night of the living dead | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Grabbers

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Darren

Grabbers is a fascinating little premise, executed in a delightfully quirky and off-kilter manner. Very much an affectionate homage to classic creature features (you can spot Night of the Living Dead playing in the background of one early scene), director Jon Wright and writer Kevin Lehane are sure to give the story a delightfully stereotypical Irish twist. While the Americans might defeat a potentially hostile alien invasion with moral certitude and superior firepower, or the the British might best those otherworldly monsters with a stoic stiff upper lip, the inhabitants of the even stereotypically named “Erin Island” take on their visitors using the sheer unmitigated power of the pub lock-in.

It’s a premise that could easily collapse under its own weight, or become one joke extended well past the point of hilarity, but it’s to the credit of Wright, Lehane and the cast that it flies through its hour-and-a-half runtime.

Catching them off-guard…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: fifties, film, grabber, grabbers, jon wright, monster movies, monsters, Movie, night of the living dead, non-review review, review, sea monsters | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Return of the Living Dead

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Darren

Return of the Living Dead is a fairly strange beast. Something of a black comedy spin-off from George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the film is a ridiculously campy exploration of trashy low-rent horror… and yet somehow has been picked up and embraced by popular culture. After all, this is the movie that introduced the idea that zombies weren’t just satiated by consuming large quantities of meat (most often from humans) – this was the film which introduced the idea of zombies stumbling forward, repeatedly droning “braaaaains!” It’s a concept which has been so throughly incorporated into pop culture’s definition of zombie (although it’s rarely the case, we still expect it and recognise it), so it seems strange that it came from a spoof.

No bones about it...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dan O'Bannon, film, george romero, horror, Horror film, Living Dead, Michael Jackson, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, non-review review, parody, popular culture, return of the living dead, review, sam raimi, schlock, zombie | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Crazies (2010)

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Darren

The Crazies is a fairly decent little horror movie, as far as modern horror goes. It’s relatively restrained, smartly acted and generally well-directed, with the kind of horror which reflects back on modern society. It’s not perfect and it’s certainly not excellent, but it’s another above-par remake of a George A. Romero cult classic.

Timothy Olyphant lights up the screen...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: biological weapons, crazies, Dawn of the Dead, film, films, george a. romero, george romero, horror, Horror film, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, non-review review, paranoia, review, romero, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Crazies (1973 film), Timothy Olyphant | 1 Comment »

The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye (Pilot)

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Darren

And so it has arrived. The Walking Dead, as written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the comic books (or “series of graphic novels”) written by Robert Kirkman. Logically, a zombie television show was long overdue – the creatures have been the staple of our pop culture landscape in some form or another for nearly fifty years now, and have seen a huge increase in popularity in recent times. So, with an incredibly strong pedigree behind it, this tale of zombie survival made it to the small screen.

The road less travelled...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: AMC, Andrew Lincoln, Dawn of the Dead, frank darabont, george romero, Lennie James, Morgan Jones, night of the living dead, robert kirkman, Shawshank Redemption, Television program, Walking Dead | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Land of the Dead

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Darren

Welcome to the m0vie blog’s zombie week! It’s a week of zombie-related movie discussions and reviews as we come up to Halloween, to celebrate the launch of Frank Darbont’s The Walking Dead on AMC on Halloween night. So be sure to check back all week, as we’ll be running posts on the living dead.

Zombies, man. They creep me out.

– Kaufman

Land of the Dead is something of a delayed epilogue to Romero’s “dead” trilogy. The first three films were produced roughly once every decade, with The Night of the Living Dead appearing in the sixties, Dawn of the Dead in the seventies and Day of the Dead in the eighties. There was no zombie movie from Romero during the nineties (save a remake of his original film – and even then Romero didn’t direct it – his frequent collaborator Tom Savini was behind the camera. Land of the Dead is a somewhat more controversial film than the first three films Romero produced, perhaps because it’s the first time that it feels like Romero gives his zombies more development than the human survivors. It also plays with the audience’s expectations a bit more than the first three films – and, whiel I’m not convinced that this sort of toying around with the formula works, you have to give the director credit. It isn’t as strong as the earlier films, but it still feels like a director who has something to say about the state of modern society. And that is about good enough for me.

Hopper-ed up...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 28 weeks later, asia argento, dennis hopper, films, george a. romero, george romero, horror, john leguizamo, Land of the Dead, Living Dead, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, simon baker, Tom Savini, zombie, zombie week!, zombies | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Day of the Dead (1985)

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Darren

Day of the Dead is the third in Romero’s classic “dead” trilogy and perhaps the last film he produced that has been universally accepted. While he has, to date, produced three more zombie films (and there are those – including myself – who appreciate some of those to a greater or lesser degree), Day of the Dead is considered something of a closing note on Romero’s epic zombie apocalypse saga – perhaps the other three acting as appendices (with Land of the Dead an epilogue and Diary of the Dead a “reimagining”). Either way, it’s a strong little film which holds together relative well. It will never be iconic as the two earlier films produced – The Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead – but it still feels like a fitting companion piece.

He's got him undead to rights...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, films, george a. romero, george romero, Jan Hammer, Living Dead, miami vice, Movie, night of the living dead, Tofurkey, zombie week!, zombies | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Shaun of the Dead

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Darren

Ah, facing down a herd of zombies with nothing but a Cricket Bat. Is there a more British response possible to the fall of civilisation?

And that's my cue...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dylan Moran, edgar wright, films, Jessica Hynes, Movies, nick frost, night of the living dead, non-review review, penelope wilton, review, shaun of the dead, Simon Pegg, zombie week!, zombies | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Darren

It’s strange. For all the huge cultural impact that George A. Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead had (and it had quite a bit), people tend to focus quite a bit on the sequel, Dawn of the Dead. Perhaps it’s because the film is in colour, or because it features a far broader tapestry than Romero’s original zombie effort, or maybe it’s simply a better film, but the sequel is arguably every bit as well known (even to those who haven’t seen it) as the original – the idea of surviving a zombie apocalypse in an American shopping mall is one now etched on public consciousness (so much so that anywhere any survivor in any film ever seeks shelter is compared in some way to that mall) and even the damn elevator music has become famous in its own way. While I will concede the film is far more ambitious than its direct predecessor (and probably contributes more to the zombie mythos), I think it can also be argued that the film has far greater weaknesses as well.

Hope he's a dead shot...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dawn of the Dead, films, george romero, horror, Irish Film Institute, Living Dead, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, non-review review, review, Shopping mall, zack snyder, zombie week!, zombies | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: 28 Days Later

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Darren

I know there’s some debate as to whether this is actually a zombie movie – what with the “infected” not technically being dead and all (not to mention the running) – but I think it feels like a “zombie” movie, even if the creatures aren’t necessarily zombies. I’m going to be entirely honest here and confess that while I was impressed with Trainspotting, it was 28 Days Later which confirmed to me the Danny Boyle was a talent to watch. Not just for offering a film which feels different yet never inaccessible, but also for his ability to shift genre – The Beach confirmed him as a quirky almost-indie director, but 28 Days Later demonstrated that he could bring the same talent to low-budget horror. More than that, he constructed a shrewd little film which feels more like a George A. Romero film than any of his more recent efforts.

Danny Boyle's on fire...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 28 days later, brendan gleeson, christopher eccleston, Cillian Murphy, danny boyle, film, george a. romero, Movie, night of the living dead, non-review review, review, zombie | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Night of Living Dead (1968)

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Darren

They’re coming to get you, Barbara!

– Barbara’s brother tempts fate

The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying… It’s hard to remember what sort of effect this movie might have had on you when you were six or seven. But try to remember. At that age, kids take the events on the screen seriously, and they identify fiercely with the hero. When the hero is killed, that’s not an unhappy ending but a tragic one: Nobody got out alive. It’s just over, that’s all.

– Roger Ebert discusses the impact of the film on his first viewing

It’s interesting to look back on a film and see that it created a whole new genre from scratch. The Night of the Living Dead is a humble, small and effective little black-and-white effort that doesn’t even seem aware of the impact that it would have. As shrewdly as it creates the monster which defined the latter half of the twentieth century (and the first few years of the twenty-first), there’s nothing pretentious about George A. Romero’s production. In fact, it consciously harks back to all manner of influential and paranoid fifties horrors (with a dash of science fiction). Still, there’s a reason the film has endured for so long. Although it never pretends to be anything more than a gloriously trashy B-movie, The Night of the Living Dead is committed to being the best gloriously trashy B-movie it can be. The only thing more fascinating than its pop culture impact is how well (mostly) it still hold up today.