Last night, based on the recommendation of some family, I watched house. All I knew about it was that it starred William Katt (the star of Greatest American Hero). I had no idea that it also starred George Wendt (Norm from Cheers) and Richard Moll (Bull from Night Court). Needless to say, I was excited about this.
I had no idea what to expect from this movie. 80s horror can be a mixed bag. I assumed this would fall under the category of "so bad it's funny". As it turns out...it was funny. It was a terrific horror comedy, in the vein of The Evil Dead and Deadalive.
It's a haunted house movie, following William Katt as Roger Cobb, a horror writer trying to write a memoir about his time in Vietnam. He moves into the house of his recently deceased aunt...a woman who was assumed crazy, and claimed that her house was haunted. Cobb finds out on the first night that she wasn't crazy.
Sure, there are some cheesy parts (the freeze-frame ending would definitely be included in this category)...but this was a genuinely funny movie. I don't know if it's quite as good as Evil Dead 2 or Deadalive...but it's not that far off. If you enjoy horror-comedy at all, you're sure to love this movie.
Rating: 5 stars
In my search for good Zombie Prom songs, I decided to take Nan Vernon's "Love Hurts" (it ran at the end of Rob Zombie's Halloween II) and add some creepy sound effects behind it. I think it came out really well...I'm hoping it will work well as a zombie slow dance. I'm also still searching for a good zombie DJ name. Right now I'm working with DJ Zombi...but I'm not very happy with it. Suggestions?
I have been asked to DJ a zombie prom in May. In preparation of this, I have decided to watch as many horror movies as I can between now and then. Get a feel for the music that is used. As I watch them, I'll post about them here. Maybe only a sentence or two, but it'll be something. They won't all be zombie movies, but it is to prepare for a zombie event, so I figure it makes sense to post about it here.
If there are any readers out there, feel free to post any movie (or music) recommendations in the comments. I'll try to get to as many as I can. I'll end each review with the rating I gave it in Netflix.
Let's kick this off.
April Fool's Day
I had never seen this movie, but I had heard good things. Also, there was an entire episode of Psych that revolved around it, so I finally decided to watch it. It was well worth my time. It started out a little slow, but it was a fantastic take on the slasher genre. The characters were your typical 80s slasher characters. but it was extremely well done. When it finally started moving, it was pretty tense for the rest of the way. It was a unique take on the genre, with some fairly interesting little twists. I loved it.
Rating: 5 stars
Doghouse
A British movie, following a group of friends who go away for the weekend to a small town. When they get there, they find that the town is full of women...and those women are all crazy. I had heard it was a zombie movie, but that's not technically correct. The women weren't undead...rather, they had all been infected with a virus. It was bloody and crazy and hilarious. I loved it.
Rating: 5 stars
Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College
I enjoyed the first couple Ghoulies movies, so I thought I'd track this one down. I should've known from the cover that this would be different. Where the first two were trying to be scary (yet were funny), this one fully embraced the campiness. The Ghoulies were wisecracking pranksters. Sure, they killed a couple people (one by plunger to the face), but most of the time they were perfect content to spy on girls in the shower and drink lots of beer. It made me laugh, but not nearly as much as the first two movies did. This one was trying to be funny...and that made it not nearly as funny as when it was trying to be a serious horror movie.
That being said, I'm still going to watch Ghoulies 4.
Rating: 3 stars
Child's Play
I don't know how I had never seen this movie...but now I have. I liked it. I had seen bits and pieces of some of the later movies, so I fully expected this movie to be goofy. It wasn't at all. It was a serious horror movie, and was actually fairly creepy at times. Some parts were obviously pretty cheesy (it is, after all, an 80s horror movie involving a talking doll), but it was darker than I expected, and I liked it more than I thought I would. I plan on watching the rest of them at some point, but this was a good beginning to the series.
George A. Romero is known as the father of the zombie movie. It makes sense...his Night of the Living Dead is a classic, and the movie that kick-started the modern zombie movie. His second movie, Dawn of the Dead, is usually considered his best movie, and also helped to introduce more of a social message into zombie movies. Personally, I like Night of the Living Dead better, and I like Snyder's Dawn of the Dead better...but that's neither here nor there.
It's no secret that Romero's zombie movies have been in a steady decline recently. I liked Land of the Dead, but I didn't love it. It appears as though I'm in the minority of people who enjoyed Diary of the Dead...but, again, I didn't love it. The message was extremely heavy-handed, and I really only enjoyed the movie because of some of the characters involved.
I can say, with no amount of uncertainty, that Survival of the Dead is Romero's worst movie. It follows a minor character from Diary of the Dead...one of the jackass soldiers that showed up and took the RV. It didn't help the movie that this guy was one of the worst actors I have ever seen. I actually started to watch this movie with Daniel...but he forced me to shut it off after he delivered a terrible line in the worst way possible: "You're dangerous kid, but not as dangerous as me." It should be noted that he said this to some punk kid, who was not a great actor, himself.
Jackass
Needless to say, I went back and watched the entire movie at a later date.
I wish I had not done that.
I guess the story wasn't terrible. It was set up like a modern western, but with zombies. I know...it sounds pretty cool. The majority of the movie took place on an island that housed two warring families. One of the families believed that zombies could not be cured and should be killed. The other family believed that zombies could be taught to be useful members in society. They also believed that zombies could be taught to eat something other than human flesh (they believed that zombies would also feast on horses). While we start on the side of the first family (zombies must be killed), we begin to see the point of the second family when we see zombies bringing mail in from mailboxes and whatnot.
The movie ends in classic western fashion...a showdown between the two families in a corral. A gunfight while using bales of hay, trees and fences for cover. With, of course, zombies roaming around.
When I write it out, it doesn't sound that bad. Trust me...it is. As I mentioned, the acting is atrocious. The story, while not terrible, didn't have much depth to it. The zombies looked decent, but the death scenes were terrible. Instead of using exploding blood capsules, they opted for CGI blood splatter, which looked awful.
Still...it's Romero. If you're a fan of Romero, you're going to watch it regardless. But this is just not a good movie. There are other good zombie movies that have been released over the past couple of years...watch one of those, instead. Colin showed what a zombie movie can be, even with next to no money.
It's been a while since I've updated this blog, but it doesn't mean I've stopped watching zombie movies.
This movie was ranked #24 in the list of Best Zombie Movies of all time in Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide by Glenn Kay. It was described as "The Shaft of zombie flicks, effectively combining a blaxploitation crime plotline with traditional zombie lore" (Kay, 303). That short sentence describes this movie perfectly.
The movie follows Diana "Sugar" Hill (played by Marki Bey). Early in the movie, her boyfriend (a club owner) is killed by the local mob (headed by the nefarious Morgan). Sugar goes to Mama Maitresse, a local voodoo woman, to help her get her revenge on Morgan and his crew. They go to see Baron Zamedi, the Lord of the Dead, to help her in her quest for revenge. He raises an army of the undead. With her army behind her, Sugar Hill kills her way through the local mob, which eventually leads her to Morgan.
Baron Zamebi loves to kill
The zombies in this movie are not of the flesh eating variety. Rather, it takes its cue from the zombies of voodoo lore. These zombies are not out for flesh; these zombies exist only to follow the wishes of their zombie master. They don't kill by attacking and biting; they attack by whatever means the zombie master wishes. In one instance, they kill by chopping up a man with swords, eventually decapitating him. In another, they throw a man into a pen of hungry pigs.
The look of the zombies is pretty cool. They have silver eyes which reflect the light to a fairly creepy effect. They walk around covered in cobwebs.
The acting wasn't great (Marki Bey, in particular, varied from very good to incredibly wooden), but it was good enough. The plot worked off a pretty standard revenge story, but it worked very well. The zombies looked great, and the scenery was terrific. I loved Baron Zamebi...he would show up at random times during the movie, and, when he did, you knew the zombies would be attacking soon.
This isn't your standard zombie movie, but I really liked it. One of the better zombie movies I've seen in a while. If you're looking for something kind of different from your standard zombie movie, check this one out.
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.
This was the first Zombie Club which we consulted The Book. We were not having the best of luck with zombie movies, so we decided to try it out. I tracked down a number of highly rated movies. When it came time to decide on a movie, we chose Fido. Take a look at that cover...it's just asking to be watched. Fido starts with this instructional video:
Here's the set-up: the earth passed through a radioactive cloud, leading to the entire population being infected with a virus. What kind of virus? Why, a virus that will reanimate the dead, of course! A zombie war broke out, and nearly wiped out the world. The living finally beat back the undead (although all zombies were not wiped out). ZomCom was formed, and fences were built to hold the zombies out of areas where humans were living, leaving large portions of the world where zombies roamed free. ZomCom found a way to use these zombies for the good of mankind. They developed a collar to put on zombies. Through this, the zombie could be controlled, and could be used for household tasks. A family purchases a zombie through ZomCom, that zombie is outfitted with a collar, sent to the family, and provides them with any number of household services.
Lawn mowing, for instance
It is with this that the movie begins. It is set in the 50s, which gives the movie a great look and feel to it. The story follows the Robinson family; Bill (father), Helen (mother) and Timmy (son). Bill is a distant and disconnected husband and father, preferring to spend his time golfing rather than spending time with his family. Every Sunday, he takes his family on a "Sunday drive", where they go to the funerals of strangers. Bill takes pictures, while Helen and Timmy stand around awkwardly. As near as I can tell, this is the only thing Bill enjoys doing with his family. Helen doesn't seem to enjoy Bill, and takes every opportunity to push his buttons, at one point proclaiming, "Bill, get your own funeral. Timmy and I are going zombie." Timmy is a young, scrawny boy who is often picked on in class (especially by two brothers who believe themselves to be zombie hunters). He has no friends. The Robinson's get a zombie because Helen doesn't want them to be the only family on the block without one. Also, the new neighbor is the new head of security at ZomCom, and they need to impress him. At first, Timmy doesn't like their zombie. But, after the zombie protects him from the school bullies, Timmy takes a liking to him, and names him Fido. Fido quickly becomes Timmy's best friend.
Fido's collar stops working for a short period, and he bites Timmy's neighbor, an old woman that Timmy never really cared for. She bites someone else, and a small zombie outbreak occurs. Timmy kills the old woman and buries her, hoping that he or Fido will not be implicated. Timmy goes to his neighbor, Mr. Theopolis (played by the great Tim Blake Nelson), a former ZomCom employee, who is able to fix Fido's collar. Fido goes back to being a docile zombie, and he and Timmy continue their friendship. Even Helen begins to like Fido.
I don't want to give away too much of the movie, so I'll stop with the plot rundown here.
For a zombie movie, it is extremely lighthearted, and it borrows heavily from Lassie (even including a scene where Fido shows up alone in the house while Helen asks him, "Where's Timmy, boy? Is he hurt?"). There really isn't much gore, but that's not really what the movie was going for. It's a good story with likable characters, good dialogue, and a fantastic look. Overall, it was a very enjoyable movie. Extremely well done, and highly recommended.
Zombie movie book...you have served us well. Let's hope this continues.
About a month ago, we had a meeting of Zombie Club. It had been a while, but, since Cris was in the process of moving, we didn't have access to any of his zombie movies. That left us scrounging around for a movie at the last minute. We settled on Tombs of the Blind Dead, which I had picked up a couple of years ago on the recommendation of a zombie-loving coworker.
The story centered around a man, a woman, and the female friend that the woman had "experimented with" from many years ago. By "experimented with", I mean, "Sat around and lightly touched each others arms," (according to the flashbacks, anyway). The woman gets upset when her boyfriend starts hitting on her girlfriend in a train, so she jumps out and runs to a deserted castle to sleep for the night.
This castle is the resting place of the Satanic wing of the Knights Templar. These were the knights who thought it would be fun to strip women naked and sacrifice them to Satan. They were killed somehow, but still reside in the castle area. Apparently they come out at night to hunt for flesh. Or something of that sort. The knights were less zombies and more skeletons. They had no eyes, which seems like a disadvantage, until you realize that they can hear a human's heartbeat. There's no way to stop that, and so they killed the woman that ran into the castle (after a very long and slow chase). There was a chase scene with the knights riding on horses...but the horses moved in slow motion. The maker of this movie didn't bother trying to make the horses look slow...he just made the film go in slow motion. This is kind of forgivable (it was made in the 70s on a small budget, after all), but it made no sense when the woman found a non-zombie horse and began to ride away from the knights, only to find that her horse also moved in slow motion. What?
(At this point most of these details are a bit fuzzy, and for that I [kind of] apologize. The movie was so dull [there was a span of 20 minutes with no dialogue] that, at the halfway point, we fast-forwarded the to the end [x4 speed]. I don't think we missed too much.)
Here is what I remember from the last half of the movie.
The woman who ran into the castle was bitten by the knights, and became a zombie. She walked around like Frankenstein's monster for a while, then got set on fire. Tragic, really.
For a zombie, she didn't look half bad.
The man and woman who were still on the train try to find her. They find some sleezy looking guy from town to find him, and he brings along his whore. The woman from the train and the sleezy guy go into the castle together, while the man from the train and the whore go together. While sitting in the graveyard (at night...good idea, kids), the woman tells Captain Sleeze that she doesn't really like men because of an incident from her childhood. He responds to this statement by raping her on a tomb. Pure class, this guy.
If I remember correctly, the woman makes it out of the castle without being eaten, and makes it on to a train. Blah blah blah. I won't tell you how it ends, but the woman makes this face:
Yay!
The end.
In case you couldn't tell, this movie was terrible. It wasn't even funny bad (although we did laugh at a couple parts). Please don't watch this movie. I beg of you.
After this debacle, we decided to watch Diary of the Dead directly afterwards. I won't do a big review right now, but it was not universally loved. I liked it, but not everyone else agreed with me. Perhaps I'll do a review of that one within the next couple of weeks.
We have not had the best track record lately of watching good movies. We've watched a number of movies that we didn't know too much about, and it has come back to bite us. However, our luck may be changing.
Scott bought this book for me for my birthday. I've gone through it, and it seems to agree with our thoughts on the movies that we have watched. It likes the movies that we have liked and hates the movies that we have hated. For the next Zombie Club meeting, we will consult with this fabulous book before deciding on a movie. In doing this, we hope to be able to find some good zombie movies.
