It had been a while since last checking out the original Phantasm (1979). How would it hold up again after the many booze-soaked Midnight movie viewings from yesteryear and how valid were otherwise foggy remembrances of the movie’s craziness and outlandish action? Well…..It turns out that I have a great fondness for writer, director and producer Don Coscarelli‘s brain child. Expect bizarre brushes with the living dead and other dimensional creeps that are novel in their presentation and influenced a lot of filmmakers. But my tastes are different than yours and on a current viewing, I noticed that the film drags a bit in spots and can get repetitive especially when you start digging into the well of five movies created for the Phantasm cycle. I mean, how many times can the characters find, confront, get bettered and then lose The Tall Man (Angus Scrim) and his dwarf and zombie minions? How heroes appear and then are lost in different dimensions and time periods that are confusing to say the least. But I recommend that you immerse yourself in the lunatic vision of Coscarelli and see if you can figure out what The Tall Man is up to.
Tag Archives: zombies
“Dawn of the Dead” (1978) – With These Zombies, it’s Black Friday everyday
George Romero continued the tale of the decimation of society by a zombie outbreak with this follow up to “Night of the Living Dead”.
Romero angled for social commentary more heavily this time showing a horde of zombies inhabiting a shopping mall and lumbering about all the trinkets and merchandise available in a multi store shopping mall.
There are comments from the still human cast about how the undead have returned to a place of comfort where they wiled away hours, buying and looking at products and shit, when they were still counted among the living. Consumerism is criticized but the mall setting in the film allows all occupants the ability to find life sustaining supplies and ample shelter.
We can muse over the pros and cons of the self-contained mall environment on this, Black Friday.
Or not.
“Messiah of Evil” (1973) – Oddball Orgy
The 1970’s had its share of weird movies that featured very bizarre characters and groups, “Lemora” (1973, also!) immediately comes to mind. This feature details a seaside community where a diabolical cult of some sort is in operation. Are these conservatively dressed people zombies, vampires, demonically possessed drones? It seems the latter. An old tale is recounted in flashback about the community where an evil preacher begins to spread his evil presence felt. The town’s weirdness continues to the present and we see a malevolent mob tracking down innocent victims and then devouring them.
Very interesting visual style is applied to this tale and there are some truly crazy stunts and camera shots.
I would say to check it out but it can be a bit disturbing at times.
“Chernobyl Diaries” (2012) – People Shouldn’t Play with Radioactive Things
I am divided on this movie. It has a cool premise: a group of kids decides to charter a guide to take them to the restricted site of Chernobyl, Ukraine, where a nuclear reactor plant experienced a meltdown and rendered the surrounding countryside exposed to high levels of radiation. Definitely a place that the local government has made unavailable to public access because of health concerns. Well, our group gets through the blockaded area and explores the abandoned ruins of the town left behind. The guide notices that there is evidence of activity in the supposedly dead place and urges the group to return to their Jeep and exit the premises before night falls. Surprise, surprise! The Jeep conks out with darkness descending. Before long, strange sounds are heard and the apprehensive tour guide goes to investigate. You should all know that nothing good can come of all this and sure enough, the guide doesn’t return to the vehicle and it is decided to go find out where he ended up. Suffice it to say that radiation has played a very nasty trick on the animals and humans who have been exposed to it. It appears that a league of zombies inhabit the surrounding area.
The movie soon devolves into a story we have seen many times before. The group numbers dwindle as they are systematically picked off by the radiation mutants and die in various horrible ways. This may sound like your cup of tea but I can say I have seen it done much more effectively elsewhere.
GEORGE A. ROMERO – R.I.P.
Another Horror great has left us. Director George A. Romero has died at age 77. Romero and screenwriter John Russo made zombies fashionable again and truly terrifying with the release of their independent feature “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). This movie was gutsy, gripping and gruesome and it has frightened viewers for nearly 50 years. The living dead in this picture have shambled through the nightmares of millions of viewers and, to this very day, “Night of the Living Dead” will more than likely cap off the horror movies played on Halloween night. The vivid memories of watching this shocker in my youth include the hideous ghouls feasting on the medium rare flesh of the victims of a truck explosion. A nightmarish montage of living dead creeps satiating themselves on human body parts in extreme close up made me cover my eyes. Pretty much has the same effect 40 years later.
Romero would go on to devise three more episodes in this “Living Dead” saga. There would be the hideously sarcastic “Dawn of the Dead”, the apocalyptic (Alright. They were all about the breakdown in society when the zombies started munching on people) “Day of the Dead”, and “Land of the Dead”. All these movies benefited from Romero and crew’s inventive and intensely gory special effects and witty observations on the way we live(d).
An original director whose style will be greatly missed. Check out some of his other efforts, too: “The Crazies”, “Martin”, and “Knightriders”. Good stuff.
TOP 10 ZOMBIE TYPES
Very cool compilation of different zombie types that are found in movies and TV. We find that there may be multiple ways to be turned into a zombie including plagues, solar flares, voodoo, etc. The general consensus is, though, that in order to end a zombie’s miserable existence is to your advantage to severely wound or damage the head area of said zombie. If your aim is steady and accurate enough, use a gun or rifle to shoot the zombie in the head. Seems to do the trick in most cases. Always nice to watch these cats shamble around on the big and little screens but pray that all the talk about an impending zombie apocalypse is just that. Hehe.