15/10/2012: City of the Living Dead [1980]

The month of October is almost over and Halloween is fast approaching. As always this means that I watch even more horror movies than usual, bringing out some old favourites and discovering new ones. This October has definitely been one full of Lucio Fulci, with City of the Living Dead marking the third movie of his I've seen just over the last couple months. The more I see, the more I love his work, and City of the Living Dead has me craving more.

08/10/2012: Dawn of the Dead [1978]

This weekend I got around to re-watching one of the most exciting and terrifying social commentaries ever made, George A. Romero's satirical film about consumerism. With an epidemic of zombies rising from the grave and society as we know it collapsing, four people seek refuge in an abandoned mall as they try to survive against the living and the living dead alike.

30/09/2012: Tombs of the Blind Dead (La Noche Del Terror Ciego) [1972]

While perusing my local independent rental store the other day, I happened across a copy of Tombs of the Blind Dead an intriguing Spanish documentary about the handmade mannequin industry in the 70's. The movie follows the story of hard working Bet, as she meets an old friend and decides to take a vacation and head out into the beautiful countryside by train. Along with a dramatic retelling of Bet's life, we get the world's first view inside the mannequin industry that dominated Spain in the 70's.

14/09/2012: Resident Evil: Retribution [2012]

A friend of mine has been anticipating Resident Evil: Retribution for a few months, and in the week leading up to it's release he must have reminded me at least 4 times that we were going to see it. I don't know if I would have gone to see it otherwise, but my friend has a taste for high budget, special effects filled eye candy action films. That is exactly what you get and little more as the the Resident Evil movies seem to have gone the way of the video game series.

15/07/2012: [REC] ² [2009]

I finally watched [REC] just the other night, and I was of course cautious of the sequel. Quarantine’s sequel had been a huge flop, as many horror sequels have a tendency to do.  [REC]² however is how a sequel should be made, keeping the ideas that made the first one great and elaborating on some of it’s mysteries. While I can understand that some people might not have liked the new concepts and explanations introduced in this sequel, I for one can’t wait for [REC] ³: Genesis.

23/04/2012: The Return of the Living Dead III [1993]

One thing to notice about both The Return of the Living Dead series and Romero's Dead series is that both have been spread out over almost 4 decades now. So there has been some major shifts in the series overtime. While The Return of the Living Dead II had brought nothing fresh nor improved over the original, the 3rd film was definitely a worthy sequel, if it was a different beast. 

22/04/2012: The Return of the Living Dead [1985]

Anyone who is a fan of zombie movies will tell you that George A. Romero and John A. Russo where the two men who really kicked off the entire genre with their 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead. A movie that has been remade and imitated countless times since. But Romero and Russo didn't stop there, and while they branched off, both have been major contributors in the zombie genre.

18/04/2012: Braindead (Dead Alive) [1992]

Most people call it the goriest film of all time, and I tend to agree, however Braindead is undoubtedly one of the funniest and most memorable horror splatter comedies of all time. But few have heard of this cult favourite, even though it comes from one of the most famous directors of the last 10 years, Peter Jackson.

10/02/2012: Undead [2003]

Undead had been waiting in my watchlist for a couple months before I finally found a copy and got around to watching it. There was a lot of promise behind the movie, I must say however that it was nothing like I expected nor was this necessarily a bad thing. Undead if you know what it is, will satisfy those who are fans of its genre.

27/01/2012: Diary of the Dead [2007]

So I always thought that like most amazing horror series directors, George A. Romero had created the first couple films in his Dead series and then the rest had been made by others. While the Day of the Dead remake I reviewed earlier wasn't and clearly shows this, I was surprised to find out that for the last 40 years Romero has been responsible for all of the films in the Dead series. Always a part of the movie, whether directing or writing, Romero is why the series is simply amazing, and sets the standard in zombies and in horror. All the others out there should take note, Romero is a groundbreaking director and continues after 40 years to set the standard in the genre he reinvented in 1968.

Albeit now I must say that Diary of the Dead is one of the weaker in the series, but not without it's advantages. One of the best and most revolutionary things about Romero's series is its reinvention of the zombie movie. Romero took the camera from the horror of zombies and recentered it on mankind and are actions during an apocalypse. While yes zombies provided him the tools to bring about this apocalypse and the instrument to cause horror, his films are about how mankind reacts.

Diary of the Dead, is set at the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse, right from the first incidents and focuses on how a group of film school students deal with it. Unfortunately the whole movie within a movie thing is what I feel takes away from the grand visions of Romero previous movies it does add a new level of fear. Only being able to see where the camera is pointed, whether it be held in a fixed position or handheld only gives you part of the story. Don't mistake Diary of the Dead as your found footage movie however, that is not it's angle at all nor does it fall into that category.

The resounding metaphor or meaning or whatever the narrator tries to instill throughout the movie is about how things seen through a lens don't appear real, and how we can lose track of reality. On top of that the movie shows how well we communicated during the apocalypse, or rather the lack of. With the government and news station airing edited incomplete information while the internet fills with uploaded video's of what is really happening with little information.

Of course beyond this Diary of the Dead is a zombie horror movie, and in that element it succeeds well. the zombies are well done, the blood starts flying and the fight for your life begins.The movie documents the standard ideas of what would happen. ordinary people forced to kill their loved ones, those who can't handle the world, and those that can. The opportunists who gather supplies and hoard for themselves, the military quickly running rampant with the power they have and families destroyed or searching for each other.

Diary of the Dead also tells us the short story of one deaf Amish farmer, with a fondness for dynamite. I won't elaborate on him further and allow you to meet him for yourself.

Overall Diary of the Dead is one of the weaker movies in the series. The acting is nothing special, nor is the story really unique, and the movie within a movie is not my favourite style. However the movie is complete with the blood and gore of a zombie movie, and should no doubt please Romero's fans.

Links:
Diary of the Dead IMDB
Diary of the Dead Netflix

20/01/2012: Doghouse [2009]

I always found that the United Kingdom produces the cream of the crop when it comes to horror comedies.It has already given us the well known Shaun of the Dead as well as the lesser known gem Lesbian Vampire Killers. Doghouse mixes the best of both these movies, combining the zombies with the tiny remote village.

17/12/2011: Evil Dead II [1987]

When I started I wasn't sure if this was a remake or a sequel. My first thought was well they've cut three characters and skipped all the trivialities, about two minutes in the Necromicon is already discovered and the tapes played awakening the demon in the woods, at six minutes in the entire plotline of the first movie is over and summarized.

It is not until about 15 minutes in that the movie finally figures out its on fast forward and begins to resemble anything like a movie. Evil Dead II then proceeds to follow the trail of the original.

[spoilers]

However the ending of the movie is the most entertaining part. First off Ash, after sawing off his own possessed hand, fashions himself a substitute out of a chainsaw, along with his sawed-off shotgun, Ash begins to kick some ass, until finally the portal is opened and the demon vanished.

I actually prefer the entrance into 1300 A.D. at the end of Evil Dead II as opposed to the one in Army of Darkness.
[/spoilers]

Overall, while Evil Dead was better the first time, the reinvention of Ash is superior in the II.

Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/

09/12/2011: Pontypool [2008]

So I didn't get around to watching a movie on the 8th, but this one more than made up for it.
Shut Up or Die. The tagline of Pontypool is the only hint towards the dark mystery that is this movie. A psychological thriller Canadian indie director Bruce Mcdonald, bring us a strongly original movie, about the strange events occurring in a small Ontario town on Valentines Day.

The originality in this movie was amazing leaving many questions unanswered and begging for a re-watch, (one it will definitely receive). On top of that the film hits me on two other levels, my love for great movies filmed in one set, and the fact that as a Canadian the town of Pontypool is in fact just hours away.
I give this movie an 9/10, and will be recommending (or more aptly shoving down the throats) of my friends.

Just remeber:
Pontypool Changes Everything.



Link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226681/

Rewatc

06/12/2011: Day of the Dead [2008]

After watching the original George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, just last week I decided to see what I thought was a remake. Sadly this film is not even close to such a thing. If it had been titled anything but Day of the Dead I would have been fine with it.

Taken as a zombie movie, the movie is okay, and interesting. But when viewed as one of the Dead series it fail horribly. My first problem is that in fact the movie takes place at night, at the center and beginning of the outbreak. It rewrites the entire outbreak even stating a cause, giving it no ties to the Dead series. Overall, as Day of the Dead I give it a 5/10, without that name probably a 6~6.5/10

They did however keep Bub/Bud the friendly zombie, who used to be in the military and still reacts to drill commands.

Link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489018/