Love Conquers All... "Life After Beth"

Life After Beth (2014)

Rated R

Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Anna Kendrick, Paul Reiser

Written and Directed by Jeff Baena

The Story:

Beth Slocum (Plaza) is alone hiking in the woods. The next thing we see is a wake with her family (Reilly & Shannon) grieving alongside her boyfriend, Zach (DeHaan). However, a few days later, Beth returns and her parents are overjoyed at the miracle of her return. When Zach finds out, he thinks that telling Beth the truth is in her best interest, but her parents and Beth's erratic memory make that a less than viable solution.

Zach's got his work cut out for him if he wants to keep his relationship with Beth from dying... again!

However, wishing your girlfriend was not dead becomes problematic when she returns as a walking, talking... zombie.

If that wasn't problematic enough, she may not be the only one.

This one is a slow-starter, and continues a slow burn towards the conclusion.

Baena does offer an interesting twist to the zombie mythos in his presentation of the undead.

Not nearly as family-friendly as Warm Bodies, but it could have been, easily.

A few lines of dialogue and this could have been a fun-entry to watch annually this time of year.


Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Maybe in a few years I'll catch it on cable, but not quite good enough to add to the collection.

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! :)

Friday the 13th? Bring on the Horror Movie! "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane"

All the boys may love Mandy Lane, however, Mandy Lane does not feel the same way!

The Story:

Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) is the only kid in high school with a last name.  Her best friend Emmet (Michael Welch) is a dork.  She drags him along to a pool party with the class hunk, who promptly dies.  This causes a rift between Mandy Lane and Emmet as they drift apart and Mandy Lane makes new friends.  Now, her new friends want to have her over to a secluded ranch for a sleepover.  The three boys are all hoping to get with Mandy Lane, but there is something much more sinister waiting for them at the ranch.

Will Mandy Lane and her friends survive?

Oh Mandy Lane, it almost becomes comical having to type the first and last name of this character throughout the review, but I am trying to stay true to the vision of the movie.

I don't think she was ever just called Mandy.  Apparently that would cue up visions of Barry Mannilow.

This is the first film from director Johnathan Levine.  No real complaints, though some of his choices (blurred focus... the fight shooting directly into the sun...that's just wrong on so many levels) weren't my cup of tea.

However, he more than redeemed himself with Warm Bodies, so whatever I didn't like has been rectified. ;)

So just reading the brief story synopsis, you have probably already surmised who the killer is, and you'd definitely be right.

But... why?

The why might (or might not) actually surprise you.

Amber Heard does a fine job in the lead role of Mandy Lane.  She seems familiar enough, and checking her other movie credits, I've seen many movies that she's been in, but I don't think she's ever been "the star" so I guess that's why she seemed familiar, but not overly so.

The movie itself is closer to a thriller than a horror movie.  But that's just being nit-picky on my part.

Probably not enough kills to warrant the horror label, and the way most of the cast is dispatched, aside from the first victim, which is executed poorly (pun!) aren't typical of the genre.

Save your 90 minutes for something else.

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Sorry, a C horror movie doesn't stand a chance in this category.  This guy barely liked Mandy Lane.

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.  : )

If You Only Watch One Zombie Love Story...Make Sure It's "Warm Bodies"!!

All you need is love.

The Story:

In America when a zombie outbreak has claimed most of humanity, a walled city of survivors led by Grigio (John Malkovich) try and survive by keeping out the undead, and making dangerous journeys outside of their walls to resupply their city.  His daughter, Julie (Teresa Palmer) goes on the latest foray, and their group is attacked by zombies, and nearly all of them killed.  However, one zombie, R (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself drawn to Julie...especially after consuming the brains of her boyfriend.  He saves her, and takes her back home with him.  As they bond, he keeps her safe from the other zombies, and then something mysterious and magical begins to happen.

Perhaps the most family-friendly zombie story you could ever want to watch.

But don't let that dissuade you, Warm Bodies is actually quite the charming movie with, all pun intended, a lot of heart.

It's simply not bathed in gore.  And that, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing.

R narrates the movie, and it's a hoot to listen to a zombie's thoughts as he goes through his day.

The movie also wisely adds a second layer of zombies with the Bones, so that when the final act rolls, the conflicts and resolution all pay off correctly.

Chalk this one up as a win in the horror, comedy, romantic comedy, romantic zombie comedy, pretty much genre smashing entry into film lore.


All of the kids watched it and enjoyed it.  Even momma didn't run away from the film, though her interest level was probably lower than everyone else.  She's a trooper though and stayed till the end.

Then she mocked my choice of movies.  : )

This adds to the list of recent, fun horror movies like Detention, Cabin in the Woods and John Dies at the End.  It's a trend I hope continues!

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Yes to both!