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.

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.

October 21, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Sole Survivor (1984, Thom Eberhardt)

Despite being largely a slow burn, Sole Survivor is a well made slow burn with some fine creepy moments. Also it’s pretty obvious that Thom Eberhardt’s cult film inspired both The Final Destination movies and It Follows, which is neat. The flick also manages to be eerie and spooky as well, plus very moody. This would be a good fall movie, honestly.

Anita Skinner plays a woman who manages to survive a plane crash, yet she remains haunted afterwards. The doctor who treats her (Kurt Johnson, who is very likable) tells her it’s all in her head, then falls in love with her. Meanwhile literal zombies roam the city streets and proceed to stalk her in different ways. Is this death reaching out, or something more sinister at work? The movie doesn’t quite say, which is fine to me.

Gotta love those blue color schemes and those eerie late night streets.

Is there a grand conspiracy at work, or is it just people’s imagination? Caren Larkey is also great as a fading actress who claims to know the answers, and Skinner is perfect for the role. She makes us, the viewer, sympathetic to what she is going through. There is a shocking swimming pool scene, plus an unnerving moment on a staircase that really works. Is this a zombie movie or a supernatural movie? Perhaps it’s both, really? I’m not sure.

Between Sole Survivor and Night of the Comet, I really like what Eberhardt accomplished in the horror genre. I wish he had done more, yet he moved on to more general Hollywood fair. Which is fine yet also too bad since he appeared to have a knack for making reliable horror movies with sci-fi elements. Viewed thanks to Shudder, a service that happily offers up plenty of cult movies every now and then.

October 12, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Eat, Brains, Love (2019, Rodman Flender)

The movie Eat, Brains, Love reminds me that I never bothered to watch Eat, Pray, Love. I’m not a big Julia Roberts fan, sorry not sorry folks. However Eat Brains Love is a pretty decent zombie rom-com that has a good amount of gore and bloodshed, so this movie is not for those who don’t want to view zombie violence that is typical of such movies. The cast is young and likable so that’s a plus, and they help out with some of the thinner material. Plus the flick does start a bit slow and the ending is a tad abrupt-perhaps a sequel is on the horizon? I would view a sequel if Rodman Flender does make one, even if sequels usually offer diminishing returns.

Jake and Amanda are two people who are polar opposites that become infected with a zombie virus passed on by sex which leaves the person hungry a lot. Those who catch it only become zombies at certain points due to feeling extreme emotions, although the movie doesn’t really explain that very well in my opinion. They are pursued by a creepy government agency which employs a psychic named Cass, who ends up falling for Jake and starting this weird love triangle between the three people. Jake Cannavale is funny and likable as the male lead, and Angelique Rivera is actually pretty funny as Amanda. Sarah Yarkin is good as Cass and is very relatable, however there are times when I felt that she was acting in a different, more quirky movie than this one.

Apparently this was adapted from a book that I have not read, and I wonder if the filmmakers made any changes or not. The zombie vigilante bits are darkly humorous to me, and I’m surprised that no one to my knowledge thought of that before. While not as good as I was hoping it would be, I still can recommend Eat, Brains, Love, although I will admit I’m a huge fan of the zombie genre and thus was prone to enjoying this type of film, anyways. I’m also amused at those who insist horror comedies can’t be good or a thing in movies when there are so many great and good ones.

August 2, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Zombies of Mora Tau (1957, Edward L. Cahn)

Despite wanting to enjoy Zombies of Mora Tau, this whole thing felt as if someone decided to make their own spin on I Walked With a Zombie, only without the style and talent of that movie. Also this is supposed to be set in Africa, yet there is nothing to indicate that is the case. At all. The underwater zombies were indeed neat, yet they don’t have the look of the undead all that much. Plus the movie whimps out by not having the main character be an anti-hero or even a bad guy like he should have been. Weak.

The female characters are decent in this one, yet they are not enough to save the movie which also lacks a real satisfying ending. Still Cahn’s flick does have its moments, primarily one where the film’s ship wreck robbing characters face down a den full of the undead. More of that would have been welcomed in this movie, yet alas it’s a lackluster disappointing effort. The underwater scenes are good however and points and props to this movie featuring zombies emerging from the sea before Carnival of Souls did it 5 years later.

July 27, 2022 0

Dead People Aren’t Much Fun: Horrorfest 2022

Whew it took me a few months after October but I finished all the reviews. I’m not doing this many movies next year haha or this many months either. Thanks for reading, see you all next year for Horrorfest 2023!

I’ve run out of title ideas. That or I’m just tired these days. Yet I press on to another Horrorfest even though at some point I’ve got to be getting too old for this sort of thing. Anyways on with the show!

July (Monsters Oh My!):

August (Things Aren’t What They Seem):

September (Murder, and Lots of It):

Always bring a flashlight in case you lose your phone

October (Forever Haunted):

Please remain seated until the plane has finished crashing.

Coda (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop):

Top 10:

1. The Cremator (1969)
2. Nope (2022)
3. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
4. Häxan (1922)
5. Barbarian (2022)
6. Sole Survivor (1984)
7. The Raven (1963)
8. Pearl (2022)
9. Onibaba (1964)
10. Storm of the Century (1999)

HM: The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)

July 2, 2022 1

Horrorfest 2021 Presents: One Dark Night (1983, Tom McLoughlin)

Even though most of the action happens in the last half of the movie, One Dark Night is still a decent horror movie. Plus the final act is pretty cool and quite weird, as if the movie couldn’t decide whether to be a slasher zombie movie or a vampire flick. So it choose all of those, combining different elements. I wish the kill count had been higher, still this is a flick I recommend anyways.

Julie (Meg Tilly) wants to join a group of popular girls despite her boyfriend telling her she’s better off ignoring them. They decide to send her to spend the night in a local mausoleum, and decide to come back to scare her. Too bad for them all a local occultist has been entombed there as well! Does he come back from the dead? What do you think? Also hey Adam West is even in the movie! Neat.

Melissa Newman also plays the daughter of the dead occultist, Raymar (what a great name) who attempts to figure out what her father was up to, and Robin Evans, E. G. Daily and Leslie Speights are the Sisters club that is responsible for Julie’s situation in the first place. I liked the zombies in this movie, and the finale is definitely pretty wild. It’s too bad that Tom McLoughlin didn’t make more movies, as between this one and Jason Lives he seemed to have a knack for directing watchable horror movies. Oh well.

October 19, 2021 0

Horrorfest 2021 Presents: Blood Quantum (2019, Jeff Barnaby)

Zombie movies are almost played out at this point so it was cool to have one that has American Indians being immune to the zombie plague. The film mostly centers around a family group led by Traylor (Michael Greyeyes) who have to deal with the outside world falling apart, which is typical for the apocalypse. Even though this movie is low budget, it at least has a good concept and a solid cast. At the same time, I felt that the movie didn’t quite go below surface level issues, and it could have been longer, actually. There wasn’t enough time to further explore the fact that in this movie, the people who regulated the tribe to the reservation were the ones getting sick instead, which is a bleak irony considering that Europeans spread diseases to the American Indians and other native tribes when they invaded.

Oh and the Lysol subplot is mostly just the movie serving up a villain who puts forth beliefs the audience can argue over. I will admit this element did leave me thinking about the movie after it ended, yet at the same time the movie didn’t need someone willing to kill survivors based on extremist beliefs. I got enough out of the whole population control thing from the last two Avengers movies. Despite that I still liked this movie, even though the ending wasn’t really an ending. Too many horror movies do that sort of thing, and most of the time it causes me to roll my eyes.

Actually the more I think about this movie, the less I like it. It took me two days to finish it, and this is one of those films where those involved, the concept and the themes warranted a higher budget. I gave it an 7/10, all of my ratings are inflated anyways and there are just some movies I don’t feel like reviewing. The grandpa was pretty badass, though: he wielded a katana during the whole movie.

September 22, 2021 0

Horrorfest 2021 Presents: Chillerama (2011, Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Adam Green, Joe Lynch)

Chillerama is a dumb, mostly amusing and decent enough send up of old school horror movies. This anthology flick opens with a guy’s dick being chomped on by his undead wife. He then shows up to work at a drive in movie theater showing a bunch of horror movies on it’s final day. If this isn’t the obvious wrap around story to you, it will be midway through. Or you haven’t seen enough movies.

We begin with Wadzilla, a fairly solid mocking of 1950s and 1960s monster flicks. Ray Wise’s doctor is responsible for a man’s sperm turning into a huge creature with teeth that eats people. This is mostly funny and also really gross, particularly in one scene where the poor guy’s blind date almost gets eaten by the monster! If there was one that could be a full length movie while also thankfully being a segment in this movie, it was Wadzilla. If this movie seems obsessed with disgusting moments that cross the lines of good taste, well guilty as charged.

I Was a Teenage Werebear is actually more funnier now I think about it, and it makes fun of movies that I’m not really a big fan of, although I did like Rebel Without a Cause. The songs were actually catchy in this one, and the final act is both outlandish and rather groovy. Also the coach got eaten! Or ripped apart, anyways. So much gore in this one. Lin Shaye makes an appearance in this one, making fun of the stereotypical gipsy woman in werewolf and horror movies.

The Diary of Anne Frankenstein is in really poor taste, although Joel David Moore mocking Hitler works, I guess. This was my least favorite one of the bunch and is thankfully not very long, as the material is rather thin. Legendary Jason actor Kane Hodder pops up as the monster Adolf brings to life, only to bring retribution down upon the Nazi leader.

The wrap around, Zom-B-Movie, is fun and enjoyable mostly because it has zombies and Richard Riehle kicking zombie ass the only way he knows how: with lots of guns. Kaili Thorne was a good final girl, too. Clearly this was made for die hard horror movie fans and those of us that don’t mind a little disgusting humor. Especially considering one short flick is literally a movie about people pooping, which was not very funny. I’m too old for poop jokes, I guess.

September 16, 2021 0

Horrorfest 2021 Presents: Messiah of Evil (1973, Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck)

Equal parts slow burn, nightmare fuel and zombie film, Messiah of Evil is one one those 1970s cult gems that people talk about years later. There are two scenes that echo in my mind: one is a grocery store one that is super freaky, the other takes place in a movie theater which calls to mind Carnival of Souls. Both are highly effective and add to the film’s overall high eerie factor that works very much in it’s favor.

Arletty (Marianna Hill) goes to a small California town in search of her father, played by Royal Dano. Running into an old man (Elisha Cook, Jr.) who tells her about a dark prophecy straight out of a Lovecraft story. She ends up joining a rich guy (Michael Greer) and his two female pals (Joy Bang and Anitra Ford) who hang around despite all of them, Arletty included, reading her father’s spooky diary.

In fact much of this movie has the look and feel of a Lovecraft adaption, with some solid nods to George A. Romero, of course. The final act is your quality 1970s finale that has no qualms about being gloomy. I liked this movie a lot and I might watch it again if Shudder still keeps the rights or Tubi has it. This kind of movie is why I love 1970s horror so much: it has guts, literally.

September 7, 2021 0

Horrorfest 2020 Presents: The Living Dead Girl (1982, Jean Rollin)

Ok so now I know what inspired the Rob Zombie song by the same name. I like the song better than the movie, which is solid. The gore factor for this one is nice and heavy, which is good considering the characters are beyond paper thin and I didn’t care what happened to any of them. Perhaps my rating for Living Dead Girl is too high, yet I did like this movie somewhat so maybe not. I think the main woman played by Françoise Blanchard is supposed to be a mix between a zombie, a vampire and a ghoul.

There are some lesbian overtones between her and her friend, who instead of running for the hills decides to bring her fresh victims to feed on. The ending is too anticlimactic for me yet there are some good kills and I liked the cinematography well enough. So far I have seen and liked two Jean Rollin movies but he seems to be a poor man’s Mario Bava. He does have some talent, though, and I might check out his other films anyways.

October 14, 2020 0