It would seem to be zombies crossed with Cloverfield, which just tickles me to no end.
Looks like Romero isn't the only one this year to tackle the undead with a handicam. Quarantine, due out on October 17th, released its first trailer today, and kids, the first look is fantastic. There's something tremendously effective about a handheld in a horror film. Between this and Diary of the Dead, this year is shaping up to make me one happy zombie fan.
The year of the zombie continues on a high note with last weekend's release of 28 Weeks Later.
I think it's impossible to talk about any sequel without comparison to the original, and in that vein, I do have to report that 28 Weeks Later isn't as good as its predecessor. Days was a visceral, stunning piece of filmmaking, while Weeks feels (understandably) more derivative. It is strongest in its opening moments (moments that, I suspect, belonged to Danny Boyle's second unit directing work, rather than Fresdanillo himself), but remains a solid film throughout, highlighted by several truly haunting and beautiful moments that elevate it above its summer blockbuster counterparts.
Robert Carlyle is fantastic as ever, definitely having fun with the role, throwing himself into it with unabashed glee. Early in the film, he is forced to recount the horrifying opening moments to his children, and the camera lingers on his face as he speaks, his agonized intonation harkening back to his stellar work in Ravenous.
Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, and the children Mackintosh Muggleton (greatest name ever, btw) and Imogen Poots falter somewhat in Carlyle's tremendous shadow, but still to a very fine job in depicting a survivor's role in a world gone mad. The quartet is believable and well-acted, and do their best to bring life to their characters in the short spans allowed between action sequences.
The action sequences themselves are well-paced (and frenetically so), and full of tension. Not for the squeamish, 28 Weeks Later ups the gore factor considerably. I won't ruin the surprise by identifying them, but when Fresdanillo gets it right, he really gets it right.
(Note: Spoilers below the cut. Proceed with caution.)
I almost didn't review this movie. Not because I didn't love it (because I did, boy howdy, did I ever), but rather because I kind of thought that a movie like Grindhouse came with a built-in audience, if not several of them. You got your Rodriguez, you got your Tarantino, zombies, hot chicks, double feature. What could go wrong?
Planet Terror was, unsurprisingly, my favourite of the two films. Rodriguez was in prime form, getting back to his gore-splattered, From Dusk Til Dawn roots. It is fabulously vile, at once both hilarious and horrifying throughout. Rodriguez has a knack for casting, and Planet Terror's ensemble is pitch perfect from the leads to the very smallest roles (a particular tip of the cap to Naveen Andrews for his). Rose McGowan was particularly fine as Cherry Darling, the plucky one-legged, ex-stripper. You don't really expect to see much in the way of character development in what's billed as an exploitation film, and, well, you don't here, really. But between Rodriguez's words and McGowan's delivery, Cherry winds up feeling genuine, despite the sensationalism (gun leg! gun leg!!!) that would indicate otherwise. By the end, the film has taken on an epic scope, that lives up to the promise made by the title and then some.
Death Proof, while highly entertaining, wasn't as strong of a win for me. Part of that is no doubt due to the bar raised by his previous efforts. While it was a brilliant execution of an, on the surface, exploitation standard (hot girls meet bad man, hijinx ensue), it didn't feel quite as tight in terms of both plot and dialog as I'm used to in a Tarantino film. Bits of it felt forced. That said, the climatic car chase makes an instant race to the short list of the best car chases in cinematic history, and the finale more than forgives any missteps along the way.
Sandwiched between them are trailers for fake coming attractions and retro commercials for "local" businesses.
Coming in just over three hours, Grindhouse is an event. A fantastic, bloody, event. Which is why the real horror that I'm currently experiencing is over the rumors that they're talking about splitting the film into two, due to a "weak" opening box office (it came in fourth), forcing my hand to review what should be a review-proof film.
Don't let studio paranoia steer you away from this masterpiece. Opening on Easter weekend was clearly a mistake. As marvelous as it is, Grindhouse is not exactly the movie you bring Gramma and the kids to. Easter is a family weekend, plain and simple. Adding into that the few screens it opened (word on the web is that my experience of one or two screens per theater was not a local phenomenon) on, it's no wonder its numbers weren't higher.
On the off chance they're serious, do yourself a favor. See Grindhouse the way it was meant to be seen, as an event. An experience. Drown in it. You won't be sorry.
The dead have risen, and it is good.
Tuesday saw the release of Capcom's latest foray into the survival horror genre, in Dead Rising, available on the 360. The title does not disappoint, breathing new life into a classic zombie setting. You begin as Frank West, photojournalist, surveying the wreckage of an outbreak of what authorities are calling "civil unrest." One thing leads to another, and before long, you're stranded at the Willamette Mall, with rescue a good 70 hours away. Inside, you meet an array of characters: hapless victims, violent criminals, perpetrators of a vast government plot, and of course, the walking dead.
Gameplay is outstanding. Just about everything that isn't nailed down can be used as a weapon against the zombie hordes, from potted plants and benches to coathangers and bowling balls (for a real treat, try wielding a showerhead), and you get experience for each corpse you fell. And Frank's camera? Not just window dressing! Snap shots of the action as you go along for even more experience. Points are awarded for a variety of genres, so a well-framed photo can earn you a handsome reward.
Unfortunately, the game shares some of the same ills as some of Capcom's earlier titles. Save points are few and far between, especially given the game's high degree of difficulty. The survivors on the escort missions suffer from a serious lack of AI, and the voice acting leaves something to be desired.
All in all, however, Dead Rising is a strong title. The graphics are excellent, and it offers some really fun updates to a favorite genre. This is a must-have for the 360, and one of the best games so far this year.
That's what it's looking like for next year. So far, we've got:
I Am Legend: Based on the Richard Matheson book of the same title. Though technically vampires, the undead creatures in this classic more closely resemble the zombies that we know and love so well, and it wouldn't surprise me if they just ditched the bloodsucking monicker and just called them as they saw them. Will Smith stars as Neville, and Constantine's Francis Lawrence directs.
"Planet Terror": Robert Rodriguez's contribution to the co-helmed (with Quentin Tarantino) Grind House. The foxy Naveen Andrews, along with Rose McGowan and Josh Brolin, is attached to the gritty, "back to the 70s," exploitation-style horror (from what I've read, think Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Due out just in time for Easter.
World War Z: Rumor has it that Brad Pitt has obtained the rights to the forthcoming Max Brooks novel (author of The Zombie Survival Guide), beating out Leonardo DiCaprio's efforts to obtain.
Resident Evil: Extinction: Yeah, RE: Apocolypse was an unwatchable sack of suck (my attempts and subsequent failures to sit through it were threefold), but the franchise has merit, and the little girl in me who loves springtime and lace dresses (*hat tip*) has a secret hope that it will return to its gloriously cheesy origins to delight us all in this third installment. Milla Jovovich returns, the drooling incompetency of RE:A's Alexander Witt does not.
28 Weeks Later...: Am I hopeful? No. When Danny Boyle is removed from any equation, it becomes infinitesimally less cool. When you then also rob me of Alex Garland, well, in most cases, we wouldn't even be speaking anymore. However, the first film was fine enough to guarantee that I'll follow to the sequel, with or without the major players still attached. In the second installment, we pick up, as the title implies, half a year after the first concluded, with American troops unloading in an decimated Britain. As one might imagine, hijinx ensue. We'll see how it goes.
30 Days of Night: Yeah, yeah. Again, technically vampires. But as I figured it was worth mentioning so long as we're talking undead. Based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles, directed by David Slade (Hard Candy, Stone Temple Pilots' "Sour Girl" video), and produced by the zombie lovin' Sam Raimi, I've got high hopes. That Josh Hartnett's been recently attached doesn't hurt either.
Add in the pending release of Stephen King's Cell (see my earlier gleeful clapping on the matter), and it is shaping up to be a very, very good year.
Oh Bev Vincent, you say the most wonderful things.
"1408", one of the best pieces of short horror of all time from Stephen King's Everything's Eventual is being made into a film. And (wait for it.... wait for it...) John Cusack is going to star. I honestly don't think I could be more excited at this point. Which makes the next piece of news a little anticlimatic, I guess, but no less fabulous.
They're making Cell into a movie too. Eli Roth has been chosen to direct after he completes work on the Hostel sequel. The sun is shining for King fans today. Or, you know, storm clouds are a'brewing. Whichever happens to float your particular boat. ;)
That's right, kids. Time to bust out your brain fork. Today's the day that Stephen "We Knew You Couldn't Stay Away" King releases Cell, a cozy parable of a zombie apocalypse gone awry and the "normies" that that try to avoid the same fate. I'm expecting it on my doorstep this afternoon, and I hope to get back to you with a review by the weekend. (Sorry, Johnny Cash, but the King gets priority.) Bring on the gore, baby.
In other King news, supposedly, we finally have a date for Desperation. They've pushed it back about eight times now, so I'm not going to hold my breath, but it looks like its slated for a one-night (that's right, they've pushed it back to a movie instead of a miniseries too) run on May 18th on ABC. TNT's got a miniseries made up of the shorts in Nightmares & Dreamscapes coming in June as well.
Road of the Dead, baby!
As disappointing as it is to hear that it's pushing back The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and (to a lesser degree, because I have my doubts on how well that'll translate to film) From a Buick 8, but hot damn! A zombie road movie? You know I'm there.
You guessed it, hepcats. It has begun, and hot damn if it didn't start with a bang.
Saw Walk the Line this weekend, and it was excellent. Even the screaming headache I got from watching it from the third row wasn't enough to temper how very good it was. Joaquin Phoenix nailed it, and though I'm less familiar with the real deal June Carter Cash and can't speak for the veracity of that particular performance, I thought Reese Witherspoon did an outstanding job as well (on top of being totally and completely cutiepie throughout). It follows your typical rock biopic format, so there are no real curveballs in there (aside from the fact that all of the actors did their own singing, perhaps), but every character was so engaging and well-performed that it doesn't really matter. I just didn't want it to end.
And James Mangold, man, where did you come from? He's like the chameleon auteur. I mean, to go from Kate & Leopold to Identity to this? It's enough to make a person's head spin. But consider me officially a fan, because the man's yet to do me wrong.
In non-Oscar related news, I also saw a movie called Dead Men Walking, which was wonderfully vile. I can't remember the last time I saw that many people vomit blood (I think everyone in the movie does it at least once, with some folks goin' for a good baker's dozen). In it, a prison suffers an outbreak of viral zombieism (solanum!) when a man arrested for shooting several friends (zombies) in the face and then trying to kill himself is brought in and starts spewing blood on everyone he passes in the hall. It's pretty much downhill from there for the the poor inmates and the plucky (and busty!) CDC official that joins the cast to exposit over their chances for rescue and containment. Joe Bob Briggs would approve, and I do too.
Recent Comments