Tag: Horror-Comedy

Horrorfest 2022 Presents The Munsters (2022, Rob Zombie)


Is Rob Zombie’s latest a good movie? I donno, it made me laugh quite a bit, I wasn’t bored by most of it and the cast makes up for some clearly lesser aspects. I think a solid 7/10 sounds about right, and Zombie doing a TV series revival of the TV series instead of a movie probably would have been a much better idea. Oh well, I’ll take what is offered to me, I guess. I’m not sure this movie deserves the hate it’s getting considering the source material. It’s The Munsters, not The Twilight Zone, people.

Sheri Moon Zombie (of course) and Jeff Daniel Phillips are two monsters who fall in love while her father, played by Daniel Roebuck, shakes his head in disapproval. You also have Sylvester McCoy as the loyal butler, Catherine Schell as the count’s disgruntled ex-wife and even Cassandra Peterson in a nice small part. Richard Brake and Jorge Garcia made me laugh, with Blake as a mad scientist and Garcia as his dimwitted assistant.

Are there some jokes that fall flat? Sure, yet most land well enough and the movie has this odd sense of humor and entertainment that works. It’s very goofy and not particularly high brow. I was amused regardless, which does remind me of the original show from what I recall, so perhaps Zombie channeled it well enough. Netflix picking this up and acting it seems oddly on brand for them, I suppose.

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Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Shaun of the Dead (2004, Edgar Wright)


I cheated this Horrorfest and used my local big chain movie theater to help pad my totals for the month. I have never seen Shaun of the Dead on the bigscreen the way God and some folks properly intended, and thus I ventured out on a Thursday to view a movie I’ve owned first on DVD, now Blu-ray, and which I’ve seen numerous times. I’m pretty sure I’ve written reviews for this movie at least a few times, too. Once for a now dead message board that I had a love hate relationship with.

Edgar Wright has done better and worse movies than this one, yet Shaun is probably my favorite one of his. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are fantastic together, operating on the same levels as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and others of course. I love how the two of them play off each other so well, and without this movie wouldn’t be half as funny or entertaining. This is definitely a zombie romcom, or a romcom with zombies, or a zomcom! Whatever. It wasn’t the first to have comedy jokes of course, however I think it might be the best one or at least up there.

How’s that for a slice of fried gold?

The rest of the cast is fantastic, too. Kate Ashfield is the girlfriend, Liz, who Shaun takes for granted and who Ed constantly annoys. Lucy Davis and Dylan Moran are the couple who live with Liz and who provide plenty of conflict later on. Penelope Wilton plays Shaun’s mum, who is super nice and puts up with him hating his step-dad, Philip (Bill Nighy), which is a good joke in itself. All of them kind of represent different types of people who one could be in a zombie crisis, both good and bad.

I love a lot of the one liners, particularly the “You’ve got red on you” one that is still very funny. This movie also has way more gore than I remember, particularly during the scene where Shaun and Ed kill some ghouls in their backyard. This is probably the most British zombie movie ever made (well that and 28 Days Later) and is definitely top tier as far as I’m concerned. I loved all the nods to past and present zombie movies, and the conclusion is very satisfying. Check this one out for sure, and don’t forget to enjoy a good pint while doing so.

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Horrorfest 2020 Presents: Scare Me (2020, Josh Ruben)


Oh hey look a 2020 horror movie that as far as I know didn’t hit theaters. It’s just not the same. Scare Me is mostly a comedy anyways, and the last act rips off several non horror movies that were dramatic thrillers. I really liked this movie when the two characters were telling scary stories, and they even let the pizza man in on the fun.

My issue is that both main characters come off as a bit insufferable. One wrote a successful book yet still is fine with taking ideas, the other is insecure and let’s their ego ruin what could have been something good. I don’t remember their names, I just enjoyed watching them tell scary stories. The film suffers from too much plot, a criticism that I believe came from Roger Ebert.

I wonder if he would write that in his review. Perhaps. Still this is a good film, and I liked it anyways. The acting is good, which helps. I think the story about the old man was my favorite one, and I do appreciate that Scare Me was trying to do its own twist on the anthology movie. Shudder presents modern original films all the time, and as with older horror movies I’m not bound to love all of them. Sometimes merely liking one is good enough.

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Top 20 Horror Films of the 2000s Presents: Slither (2006)


8.    Slither (2006, James Gunn)

After years of putting this movie off I finally decided to see what all of the fuss was about and finally watched it one or two Horrorfests ago. Needless to say I get why people love this movie so much (and I’m now included in their company): its gross, really darkly funny, and incredibly entertaining. Slither exists as a throwback to films such as Night of the Creeps while also channeling Shivers, two equally disgusting movies about creepy bug creatures invading people’s brains and turning them into brain dead zombies. In Slither’s case the aliens are from outer space, popping out of a meteor and infecting the town’s local millionaire-Grant Grant, wonderfully played by famous character actor Michael Rooker-which leads to him infecting others in the process since he ends up becoming a mutated beast. Things just get progressively worse from there, and the rest of the movie features the town’s sheriff (endlessly dependable Nathan Fillion) and Grant Grant’s wife (the lovely Elizabeth Banks) trying to end the infestation.

As great as Fillion is in this movie-his sheriff is equal parts humorous and completely bewildered by the situation-its really Gregg Henry’s slick mayor who has some of the movie’s best lines. “Bitch is hardcore” is one of my favorites, among others; hell I could quote most of the entire movie. Not too many films succeed in combing comedy with horror, and Slither pulls that feat off really well. Especially in the scene where Fillion fights a deer: you just have to see it to believe it. Its a shame that this movie was not a box office hit, especially since its so well made and is a blast to watch. Hopefully more people seek out this movie on DVD and Blu Ray, although I would not recommend watching this while eating. The monster version of Grant Grant is enough to cause some people to vomit. Some horror movies really are not for the faint of heart.

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