October 31, 2005-
Dear journal, Today I write to you because I can remember how special this holiday used to be years ago. All of the fun of dressing up and pretending to be something you weren't just for one night- those days are over. There is no longer imagination, just a dark glimpse of reality....
"When There is No More Room in Hell, the Dead Will Walk the Earth"
One of my original zombie journals that I wrote. This one is from the perspective of one of the special operatives agents that you would see in the beginning of the original Dawn of the Dead.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1888348/when_there_is_no_more_room_in_hell.html
Showing posts with label George Romero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Romero. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009
"When There is No More Room in Hell, the Dead Will Walk the Earth"
Monday, June 22, 2009
The top ten horror films to watch just prior to Halloween part 9: Night of the Living Dead (movie review)
Ooooh we're getting so close arent' we?
Well, here I promise you the true gritty details: I give you the facts, list the breast counts and how much buckets of blood are gonna come spurting on out at ya. As told in Joe Bob Briggs fashion, I get right to business (after listing a lot of bullshit or useless tidbits of information) but I want you, the little people, to really get the gist of these films the way they were intended. So for god's sake: Join up with Netflix, cause every lil rinky dinky Blockbuster video has capitolized and smothered out the lil mom and pop video rental stores to ever carry any of this stuff ever again. Some of them are rare gems, and some are commercialized. And some yet have so many cuts, versions and even remakes - you'll never really know which ones to get. SO my suggestion to you guys is either be lucky enough to bump into these films on your digital cabel/satelite provider - or just go out and buy these films. Some of them I bought just on a whim or from info I've read from the great sites like www.imdb.com or www.houseofhorrors.com I put out the money for them and never live to regret it.
If you just happen to stumble upon my countdown, you can either read my previous listings OR just read the following messages of the recent reviews that you have missed: 10)A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: The Dream Warriors 9)Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives 8)Return of the Living Dead 7)Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead) 6)Re-Animator 5)Demons (aka Demoni) 4)Evil Dead 3) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) and now for the next addition to my countdown.....
2)Night of the Living Dead
1968, Directed and written by George A. Romero, also written by John A. Russo
Being barricaded within a house so that people can't destroy you. This formula has been duplicated over and over again the night that Night started springing up all across the drive in theatres and late night showings of this new type of horror film that practically RE DID the genre and transcended it into what we now call as Modern Day Horror. Much like it re did the genre, you can think of Night as the NEW society taking over the old - yet RomeroGeroge A. Romero and Russo do it with zombies. Or more specificially your own loved ones have been turned against you, and your choices are to either kill them so that they don't spread they're almost rabies-esque disease to you - or barricade yourself into safe keeping.
This film is quite low budget, and it's startlign black and white cinematography just make it more frightening from the definition of shapes to the contrast of light and dark - live and dead. Some can possiably consider it one of the earliest independenent feature films (well not mentioning the likes of the old days of let's say American International Pictures) but Romero made his film much like a blown up student film, or in his case a very big commercial, since he was so used to make short advertisments and commercials in Pittsburgh at the time before his big ol' directorial debut in a feature film.
The story-It is believed that a NASA satellite was returning from a visit to Venus and the radiation on the satellite had an effect on the dead. It re-animated corpses to spring back to life and attack the living. Any one that it kills, bites or scratches comes alive (or dead alive, or undead, or walking dead?) and it kills. It kills for food, and they only eat that of the fresh human flesh. Back then they were only known as Ghouls, probably not wanting to confuse the more golden age stylization of a zombie: as someoen transfixed under a Voo Doo state that will do what their master wills them to do. But now their flesh devouring monsters, and the only way to stop them is to kill the brain - and the rest will follow.
Romero's classic has become a staple in pop culture and horror films for close to 40 years now. He created the Zombie genre, and the rules that other film makers like O'Bannon, Anderson, Yuzna, Wright, Snyder and even Boyle along with many, many others have been toying with Romero's ideas for years (and some mentioing of Russo as well). Okay, so the dead are back to life and it creates a small band of survivors to barricade themselves into a small farmhouse through out the night until help or even salvation arrives. To survive the day, they must first make it through - THE NIGHT. mwhwhhahah okay, I'm done with the macabre feel of this thing.
The macabre, the golden age of the Universal monster movies and EC comics were all heavy influences into George A Romero and he plugged it all into this film - not mention all of his other works. There have been books and films that just let alone talk about the camera work and how it terrorfies with light shadow and slow movement alone. It is quite possiably THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT HORROR FILM OF OUR DAY AND AGE. This one comes before Texas, cause TCM couldn't have come about if not for something like Night to pave the way for true in depth horror that kept making folks come back for more and why Night of the Living Dead (along with it's sequels) shall always remain an excellent tradition that plows into mankind's psyche.
So here we have oru small bunch of heroes, slowly becomign out numbered. If the zombies know the living are inside, they're gonna get at them no matter what it takes. We don't get much plot exploitation of WHY they're doing it, and WHY Romero is still expanding on such a premise to this day with his previous installment - Land of the Dead. All we do get from this film is that if you're previousily dead before the satellite landed you're now back from the dead. AND anyone else that dies (whether natural cause or via zombie) they too will be stricken with the so-called virus (or let's say maybe a trauma within their mind,body and psyche that causes them to desire the flesh of the living?)
The film Night of the Living Dead (also known as Night of Anubis or Night of the Flesh Eaters) tries to get everyone within this small lil farmhouse (setting racial,sexual and social differences aside) that they most work together despite greed or claiming who is wrong and who is right in order to survive the film. Everyone tries to work on a plan, whether it's to wait it out or escape. While others are stricken by a moment of irony, or down right they desreved it for being an idiot like Tom (cause he tried to blow a lock off a gas pump with a shot gun) or a self-righteous asshole like Cooper. This film is deliciosily written (much like the taste of the victims in the film) it's lit light a creepy take off of Bride of Frankenstein and it's a stark reality that hits on SO many levels. Whether you think it's the end of the world and God is punishing them through judgement day, a satelite sci-fi theory or just a coincidence of mass hysteria - Night of the Living Dead is what you make of it. Let yourself be terrorfied by this film and get lost in the imagery the ideas of being over run by the unburied dead and having even your own former loved ones strip the meat off your bones and they won't even reconcile your pain.
Of course, as we may have already known how far the Night has gone. It was followed up by the awesome international sequel Dawn of the Dead, and the lesser creepy but sometimes more gorey and thought provoking third part Day of the Dead. Romero fell of the face of the Earth for a while with his hatred of how the film business is run and eventually returned years later to create his fourth installment of the series Land of the Dead. THe film of Night of the Living Dead remake in 1990 was shot entirely in color and pretty much follows the core sample of the original. Except now we have horror makeup/sfx master Tom Savini in the director's chair and Tony Todd (Clive Barker's The Candyman) as the main hero. The remake was scripted by Romero - but doesn't fully capture the original's fright. Yet, watching Tony working his Black-Fu on the zombies is awesome lol. Night of the Living Dead 30th Anniversary was featured by shooting new scenes (which is pretty much an extended opening for someback ground on the first zomibe and perhaps a bit more exploitation on why this is happenign ot the world) and the new beginnig half of the film was directed by original Night co-writer: John A. Russo. But if you want the real deal effect, go for the cheapiest and grittiest copy you can find that has that low budgeted almost documentary like appeal to the film. Don't worry about the whole remastered look - seeing this film in it's worst condition almost makes it more frightening.
Things to look out for:
-Utter Racism
-Trough Fu
-Getting Barbara
-Cooper is an asshole
-Dumb hillbillies blowing locks off of gas pumps with shotguns
-Shooting the wrong guy, (by mistake?)
-Redneck Militia to the rescue
Memorable quotes:
Barbara: They oughta make the day the time changes the first day of summer.
Johnny: What?
Barbara: Well, it's eight o'clock, and it's still light!
Johnny: A lot of good the extra daylight does us. You know, we've still got a three-hour drive back; we're not gonna be home until after midnight.
Newscaster: All law enforcement agencies and the military have been organized to search out and destroy the marauding ghouls. The Survival Command Center at the Pentagon has disclosed that a ghoul can be killed by a shot in the head, or a heavy blow to the skull. Officials are quoted as explaining that since the brain of a ghoul has been activated by the radiation, the plan is kill the brain, and you kill the ghoul.
Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?
Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up.
Field Reporter: Chief, if I were surrounded by eight or ten of these things, would I stand a chance with them?
Sheriff McClelland: Well, there's no problem. If you have a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy.
Johnny: They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!
Sheriff McClelland: All right, Vince, hit him in the head, right between the eyes.
Ben: Now get the hell down in the cellar. You can be the boss down there, but I'm boss up here!
Newscaster: Reports, incredible as they may seem, are not the results of mass hysteria.
Harry Cooper: "Mass hysteria?" What do they think, we're imagining all this?
Ben: Shut up!
[to Harry Cooper after having been locked outside]
Ben: I ought to drag you out there and FEED you to those things!
Ben: How long have guys you been down there? I could have used some help up here!
Harry Cooper: That's the cellar. It's the safest place.
Ben: You mean you didn't hear the racket I was making up here?
Harry Cooper: How were we supposed to know what was going on? Could have been those things for all we knew!
Ben: That girl was screaming. Surely you know what a girl screaming sounds like. Those things don't make any noise. Anybody would know somebody needed help!
Tom: Look, it's kind of hard to know what's going on from down there.
Harry Cooper: We thought we could hear screams, but for all we knew, that have meant those things were in the house after her.
Ben: And you wouldn't come up here and help?
Tom: Well, if there were more of them...
Harry Cooper: That racket sounded like the place was being ripped apart. How were we supposed to know what was going on?
Ben: Now wait a minute. You just got finished saying you couldn't hear anything down there. Now you say it sounded like the place was being ripped apart. It would be nice if you get your story straight, man.
Harry Cooper: All right, now you tell me! I'm not gonna take that kind of a chance when we've got a safe place! We lock into a safe place, and you're telling us we gotta risk our lives just because somebody might need help, huh?
Ben: Yeah, something like that.
Harry Cooper: Helen! I have to get that gun!
Helen Cooper: Haven't you had ENOUGH?
Harry Cooper: Look, two people are already dead on account of that guy! Take a look out that window!
Helen Cooper: We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn't going to solve anything.
Newscaster: It has been established that persons who have recently died have been returning to life and committing acts of murder. A widespread investigation of funeral homes, morgues, and hospitals has concluded that the unburied dead have been returning to life and seeking human victims. It's hard for us here to be reporting this to you, but it does seem to be a fact.
Reverend John Hicks: This is like the flood that happened during Noah's time, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah! We ARE being punished for our sins! The dead are rising, and Judgment Day is upon us!
Sheriff McClelland: Good shot! OK, he's dead; let's go get 'im. That's another one for the fire.
Worthless tidbits of info:
In 1999, it was inducted into the National Film Preservation Board and recieved the award of National Film Registry.
Ranked in as Number 93 on the American Film Institutes 100 most frightening horror films. 100 being the bottom of the list, number 1 being Psycho and 2 was Jaws.
As stated earlier, the earlier title of the film was Night of Anubis, Anubis being the Ancient Egyptian God of the Dead.
Romero quickly rewrote the scene that gave Johnny and Barbara that huge dent on the side of their car. They make it look like they crashed into the tree, but the dent on the car door wouldn't have come the way they crashed intot he tree.
Legendary Make Up Master Tom Savini was originally hired to do Night, unfortunately he was called off to duty to serve as a combat photographer in Vietnam. The two were later re-united wehn Tom had his acting debut in Romero's Martin, and was def able to put his make up application skills to use when he made Dawn of the Dead.
Some people tend to consider George Romero also soo innovative for giving a black man the leading role of the film. It ends up create muching underlying racial issues at the time and a controversial ending if you look at it in a certain point of view. But it was in fact that George ended up hiring Duane Jones for the role, soley because he was the best actor in the whole group. ANd thusly beign the best actor, means he got the best role.
Also marks as being the first horror film with an African American as the lead role and pavign the way for many others. And it was also in such a tradition that Romero kept going with it as he did in The Crazies, Dawn of the Dead and even Land of the Dead.
Karl Hardman, who plays the asshole Cooper in the basement - also did the makeup, coproducing, sound effects engineer and even helped create the closing credits.
In true independent film fashion, the sound track was created from copywritten expired material. Sometimes known as also (S-Drop music) it's found a lot in Romero's early films such as The Crazies and parts of Dawn of the Dead that The Goblins didn't create. In fact, you're more than likely to catch this music on some of those old "NFL Greatest Superbowl Moments" television specials. Their music is also found in other films around just years before the release like Killer Shrews and Teenagers From OUter Space.
When originally intended as Night of the Flesh Eaters, the creators thought the killers would be extraterrestial in origin. Bringing the film to be much more cliche at the time as a cheesy sci-fi B movie. A good thing they went for the horror approach and transcended the whole genre instead.
Romero has admitted he was heavily influenced by the film Carnival of Souls. Also many people find that night has many social parallels of Hitchcock's THe Birds.
THe word "zombie" is never used but the creatures are called ghouls. Even in Dawn and Day they are either called things or creatures. It's not until Dennis Hopper mentions them in Land of the Dead as "zombies creep him out."
The Cooper family in the basement, is in real life the The Hardman family consisting of a mother, father and daughter.
It was booked in the movie theatres with a promise: "If Night of the Living Dead scares you to death, we're insured up to 50,000 dollars."insurance policy
Romero has also stated that above "visual" references came from other films - it was the initial idea that was found in the novel I am Legend by Richard Matheson.
Night is solely responsible for making the "midnight movie" the thing that movie goers wanted to check out for ages now.
In case you haven't noticed, the action packed shoot em up video game series of Resident Evil is directly influenced by the Romero films. When a Resident Evil movie was in the works, they hired Romero to write the script, they didn't like it so they fired him. SO now we have the two beautiful Resident Evil films out there because Capcom didn't like what Romero had for them - faq-u.
Night was such a huge success in Europe, Italian master of horror Dario Argento gar2.jpg (18228 bytes)SOOO wanted a sequel to the film. He approached George and the two helped create the driving force that would eventually become Dawn of the Dead.
On the night that Romero was driving the print to NY to seel the theatrical rights was the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
The soundtrack to the 30th Anniversary edition to Night is totally new, it's written by Scott Vladiimir Licina - who also plays the role of the Priest of the new beginning scenes.
Final rudnwon of the film
No breasts
Body count 8
Buckets of blood-5, not too much blood splattering - but this is probably the first time you'd see ghouls chomping on guts and human flesh (even though it's really leftovers from the producer who was really a Butcher).
Well, here I promise you the true gritty details: I give you the facts, list the breast counts and how much buckets of blood are gonna come spurting on out at ya. As told in Joe Bob Briggs fashion, I get right to business (after listing a lot of bullshit or useless tidbits of information) but I want you, the little people, to really get the gist of these films the way they were intended. So for god's sake: Join up with Netflix, cause every lil rinky dinky Blockbuster video has capitolized and smothered out the lil mom and pop video rental stores to ever carry any of this stuff ever again. Some of them are rare gems, and some are commercialized. And some yet have so many cuts, versions and even remakes - you'll never really know which ones to get. SO my suggestion to you guys is either be lucky enough to bump into these films on your digital cabel/satelite provider - or just go out and buy these films. Some of them I bought just on a whim or from info I've read from the great sites like www.imdb.com or www.houseofhorrors.com I put out the money for them and never live to regret it.
If you just happen to stumble upon my countdown, you can either read my previous listings OR just read the following messages of the recent reviews that you have missed: 10)A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: The Dream Warriors 9)Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives 8)Return of the Living Dead 7)Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead) 6)Re-Animator 5)Demons (aka Demoni) 4)Evil Dead 3) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) and now for the next addition to my countdown.....
2)Night of the Living Dead
1968, Directed and written by George A. Romero, also written by John A. Russo
Being barricaded within a house so that people can't destroy you. This formula has been duplicated over and over again the night that Night started springing up all across the drive in theatres and late night showings of this new type of horror film that practically RE DID the genre and transcended it into what we now call as Modern Day Horror. Much like it re did the genre, you can think of Night as the NEW society taking over the old - yet RomeroGeroge A. Romero and Russo do it with zombies. Or more specificially your own loved ones have been turned against you, and your choices are to either kill them so that they don't spread they're almost rabies-esque disease to you - or barricade yourself into safe keeping.
This film is quite low budget, and it's startlign black and white cinematography just make it more frightening from the definition of shapes to the contrast of light and dark - live and dead. Some can possiably consider it one of the earliest independenent feature films (well not mentioning the likes of the old days of let's say American International Pictures) but Romero made his film much like a blown up student film, or in his case a very big commercial, since he was so used to make short advertisments and commercials in Pittsburgh at the time before his big ol' directorial debut in a feature film.
The story-It is believed that a NASA satellite was returning from a visit to Venus and the radiation on the satellite had an effect on the dead. It re-animated corpses to spring back to life and attack the living. Any one that it kills, bites or scratches comes alive (or dead alive, or undead, or walking dead?) and it kills. It kills for food, and they only eat that of the fresh human flesh. Back then they were only known as Ghouls, probably not wanting to confuse the more golden age stylization of a zombie: as someoen transfixed under a Voo Doo state that will do what their master wills them to do. But now their flesh devouring monsters, and the only way to stop them is to kill the brain - and the rest will follow.
Romero's classic has become a staple in pop culture and horror films for close to 40 years now. He created the Zombie genre, and the rules that other film makers like O'Bannon, Anderson, Yuzna, Wright, Snyder and even Boyle along with many, many others have been toying with Romero's ideas for years (and some mentioing of Russo as well). Okay, so the dead are back to life and it creates a small band of survivors to barricade themselves into a small farmhouse through out the night until help or even salvation arrives. To survive the day, they must first make it through - THE NIGHT. mwhwhhahah okay, I'm done with the macabre feel of this thing.
The macabre, the golden age of the Universal monster movies and EC comics were all heavy influences into George A Romero and he plugged it all into this film - not mention all of his other works. There have been books and films that just let alone talk about the camera work and how it terrorfies with light shadow and slow movement alone. It is quite possiably THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT HORROR FILM OF OUR DAY AND AGE. This one comes before Texas, cause TCM couldn't have come about if not for something like Night to pave the way for true in depth horror that kept making folks come back for more and why Night of the Living Dead (along with it's sequels) shall always remain an excellent tradition that plows into mankind's psyche.
So here we have oru small bunch of heroes, slowly becomign out numbered. If the zombies know the living are inside, they're gonna get at them no matter what it takes. We don't get much plot exploitation of WHY they're doing it, and WHY Romero is still expanding on such a premise to this day with his previous installment - Land of the Dead. All we do get from this film is that if you're previousily dead before the satellite landed you're now back from the dead. AND anyone else that dies (whether natural cause or via zombie) they too will be stricken with the so-called virus (or let's say maybe a trauma within their mind,body and psyche that causes them to desire the flesh of the living?)
The film Night of the Living Dead (also known as Night of Anubis or Night of the Flesh Eaters) tries to get everyone within this small lil farmhouse (setting racial,sexual and social differences aside) that they most work together despite greed or claiming who is wrong and who is right in order to survive the film. Everyone tries to work on a plan, whether it's to wait it out or escape. While others are stricken by a moment of irony, or down right they desreved it for being an idiot like Tom (cause he tried to blow a lock off a gas pump with a shot gun) or a self-righteous asshole like Cooper. This film is deliciosily written (much like the taste of the victims in the film) it's lit light a creepy take off of Bride of Frankenstein and it's a stark reality that hits on SO many levels. Whether you think it's the end of the world and God is punishing them through judgement day, a satelite sci-fi theory or just a coincidence of mass hysteria - Night of the Living Dead is what you make of it. Let yourself be terrorfied by this film and get lost in the imagery the ideas of being over run by the unburied dead and having even your own former loved ones strip the meat off your bones and they won't even reconcile your pain.
Of course, as we may have already known how far the Night has gone. It was followed up by the awesome international sequel Dawn of the Dead, and the lesser creepy but sometimes more gorey and thought provoking third part Day of the Dead. Romero fell of the face of the Earth for a while with his hatred of how the film business is run and eventually returned years later to create his fourth installment of the series Land of the Dead. THe film of Night of the Living Dead remake in 1990 was shot entirely in color and pretty much follows the core sample of the original. Except now we have horror makeup/sfx master Tom Savini in the director's chair and Tony Todd (Clive Barker's The Candyman) as the main hero. The remake was scripted by Romero - but doesn't fully capture the original's fright. Yet, watching Tony working his Black-Fu on the zombies is awesome lol. Night of the Living Dead 30th Anniversary was featured by shooting new scenes (which is pretty much an extended opening for someback ground on the first zomibe and perhaps a bit more exploitation on why this is happenign ot the world) and the new beginnig half of the film was directed by original Night co-writer: John A. Russo. But if you want the real deal effect, go for the cheapiest and grittiest copy you can find that has that low budgeted almost documentary like appeal to the film. Don't worry about the whole remastered look - seeing this film in it's worst condition almost makes it more frightening.
Things to look out for:
-Utter Racism
-Trough Fu
-Getting Barbara
-Cooper is an asshole
-Dumb hillbillies blowing locks off of gas pumps with shotguns
-Shooting the wrong guy, (by mistake?)
-Redneck Militia to the rescue
Memorable quotes:
Barbara: They oughta make the day the time changes the first day of summer.
Johnny: What?
Barbara: Well, it's eight o'clock, and it's still light!
Johnny: A lot of good the extra daylight does us. You know, we've still got a three-hour drive back; we're not gonna be home until after midnight.
Newscaster: All law enforcement agencies and the military have been organized to search out and destroy the marauding ghouls. The Survival Command Center at the Pentagon has disclosed that a ghoul can be killed by a shot in the head, or a heavy blow to the skull. Officials are quoted as explaining that since the brain of a ghoul has been activated by the radiation, the plan is kill the brain, and you kill the ghoul.
Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?
Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up.
Field Reporter: Chief, if I were surrounded by eight or ten of these things, would I stand a chance with them?
Sheriff McClelland: Well, there's no problem. If you have a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy.
Johnny: They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!
Sheriff McClelland: All right, Vince, hit him in the head, right between the eyes.
Ben: Now get the hell down in the cellar. You can be the boss down there, but I'm boss up here!
Newscaster: Reports, incredible as they may seem, are not the results of mass hysteria.
Harry Cooper: "Mass hysteria?" What do they think, we're imagining all this?
Ben: Shut up!
[to Harry Cooper after having been locked outside]
Ben: I ought to drag you out there and FEED you to those things!
Ben: How long have guys you been down there? I could have used some help up here!
Harry Cooper: That's the cellar. It's the safest place.
Ben: You mean you didn't hear the racket I was making up here?
Harry Cooper: How were we supposed to know what was going on? Could have been those things for all we knew!
Ben: That girl was screaming. Surely you know what a girl screaming sounds like. Those things don't make any noise. Anybody would know somebody needed help!
Tom: Look, it's kind of hard to know what's going on from down there.
Harry Cooper: We thought we could hear screams, but for all we knew, that have meant those things were in the house after her.
Ben: And you wouldn't come up here and help?
Tom: Well, if there were more of them...
Harry Cooper: That racket sounded like the place was being ripped apart. How were we supposed to know what was going on?
Ben: Now wait a minute. You just got finished saying you couldn't hear anything down there. Now you say it sounded like the place was being ripped apart. It would be nice if you get your story straight, man.
Harry Cooper: All right, now you tell me! I'm not gonna take that kind of a chance when we've got a safe place! We lock into a safe place, and you're telling us we gotta risk our lives just because somebody might need help, huh?
Ben: Yeah, something like that.
Harry Cooper: Helen! I have to get that gun!
Helen Cooper: Haven't you had ENOUGH?
Harry Cooper: Look, two people are already dead on account of that guy! Take a look out that window!
Helen Cooper: We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn't going to solve anything.
Newscaster: It has been established that persons who have recently died have been returning to life and committing acts of murder. A widespread investigation of funeral homes, morgues, and hospitals has concluded that the unburied dead have been returning to life and seeking human victims. It's hard for us here to be reporting this to you, but it does seem to be a fact.
Reverend John Hicks: This is like the flood that happened during Noah's time, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah! We ARE being punished for our sins! The dead are rising, and Judgment Day is upon us!
Sheriff McClelland: Good shot! OK, he's dead; let's go get 'im. That's another one for the fire.
Worthless tidbits of info:
In 1999, it was inducted into the National Film Preservation Board and recieved the award of National Film Registry.
Ranked in as Number 93 on the American Film Institutes 100 most frightening horror films. 100 being the bottom of the list, number 1 being Psycho and 2 was Jaws.
As stated earlier, the earlier title of the film was Night of Anubis, Anubis being the Ancient Egyptian God of the Dead.
Romero quickly rewrote the scene that gave Johnny and Barbara that huge dent on the side of their car. They make it look like they crashed into the tree, but the dent on the car door wouldn't have come the way they crashed intot he tree.
Legendary Make Up Master Tom Savini was originally hired to do Night, unfortunately he was called off to duty to serve as a combat photographer in Vietnam. The two were later re-united wehn Tom had his acting debut in Romero's Martin, and was def able to put his make up application skills to use when he made Dawn of the Dead.
Some people tend to consider George Romero also soo innovative for giving a black man the leading role of the film. It ends up create muching underlying racial issues at the time and a controversial ending if you look at it in a certain point of view. But it was in fact that George ended up hiring Duane Jones for the role, soley because he was the best actor in the whole group. ANd thusly beign the best actor, means he got the best role.
Also marks as being the first horror film with an African American as the lead role and pavign the way for many others. And it was also in such a tradition that Romero kept going with it as he did in The Crazies, Dawn of the Dead and even Land of the Dead.
Karl Hardman, who plays the asshole Cooper in the basement - also did the makeup, coproducing, sound effects engineer and even helped create the closing credits.
In true independent film fashion, the sound track was created from copywritten expired material. Sometimes known as also (S-Drop music) it's found a lot in Romero's early films such as The Crazies and parts of Dawn of the Dead that The Goblins didn't create. In fact, you're more than likely to catch this music on some of those old "NFL Greatest Superbowl Moments" television specials. Their music is also found in other films around just years before the release like Killer Shrews and Teenagers From OUter Space.
When originally intended as Night of the Flesh Eaters, the creators thought the killers would be extraterrestial in origin. Bringing the film to be much more cliche at the time as a cheesy sci-fi B movie. A good thing they went for the horror approach and transcended the whole genre instead.
Romero has admitted he was heavily influenced by the film Carnival of Souls. Also many people find that night has many social parallels of Hitchcock's THe Birds.
THe word "zombie" is never used but the creatures are called ghouls. Even in Dawn and Day they are either called things or creatures. It's not until Dennis Hopper mentions them in Land of the Dead as "zombies creep him out."
The Cooper family in the basement, is in real life the The Hardman family consisting of a mother, father and daughter.
It was booked in the movie theatres with a promise: "If Night of the Living Dead scares you to death, we're insured up to 50,000 dollars."insurance policy
Romero has also stated that above "visual" references came from other films - it was the initial idea that was found in the novel I am Legend by Richard Matheson.
Night is solely responsible for making the "midnight movie" the thing that movie goers wanted to check out for ages now.
In case you haven't noticed, the action packed shoot em up video game series of Resident Evil is directly influenced by the Romero films. When a Resident Evil movie was in the works, they hired Romero to write the script, they didn't like it so they fired him. SO now we have the two beautiful Resident Evil films out there because Capcom didn't like what Romero had for them - faq-u.
Night was such a huge success in Europe, Italian master of horror Dario Argento gar2.jpg (18228 bytes)SOOO wanted a sequel to the film. He approached George and the two helped create the driving force that would eventually become Dawn of the Dead.
On the night that Romero was driving the print to NY to seel the theatrical rights was the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
The soundtrack to the 30th Anniversary edition to Night is totally new, it's written by Scott Vladiimir Licina - who also plays the role of the Priest of the new beginning scenes.
Final rudnwon of the film
No breasts
Body count 8
Buckets of blood-5, not too much blood splattering - but this is probably the first time you'd see ghouls chomping on guts and human flesh (even though it's really leftovers from the producer who was really a Butcher).
The top ten horror films to watch just prior to Halloween part 3: Return of the Living Dead (movie review)
Ah, alrighty - 8 weeks to go before the big holiday. And so before I can get ranting as usual, I'll give a recap of the previous films. Number 10 on the list went to Nightmare on Elm Street part 3, Number 9 was Friday the 13th part 6 (which also has a connection with my number 8 film, and for you hardcore horror fans you should be able to pick up on it before you finish reading my review.) Again to those just coming along, this list is made in tribute to the greatest horror movie critic out there - Joe Bob Briggs, and for always showing crappy movies for years on Monstervision on TNT. This list is just my own personal favorites, nothing is set in stone, and if you like to add something or make your own list - that'd be awesome. Spreading the love of film around is what it's all about. The other rule on this list is that I will only pick one film in a series of (say only one Nightmare or Friday the 13th) I want to be fair to all fans. And yes, I want many other people to bare witness to some horror films that they may have never seen or even HEARD of before. My list will provide a summary of the film, great lines, counts of gore and nudity and useless tidbits of info as this review progresses. And also this special time around, I like to be able to insert some pics in the review to break up the overflow of text. And so without further ado, I give you number 8 on my countdown....
8)Return of the Living Dead ..chtrap, Night of the Demons and Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (there she didn't have a true speaking part, but did play a soul poking out of Freddy's chest. And if you saw Linnea's chest which you do see a lot of in this movie, you can def tell she hasn't gotten a lot of roles due to her fine portrayal of being able to scream. It's screaming and running around topless which gets the jobs.
Brian Peck plays Scuz, and the only person to be in all three of the original Return of the Living Dead films. Clu Galagher, also appeared in Nightmare on Elm Street 2, and has had a very long line of films. In fact, his son, just won the last Project Greenlight Feast, which is also a horror film and he plays a bartender in it. James Karen, is also the other big name in the film and you can see him in ALOT of small lil character parts in movies. He played Frank in this movie, but will be appearing in the new Superman movie and has also been in Any Given Sunday, Nixon, The Willies (which was directed by costar Brian Peck and is a terriable horror film) Poltergeist and many many others.
Thom Matthews, if you haven't caught on yet, he is Freddy in this but played Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th part 6, the last film on my list, AND the only character besides a Voorhees to be in more than one Friday film. Another Friday alumni goes to Miguel Nunez Jr., who was in Friday the 13th part 5, and is remembered most by his bathroom stall death. But, not to slouch of his other fine movie roles in Leprechaun 4, Life (he's actually been in 3 movies with Eddie Murphy together), and his AWESOME role of Dee Jay in the even more AWESOME movie of Street Fighter The Movie. Also, Mark Venturri, who played Suicide inthis film - also was in Friday the 13th Part 5. He played the very very angry Vic who kills Joey with his axe just becasue Joey was bothering him about a candy bar question lol.
Unfortunatley, despite how well Dan O' Bannon did with this film - and yes he's even long line of credits behind him. He created the characters in Alien, worked on his characters from Heavy Metal (the story's Soft Landing and B-17) he wrote Total Recall, and even worked on the design and specil effects aspects of the original Star Wars. Unfortuanetly, due to Dan's health, he's only directed this film and Resurrected. But if the fans knew of his appreciation, I only hope he'd go out and do some more.
Memorable lines:
FREDDY:"Are we going crazy?"
FRANK:"No, it's that God damn crap those chemicals there all over everything."
FREDDY:"Stupid asshole!"
FRANK:"Watch your tongue boy if you like this job!"
FREDDY:"LIKE THIS JOB?!"
here's some erotic lines for you and probably one of the better pieces of dialogue in the film and followed by some gratuitious nudity:
TRASH: "Do you ever fantasizie about being killed?"
SPIDER: "Never."
TRASH: "Do you ever wonder about all the different ways of dying. You know, violently. And wonder like, what would be the most horriable way to die."
SPIDER: "I try not to think about dying too much."
TRASH: "Mmmm...(she gets up and starts rubbing herself) for me, the worst way would be for a bunch of old men to get around me and start biting and eating me alive."
SPIDER: "I see."
TRASH: "First, they would tear off my clothes" (and she rips her top off)
..http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/7.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
CHUCK (Off screen): Let's get some light over here, Trash is taking her clothes off again."
common sense from Burt:
BURT: "Well, if that is a reanimated cadaver in there, we'll just have to kill it."
to breaking that fourth wall
BURT: "I thought you said if we destroyed the brain it'd stop them."
FRANK: "Well, it worked in the movie."
BURT: "Well it ain't working now."
FREDDY: "You mean the movie lied?"
gore fest:
FREDDY: "How are we going to destroy this thing?"
BURT: "Give me the bone saw."
comedy:
ERNIE: "WHAT? What the hell are you doing with rabid weasels?"
horror iconic line:
TAR ZOMBIE: "Brainnnnnnnsss"
Zombies at their creative best to lure more flesh to their trap:
RADIO ZOMBIE 1: "Come in dispatch. Send - more - paramedicsss..."
Ernie about to unload Bronson style:
ERNIE: "What are you crazy?! Are you on PCP?"
Also Kudos to Scuzz for realizing what's going on, not the typical guy of we love you guys - we can't kill you.
SCUZ: "Your dead, your dead man - you're going to turn into one of those things!"
Signs of the end is near:
BURT: "Cops. They've got the cops. It means they're breaking out of the barricade."
Things to look for:
-Half of a dog still panting and yelping
-Spontaneous nudity to dance in the cemetary ..http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/8.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
-Pick axe in the back of the head only to make it scream at the top of it's lungs. Then, the head being slowly cut off via hacksaw to hear the vocal cords slowly seperating ..http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/11.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
-Headless and naked cadaver running around and breaking stuff...http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/12.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
-A great original synthesized song whenever the fumes are mixing with the outer environment.
-Linnea Quigley (the nudist punk known as Trash and scream Queen extraidonaire) hates the rain and has to run around naked to avoid the rain, "I wonder what's in that rain."
-Over the top violent vomiting done by Frank as he is slowly dying.
-A puppet skeleton that pops out of the ground, when it's eyes open - cue that classical 80's punkish metally music. ..http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/17.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> "Do you wanna party, it's party time!"
-The tar man zombie in the basement that coined that classic phrase - "braiiiiinnns."
-Suicide having a chunk of his head bitten into and then convulsing on the floor...http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/16.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
-Trash's dreams come true when she is slowly devoured by a bunch of muddy old men
-When the paramedi turns on the light for the ambulance, ..http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/19.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> to notice all of the zombies in front of him. Then the other zombie open up the front door and yank him out. The screams of Jerry are totally horrific! :D
-The lil midget zombie ..http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/thundrshot/20.jpg " alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> eating brains only to get shot in the face and come waddling after Ernie.
-The second set of paramedics that get tricked and lured into the trap. Especially look for the second paramedic guy that gets sacked SO hard into the mud by the zombies.
-Scuz being yanked out of the window to have the effect of aerosol blood spraying out from his head when the topless female torso zombie latches onto him.
-The spinal fluid that leaks out of the female zombie torso puppet when she gives her meaning of eating brains to the guys.
-Brains slowwwwwllly oozing out of a paramedic's head.
-Freddy foaming at the mouth and then getting Sulfuric Acid splashed int he face.
-Ernie OH SO CONVENTIALLY breaking his foot while trying to secure the chapel. Becoming the cliche guy in the zombie film that not only is packing the heat, but is now unable to move around. (Think of the guy in Dawn of the Dead in his wagon shootign zombies)
-Beating down zombies with a sledge hammer.
-Car chase through the cemetary in the police car, then fighting through an army of zombies. Car eventually blows up and burns some zombies on down. Along with Frank and Burt''s cars outside.
-Frank being a real trooper and actiivating the furnace (like he said he could - cause this film is ripe with foreshadowing) and cremating himself. But not without a prayer and taking off his wedding ring.
-Ernie contemplating about putting that bitch out of her misery up in the attic.
-Tarman Zombie having his head flown off via baseball bat.
-FINALLY dialing that damn 1-800 number ont he side of the barrel.
-Overtly cheap and ridiculous cheap special effect of the tank that shoots the nuke missle at Louisville, Kentucky.
Worthless tidbits of info:
-Director Dan O' Bannon does the voice of the police officer in the helicopter.
-Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist and Life Force fame was scheduled to direct this film but left at the last minute giving it over to Dan O' Bannon.
-George Romero was to be initially involved with the project, but his producer Richard Rubinstein suggested it would be bad that people would confuse Romero's "Dead" films with this film.
-The legality issues behind this film: John Russo, who initially co-wrote Night of the Living Dead with George Romero, got into a scuffle over who got the proper rights to the films and sequels. The judge eventually ordered that Romero would get the rights to the word "Dead" and Russo would get the right of "Living Dead". Thus is why Romero went on to make Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead whereas Russo began the Night of the Living Dead series, which is just about to simulataneously release parts 4 and 5 in a few weeks.
-After the split, Russo wrote a book that is the basis of this film. But when O' Bannon took over the reigns on the project, he felt that the book and script, stepped on the toes of Romero too much. So he added comedy into the fold much more.
-The original concept is taken from Romero's idea of the Army utilizing the dead, which he features prominatnely in Day of the Dead. So the Living Dead series went on using a small sliver of an idea that Day had. In fact, Day of the Dead came out and flopped. It came out shortly not too long after this film did (Living dead should have came out a year earlier except due to legal troubles). Most people think that Day wasn't taken seriousily after a lot of people saw Living Dead - which did do fairly well at the box office.
-The sequel to this was Return of the Living Dead Part II - a total piece of crap and a very bad comedy if antying. It utilizes a lot fo the original cast, and merely suggests that part I was a dream. Part III is pretty good, and is directed by Brian Yuzna of Reanimator fame. It's def a horror film worth to watch especially if you enjoy part I.
-Fantasy II Film Effects did the special effects on this movie along with the Terminator movies. So for a film with a 4 million budget, they did a pretty damn good job.
-Not only is Dan O'Bannon a great artist and a draftsman, his heavy inspiration of the old creepy EC Comics (like Tales from the Crypt and such) poured there way into the graphic tellin gof this film.
Final rundown of the film:
Pairs of boobs seen: 2, also Linnea Quigley dancing topless AND bottomless in the cemtary.
Body count: I count 36 on victim death, plus you also gotta account for the fact that all of Louisville Kentucky gets nuked at the end.
Gore factor: 7 out of 10 buckets of blood. We get to see cow brains chewed on, heads being crunched open and some cool blood gushing out of Suicide and blood spraying from Scuz. Not necessarily a film full of blood, but some very very awesome special effects. And in my opinion, up there with some of the great zombie special effects in a film.
8)Return of the Living Dead ..chtrap, Night of the Demons and Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (there she didn't have a true speaking part, but did play a soul poking out of Freddy's chest. And if you saw Linnea's chest which you do see a lot of in this movie, you can def tell she hasn't gotten a lot of roles due to her fine portrayal of being able to scream. It's screaming and running around topless which gets the jobs.
Brian Peck plays Scuz, and the only person to be in all three of the original Return of the Living Dead films. Clu Galagher, also appeared in Nightmare on Elm Street 2, and has had a very long line of films. In fact, his son, just won the last Project Greenlight Feast, which is also a horror film and he plays a bartender in it. James Karen, is also the other big name in the film and you can see him in ALOT of small lil character parts in movies. He played Frank in this movie, but will be appearing in the new Superman movie and has also been in Any Given Sunday, Nixon, The Willies (which was directed by costar Brian Peck and is a terriable horror film) Poltergeist and many many others.
Thom Matthews, if you haven't caught on yet, he is Freddy in this but played Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th part 6, the last film on my list, AND the only character besides a Voorhees to be in more than one Friday film. Another Friday alumni goes to Miguel Nunez Jr., who was in Friday the 13th part 5, and is remembered most by his bathroom stall death. But, not to slouch of his other fine movie roles in Leprechaun 4, Life (he's actually been in 3 movies with Eddie Murphy together), and his AWESOME role of Dee Jay in the even more AWESOME movie of Street Fighter The Movie. Also, Mark Venturri, who played Suicide inthis film - also was in Friday the 13th Part 5. He played the very very angry Vic who kills Joey with his axe just becasue Joey was bothering him about a candy bar question lol.
Unfortunatley, despite how well Dan O' Bannon did with this film - and yes he's even long line of credits behind him. He created the characters in Alien, worked on his characters from Heavy Metal (the story's Soft Landing and B-17) he wrote Total Recall, and even worked on the design and specil effects aspects of the original Star Wars. Unfortuanetly, due to Dan's health, he's only directed this film and Resurrected. But if the fans knew of his appreciation, I only hope he'd go out and do some more.
Memorable lines:
FREDDY:"Are we going crazy?"
FRANK:"No, it's that God damn crap those chemicals there all over everything."
FREDDY:"Stupid asshole!"
FRANK:"Watch your tongue boy if you like this job!"
FREDDY:"LIKE THIS JOB?!"
here's some erotic lines for you and probably one of the better pieces of dialogue in the film and followed by some gratuitious nudity:
TRASH: "Do you ever fantasizie about being killed?"
SPIDER: "Never."
TRASH: "Do you ever wonder about all the different ways of dying. You know, violently. And wonder like, what would be the most horriable way to die."
SPIDER: "I try not to think about dying too much."
TRASH: "Mmmm...(she gets up and starts rubbing herself) for me, the worst way would be for a bunch of old men to get around me and start biting and eating me alive."
SPIDER: "I see."
TRASH: "First, they would tear off my clothes" (and she rips her top off)
..http://i5.photobucket.com/
CHUCK (Off screen): Let's get some light over here, Trash is taking her clothes off again."
common sense from Burt:
BURT: "Well, if that is a reanimated cadaver in there, we'll just have to kill it."
to breaking that fourth wall
BURT: "I thought you said if we destroyed the brain it'd stop them."
FRANK: "Well, it worked in the movie."
BURT: "Well it ain't working now."
FREDDY: "You mean the movie lied?"
gore fest:
FREDDY: "How are we going to destroy this thing?"
BURT: "Give me the bone saw."
comedy:
ERNIE: "WHAT? What the hell are you doing with rabid weasels?"
horror iconic line:
TAR ZOMBIE: "Brainnnnnnnsss"
Zombies at their creative best to lure more flesh to their trap:
RADIO ZOMBIE 1: "Come in dispatch. Send - more - paramedicsss..."
Ernie about to unload Bronson style:
ERNIE: "What are you crazy?! Are you on PCP?"
Also Kudos to Scuzz for realizing what's going on, not the typical guy of we love you guys - we can't kill you.
SCUZ: "Your dead, your dead man - you're going to turn into one of those things!"
Signs of the end is near:
BURT: "Cops. They've got the cops. It means they're breaking out of the barricade."
Things to look for:
-Half of a dog still panting and yelping
-Spontaneous nudity to dance in the cemetary ..http://i5.photobucket.com/
-Pick axe in the back of the head only to make it scream at the top of it's lungs. Then, the head being slowly cut off via hacksaw to hear the vocal cords slowly seperating ..http://i5.photobucket.com/
-Headless and naked cadaver running around and breaking stuff...http://i5.photobucket.com/
-A great original synthesized song whenever the fumes are mixing with the outer environment.
-Linnea Quigley (the nudist punk known as Trash and scream Queen extraidonaire) hates the rain and has to run around naked to avoid the rain, "I wonder what's in that rain."
-Over the top violent vomiting done by Frank as he is slowly dying.
-A puppet skeleton that pops out of the ground, when it's eyes open - cue that classical 80's punkish metally music. ..http://i5.photobucket.com/
-The tar man zombie in the basement that coined that classic phrase - "braiiiiinnns."
-Suicide having a chunk of his head bitten into and then convulsing on the floor...http://i5.photobucket.com/
-Trash's dreams come true when she is slowly devoured by a bunch of muddy old men
-When the paramedi turns on the light for the ambulance, ..http://i5.photobucket.com/
-The lil midget zombie ..http://i5.photobucket.com/
-The second set of paramedics that get tricked and lured into the trap. Especially look for the second paramedic guy that gets sacked SO hard into the mud by the zombies.
-Scuz being yanked out of the window to have the effect of aerosol blood spraying out from his head when the topless female torso zombie latches onto him.
-The spinal fluid that leaks out of the female zombie torso puppet when she gives her meaning of eating brains to the guys.
-Brains slowwwwwllly oozing out of a paramedic's head.
-Freddy foaming at the mouth and then getting Sulfuric Acid splashed int he face.
-Ernie OH SO CONVENTIALLY breaking his foot while trying to secure the chapel. Becoming the cliche guy in the zombie film that not only is packing the heat, but is now unable to move around. (Think of the guy in Dawn of the Dead in his wagon shootign zombies)
-Beating down zombies with a sledge hammer.
-Car chase through the cemetary in the police car, then fighting through an army of zombies. Car eventually blows up and burns some zombies on down. Along with Frank and Burt''s cars outside.
-Frank being a real trooper and actiivating the furnace (like he said he could - cause this film is ripe with foreshadowing) and cremating himself. But not without a prayer and taking off his wedding ring.
-Ernie contemplating about putting that bitch out of her misery up in the attic.
-Tarman Zombie having his head flown off via baseball bat.
-FINALLY dialing that damn 1-800 number ont he side of the barrel.
-Overtly cheap and ridiculous cheap special effect of the tank that shoots the nuke missle at Louisville, Kentucky.
Worthless tidbits of info:
-Director Dan O' Bannon does the voice of the police officer in the helicopter.
-Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist and Life Force fame was scheduled to direct this film but left at the last minute giving it over to Dan O' Bannon.
-George Romero was to be initially involved with the project, but his producer Richard Rubinstein suggested it would be bad that people would confuse Romero's "Dead" films with this film.
-The legality issues behind this film: John Russo, who initially co-wrote Night of the Living Dead with George Romero, got into a scuffle over who got the proper rights to the films and sequels. The judge eventually ordered that Romero would get the rights to the word "Dead" and Russo would get the right of "Living Dead". Thus is why Romero went on to make Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead whereas Russo began the Night of the Living Dead series, which is just about to simulataneously release parts 4 and 5 in a few weeks.
-After the split, Russo wrote a book that is the basis of this film. But when O' Bannon took over the reigns on the project, he felt that the book and script, stepped on the toes of Romero too much. So he added comedy into the fold much more.
-The original concept is taken from Romero's idea of the Army utilizing the dead, which he features prominatnely in Day of the Dead. So the Living Dead series went on using a small sliver of an idea that Day had. In fact, Day of the Dead came out and flopped. It came out shortly not too long after this film did (Living dead should have came out a year earlier except due to legal troubles). Most people think that Day wasn't taken seriousily after a lot of people saw Living Dead - which did do fairly well at the box office.
-The sequel to this was Return of the Living Dead Part II - a total piece of crap and a very bad comedy if antying. It utilizes a lot fo the original cast, and merely suggests that part I was a dream. Part III is pretty good, and is directed by Brian Yuzna of Reanimator fame. It's def a horror film worth to watch especially if you enjoy part I.
-Fantasy II Film Effects did the special effects on this movie along with the Terminator movies. So for a film with a 4 million budget, they did a pretty damn good job.
-Not only is Dan O'Bannon a great artist and a draftsman, his heavy inspiration of the old creepy EC Comics (like Tales from the Crypt and such) poured there way into the graphic tellin gof this film.
Final rundown of the film:
Pairs of boobs seen: 2, also Linnea Quigley dancing topless AND bottomless in the cemtary.
Body count: I count 36 on victim death, plus you also gotta account for the fact that all of Louisville Kentucky gets nuked at the end.
Gore factor: 7 out of 10 buckets of blood. We get to see cow brains chewed on, heads being crunched open and some cool blood gushing out of Suicide and blood spraying from Scuz. Not necessarily a film full of blood, but some very very awesome special effects. And in my opinion, up there with some of the great zombie special effects in a film.
Zombie Nightmare (includes a review of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead)
But anyways, so here I am to talk about zombies, yes that is right, the walking dead them freaking selves. Alot of my madness took over me in the anticipation of George A Romero's land of the dead to come out. Not only did I get the gratification of seeing Star Wars 3 this year, now I have the wonderful oppurtunity to see a new installment of the zombie trilogy, well now I guess it's devloped into a saga. I was having nightmares about the walking dead taking over and how the world would be fucked. I remembered thsoe same feelings the last time I saw a zombie film when I saw Shaun of the Dead, would I have to be succumbed to horrifying visions of a post apoclalyptic world turned upside down, where we're hunted and sought after for our flesh?
Well
I it made me think also about in this film was how for the first time, Romero did a point of view on the zombies themselves, and how they feel hunted and are just looking for a world all to their own. Then I guess it just becomes a film on how you view it, do you wanna take humanity's side - whose pretty much gone to shit now and are doing whatever they can to survive. Excuse me folks, if my conversation is getting just a lil unfocused. I'm currently watching my Kids in the Hall dvd at the same time and it's becoming just a bit hard to try and maintain the horrors of my dreams and the film I've seen from that of the hilarity cross dressing antics of those coo coo Canadians.
So where was I. oh ok, so the zombies pretty much take over the last bastion of hope for humanity and the rich are litteraly eaten (wasn't that a Skid Row song?) Well point blank, the film was awesome. It satisfied my needs in terror, gore, sorrow and excitement. There was even a cameo by the master of the macabre makeup Tom Savini himself. A long time friend/ally of Romero's especially when he had his kick ass role of the biker leader in Dawn of the Dead (the second film in the zombie series). Now Tom returns as that same character dotting his famed machete and hacking his way nad munchign through the ranks of the living.
You almost can't help but feel bad fro the zombies, and with this film we kinda get a peak into their heads (or what's left of them) and how their full of the pain of being dead or possiably envious of the living? Both aspects I've seen or heard about in other zombie films before, such as Return of the Living Dead and The Dead Hate the Living - but they all owe it all to the master who created the genre. Now the zombies are getting smarter, how they're able to get their things together and form a united clan of the undead to get what they want? But is it now vengence or do they just feed. And what will happen when there's no more living? Will this series end? I just hope that if/when Romero makes his next chapter, it could be a final one. Or at least to a point, that it'll show us a clear ending to this world. None of his films have truly showed a clear cut ending, but always an unending unraveling continious story. I'm sure statying in the fashiion of horror films, to leave enough room for a sequel but his films have kept up this story for damn near 30 years now.
So a new group ends up wandering up into Canda, where they want no more walls nor do they want to be imprisoned, nor surrounded by many other people. It just happens to be a homing beacon for the walkers. Do they smell us, do they sense life around them and have no choice but to extinguish it? And as do the zombies, who themselves go wandering off intot he world, and looking for their own place to call home. They seem to remember their past lives, and continue to try and live on what they used to be. Such as routine things of pumping gas, playing instruments or shopping at your local mall. Are we ourselves zombies, destined to do our routine things over and over again without intuitive thought?
Now I'm just ranting over and over again, so I like the film and look forward to the next one. What happened to me nights before was having a terriable nightmare. I can't recall most of it, but I do recall being in a big buillding, similar to a mall but I don't wanna rip off Dawn of the Dead. It was def some sort of community center. My family was there, as were some of my friends and coworkers that I used to bump into at school. We knew something was out there, and all of a sudden the world around us was going to shit. Was it a nuclear bomb, terrorists or we were invaded by some force. The lines were down, some quick blurbs of caution on the televison and radio before silenced to nothing. We couldn't contact the outside world at all and anyone that left where we were - never retunred.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I believe i was in a large airport. We were surrounded by large ramps going into and out of this place, and their were still people awaiting to leave the airport to visit friends, families and business meetings. Those people still left the airport without anyone else's heed to hop on their planes. But they never came back. Perhaps their was a zombie pilot and stewardess waiting for them and to spring a trap. I don't think we were dealing witht he typical slow moving Romero movign zombies. These bastards could run, and they were cunning. THey'd wait for you to come for them and spring a trap when you wouldn't expect it.
Yet, I could hear other ones roaming around and aching for the flesh of the living to splash and tear in their teeth. They wanted it so badly and there were few that could stop them. Resident guards and the such did what they could to defend us other people were just fools and were no match for the strenght of the army of the undead. Guns were blasting off in the distant, but none of the guards had the accuracy or the smarts to hit any of the bastards in the head. Damn rent a cops. Nor did more of them still able to hit the innocents. Family members would get in the way, "no that's my baby, don't shoot" the zombies would never mind and took the fools as an easy kill.
Everyone else ran and scattered where they could. I had a few people left with me that had a car in the parking lot. We noticed that there was none one outside, but most of them were inside and hot on our trail. We crawled under heaps of chairs stands and makeshit barriers that the rent a cops installed a while ago. But there was no one left to defend us now, it was just a small hand ful of survivors. The zombie infection was spreading fast, some people would be biting and turn in just a mere matter of moments. Like wild fire, a plague that you couldn't do anything about. Only comtemplating abou tit would drive you onlly more mad about all fo this.
I knew I had no time to cry as much as I wanted to. My family that came with me was slaughtered, the rest was more than likely already dead at home. The zombies moved quicker, they plowed right through our barracades. Once we saw someone bit, as much as we wanted to help we all knew that they were fucked then and there. We moved on further and further till I saw the rotating doors, it was only I and the owner of the car left until I saw on her arm that she'd been scratched before by one of the zombies.
How long ago was it, she tried to deny me that she didn't but there was no chances of risking that. Perhaps she rubbed up against something, or a zombie scrathched it so that she could deny it. I don/t know for sure but I knew I wouldn't take her with me. SO I stole her car keys and left her in the doorway. She screamed at me or perhaps it was because she was being slaughtered. Or the gut wrenching turnin gof the dead took her over. I wasn't looking back but I was getting to that car hell or high water.
I made my way to the car, I knew it was my sign out of this nightmare. Hell the sun was even rising and I knew the night was over. At least during the day you can see what's coming at you. But these bastards hide in the shadows awaiting their kill. I was anxious to hop into the car, especially when I saw that the zomibes had made the way through the doors and were coming after the car. Damn, I wish I knew how to drive a stick. Luckily my brother gave me a quick demo when I was drunk one night, but now was such a time to rip this fucking tranny to shit just to get out of there.
I putted along at a speed that at least the zombies couldn't catch up to me, and I made it up the ramp from the airport and out to the city. I turned around and laughed and fiddle with the gears. I'd found salvation and would just find a clear road and drive on till I couldn't no more. That was until I hit the crest of the ramp and saw the streeets were flooded with zombies. Swarms of them so that not even this little dodge interpid could plow through them all. I knew all was lost at this point and I was dead in my tracks.
Well
I it made me think also about in this film was how for the first time, Romero did a point of view on the zombies themselves, and how they feel hunted and are just looking for a world all to their own. Then I guess it just becomes a film on how you view it, do you wanna take humanity's side - whose pretty much gone to shit now and are doing whatever they can to survive. Excuse me folks, if my conversation is getting just a lil unfocused. I'm currently watching my Kids in the Hall dvd at the same time and it's becoming just a bit hard to try and maintain the horrors of my dreams and the film I've seen from that of the hilarity cross dressing antics of those coo coo Canadians.
So where was I. oh ok, so the zombies pretty much take over the last bastion of hope for humanity and the rich are litteraly eaten (wasn't that a Skid Row song?) Well point blank, the film was awesome. It satisfied my needs in terror, gore, sorrow and excitement. There was even a cameo by the master of the macabre makeup Tom Savini himself. A long time friend/ally of Romero's especially when he had his kick ass role of the biker leader in Dawn of the Dead (the second film in the zombie series). Now Tom returns as that same character dotting his famed machete and hacking his way nad munchign through the ranks of the living.
You almost can't help but feel bad fro the zombies, and with this film we kinda get a peak into their heads (or what's left of them) and how their full of the pain of being dead or possiably envious of the living? Both aspects I've seen or heard about in other zombie films before, such as Return of the Living Dead and The Dead Hate the Living - but they all owe it all to the master who created the genre. Now the zombies are getting smarter, how they're able to get their things together and form a united clan of the undead to get what they want? But is it now vengence or do they just feed. And what will happen when there's no more living? Will this series end? I just hope that if/when Romero makes his next chapter, it could be a final one. Or at least to a point, that it'll show us a clear ending to this world. None of his films have truly showed a clear cut ending, but always an unending unraveling continious story. I'm sure statying in the fashiion of horror films, to leave enough room for a sequel but his films have kept up this story for damn near 30 years now.
So a new group ends up wandering up into Canda, where they want no more walls nor do they want to be imprisoned, nor surrounded by many other people. It just happens to be a homing beacon for the walkers. Do they smell us, do they sense life around them and have no choice but to extinguish it? And as do the zombies, who themselves go wandering off intot he world, and looking for their own place to call home. They seem to remember their past lives, and continue to try and live on what they used to be. Such as routine things of pumping gas, playing instruments or shopping at your local mall. Are we ourselves zombies, destined to do our routine things over and over again without intuitive thought?
Now I'm just ranting over and over again, so I like the film and look forward to the next one. What happened to me nights before was having a terriable nightmare. I can't recall most of it, but I do recall being in a big buillding, similar to a mall but I don't wanna rip off Dawn of the Dead. It was def some sort of community center. My family was there, as were some of my friends and coworkers that I used to bump into at school. We knew something was out there, and all of a sudden the world around us was going to shit. Was it a nuclear bomb, terrorists or we were invaded by some force. The lines were down, some quick blurbs of caution on the televison and radio before silenced to nothing. We couldn't contact the outside world at all and anyone that left where we were - never retunred.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I believe i was in a large airport. We were surrounded by large ramps going into and out of this place, and their were still people awaiting to leave the airport to visit friends, families and business meetings. Those people still left the airport without anyone else's heed to hop on their planes. But they never came back. Perhaps their was a zombie pilot and stewardess waiting for them and to spring a trap. I don't think we were dealing witht he typical slow moving Romero movign zombies. These bastards could run, and they were cunning. THey'd wait for you to come for them and spring a trap when you wouldn't expect it.
Yet, I could hear other ones roaming around and aching for the flesh of the living to splash and tear in their teeth. They wanted it so badly and there were few that could stop them. Resident guards and the such did what they could to defend us other people were just fools and were no match for the strenght of the army of the undead. Guns were blasting off in the distant, but none of the guards had the accuracy or the smarts to hit any of the bastards in the head. Damn rent a cops. Nor did more of them still able to hit the innocents. Family members would get in the way, "no that's my baby, don't shoot" the zombies would never mind and took the fools as an easy kill.
Everyone else ran and scattered where they could. I had a few people left with me that had a car in the parking lot. We noticed that there was none one outside, but most of them were inside and hot on our trail. We crawled under heaps of chairs stands and makeshit barriers that the rent a cops installed a while ago. But there was no one left to defend us now, it was just a small hand ful of survivors. The zombie infection was spreading fast, some people would be biting and turn in just a mere matter of moments. Like wild fire, a plague that you couldn't do anything about. Only comtemplating abou tit would drive you onlly more mad about all fo this.
I knew I had no time to cry as much as I wanted to. My family that came with me was slaughtered, the rest was more than likely already dead at home. The zombies moved quicker, they plowed right through our barracades. Once we saw someone bit, as much as we wanted to help we all knew that they were fucked then and there. We moved on further and further till I saw the rotating doors, it was only I and the owner of the car left until I saw on her arm that she'd been scratched before by one of the zombies.
How long ago was it, she tried to deny me that she didn't but there was no chances of risking that. Perhaps she rubbed up against something, or a zombie scrathched it so that she could deny it. I don/t know for sure but I knew I wouldn't take her with me. SO I stole her car keys and left her in the doorway. She screamed at me or perhaps it was because she was being slaughtered. Or the gut wrenching turnin gof the dead took her over. I wasn't looking back but I was getting to that car hell or high water.
I made my way to the car, I knew it was my sign out of this nightmare. Hell the sun was even rising and I knew the night was over. At least during the day you can see what's coming at you. But these bastards hide in the shadows awaiting their kill. I was anxious to hop into the car, especially when I saw that the zomibes had made the way through the doors and were coming after the car. Damn, I wish I knew how to drive a stick. Luckily my brother gave me a quick demo when I was drunk one night, but now was such a time to rip this fucking tranny to shit just to get out of there.
I putted along at a speed that at least the zombies couldn't catch up to me, and I made it up the ramp from the airport and out to the city. I turned around and laughed and fiddle with the gears. I'd found salvation and would just find a clear road and drive on till I couldn't no more. That was until I hit the crest of the ramp and saw the streeets were flooded with zombies. Swarms of them so that not even this little dodge interpid could plow through them all. I knew all was lost at this point and I was dead in my tracks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)