Zombie Movies

I’ve got a special treat for you zombie fans! I’ve got an exclusive interview (and the first exclusive for the Deadsville movie period!) with Thomas Newman who is the writer, producer and director of the upcoming 3D movie Deadsville.

You may remember Thomas Newman from the cult-hit Bong of the Dead which blended humor, zombies and marijuana into a Cannes Independent Film Festival appearance and world-wide release – for a movie made for just $5000! This time around there will not be a micro-budget as Newman is lining up investors and taking advantage of social media and the internet to create his new 3D movie.

The following is Zombie Movie’s Q & A with Thomas Newman:
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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!

The Walking Dead a television series that started out with bang but come second season it is sleep walking itself and its viewers towards certain cancellation. Yeah, I said it. The second season opener and follow second show were how do I put it nicely – boring as hell. I am not the only one who thinks so either. I’ve asked my friends who watched the first season and they agree – way too much drama and drama that is misplaced at that. For AMC a network that brought us the pulse-pounding Breaking Bad seems ready to allow this one to get away.

The people behind the Walking Dead better have some big things planned for the rest of the season because the torment of parents has been worked to death in every disaster movie. Even the zombies in the last two episodes were weak – especially the ‘herd’. Someone didn’t do enough coaching of the extras before setting them loose and the makeup people didn’t check behind the ears or necks so we see glaring color changes in the makeup as the zombies stroll by the camera – just sloppy for a show with such a budget.

So far this season the Walking Dead can be summed up as – Walking us towards bed.

For the past year I have been following the hype around Thomas Newman’s Bong Of The Dead. All I kept hearing about was this epic $5000 zombie movie soon to be “cult hit”, made by one man in his basement. If you’re a die-hard zombie fanatic then you’ve probably already heard about this up and coming visionary first time director. According to Thomas Newman he has been paving the road to his own success one single digital frame at a time, with his scope set on busting into Hollywood. The filmmaker claims he had literally locked himself away for over 3 years working vigorously holding hours suitable only for the undead.

His journey began back in 2008 when he had apparently only written 7 pages of a script, with no title, and had only shot a single sequence involving 3 zombies ascending from a dark tunnel. The whole sequence was beautifully orchestrated to Darren Arinofskys “Requiem for a Dream” sound track and was gory enough to make you squirm and scream for more. The sequence had mass appeal and production value due to the realistic gore and zombie make-up provided by Mike fields. Newman pitched Mike Fields on the concept for his film then sealed the deal by offering him a co-producer position. It was impressive to see what Thomas Newman had achieved for zero dollars and proof enough that perhaps he would be able to pull off an entire feature length movie of the same caliber with only $5000.

The mini sequence or “Hook”, as he called it, worked according to his plans because he was able to quickly attract a cast and crew consisting of friends, family and local talent recruited from Craigslist. Once he had assembled his team and secured the locations he set out to shoot the entire movie in an ambitious 15 days. He was also determined to shoot the whole movie on a single borrowed HD cam which in his words, “some people laughed at” at the time. The result is a very stylistic polished film that one would not expect given the circumstances and equipment or lack there of. That said, now that the film is finally complete and out there, the praises are pouring in from fans, critics and major festivals from around the world.
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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.