First up, Zombieland.
Zombieland is as much a horror movie as Shaun of the Dead is. As a matter of fact, that’s a pretty good comparison. Both movies are good comedic takes on the zombie movie genre (is that even a genre?).
There’s gore, and an occasional killing, with most of the violence directed towards the undead. But, most of all, this movie is fun!
Woody Harrelson really seems to enjoy his role as an experienced zombie ass-kicker on a quest for Twinkies. Emma Stone plays the same hot, barely attainable love interest to nerds and geeks everywhere as she did in Superbad, and the guy (whose name escapes me right now) that plays the nerdy reclusive lead shows us how to survive a zombie apocalypse with an ample list of rules to follow.
Verdict: See it. I can’t think of a better way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Next, George Romero’s Day of the Dead.
After you’ve seen so many movies with running, snarling zombies, the old-school shamblers just aren’t as scary anymore. The only thing they have in their favor is numbers. If you get trapped by a group of them, chances are you’re fucked.
I like the Romero movies, and I don’t mind the slower moving ones so much, but there are some things about this film in particular that bug me.
- The characters. There isn’t a single person in this movie I give two shits about, which leaves me with no one to empathize with or even root for. The soldiers are bad caricatures of evil, cackling goons and sorely incompetent, while the civilians are a bore. The only one that isn’t boring is the doctor, but he’s a weirdo who definitely deserves his Frankenstein nickname.
- The zombie make up. The make up is really showing it’s age here. All of the zombies roaming around the compound look like they’ve been spray-painted gray from head to toe with inner bits exposed for effect.
- Bub. Bub in particular, is a bland looking zombie. There’s no visible wounds or openings, and therefore so exposed inner bits. For his close-ups, he looks dusted rather than spray-painted gray. Sure, he can emote more, but who the hell wants a zombie to emote? Eat someone for crying out loud!
This is the best looking zombie in the movie, and the last time you'll see him.
As I continue to think about the movie as a whole, I can understand the idea of it reflecting an idea of hopelessness in the face of extinction, but what was the original purpose of the research facility? Did they really think they could reverse the condition? Shouldn’t they have been working on an anti-virus or something to prevent further transformations? How about a zombie repellent or something? I would think their focus would be on survival and re-supplying, in addition to finding other survivors.
On the plus side, the gore is fantastic. I remember the special features had mentioned there were actual animal guts mixed in with some fake stuff. Mmm… yummy!
Verdict: See it. This movie should be experienced at least once. I wouldn’t recommend buying it unless you’re a hardcore Romero/zombie movie fan.
