Friday, June 7, 2013

Junesploitation Day 7: Zombies!

When there's no more room in HELL the dead will walk the EARTH!

What do we want? BRAAAAAINS. When do we want them? BRAAAAAAAINS.



If you're looking for a good zombie movie recommendation, check out our zombie movies podcast! Brains.

22 comments:

  1. Zombie Lake (1981)

    French film wastes no time, as a buxom lass gets nekkid during the opening credits so she can go swimming – only to be done in by a Nazi-zombie. Helpful tip: Never dump your dead Nazis in a lake that’s been used for a black mass. Fairly standard zombie film has nice photography. An MVP award goes to the girl’s volleyball team, which shows up in the nick of time for some impromptu skinny-dipping (the French obviously don’t believe in bathing suits – Merci!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I started watching this and I was mad that they passed up the chance to call it THE FRESHWATER DEAD.

      Delete
    2. Were there even enough Nazis in the world to populate all these freaking "Nazi Zombie" movies? :p

      Delete
    3. They've been much busier since they disappeared. Like Tupac.

      Delete
  2. THE HORDE (2009)

    The first fifteen minutes make this seem like crime thriller. A group of French cops storm a slum to get revenge on a crime lord who killed one of their own. They fail miserably and are caught and about to be executed...then the zombie apocalypse occurs. While it's not boring and pretty solid, the characters are uniformly unsympathetic and/or scumbags. This is especially true of a scene with a female zombie that is so misogynic it made me sick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zombie Holocaust (1980)

    A collection of loosely tied together scenes, a mystery that for some reason involves the main characters, cannibals and a mad scientist. Thats-a Zombie Holocaust!

    More Cannibal Annoyance than Zombie Holocaust. Its hard to even pretend to care for the characters here when all they seem to do is intentionally walk into the areas that they know the cannibals and the mad scientist are, then stand and watch as one of the team gets attacked and/or killed. Then just as it seemed to be building towards something big and interesting, it goes back to doing what it had already done plenty of times before. Very low budget.

    The assistance's death was cool though. Plucking his eyeballs out and eating them.
    Plucksploitation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did some research online before choosing a zombie movie for JUNESPLOITATION because, frankly, I didn't want to go with an obvious choice (Romero, "28 ___ Later," "Zombieland," Fulci, etc.) but didn't want a no-budget, Z-grade, disposable flick either. Holy crap, there are A METRIC TON of zombie movies out there, most of them just plain bad and not even worth tracking down. Since they're so relatively easy and cheap to make (get some friends over, make-them up, have them walk funny, voilĂ !) any Tom, Dick & Harry can make a zombie flick. As Patrick and JB indicated in their 2010 F Zombie Movies! podcast, there is a reason everybody chooses the same top zombie movies over and over. As I found the hard way, it's a total crapshoot when you venture into "zombieland" shopping for a new undead flick experience.

    DEAD & BREAKFAST (2004) on Amazon Prime for the first time.

    This seemed like a promising little horror movie with a decent cast (Jeremy Sisto, David Carradine, Erik Palladino, etc.), an OK premise (wedding party guests get stuck in a hicktown that gets overrun by an evil spirit trapped in a Buddhist box that turns them into zombies) and unrated gore (check). Holy crap, things go south pretty quickly when writer/director Matthew Leutwyler introduces comic book panel transitions and a one-man singing cowboy greek chorus (Zach Selwyn). Bad self-aware acting (except for Sisto), a jokey soundtrack that underlines everything (reaching the apex of silly during the "zombie cowboy rapping square dancing" scene) and tributes galore to the genre ("Evil Dead," name-dropping Robert Wise, etc.) add-up to a wanting, cheap "Dead Alive" knockoff without a tenth of the original's charm or impact. 'Hicksploitation' is alive and well in the zombie genre.

    ReplyDelete
  5. RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD. This is wondrous ‘80s schlock at its most wondrously ‘80s shclockiest. The zombies are loose in the suburbs, but fortunately, the local pre-teen genius has built a homemade laser gun (!) and he goes to town. Basically, it’s the FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR of zombie movies. There’s this other subplot about a criminal/fugitive type guy, but he’s boring. What really makes this one interesting is that it’s on a lavish two-disc DVD set with three alternate cuts of the movie and tons of extras. (Self-congratusploitation!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

    An obvious pick, sure, but a damn good one. I love this movie to fresh, meaty pieces. From the iconic opening scene in the cemetery to the horrifyingly cynical final scene, this movie still works no matter how many times I've seen it. Dawn Of The Dead is great, but this is the one I always find myself going back to. Romero has been making zombie movies ever since (to say to diminishing returns is a gross, rotten, flesh-eating understatement) but no matter how dour they get, the promise of this one still shines through.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Black Sleep (1956)

    I'm not sure if this is really considered a zombie movie, but it does have people who return from the dead, only to be lobotomized and disfigured by Basil Rathbone, giving a great performance as a mad scientist and surgeon. The movie also features Lon Chaney Jr., Tor Johnson, and Bela Lugosi, in his last true film role, as a mute butler. There is also a crazy yet very interesting performance by John Carradine as a human subject who appears to be stuck in the 12th century, the movie's worth watching just for him.

    Overall it presents some cool ideas and successfully executes about half of them, but I would still recommend it for the great cast and because even when Bela Lugosi is given nothing to say, he still brings such a larger than life presence.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

    I was going to watch some crummy thing I've never seen, but I've been let down by enough movies this week that I wanted a sure thing. This is still one of the best horror movies ever made and one of my all-time favorite movies. It's better every time I see it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Zombie Lake (1981)

    The lamest movie by far this month. Terrible zombie makeup, score composed by crap thrown down a well (listen hard you'll hear it) and zombie victims who make Voorhees victims look like MENSA members. Also about 20 minutes in you can see cameramen in mirror reflection. Only positive BOOBS! Dullsploitation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I particularly liked those moments when the music duties were turned over to the one-armed organist.

      Delete
    2. Well to each their own but I would have rather watched Dawn of the Dead for the 15th time. Alas I made a rule only new to me movies for Junesploitation so every day is an adventure!

      Delete
  10. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
    I keep wanting to see new things, and I keep falling back on old classics. *shrug* I ended up going with the classic, it was a busy day and at this point I can watch Dawn while making dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  11. White Zombie (1932)

    Decided on this one because it was recommended in the most recent "Netflix this Movie!" It is unlike any zombie movie I have ever seen. It did start a bit slow, making it seem much longer than it's barely over an hour run time, but I kept with it and liked it more and more as it went on. It definitely had some great moments.

    ReplyDelete
  12. VHS 2

    The second segment is a neat riff on zombies but the third segment (holy moly) is what makes this one worth watching. A lot better than the first VHS.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Return of the Living Dead (1985)

    I'd never seen this one, despite its cult status, so I took this opportunity to educate myself, and I'm glad I did. I get bored with zombies very easily, but I never did here. I don't think this sticks the landing, and feels like they ran out of time and money, but the amazing practical effects make up for it. Its reputation is well deserved, and coming to it nearly 30 years after it first debuted, I'm pleased that it still worked for me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dead Snow (2009)

    In the first 10 minutes contained the most profound and universal words of wisdom I've ever seen in a movie: "If you want to get it on this weekend, keep the nerdiness in check."

    Hadn't seen this before but heard a lot about it - not sure if it lived up to the hype but this Zombie Nazi movie was alright.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Pontypool (2008)

    Took Mark Ahn's recommendation and checked out this new/not-quite-exploitation movie on Netflix (partly because it's not October, and I have a hard time watching a straight horror movie [also, my wife's not the biggest fan]). It's definitely interesting with a lot of compelling ideas. Equal parts corny, creepy and fascinating. Not sure it "sticks the landing" (borrowing Heath's expression above), but, still, a solid effort. Can anyone explain the post-credits tag?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't remember exactly what happened, but whatever it was it's setting up for a sequel - this is supposed to be the first of a trilogy.

      Delete