The Best of 2013...Part Two... The Horror Films

The future of horror looks funny.

And that's a good thing!

I've mentioned before that with Horror/Scary movies, I have to be very careful with my selections.

As I am normally the only one that will watch, I have to pick and choose my battles (movies) carefully if I'm going to lock myself away for 90 minutes some night, or over the course or 2 or 3 nights.

Or in the event my honey watches with me on some date/movie night... it better not be too blood-soaked/gory or gruesome.

It's a fine line balancing act, but it can be done.  You just have to choose wisely.

In recent years, it was getting harder and harder to find anything that I even remotely wanted to make time for. 

I was nearly turned off a few years back from the entire horror genre with the Saw franchise and its ilk when the kills just become too graphic.

The pendulum had swung from "gotcha" and make you jump to sadistic realism that was stomach churningly awful.

But in 2013 I found that Horror had discovered something recently that had been done well sporadically in years past:

A sense of humor.

In fact, 6 of the 7 movies on the list are humorous in tone, 5 of those I labeled as Zom-Coms as the year went along and I realized how fun these movies were fast becoming.

Here are the best of those budget Zom-Coms that you might have missed:

John Dies at the End - 

A street drug that sends people to other dimensions.  Aliens ready to invade and take over Earth.  Maybe a tad more sci-fi than horror, this was quite a bit of crazy fun and shouldn't be missed.  You could never quite figure where the plot was going next, and maybe that was part of the film's charm.

A Little Bit Zombie - 

What happens when a mosquito transmits the zombie virus to a human host?  Hilarity, naturally.  Infected, but not totally turned, a groom-to-be fights off the zombie urges to feast on flesh, and his fiancée and best friend try and help him make the transition to partially undead.  Meanwhile, there's a pair of zombie hunters hot on his trail.

Detention - 

It's the Breakfast Club vs. Zombies.  A group of high schoolers face the zombie apocalypse from the detention room.  Naturally with a cast that size...

They're not all going to make it out alive.

Cockneys vs. Zombies - 

The Brits tackle a zombie invasion at an old-folks home.  Featuring, bar none, the greatest zombie chase in the history of zombie chases.  This one was a whole lot of fun, and I quite enjoyed it.  Those Cockneys are a tough lot to kill!

Warm Bodies - 

The one probably everyone heard about on this list was Warm Bodies.  A very well done horror love story, that has more heart and soul than any of the Twilight films.  :)

Toning down the gore and amping up the love and humor, this was the best of the bunch of Zom-Coms for the year.

Yep, a kid-friendly zombie movie.  If you're going to bring the next generation of horror fans into the fold, this was a fun way to start.


Naturally, with the success of The Walking Dead on AMC, Hollywood has taken notice and finally threw some money at a big budget zombie film, and they enlisted Brad Pitt to make it happen.

World War Z - 

The trailer looked amazing, and the movie actually lived up to the hype.  Naturally, I prefer slow zombies, but they made a logical reason behind why these zombies were fast, so I have no arguments with their decision.  Very well done, and I anticipate a sequel, Pitt-free or not, I'll be willing to take a look.

Finally, the best horror film of the year?

Cabin in the Woods - 

The most horror...check!  The funniest dialogue...check!  This one had it all, and it had it in great doses.  A smart film for fans of horror, and fans of good movies in general.  An intriguing premise filled with twists and turns at every corner.  Give it a spin and see what you think.


Tomorrow, things will get a little more family friendly! :)

Zombie Apocalypse Weekend Continues..."Deadheads"

But I don't want to be a zombie!

The Story:

Mike (Michael McKiddy) awakens to discover that he's a zombie.  And yet, he's coherent and remembers that all he wanted was to marry his girlfriend.  He runs into Brent (Ross Kidder) another zombie who is also coherent, and the two embark on a road trip to get Mike back to his sweetheart and see if she's interested in rekindling a romance with a zombie.

I smell road trip!

I'm loving these horror-comedies.  Much like "A Little Bit Zombie", this movie takes a look at a guy who doesn't complete the full zombie-fication process, and still functions as a human.

Mike and Brent become best zombie buds and much hilarity will ensue with their antics as the two try and get back home to see Mike's girl, and see if he still has a shot after all these years of apparently being dead.

It won't be easy though, as the government agents that created the very process that turned our heroes into zombies are trying to stop these two from getting away.

The government agents are hilariously inept in trying to stop the zombies, and being inept in general.


The movie is just a lot of fun from start to finish.

If you haven't gotten on the zombie-coms bandwagon yet, here's a great place to start.

Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd be willing to get this one.  Pretty fun stuff.

There Are Worse Things To Be Than "A Little Bit Zombie"

What's more terrifying? Getting married, or becoming a zombie?


Some might claim that one leads to the other...


: /

The Story:

Days before their wedding, Steve (Kristopher Turner) and Tina (Crystal Lowe) head to a remote cabin in the woods for some last minute preparations bringing along best man (Shawn Roberts) and his wife (Kristen Hager) who is also Steve's sister.  Meanwhile a pair of zombie hunters (Stephen McHattie and Emilie Ullerup) are nearby doing what they do best.  However, when a pesky mosquito bites a zombie...and then flies away and bites Steve...

The plans for the weekend are about to change.

Oh my goodness.  The great horror/humor movies continue to be cranked out.  I think this movie was shot on about a $75 dollar budget, but it works, and it works great.

The idea for how the virus gets transferred was pretty darn funny as well. 

The only actor I'd ever seen before was McHattie, but all of them do a tremendous job.  The pacing is crisp and the dialogue is rapid-fire and amusing throughout.

You will not get bored.

Steve you see is resistant to the change that is occurring in his body.  He is fighting his zombie urges, and so you see how far family is willing to go to help the poor guy out.

And, in typical family fashion, some of the choices they make are not exactly for the best.

I won't give away anything else.  This is a little indie movie that you need to see to appreciate.

If you like horror. If you like humor.  If you like humorous horror movies.

You'll like this film.

Streaming instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I don't get to rewatch too many scary movies, and since this one grabbed an R rating, that makes it less likely than Warm Bodies of getting replay value at my house.  I would add it to the collection if given the right opportunity though.  : )