the most part, they did a great job.  The zombies looked pretty good, and there were some pretty terrific looking death scenes.  The acting was pretty good, too.  All in all, they did great with what they had.

Overall, I really liked the movie.  There were times when it seemed like it was running a bit long, and there were long periods where not much happened.  But the goal of this movie was not to be action-packed; the goal of this movie was to see zombies from a different angle...for us to identify with zombies in a way that we may not have been able to before.  The filmmaker (Marc Price) was building a mood throughout the movie...even in those times when it seemed like nothing was happening.  Those times further helped us to bond with Colin...to see the world through his eyes.  By the end of the movie, I didn't mind those slow moments.
Loved the ending.  I don't want to give anything away, but it was somehow sweet and heartbreaking.

I highly recommend this movie...but know what it is going in.  It's a zombie movie, but it's not your standard zombie movie.  You can also tell that it was made on a low budget, but that's easy enough to get past.  Once you get caught up in the story, you won't really care what the budget was.

Watch this trailer and check out the website

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