Review: La Horde (France 2009)

    I told a friend that the next movie I would review would be Zombieland, but this one came in the mail this afternoon and I had been waiting for it a while so I just had to watch it.

   Well, let me tell you, If you love the gore this is a movie for you, it's gritty fights from start to finish, a lot of up close and personal stuff, the characters were very colorful and quite different from your usual Zombie movie, but not that much...

   Thought the movie was well made, the acting was somewhat beleivable, but there are 3 things that just made it a little too....   "hmmmmn, really?" for me 

1) The first Zombie appears 4 guys empty their clips into the torso... nothing happens, then on eguy shots it in the head once and dropped it,  second zombie, everybody shoots him in the torso... nothing happens, Zombie carries away a dead body.  and then every other zombie they meet up until the end of the movie they just keep shooting at the torsos, I mean how many times does this have to ahppen befor ehtey realize that it's the shot to the head that kills them.

2)  The typical, "I got bit, but I'm oh.... kay...." then they are all surprised when the person turns into a Zombie is pretty much used up in a million other movies, you can forgive it someitmes by saying, "well maybe none of the characters ever saw a Zombie movie" but having it happen several times in the same movie... that's just too much.

3) And the final one, If you are a weak coward you will naturally go with the larger group, with the people that have shown that they can defend you, you're not going to try to separate from the group, specially with someone that has been bit.

  I have mixed feelings abotu this movie, it's well made in many areas, but then it has those Z movie common places that could easily be avoided with a better story.

 Until next time remember...  Zombies were people too, and wirters are only human...

To see a list of all the films I've reviewed click here

Review: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

  Now I like make up special effects and gore like the next guy and this movie is lacking a bit in that department, though there is a nice scene towards the end where they take it up a notch but mostly is bright red blood, and bluish green paint on the Zombies.
  What this movie does have is a long look at how we are as the human race, it twists your insides in a more macabre way, by showing you the worst possible monster, yourself!!! in yo faiiice!!!
  It also has people that mostly make smart choices, a refreshing respite from the campy movie.

I am sure I left out a lot, but I want to start keeping my posts a little shorter, to keep you wanting more...
in fact this time I don't think I'll even write my usual send off, I'll just write something like...

Thank you for reading, peace out.

To see a list of all the films I've reviewed click here

Zombie Movie Trailers 2.

Hello all you rotting yet walking corpses!!! looking good out there, except for you in the back row, you've got a little piece of brain stuck in your teeth...

Well It seems that your favorite posts are when I write about how my comic book is going, second in popularity is the "Zombie Movie Trailers" that I posted previously, I am one to give the public what it wants, so here's some more coming your way...

Let's start with the first 3 of the Resident Evil movies, all of which I've seen and think are stupendous... and even if they sucked, Milla Jovovich is in them, nuf said.

Resident Evil (2002)

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Now lets take another look at Cuba's upcoming Zombie flick, you know you want to
Juan of The Dead (2011)

And let's finish with an old school one, even though most people would categorize this as evil possession and not a zombie movie it is still being debated, one thing that's not debatable is that this movie rocks!!!

The Evil Dead (1983)

Ok, hopefully this will steer you in the right direction when choosing a movie.
If you want to check out the previous Movie Trailers (Click Here)
Until next time remember...      Zombies were people too!!!

COMIC BOOK CASTING UPDATE: RJ & Beauford

  Hey, Hi, how are you? well... you don't look that well to me... in fact you look a little pale... green in some areas, are you sure you're not coming down with something?   ZOMBIE fever perhaps?!!! You're in luck, cause you're just about to get your fix!!!

  All Joking... or at least MOST joking aside, I got some terrific news to share with you!!! I finally got my 2 lead roles cast for ZWPT, a story about a post zombie apocalyptic world, and the regular folks that survive in it.

  As I've mentioned before this will be an on-line comic book, it should really be a series of movies but I lack the production capabilities to put forth the ambitious ideas that I have, however I really want to escape the stigma of ZWPT being called "a comic book" and I plan to do that by thinking a little outside the box.

  For one I plan to take pictures of real people in their necessary poses and then add any detail I want in pencil, this will be done to bring a feeling of realism otherwise unreachable, and to save me hundreds of ours of drawing.  Another thing I have in mind is adding bits and pieces of video every once in a while so you get a real feel of the subtle characteristics of each cast member, again unattainable in a comic book format.

 One more idea that has been brought to my attention is to have the people actually voice their characters instead of having their words printed on the screen, I really like the idea but it would also create a new set of tasks that might be too time consuming, and I have a lot of story to tell, and would prefer to keep the material flowing and not keep the readers waiting...   but if anyone knows someone willing to $$$$ back this project I'm all ears!!!!

  Before I present to you the two young men that will beat amazing odds while being odd themselves I want you to know that you still have a chance to be part of all this, we will need hundreds if not thousands of "Zombie Extras", and you could participate by simply taking a few full body pictures in different zombie poses (make up optional) and sending them to us.  If you come up with a convincing character and/or idea and would like to be more involved you might even be a survivor... for a while...  well, let me know.

  Don't forget to subscriber to the blog to get updates, and leave a comment or two :), thank you!!!

  Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado I give you Mr. Joel Meherin & Mr. Zuberi Fields:

Review: Dead & Deader (2006)

Hello friends, I have watched yet another sucky movie so you guys don't have to... this particular one sucks so much black holes are jealous, one question this movie brings back the question that people have been asking for years...   how in hell did Dean Cain ever land a role as Superman?

This movie is your cheap straight to TV at 3 am that you only watch because you're to wasted to change the channel, so yeah... don't waste your time on this one.

To see a list of all the films I've reviewed click here

Review: Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

  Alice in wonderland... nah, just Alice kicking ass!!!  I don't know how if I can be impartial with this movie because ever since I saw Chaplin (1992) I've thought that Milla Jovovich is one of the most beautiful women on Earth, and like my beautiful wife, age and childbearing have not done much to ruin her appeal.

Now, I did not watch this movie in 3D, and here's why: I think 3D is highly overrated, perhaps it is because I am too critical, too observing, I am never content just pointing my gaze at the center of the screen, I scan and like to see the details all around in the scene, but when I do that with a 3D film the whole effect is useless, in synthesis if you say "let's go watch a 3D movie" all I hear is "let's go watch a BLURRY movie"

Moving on to the movie at hand, Resident Evil: Afterlife is the fourth installment of this great series based on the popular video game of the same name, the movie escapes the typical Zombie genre a little and becomes more Sci-fi, though the "T-Virus" does create Zombies it is also capable of being altered to create different creatures, some can even be controlled by the infamous Umbrella Corporation, the company that started the original outbreak on purpose, so that it's leaders could inherit the world.

Afterlife shows Alice, an ex Umbrella employee and the only person known to have bonded perfectly with the T virus (she has super strength and reflexes but still retains her humanity) looking for two things: one is finding any survivors in the elusive Arcadia (supposedly a place with no infection) and taking down what's left of the underground empire.

The whole movie is filled with greatly crafted and visually impressive scenes, the Zombies have this crazy thing were the mouth splits into 4 tendrils, it makes them look a lot like the vampires in the last Blade movie, which is kind of lame...  but then there's the big guy...  a super tall super strong Zombie, looking like an executioner and carrying a big @#% hammer/axe combo, and then there's the main baddie, a higher-up in the Umbrella corporate ladder that also mutated into superness by the T-Virus.

As always with this series there is some story behind the madness, so all in all this is a pretty well rounded piece of film, one last thing that I want to note, both Milla and Ali Larter have very organic performances, I mean when their shooting a gun, or doing something physically incredible they don't look like Ben Stiller in Zoolander doing his "Magnum" or "Blue Steel" face like most action heroes now a days.

If you haven't seen the rest I recommend you watch them before this one, but it's not completely necessary.

I hope you've enjoyed this review, and until next time remember...   Zombies were people too!!!

To see a list of all the films I've reviewed click here

Love does die, but sometimes it doesn't stay dead, Happy Valentines Day!!!

  Well, it's that time of the year again, when a few lucky ones like me have the chance to be with someone they love, the rest just want to rip out their own hearts an wallow in their self pity. I'm sorry to paint such a horrible picture, but then again... this is a Zombie blog, so you knew what you were getting into.

  Someone posted something recently on one of my Zombie forums and I believe this is the right day to share it with you, If you forgo the ties of love from the living, then you are still not forsaken, as this video will show you; there's something for everyone, enjoy.

Now you have seen it all, and you've seen it here... on my blog!!! please share it with your friends and don't forget to comment, also if you click "Follow" you'll be the first to know juicy, brain dripping details on my upcoming multi-media Zombie story...

Until next time remember...   Zombies were people too!!!

Zombie Movie Trailers. (Recommended)

   Many people credit George Romero for bringing Zombies out of the dark, eh... well maybe I didn't choose my words very smartly, but you get what I mean.

  Let me begin again again.

   George Romero has done something very great, not only did he take a genre that had no life...  argh again with the cheap jokes.

   One last chance please, I promise I'll get it right this time, with no further preamble.

   Mr Romero has done one thing that is truly remarkable in the movie industry, he has actually remodeled the Zombie genre to the point of actually gaining popularity over that of vampires, today there are an average of 2 studio movies and 20 independents produced per year... that's pretty impressive if you ask me.

  I have made it my goal in life to seek out those films, some great and some horrible, in the hopes of saving you the time and a lot of frustration.

So, let's get to the matter at hand, in this case "Zombie Movie Trailers".

The first batch are from movies that I've seen, some a couple of days and weeks ago some so far back that I can't even remember, but each is highly recommended, at least if your tastes are akin to mine.


They are not in any order other than how quickly they came up to my mind.

[*REC]  - A movie made in Spain in 2007 that later spawned an American film called "Quarantine" it is a very realistic movie (read my full review here) - yes Spain means that the movie is in Spanish.

Last of The Living -  This is a Zombie comedy from New Zealand released in 2008 very funny, very funny (read my full review here)

Night Of The Living Dead - (1968) Just so you know, this is the one from Romero I was talking about earlier. (read my full review here)

Survival Of The Dead - (2009) Yet another thought provoking film by Romero. (read my full review here)

Dead Snow - (2009) A group of Norwegian skiers get attacked by Zombie Nazis , but don't worry this aren't "Surfing Nazis from Outer Space" or anything like that (read my full review here)

Zombieland - (2009) Zombies and Woody Harrelson, a very nice combo.

Shaun of the Dead - (2004) A British comedy, probably a genre changer, maybe not, you tell me.

Return of the Living Dead - (1985) I'll put this one out there even though most people in the world ave seen this on TV at one time or another.

AMC's The Walking Dead - (2010)  If you want to see a movie that doesn't end in 2 hours watch this TV series.

Now the second batch, these are the movies that were recommended to me and I am just dying to see.

Pontypool - (2008) Now this is a movie I know almost nothing about, just what I see from the trailer and that a friend, Fredzombie, told me I would like it because it's really thought provoking.

Le Horde - (2009) A French movie, was recommended too, looks good.

Zombies of Mass Destruction - (2009) Zombie satire with a lot of political jokes.

Juan of the dead - Cuba's funny take on the Zombie genre, coming out in this year supposedly, looks very promising.

Resident Evil: Afterlife - (2010) After watching the rest of the series and being very happy about it I cannot wait till this one arrives on my mailbox.
**EDIT: since writing this I have had the chance to watch this movie (read my full review here)

Thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed this, If you'd like to see more trailers in the future and other Zombie information please click on "Follow", if you've got a movie suggestion, an opinion about a movie or just want to say "hi" you can leave a comment on the convenient "comment" box below this post :)

My name is Santiago, your friendly neighborhood Zombie blogger, and until next time remember...
Zombies were people too!!!

Now I hear dead people!!!

  Hello again, I hope you haven't been bitten since last I wrote to you, if you did that would suck, cause I'd probably lose a valuable reader...

   So back to being serious again, since I started writing this blog I've been coming into contact with people that love a good zombie story as much as I do, or MORE!!! It has broadened my horizons on the whole undead genre, suggestions have come to me like; a forum for people to exchange opinions for how to better prepare for the possible z-pocalypse, several online comic books, a whole bunch of independent mini movies on Youtube and a whole bunch of great leads on movies, some I've already watched and reviewed, by the way if you have any suggestion about a good zombie movie or other media please post a comment bellow.
  
   The latest thing I have come across is "We're Alive" and it's something that is quite different, you have to see it to believe it, well actually you have to HEAR it to believe it, because it's very cleverly made as a podcast, it reminds me of the anecdotes my father shares about him "listening" to Tarzan on the radio when he was a boy, I am no stranger to
 this being that I love to listen to talk radio rather than listen to the same 5 songs every hour. and I actually enjoy listening to a good story with my eyes closed, letting the imagination roam where it may.

   You can find the podcast if you click here www.zombiepodcast.com

  I could write you a long drawn out description on the setting and the characters but it would be much easier if you went to the site and listened for yourself, the action kicks in really fast and they give you a good grasp of the situation in a hurry!!! but not in a way that would ruin it of course.

So I went from seeing dead people to hearing them... well at least it a relief to know that for once the voices are not coming from inside my head.

Thank you very much for reading, please if you've got a comment I would be honored, and until next time remember...  Zombies were people too!!!

Review: [REC] (Spain 2007)

 Hello friends, I hope you've enjoyed my last post, and I thank you for your all the e-mails.

This past Tuesday the kids went to bed early so my wife had the rare opportunity of watching a Zombie flick, this time it was the Spanish movie [REC] of which I've had the dvd from netflix for aa couple of weeks, this is the movie from which Quarantine (2008) came forth, both movies are visually exactly alike, if memory serves, after all I saw Quarantine when it just came out.
The only differences I noticed, besides the fact that [REC] is in Spanish, was the idiosyncratic characteristics of th cast, I don't know if it's the language or the fact that Hollywood makes almost everything taste like plastic, but the characters seemed a lot more real.

The film itself is quite good also, the story starts when Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) a reporter for a local TV show is sent to a fire station to document the everyday life of the firefighters, hoping that the alarm would sound so they are whisked off into an interesting adventure, the phrase "be careful what  you wish for " should come to mind right about now. When the alarm finally sounds they are sent to answer a call about a screaming old lady, at the building they find the police are already there, they all go in to investigate and they see the old lady drenched in blood just standing in the middle of her living room, as they get near she flips out and starts chewing on a cops neck. Outside the police begin a quarantine procedure. The whole movie is from the point of view of Pablo, the camera guy, hence the name and that makes for one quite different experience.

So my opinion is this is a must see, the feeling is quite authentic.

So what's next on my netflix queue? Resident Evil : Afterlife, the fourth instalment in this great series based on the popular video game, it should arrive the day after tomorrow, I'm very exited.

Once again thank you all for reading and until next time remember... Zombies were people too!!!

To see a list of all the films I've reviewed click here

News to "UN"die for #1

Welcome back friends, this Santiago again, your very own Zombie blogger, bringing you another post celebrating OUR obsession, tonight I will write about many wonderful things like;

AMC's The Walking dead, where season 2 already?
Joder!!! (F word in Castilian) I'll be talking about [REC] the Spanish movie Quarantine is based on.
The wait for Pontypool... what the hell is that?
An update on the comic book project.

But first of all I want to talk about you, the audience, when I first started writing this blog I believed that I was expressing myself about my obsession, but in the time that has elapsed I realize that everyone is a little obsessed with zombies, we've all asked ourselves that "what if?" and wondered quite a bit.
In the beginning I thought this blog would only exist in the screens of myself and a few personal friends that I would force to read, but now you read me in: USA, UK, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia, France, Bolivia, Germany, Malaysia, Italy, India & Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Austria, Russia and Lebanon...  whoa, I gotta catch my breath, well anyways I guess I mean thanks all of you!!!

AMC's The Walking Dead: well what can I say? I'm still watching the reruns, that's how good it is. On my review of the first episode and promised you more to come, but I believe that reviews are great for movies, I may point you in a direction that you've never considered, or I could steer you clear of the movies that are just not worth your valuable time, but in the case of TWD it is pointless to write a review for every episode and just tell you again and again how much I love it, instead... If I have your permission I will write recaps of the story,  maybe quote some memorable phrases, and if you're good I'll give you updates for when the hell season 2 arrives, which by the way seems to be that AMC thinks the best idea is to bring it out on Halloween again, like the first one, plus it helps put the spotlight on other projects for them, so bummer we have to wait until Oct 31st so see some fresh meat, but on the bright side, they signed on for 13 episodes so when we do well be stuffed for a while...

Now lets move on to "[REC]" the Spanish movie from which the US flick Quarantine comes from, I thought the latter was an adaptation, but it's the same exact film up to the las scene, with very few variations and the obvious, they're in different languages, let's just say that both are very well done and very good movies, I will go more in depth in future posts. This situation gives us a rare opportunity,  we have two movies, made within a couple of years of eaach other, following the same exact script, but made in different countries.
Is it the fact that my native language is Spanish? or why do I believe that the English language makes movies a little less dimensional? like the characters seem less real, it could be just the fault of Hollywood and their formulas steal the magic.

Pontypool, where is it? a friend I've recently made for our mutual interest has suggested I watch the movie "Pontypool" he said it was one of those that screw with your mind... and boy do I love those, from what I've seen from the preview is that a group of people locked themselves up at a local radio station, and the receive sporadic reports on how the crisis is progressing, unfortunately Netflix does not yet have it available.

MY COMIC BOOK NEWS!!!  We had a wonderful time this past Saturday during the first meeting for the production of the comic book, we savagely tore into some nice bbq pork ribs, and some fleshy pink salmon, courtesy of one of our supporters. What did we get done? I did a reading on the first 5 chapters and got great feedback and appreciation, I have chosen who will portray most of the main characters, there are still some roles left for those who are interested, and we will always need lots of zombies in the background, so if you'd like to be zombified this is your chance... people are jsut dying to be part of this adventure, muah ha ha ha.

Also, I have sent out some e-mails to some of the people involved in the movies of this great genre, please cross your fingers that I get an answer so I can start posting interviews.

Thanks again for reading, and not making me feel like I'm writing to a wall, I hope you keep coming back and invite your friends to visit here, if they don't come around apply a little pressure, I'm not suggesting you break anyones thumb, but plucking a few eyelashes is acceptable I guess...  well whatever, just tell tem to read...

THANK YOU, and until next time remember... Zombies were people too!!!