George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead

Hey Spooks! Like I said before, I just couldn't end Zombie month with a bunch of zombie movies that were not up to par. So, I racked my brain trying to think of a movie that would give it some spice and dignity. Then it finally hit me...how could I watch a months worth of zombie movies without seeing at least one that was by the Godfather of zombie movies?! Now, granted this one isn't the first, but the remake. But he did do the screenplay and was a producer. So let's give a great big shout out to the master of zombie's, George A. Romero and the 1990 remake of Night Of The Living Dead.

We are first introduced to Barbara and her brother who are visiting their mothers grave. While there, the two are suddenly attacked by an undead man. During the struggle Barbara's brother is killed and she herself flee's the scene. She takes shelter in a farmhouse, where she run's into some more zombies. Another survivor name Ben, soon shows up and helps her dispose of the undead. While devising a plan to board up the house, they find that there are other survivors who have hidden themselves in the basement. One of them is the cousin of the former owner, Tom, his girlfriend Judy Rose, and Harry Cooper and his wife and daughter. Ben and Barbara are told that the little girl is sick, and Cooper keeps suggesting that they all get back into the basement until help arrives. Ben believes the basement to be a death trap and that they would be better off fortifying the house where they have escape options. The small group of strangers soon figure out how to better defend themselves if they are ever to escape the hoard of living dead heading for them.

This is how its done people! This movie is awesome. I will admit...I haven't seen the original. I know, blasphemy. But I have seen bits and pieces of it and I get the concept. One thing I got to point out is I love the fact that they changed Barbara's character from a helpless and, dare I say pathetic character, to the arse kicking, zombie killing woman that she is in this movie. Granted in the beginning she is obviously traumatized and needs a small smack in the face to snap her out of it. But she show's that she can fight if she need's to (as the character of Ben points out). She is also one of the stronger character's other than Ben. And Ben? Oh man is he a go get 'er. I want him on my zombie team. And the jerk character. Oh man. You just wonder how karma is gonna get back at him, and when it does its satisfying. Now, I will admit that while watching this movie, I couldn't help but point out all the mistakes the characters were making. Like, I was thinking, why don't you guys just go upstairs? Why not look for that infamous attic and hid in there? But as it was from the 90's and I own the Zombie Survival Guide, its easy to point out those things.You also get a bit of time with the zombies. What I mean by that is that you see them interacting with the environment that they are in. There is one scene where we are watching a zombie sitting there eating slugs and even in a way, reacting to one another. Its nothing big, but it gives you a sense of how gone these creatures are. And the emotional scenes are just right. You can feel the break down and frustration. You can feel them being human. And that makes it more real and even more frightening.

Overall, I can't recommend this movie enough. The zombies are great, the characters are just wonderful, and the ending makes you think. You are zoned in on everything that is going on and even if you know what's going to happen, you still stay on board for the ride. And it is a good one. If you ask me, this is a good one to end zombie month on. Also to the spirit of George A. Romero, thank you for the living dead ghouls and movies. You are and will always be the master!

Undead

Hello fellow Spooks. I swear zombie month has zombified my brains. I don't know how I keep finding these hair brain movies. One of these movies seems to of been left behind by our dearly departed founder, and voted sexy corpse of the year, Nick. So I decided to see what type of movie it was other than a zombie flick. I don't know what he was on when he got it but I don't want it. I give you, 'Undead'.

Set in Australia, in a small town called Berkley, we are given a hasty introduction to our characters. Each one with t he personality and acting skills that make you want to jab a syringe in your eye cause it would be less painful. Anywho, a small meteor shower hits the town causing anyone who has been hit by these space rocks to become zombies. One of our characters, after witnessing some zombie violence, finds herself at an old weapons and fishing store where the town outcast resides and seems to be prepared for this coming zombie apocalypse. They are joined with a pregnant girl (who has grudge against our first leading lady) and her baby daddy, as well as an uptight Constable and his rookie partner. Together, this rag tag squad must fight their way through the legion of the undead and learn that not only is it the zombies that they have to worry about, but also a possible danger from beyond the stars. I'm talking aliens people.

You know, there are some things that go together like, peanut butter and jelly, lycans and vampires. But zombies and aliens? I kind of don't think so. Sure you can have horror and sci-fi mix and make some great flicks. You can also put in some ridiculousness in to make it more comical. But it has to be a smart type of ridiculousness. A perfect example is Shaun of the Dead. That movie gave us a zombie apocalypse with just a couple of average Joe's who fight off zombies while giving us some great humor in the process, as well as scenes that gave you some strong emotions. It had great actors and a great script. You could also tell that it was suppose to be a comedy set in a horror theme. It was also indicated by the trailer. In Undead, the trailer is so misleading. It makes you think that its going to be a serious zombie flick. When you see it, you are blind sided by the hokey acting, over the top gore, and I hate to say, poor delivery of comedy and drama. Some of the parts in the movie just boggled me. One of the characters punches a zombie fish. A zombie fish! You'd think I'd laugh at that but I was so confused as to what was going on that I sat there just dumbfounded. There was one scene where I genuinely laughed. One point gained movie.

As you may have guessed by my rant, I wasn't fond of this movie and don't recommend it. The story is everywhere, you don't care about the characters situation, and the acting is just too over the top for me. Granted there are some places where you get what the emotion is, and it matches the situation. If this movie was trying to be a comedy, it failed. If it was suppose to be serious, it failed that too. Watch it yourself if ya want to, I ain't your mom. But I can't let zombie month end like this. We need something or someone who can bring life to this corpse of a horror genre. A movie that can bring us the true horror of zombies. Maybe even the master of zombies....I dare say, George A Romero?