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Edited on Thu Feb-12-09 03:18 PM by Forkboy
So I've had some spare time this last 41 years, and I decided early on that watching zombie movies would be a great way to spend a chunk (no pun intended) of that time. Most of these I've seen numerous times, and some I've seen just recently for the first time (and the last time for a few of them). I've watched every one of these in the last month, so they're all fresh in my mind. :)
Diary of the Dead
Not that bad actually, and at least an interesting idea. I personally didn't really like Land of the Dead very much (smart zombies in a Romero movie?...uh, no), so I wasn't expecting much. At times you can't help but ask "Why is this fucker still filming?", but if you get past that it's ok. I prefer the old school FX as opposed to the CGI headshots used in this. It had more of a statement than Land did, to it's credit. Not anything overly deep (the media, voyeurism, etc) but an ok try.
Final Score - 6.5
Zombie Flesheaters (AKA Zombi/Zombi 2)
Ahhhhhh, Lucio Fulci. God bless his demented soul. Dawn of the Dead was released in Italy under the name Zombi and became a huge hit there. Fulci already had his own zombie movie in the works, and with the success of Dawn they decided to market it as Zombi 2, even though it has nothing to do with the Romero series.
This may be my favorite of all the zombie films, despite the bad dubbing and acting. But from the eye gouging scene to the zombie fighting a live shark scene to the best "dead rising from the ground" scene ever, this one has it all. Plus, real maggots used on the makeup, always a plus. Also, the zombies are the slow, shuffling kind, as it should be. The main female lead is Tisa Farrow, Mia's sister.
Final Score - 9
Junk
This low budget Japanese film is about what you might expect from a low budget Japanese zombie movie. A high cheese factor in both the acting and FX department, it has it's moments of fun, but overall doesn't really add much to the genre. Some campy humor, a'la Return of the Living Dead, is hit or miss, and the Uber female zombie at the end is laughable. If you're like me and feel you must watch every cheesy zombie movie ever made then check it out. Otherwise, skip it.
Final Score - 4
Ebola Syndrome
Jeez, this is a weird one out of Hong Kong. A man named Kai kills his former boss and his wife and escapes to South Africa. He gets a job as a cook, and they travel to a tribe to buy some meat. Unknown to them the tribe has members coming down with Ebola. Kai rapes one of the woman and becomes infected, but he's one of those one in a million cases where it doesn't make him sick, but he can still give it to others. He spreads the virus to his new boss, ends up killing them and making burgers out of them, then serves them. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues.
Some decent FX don't really make up for the overall scumbaggery and plain old meanness of the Kai character, but the movie does have some interesting ideas, as ugly as they are. Not really a zombie movie per se, but there ya go.
Final Score - 5
Land of the Dead
I so want to see a movie that really captures the zombies taking over the world thing effectively, but this wasn't it. Dennis Hopper with a goatee is never a good sign, and this was no exception. I know a lot of people hate the idea of fast or smart zombies, but here we have Romero himself flirting with all out silliness with his zombies learning demolition and rifle skills. Predictable and thoroughly average, and proof that a bigger budget does not a better zombie make.
Final Score - 5.5
Day of the Dead (1985)
Well, I never liked the Bub storyline, but I enjoy the movie a lot overall, despite the "happy" ending that deviated from the original script's unhappy finale. Some of Tom Savini's best FX work push it over the top for zombie gorehounds like me. Romero's last real quality zombie movie (he has new on in the works...we'll see).
Final Score - 8
Day of the Dead (2008)
I expected far worse than this, and actually enjoyed it. It's main trouble is self inflicted though. By naming it after the Romero movie they're pretty much obligated to have zombies that behave according to the Romero universe rules, and they don't. At all.
Not really a remake, the only similarity to the original is the names, though they do try a "Bub" type storyline with a guy named Bud that mostly fails (why do people insist on keeping a guy who has been bitten around.? They see a thousand people eaten like mutton and they think the one guy who will recuperate is their friend...duh).
The fast/smart zombie thing doesn't bother me (as I said above, even Romero himself started heading that direction in Land), but they shouldn't have used the Romero movie name. If you want friggin Spider Man zombies that's fine, but not in Romero's world. Otherwise it wasn't too bad, and had plenty of nice headshots.
Final Score 6.5
City of the Living Dead (AKA The Gates of Hell)
I remember seeing this at the drive-in and being scared shitless. I mean, any movie that has a woman vomiting her own innards is bound to leave an impression.
This is the first part of an intended trilogy (The Beyond is part 2, but no third part was ever made) by Lucio Fulci, and once again he delivers the goods. Like all Fulci movies it's both cheesy and nicely atmospheric at the same time. A priest in the New England town of Dunwich (Salem) hangs himself, opening one of the 7 gates of Hell (which raises the question of why Fulci only planned three movies, but had seven gates). Can the gate be closed in time to save the world?
Plenty of gore (brain crushing, power drill through the head, the aforementioned intestine vomiting, bleeding eyes....pure heaven!), and a silly yet cool story, even though zombies play a small part in it.
Final Score - 8
Feeding the Masses
Another super low budget attempt that works on some levels, fails on others. The movie follows a news crew as a zombie outbreak starts in their city (Pawtucket, R.I. hits the big time!). The powers that be broadcast only feel good news to avoid panic, and the crew wants to show what's really going on. It's an interesting idea that works to some effect. Almost non-exiting special effects and the typical bad acting hamper what could have been a better movie in more experienced hands.
Final Score 4.5
Day X
This one wasn't that bad. The standard "group of people trapped in your building of choice" storyline, but a couple of characters worked well, especially the government official who knows what's up. Far from perfect, it nonetheless moved along at a good pace, had some decent FX here and there, and worked on a simple level.
Final Score - 6
The Beyond
The 2nd part of the unfinished Gates of Hell trilogy by Fulci (have I mentioned I love this guy?). This is more ghost story (with gore) than zombie movie, as the traditional zombies don't make an appearance until late in the flick. Some scenes are really good, like the blind girl in the room being watched by a zombie type fucker in the room with her. I hate ghost stories, but this one is both creepy and mega gory (in typical Fulci style we get acid melted heads, the heroes sprayed with a bajillion maggots, killer spiders, a zombie in a tub, and other assorted goodness. I miss the horror of the early 80's.) Possibly Fulci's best.
Final Score - 8.5
The Dead Next Door
After the zombie outbreak the government creates a Zombie Squad, which seems to amount to two knuckleheads in a station wagon (one of whom is voiced in the dub by Bruce Campbell...don't let that kid you into thinking this good though). While fighting the zombies they also must contend with religious fundies who think the zombies should be protected. It all sounds like it has the making of a fun movie, but nope. It was pretty bad.
Final Score - 3.5
SARS WARS
Thailand zombie movie? You betcha! It's too out there for me to sum it, so I'll let Wiki do it for me...
The story involves people who are infected with a fictional Type 4 strain of the SARS virus and turned into zombies. The outbreak is contained to one apartment building in Bangkok, and the Health Ministry is determined to keep it contained at all costs. But the building also happens to be the hideout for a gang that has kidnapped a teenage schoolgirl. She is to be rescued by a sword-wielding superhero crimefighter, who must not only contend with the criminals, but also the zombies in a race against the government's plan to blow the building up.
In other words, coolness!
I enjoyed this, despite the Buffy like zombies. It was like a three member ninja A-Team against zombies.
Final Score - 6
Bio-Zombie
I loved this movie, and have already watched it a couple of times this month. Think a Mallrats/Bill and Ted/Dawn of the Dead mashup, and there you go. Two trouble making kids run a video store in a Japan mall. The two characters, Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee, have a lot of pretty funny dialog, and the owner of the phone kiosk across the way is hilarious as he berates his wife and everyone else throughout the movie ("Run, you moron!"). The FX are good for this type of movie, cheesy yet cool, and the comedy worked throughout for me. There's even some character growth! Not as funny (or as well done) as Shaun of the Dead, but it's still a funny, low budget entry into the genre. Some good quotable stuff in the movie,too. Serious zombie fans may want to steer clear if they don't like comedy, but fans of Shaun should like this with a bowl of popcorn.
Final Score - 8
Part 2 coming soon. :D
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