Surviving Horror

zombie (1979)

i don't remember when i first learned about lucio fulci's zombie. it was probably when i started working at borders in college, 17 years ago. it sounded legendary and no one had a copy. seventeen years is a long time to have a movie on your must see list. i finally saw it tonight and i have to say, zombie did not disappoint. 

a zombie is found aboard a seemingly abandoned boat in the hudson river. when the authorities climb aboard to investigate, one officer is attacked by the zombie. peter west, a journalist on the case, travels to the antilles with ann, daughter of the abandoned boat's owner. once there, they meet brian and susan, who reluctantly agree to take them to matul island, where ann's father had last travelled. when they arrive at matul, they find dr. menard and discover a terrifying diease which is killing all the islanders and causing them to rise again, as flesh eating monsters.

seems like standard zombie movie fare, yes, but this was far from standard. a zombie wrestles a shark in zombie. A ZOMBIE WRESTLES A SHARK. and it is as awesome as you think it would be. i knew about that scene before i saw the movie. i wasn't really prepared for the awesomeness that followed. bad makeup and special effects, some whack dubbing and a zombie walk across the brooklyn bridge all come together to make this my new favorite movie. NO. JOKE.

zombie is in a handful of movie theaters now, screening before its released on dvd. if you can, you should go. i think everyone at the theater i saw it at would agree it was the most fun they'd had at a horror movie in a long, long time.

This entry was posted on Sat, 10/22/2011 - 03:59 and is filed under

• movie review
• october
• zombie

red state (2011)

first of all, i am a kevin smith fan. not a rabid fan but a fan nonetheless. i love most of his movies (cop out, huh?) and i dig him. he's a passionate nerd with a lot to say. that's my favorite kind of person. this is to say i may be a little biased. 

i loved this movie. it had problems. it did. i felt like i was being clobbered over the head with kevin smith's feelings about the religious right - and its not that i don't agree with him. BUT this movie would have benefited from some subtlety. strong direction and performances from everyone involved saved red state from becoming a caricature. this movie is a cautionary tale within a cautionary tale and may be kevin smith's best movie. 

a group of teenagers in search of easy sex head out to a neighboring town - a town run by religious zealots. jarod, played by kyle gallner, came up with this genius plan after meeting an  older, and supposedly game, woman on the internet. who the hell are these kids and why do they think this is a good idea? needless to say, things do not go as planned. the boys find themselves in the middle of this right wing cult's plan to trap sinners and force them to pay for their misdeeds. their leader, abin cooper, played by michael cooper is terrifying, and things don't go quite as planned for him either when the ATF gets involved. john goodman and melissa leo were also fantastic. i'm always happy to see kevin pollack, who makes a brief and memoriable appearance. i was stunned when it was over. it definitely lived up to the hype.

This entry was posted on Thu, 10/20/2011 - 20:59 and is filed under

• movie review
• october

monsters (2010)

i've been reading about this movie forever. i'm not sure why it took me so long to watch it. its been sitting in my netflix watch instant queue for months. 

i LOVED it. really and truly. its quiet and tense. the story unfolds slowly and that's ok. and while there are monsters and some scary moments, its more about these two people who are thrown together and what happens to them. its like before sunrise set in district 9. weird but it works perfectly.  

sixe years after an alien invasion a journalist, andrew, is hired to take a young american woman, samantha, back across the border from mexico, through the "infected" zone. things happen, i may have even jumped once or twice. in the end, we get to see the "monsters" and they are awesome - and i NEVER want to see the monsters! 

its worth noting that monsters was made for some ridiculously low sum of money - like $15,000. it goes to show that bigger is not always better and that low-budget horror and sci-fi don't need to suck.

This entry was posted on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 20:59 and is filed under

• movie review
• october

i'm watching just as much horror as i always do during october - one or two movies a day. some have been fantastic, some have been offensive, a few have just sucked. i'm also much busier than i was last october. i do not have time to write about every movie i watch. so, i'm not going to. instead, i'm going to pick my favorite 13 and write about those. starting tomorrow. 13 days 'til halloween people. 13 days. 

This entry was posted on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 00:04 and is filed under

• october

the walking dead  -  days gone by (1.1)

i've read the comic. i've seen scenes from it. i have more than a vague idea of what's going to take place. and yet i was a nervous wreck while watching the walking dead tonight.

andrew lincoln was perfect as rick grimes. he is all i'd hope for and more from one of my most favorite comic book characters. handsome, compasionnate, and more than a little bad ass. morgan and his son were perfect as well. they all broke my heart into a million little pieces.

all while sitting on the edge of my seat, shouting at the television, "don't go there... NO... not the horse!!!" beautifully shot, well written perfect paced and wonderfully cast with lots of scary moments... now this is good horror.

This entry was posted on Mon, 11/01/2010 - 03:57 and is filed under

• october
• review
• zombies

13 ghosts (1960)

this recently showed up on someone's list of favorites and i thought hmmm, i kind of like the tony shalhoub version. and then i thought, have i seen this one? possibly on svengoolie? into the netflix queue it went. and i was not sorry.

a horror movie it is not. scary it is not. maybe it would be if i was 9. but i'm not. but lordy, i had fun!

the zorba family is BROKE. their furniture has all been repossessed and they're in danger of eviction when they receive a letter from a lawyer. their long, lost uncle, plato zorba has died and they've inherited his home, complete with his collection of 13 ghosts.

i don't even think i could begin to describe the awesomeness of this movie. i'll let the preview give you a taste.

awesomesauce all around.

This entry was posted on Sat, 10/30/2010 - 21:22 and is filed under

• october
• review

session 9 (2001)

i feel like everyone who likes horror must've seen this movie. that's not really the case though. and when searching for something to watch i realized its been a REALLY LONG TIME since i've actually seen it.

asbestos remover, gordon, promises that he and his crew can abate a huge, old psychiatric hospital in a week. as the week wears on, they find the tape recordings of a patient's therapy sessions and the hospital takes its toll on the crew.

. no ridiculous special effect or horror cliches help to make this an almost entirely unpredictable movie. session 9 relies on actual acting and plot to carry the story. a weight atmosphere and slow building tension help to leave the viewer filled with dread.

i don't really want to say too much else but at one point a crew member appears to be chased by darkness. pretty great. yep, session 9 may keep you up at night.

This entry was posted on Sat, 10/30/2010 - 01:32 and is filed under

• october
• review

house of the devil (2009)

i've found myself talking about this movie a lot lately so i decided that i should watch it again and write a proper review.

<warning - contains spoilers>

samantha, a likable and broke college student, desperate for cash, takes a questionable "babysitting" job, despite her friend telling her its a bad idea. there is no baby but an elderly mother, the creepy old house is quite isolated, and something just doesn't feel right. but $400 is $400. she soon discovers that the clients have a more sinister plan for that night, the night of a lunar eclispe.

written and directed by ti west, this movie is a near perfect love letter to 80s horror. babysitters in peril and satanism in the suburbs were well worn tropes in the era that this movie takes place in but they seem fresh here. he pays homage to classics while remaining unique. everything about it looks and FEELS like great 80s horror. but i did say near perfect though, right?

the first hour of the movie is spent setting things up, creating an intolerable atmosphere. the tension is so unrelenting i felt nauseous. time is spent making us like samantha and because of that we genuinely worry for her. her friend is shot in the head after dropping her off at the creepy house. then when the man who shot her friend delivers samantha's pizza, i gasped. at that point though, it is too late. the pizza is poisoned. and so is the movie.

i LOVE the first hour of this movie. LOVE. its the sort of thing that would cause kateri to say, "i'm so miserable. i'm having such a good time." around 1:04 things go awry. samantha is tied up in the center of a pentagram painted on the floor. people in robes are pouring blood from a skull into her mouth. the people who hired her are there, as well as the shooter and a random deformed woman. somehow samantha wriggles out of the ropes, and gets away. she is injured yet she manages to kill everyone involved. everything feels rushed and more than a little silly. the movie ends with her in a hospital bed being told by a nurse that everything is going to be ok. 

but its not. nor is this an ok way to end this movie. i'm not sure what would've been better. the first hour really is SO FANTASTIC, so tense and promises so much. the first hour is completely worth it.

like the reeds, i would happily watch this again and again, turning it off when things start to suck and making up my own ending each time. i like that plan. 

This entry was posted on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 01:32 and is filed under

• october
• review

don't look up (2009)

while shooting a remake of a movie on location in transylvania, a film crew discovers old footage of a woman being murdered on camera. by unearthing this curious finding, the group unwittingly kicks off a chain of tragic supernatural events. of course.

i've seen some craptastic movies and this one may have taken the frakking cake. here's what sucked: its disjointed, non-sensical, poorly acted, not even a little scary and too gross for words. there was a birth/fetus incident that actually had me screaming in horror. and NOT in a good way. here's what didn't suck: eli roth dying. 

This entry was posted on Thu, 10/28/2010 - 01:32 and is filed under

• double secret lame
• october
• review

night of the demons (2009)

wow, just wow.

actually, that's not quite accurate. 

no. just no.

that's more like it.

just watch the original. seriously.

NO SKULLS

This entry was posted on Tue, 10/26/2010 - 01:32 and is filed under

• double secret lame
• october
• review