Zom-Rom-Com... "Night Of The Living Deb"

Night of the Living Deb  (2015)

Not Rated

Starring Maria Thayer, Michael Cassidy, Syd Wilder, Ray Wise, Chris Marquette,

Directed by Kyle Rankin

The Story:

After a night out, Deb (Thayer) wakes up in the apartment of Ryan Waverly (Cassidy) the biggest hunk in Portland Maine. She has no idea how she got there, or what happened, and Ryan basically shows her the door. The only problem, on the outside of that door, a zombie apocalypse pretty much sprung up over night!  Now these two have to put their differences aside and try and get to safety!

Another horror comedy that is currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Deb gets the most screen time as the heroine/final girl of the film.

She seems to be dippy one moment and then tough-as-nails the next, so expect a somewhat uneven tone if you settle in for this one.

Then of course you have the oil/water relationship between her and Ryan. It sets up a sweet 2nd half when Ryan realizes that whether he loves her or not, he certainly cares that Deb is alive and kicking.

Plus anything with Ray Wise in it is instantly better than without.

This is also one of those rare zombie films where the source of the virus is explained and that also helps drive the narrative.

While not joining the ranks of wanting to watch it every Halloween season, it was good for viewing at least once.

That's better than some movies I've seen this year. :)

Final Grade:  C+

The One Time "Cooties" Isn't Too Bad

Cooties (2014)

Rated R

Starring Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Allison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Jorge Garcia

Directed by Johnathan Millot and Cary Murnion

The Story:

Clint (Wood) has come back to his alma mater to teach after his writing career went nowhere. He sees Lucy (Pill) the girl he always had a crush on, but she's going out with Wade (Wilson) the gym teacher. Awkward love triangle on the first day, complicated by a sudden zombie outbreak among all the little children entrusted to their care. It's students vs. teachers in the ultimate battle for survival!

Okay, I'll admit it, this was a pretty fun movie.

I love a good horror comedy, and as zom-coms go, this was right up there.

An actual plausible reason why kids could get sick is introduced in the opening credits (and is rather disgusting to think about).

That it escalates so quickly is insanely glorious in the scariness of it all.

If the same concept were played straight and not for laughs, this could easily have been one of those blood curdling horror movies that is thinly disguising a social message.

:: whew ::

Thankfully, it's played for all the fun and gore that a name like Cooties implies.

Lots of humor, great job from the entire cast and a pretty fun script that takes itself seriously while never attempting to not have some fun at the same time.

As usual, Rainn Wilson does not disappoint in his role.

I know I'd watch this one again in the future, so that's always a plus.

Final Grade: - B

Always Be Prepared..."Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse"

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

Rated R

Starring Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Sarah Dumont, David Koechner, Halston Sage, Cloris Leachman

Directed by Christopher Landon

The Story:

Ben and Carter ( Sheridan & Miller) feel they are too old for the Scouts, but they agree to go on one last camping trip with their friend Augie (Morgan) and their Scout Leader (Koechner). However when they are invited to a party by Carter's sister (Sage) they decide they will sneak away to the party that night. Of course, this happens the same day as a massive zombie virus infects the town, and leaves pretty much the three kids, alone, against the marauding assault of the undead. Good thing they have their scout training to fall back on!

From the killer opening, this movie will have you waiting to see what happens next all the way through to the end.

The horror-comedy is fast becoming my favorite genre of film to watch, because when they are good, they are really quite special. Especially the zom-coms.

However, when they are bad, they can be atrocious.

Thankfully, Scouts Guide falls into the really good category. Great cast, clever dialogue and wonderful action sequences make it a humorous jump fest at every turn.

While Tye Sheridan is the star of the film, it's Logan Miller who steals pretty much the entire movie out from everyone.

David Koechner has a great turn as the Scout Master who is repeatedly defeated throughout the movie, but something about being a Scout just won't let him quit.

Then of course, if you ever wondered what Cloris Leachman as a zombie might be like, look no further.

I'll also add that humans are not the only beings that get zomibified in this movie.

:)

If you were on the fence about seeing this one, get off that fence and give it a spin. I think you'll be glad you did.

Final Grade: Solid B

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! :)

Halloween Weekend Concludes... "Cockneys Vs. Zombies"

Those pesky zombies are at it again!

The Story:

Over in London's East End, a pair of slacker brothers, Terry (Rasmus Hardiker) and Andy (Harry Treadway) decide on a plan to rob a bank to save their granddad's (Alan Ford) retirement home.  They bring in some assistance including their cousin (Michelle Ryan) but wouldn't you know that during their robbery, a zombie outbreak sweeps through the streets.  Now the gang has to get to the retirement home and save their grandfather and other residents before it's too late!

Bwahaahahaha....

Good stuff.
Again!

The horror-comedy genre is alive and kicking, and maybe I should specify that it's a zombie-com... Zom-Com?  Could this be the latest subgenre of film?

If so, count this guy as a fan.  I've been having a blast watching these films this year, and Cockneys vs. Zombies is a proud addition to the roster.

The film relishes its R rating, and the Brits are swearing up one side and down the other as they try and fight off the Zombie hordes.

As to how the outbreak started, stroke of historical genius that I won't spoil here, but made for a very amusing start to the film.

All of the cast does a stellar job, and I was only familiar with one cast member: Honor Blackman.  Yep, apparently Pussy Galore is alive and well, and living in a retirement home!  She gets to kick a little butt when the zombies attack the retirement home.

Plus, I would be remiss if I didn't say that this movie has....

THE
GREATEST
ZOMBIE
CHASE
SCENE.

EVER!!!

I kid you not.  I was laughing so hard, and it must be seen to be enjoyed properly.

Highly Recommended!

Final Grade: B+/A- take your pick, I wouldn't argue either way.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Again, it's hard to pull these off at my house, but I wouldn't complain about seeing it again during the Halloween holiday season.  I think we're closing in on double digits of great horror comedy films, just this year alone!

: )

Twas the Weekend Before Halloween... "The Revenant"

There are apparently worse things than dying...

The Story:

Bart Gregory (David Anders) is a soldier in the military who gets killed.  However, he winds up coming back to life, and with the help of his best friend Joey (Chris Wylde), he decides that it wouldn't be so bad if he killed bad people and used their blood to keep him alive.  Theoretically, he's doing the rest of the world a service.

Ah, the best laid plans of the undead...

I'm torn.

I'd been on such a great streak with all of the Zom-Coms this year, this one seemed to be heading down similar territory.

Instead of going for full-on vampire or zombie, they used the old myths of the Revenants, corpses that came back from the dead and needed to feast on blood to stay alive.

However, the movie then changes the tone by having the best friend get turned also.

Okay, now we have buddy revenants out for a good time...

But then they come back to the original love story from the beginning...

And the movie seems to lose direction...



Then boredom began to set in.

: /

And don't get me started on the meandering,  "totally lost their way" 3rd act.

It's like a movie that had no idea how it wanted to end, or find a way to execute it.

The final decisions aren't bad, and partly clever.  The beat-around-the-bush way of getting there though downgraded a movie that started off with a fairly strong premise.

Ah well.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Have to say no to both.

But tomorrow, the scary weekend is redeemed!