Zombie Movies

Zombieland is a 2009 zombie movie starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. This is this is a zombie movie that takes place in America in the early 21st century after the zombie hordes have taken over and left very few survivors. Zombieland was a fun zombie movie to watch it sucks you in right from the beginning with the cool slow-motion intro and pulsing music, and it keeps you there until the end. Make no mistake this movie is a zombie comedy more than a zombie horror, but that does not mean there is not good special effects and lots of gore because there most certainly is.

By the end everybody’s can be a fan of zombie rules followed by Jesse Eisenberg’s character–Columbus, such as the ‘double-tap’, and ‘cardio’. Woody Harrelson’s character Tennessee, lives his life in zombieland in his never-ending search for a Twinkie. Tennessee has a penchant for killing zombies. And when Columbus and Tennessee’s paths cross the fun ensues as they traveled together in the search for things that they have lost. They are quickly outdone by Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin’s characters. Along the way, Bill Murray gets involved, some weed is smoked, and Columbus who swears not to be a hero as a rule, ends up being one.

The zombies are of the fast moving variety and said to have come about as a result of mad cow disease becoming mad human disease, and they excel at attacking you when you are at your most vulnerable – on the toilet.

THE MEAT OF IT
Acting – 4/5 – above average
Story – 3.5/5 – girls that smart would not go to Pacific Playland
Gore – 3.5/5 – pretty good gore for zombie comedy but it is not a bloodbath by any stretch
Scare Factor – 2/5 – safe for kittens
Zombie Factor – 3.5/5 – weak effects make-up in some spots while very good in others
Would I Watch It Again? – 4/5 – I have watched it more than one time!

Thomas Newman who is the writer/producer and director of the $5000 epic zombie film “Bong Of The Dead” seems to be going places fast. Here is some exciting updated information about the film and its growing success.

Bong of the Dead has garnered some great reviews from industry heavyweights like Rue Morgue and Tommy Chong. Rue Morgue has also just released their latest issue of their wildly circulated and much respected magazine with a full-page article about Bong Of The Dead! In it they say “Bong of the Dead has cult hit smeared all over it!”

Tommy Chong the king of pot humour says of Bong of the Dead, “This is a sure winner!”. It was rumoured Tommy might make an appearance at the Vancouver movie premier of Bong of the Dead on May 15 at the Rio Theatre, and tickets are going fast.

“I’m pleased to announce that my film has been selected as part of the Cannes Independent Film Festival official selection (CANNES ) The film will be premiering in France at the festival this MAY 12th and 14th. It will also be premiering on MAY 15th in Vancouver BC at the Rio Theatre.” said the director of Bong of the Dead, Thomas Newman.

When asked how he feels to have gotten this far with his film, Thomas Newman replied, “I’ve been incredibly busy pounding the pavement hard to get the word out about my struggles as a filmmaker with no budget or studio support to make this movie. I set out to hit a homerun by making a movie that would appeal to a mass audience and become an instant cult hit classic. I know that some said it was too ambitious for a no budget film, which is the exact reason why I had to do it!”

When asked what else might be in store for the movie Thomas added, “I have received tentative invites from MOLINS DE REI HORROR FILM FESTIVAL as well as The Traverse City Film Festival (TRAVERSE CITY FILM FESTIVAL) was founded by and still run by Michael Moore. Each time the phone rings it seems to bring good news.”

Visit Bong of the Dead

This is the review for the 1990 remake of the zombie movie classic Night of the Living Dead. Staring Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman. Finally a zombie movie remake that rivals the classic cult thriller.

As zombie movies go this one has all the right ingredients. From the ominous slow moving but always coming zombie hoards to the trapped situation; Night of the Living Dead delivers good zombie fun.

Stuck together in a farmhouse miles away from help, our zombie outbreak survivors are pressed for a way out. With the highly annoying ‘Cooper’ stuck between wanting to retreat to the cellar with his wife and soon to be zombie daughter, our survivors must choose between staying put or finding the keys to a fuel pump to speed their getaway truck. But of course bad luck finds those too eager to flee!

The zombies are of the slow moving and dumb variety but the Night of the Living Dead does a good job of covering all the zombies one might encounter from drug addicts to my favourite – the naked zombie ladies. The fx makeup is not bad, though the actual deaths could have been bloodier for this horror fan.

The characters are well done mostly because of the decent acting found in this zombie movie. Our heroin does find herself away from the farm and into the hands of a bunch of greasy rednecks out for zombie killing fun. And who can blame them? But who would have thought that a survivor camp would much like a like monster truck rally meets an NRA meeting?

THE MEAT OF IT
Acting – 3.5/5 – Above average acting means good character development.
Story – 3.5/5 – It’s a well-done remake of the classic – what else is there to say?
Gore – 2/5 –Weak on the gore factor and too many exploding brains are never seen.
Scare Factor – 2/5 – Not scary per say, but certainly entertaining enough.
Zombie Factor – 3/5 – decent zombies, well-coached so they seem more real. FX makeup above average.
Would I Watch It Again? – Actually I just did! Second watch through and still find it worth seeing.

Severed: Forest of the Dead is a zombie movie by Carl Bessai and it stars Paul Campbell and Sarah Lind. Set in the forest as you can tell by the name, it pits zombies vs hippy tree huggers. And who doesn’t want to see hippy tree huggers get eaten alive?

A forestry crew is diligently working away when one of them is injured cutting a tree. This same tree was leaking out a mysterious red goo which causes our hapless tree cutter to get infected and start off a zombie outbreak.

The zombies are mix of awkward moving, slow moving and medium paced zombies which look much like the infected from 28 Days Later. The zombie hoard makes its way into the forest camp of our resident tree huggers and the rest is your typical zombie movie fare. Former enemies in the tree cutters and tree huggers work together to solve their joint problem.

As B-Grade movie acting goes this one isn’t that bad. They at least seem interested in the outcome and the writing keeps it from getting too silly.

THE MEAT OF IT
Acting – 3/5 – above average B-Grade fair
Story – 2.5/5 – the writing while not terrible doesn’t set it apart
Gore – 2/5 – too many non-shots when the blood starts flying. Some flying blood but zombie deaths forgettable
Scare Factor – 1.5/5 – safe for kittens
Zombie Factor – 2/5 – weak effects make-up
Would I Watch It Again? – 2/5 – only if I forgot I watched it the first time. Too much Blair Witch seizure inducing camera work as well.

I had the great pleasure yesterday to partake in my first aptly named zombie walk. The 2010 Vancouver zombie walk had about 5000 participants, with most of them done up as the undead. The zombies present were of all shapes, sizes and shades of blood red. There were even zombie children with their parents at this yearly event.

Each year the event draws more and more people to the Vancouver Art Gallery for the start of the annual zombie walk. Participants walk down Vancouver’s posh Robson Street much to the delight of the onlookers on the sidewalks, in the shops and in their cars. Many onlookers come ready with cameras in hand to take photos of this great event.

This year the event was headlined by the upcoming feature film Bong of the Dead by writer, producer and director Thomas Newman. Along with his award-winning crew that includes make up guru and industry leader Mike Fields, some of the cast of the film and of course zombies, headed the procession through the streets of Vancouver. Under a BongoftheDead.com banner, the cast and crew of the film handed out t-shirts and flyers to the upcoming movie. No other group of zombies attracted nearly as much attention as this bunch did.

The 2010 Vancouver zombie walk had about 5000 total participants and they jammed the streets with the undead. There was very little police presence as the zombie hoard was well-behaved – except the odd transit bus was surrounded and covered in fake blood by the zombies. Most passengers could be seen to making mock scared faces and gestures of panic, but it was clear everyone dead and undead had a great time with the spectacle.