Monday Movie Review - SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD

Romero's zombie movie seesaw back and forth between being flat-out horror and black comedy.  To me, I like both, especially the films that have a bit of tongue-in-cheek (both literally and figuratively).  Survival of the Dead is the latter, with lots of little short escapades that pit the living against the "dumbass dead".

You also have to give the King of the Zombies credit for giving us something different in each of his movies.  In this film, the story takes place on an island where two families have been feuding for years.  And now that a zombie plague has taken over, they're split into two camps - one side wants to kill everyone infected, but the other believes that zombies can be taught to eat other creatures besides humans, and thus they don't need to be eradicated.

Enter a small group of well-armed and trained military survivalists.  They're made to pick sides, and it's definitely a no-win situation.  The gore is profuse, and I liked the never-before-done zombie attack on an animal (I will leave the rest to your imagination.)

If you're a zombie fan, especially if you're a Romero-an, this movie will click for you.  Yes, it has some stumbles, but overall it's just plain fun.

My whole-hearted recommendation is that you:

App of the Dead

I shelled out the $ for this app for my iPhone simply because of Romero's name on it.

Basically speaking, you take a photo on your phone, then you get to apply zombie applications to turn your friend or relative into one of the nasty looking undead.  THEN you get to use the shotgun tool to literally blast them to pieces.  Imaginary blood splatters your screen as the gunshots reverberate through the speakers.

And then you get to "clear" it or SAVE your retouched photo, and start all over again.

All done for giggles, I'm sure, but in the back of my mind I was wondering what would happen if the police happened to catch a few of your creations on your phone.  O.o

Monday Movie Review - THE CRAZIES

I remember reading a review for this movie while it was still in production that said this movie should never have been remade.  It was lumped into that horrific pile labeled "remade classics", the likes of which included Rob Zombie's Halloween and the new Nightmare on Elm Street.  And I was among those who put this movie on my Do Not Rent list simply because I have an overt fondness for the originals.  But when I found out Radha Mitchell was going to star in it, I became intrigued.

You see, I've never seen Romero's original of this movie, so I really had no personal experience to go by.  As time went on, and I began to see movie stills and the teaser trailers, my interest grew.  Finally, I decided what the heck.  Let me see if there's any merit to the movie by its own account.

Oh.  Damn.  And in a good way!

True, it's another one of those "oops, the government goofed and dropped some toxic cargo in a small town's water supply, so now the military is having to come in and contain the populace before word gets out" sort of movie.  But the director has taken this scenario and put some real chills into what could have been a lackluster film.  The victims don't turn into zombies, but into crazed killers who slowly disintegrate before our eyes, leaving you as the viewer unable to decipher who's infected and who's not.

I may rent the 1973 version, just to compare.  But in the meantime I heartily recommend that, for this version, you

Horror Tunes!

Ya gotta love XM Radio!

My hubby has a subscription. If you do, too, and log into XM Satellite Radio (www.xmradio.com), you can use your password to get the internet player. Loverly!

Channel 76 is CINEMAGIC, "Escape into the Movies". I love to listen to soundtracks when I'm writing. And I discovered by accident that Wednesday nights they have a Sci-Fi and Horror show, starting at 11:00 p.m. est.

Last night was "zombie night", and it featured the soundtrack music from all of George Romero's Dead movies. (Right now I'm listening to that funky little marching band ditty from Dawn of the Dead, written by H. Chappell.) You also hear clips from the movies.

So if you get XM/Sirius Radio, why not give Channel 76 a try?

(Addendum: While net-surfing, I went to Channel 75 is ON BROADWAY, "Broadway and Showtunes", and they were playing excerpts from Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street!"