Author: tiki god

Dawn of the Dead: Directed by George A. Romero. With David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross. Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall. This is my favorite of the Romero zombie films, I like the idea of settings up a fortress and riding the whole thing out, and what better place than a late 70’s mall? This was near the absolute height of mall culture. The ending gets silly in the way...

The Munsters: Directed by Rob Zombie. With Richard Brake, Jorge Garcia, Sylvester McCoy, Catherine Schell. Reboot of “The Munsters”, that followed a family of monsters who moves from Transylvania to an American suburb. “This is a bunch of cornball hooey!” That’s an actual quote from the movie, and it’s completely accurate. This is a movie filled with cornball hooey, which if you’ve seen the original tv or any of the half dozen made for tv movies that were either sequels or reboots, you knew to expect this. The lights are garish, the special makeup is way over the top, the...

Spin Me Round: Directed by Jeff Baena. With Alison Brie, Jake Picking, Stella Chestnut, Lil Rel Howery. A woman wins an all-expenses-paid trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence, and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined. A nice low budget film with big impacts, but it’ll take a bit of talking through the entire thing with buddies to get the full effect. Jeff Baena (LIfe After Beth, The Little Hours, Horse Girl) is no stranger to quality films and working with Alison...

Werewolf by Night: Directed by Michael Giacchino. With Gael García Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Harriet Sansom Harris, Kirk R. Thatcher. Follows a lycanthrope superhero who fights evil using the abilities given to him by a curse brought on by his bloodline. So much better than I thought it was going to be, and so much shorter! The story didn’t break the one hour mark and I think it’s made all that much better because of it. There’s some fun appearances, some great foreshadowing and the use of black and white with color is among the best out there. Buy On Amazon!

Dawn of the Dead: Directed by Zack Snyder. With Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer. A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall. Better than the original, but only just barely. There’s different focuses, with the og more interested in how the survivers survive in the building and this remake being focused on cool visuals and shooting zeeks, but considering the director and writers, it’s remarkably conservative with the explosions and bloodlust. Buy On Amazon!

Night of the Living Dead: Directed by George A. Romero. With Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman. A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the East Coast of the United States. The movie opens with a couple going out to a cemetery 200 miles away from home to put a wreath on a grave. Maybe it’s a brother and sister? Maybe! But my main focus is that this is a surprisingly fantastic transfer, I had heard the copyright on the film had...

Day of the Dead: Directed by George A. Romero. With Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy. As the world is overrun by zombies, a small group of scientists and military personnel dwelling in an underground bunker in Florida must determine whether they should educate, eliminate or escape the undead horde. Some casual racism that’s hard to get past, but this movie (and the franchise) came up in a discussion about zombie films in which the various characters had the RIGHT idea about what to do. In this case, at the beginning of the film one of the helicoptor...