Ahhhhhh yes..... Halloween is coming.
Once again, it's nearly my favorite time of the year.
So, to celebrate, I've created a top 10 list of my favorite zombie films. Now, I'm going by the modern depiction of zombies: reanimated corpses brought back to life by science or magic with a craving for flesh. So no 28 Days later, Planet Terror, or The Crazies. They're not zombies. They're psychos infected by a disease. Also, only films I've seen, so no World War Z.
(10: Fido
Starting us off we have Fido, a Canadian zombie/comedy film, though oddly this one's not a horror film. I mean, yeah there's zombies and a bit of gore, but it's not really scary. the story is that in an alternate, 1950s-esque world, space radiation reanimates the dead, and a war occurs, which humanity wins. but to deal with the dead that pop up even after the end of the war, all of the undead are fitted with collars that control their hunger and makes them them docile servants.
One such zombie is Fido, having been purchased by a suburban housewife in spite of her Zombie-War veteran husband's objections. Their son Timmy, who gave the zombie his name, befriends the undead corpse.
The movie is odd, but it's got some social commentary & symbolism, and the relationship between Fido & Timmy is unique & charming, but what lands it at number 10 is that it's mostly a one joke film. A well explored one joke, mind you, but not enough to land much higher on the list.
(9: Day of the Dead.
I had to put a Romero flick on here, it's as mandatory as Bruce Campbell having one-liners.
Basic rundown:
After the events of the last two Romero zombie films (I believe they take place in the same universe) a group of scientists and soldier try to survive in an underground bunker even as their supplies get lower and their tensions get higher. One of the Soldiers, Captain Henry Rhodes, proclaims himself the leader of the operations after the last leader dies, even though Rhodes is clearly an insane @$$hole. Meaanwhile the scientist Dr Logan, nicknamed "Frankenstein" for his grisely experiments, believes that he can tame and control the zombies, his prize project being Bub, a zombie who, when presented with certain objects, does behave more like a human. (Brushing his hair, listening to music, shaving) But how long can this unstable situation last?
In Romero's own words, the film is "a tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society". And i agree.
(8: Night of the Living Dead. (1968)
<ducks as someone fires a machine gun at me> Yes, it's not number 1, deal with it. It's not at #8 because it's not a bad movie, it's simply not my favorite.
Every horror fan worth their monster squad membership (ah, the 80s... ^^) knows the plot, but for those of you who don't, here's the rundown:
A woman named Barbra goes with her brother to a cemetary, and gets attacked by a ghoul, which also kills her brother. Taking shelter in a farmhouse with a man named Ben, but discover the house' cellar contains a teenage couple named Tom & Judy, and a angry couple named Harry & Helen Cooper, whose daughter Karen was bitten by the zombies as they were trying to escape from them and is steadily going ill. The group (mainly Harry & Ben) start arguing on the best course of action with Ben wanting to barricade the house while Harry wants to risk going to a city for medical care, and the zombies all try to break into the house.
Like most of Romero's films, the film is a social commentary, in this case human interactions. A bit age-weary in my opinion, it still remains-
<ducks a missile>
-a classic to this day.
(7: Return of the Living Dead
A sort of... meta-sequel to the above movie, Return of the living dead is a weird dark comedy horror about a guy who, working at a medical supply warehouse, learns of a metal container containing a zombie from an outbreak that Night of the Living Dead was supposedly based on, but hushed up by the government. naturally things go wrong when the tank breaches, releasing a gas that brings every dead tissue to life. Cut off arms, pinned butterflies, even half of a preserved dog!!!
But this means that the zombie can't be killed by a blow to the head, and unlike the Romero zombies, these guys eat brains and can talk. they even hold a conversation with one. So they decide to destroy the zombie by burning its remains in a mortuary till nothing is left, not even shes. Which works.....
....but creates a cloud of acid rain that goes to the nearby cemetery and resurrects the dead bodies there.
As you may have guessed, this film inspired the classic "Braaaaaiinnnnsss...." moan associated with zombies. it was also full of music made by many punk rock & deathrock bands.
(6: Creepshow
A horror fan's dream come true, Creepshow was an anthology film directed by George A. Romero, written by Steven King (who also plays the redneck Jordy Veril), and having Tom Savani work on the makeup effects. A wonderful tribute to EC comics and horror lover, the five stories, even if not always scary, will have you enjoying every minute of it. ^^ Normally it would be higher on the list, but only two of the segments, "Father's Day" & "Something to Tide You Over..." have zombies, so yeah....
(5: Stalled.
A British comedy about a janitor who plans on robbing the place that he worked at during Christmas, been when a zombie outbreak occurs, he finds himself locked in a women's room bathroom stall, unable to leave, and his only ally a faceless woman a few stalls away from him.
Despite not sounding like much, the movie does amazingly well, using the small space to it's most, and in creative ways. The interactions between the faceless woman and the janitor are amusing, and the janitor is fairly likable, despite his many faults.
(4: Brain Dead/Dead Alive.
Before King Kong, before the Lord of the Rings... Peter Jackson made Dead Alive. considered one of the goriest movies ever made (and for good reason too), the movie is about a young man who falls in love with a young woman, but is reluctant to have a relationship with her due to his elderly & overprotective mother. While spying on them, his mother gets bitten by an imported monkey creature, said to carry a horrible disease. and indeed it does, for soon after the bite, his mother slowly becomes a zombie, and her son has to keep it hidden, even as the zombie count keeps rising.
(3: Dawn of the Dead, both versions
Yes, the remake's worth putting on here.
After a zombie outbreak occurs, a group of people shelter themselves in a large shopping mall, fending off boredom and restlessness, as the zombies outside the mall continue to grow...
i put both on because while they had different approaches, each film had their own vision of the scenario:
George A. Romero's was a social commentary, comparing the zombies to the mindlessness of people just following a social structure.
The remake saw the zombies in a different light, viewing them as fast moving monsters that needed good reflexes to take down.
(2: Army of Darkness
What, you thought i was throwing out the Bruce Campbell reference for nothing?? Hell no!!
The sequel to The Evil Dead & Evil Dead II/Dead by Dawn, we find Bruce Campbell's chainsaw-handed hero Ash Williams stuck in the Medieval time period, seeking out help from a wizard (after intimidating the knights & populus with fending off a deadite & showing of his Boomstick
) who tells him to use the Necronomicon Ex Mortis to get him back. Naturally, $&it hits the fan and Ash unleashes the Army of Darkness, lead by his own evil clone. so what does he do?
he slices and blows them up, that's what.
Before I say number 1, my honorable mention:
Honorable Mention: Monster Brawl
If it was just about any monster movies, this would have been in the list, if not for some issues that I'll get to in a moment (and the fact the zombies aren't that important in the film). The premise? Monsters fight to the permanent death in a pay per view-styled wrestling show for the amusement of the people watching, with Jimmy Hart as the announcer, Kevin Nash as Zombie Man's military trainer, & Herb Dean as the referee. Here's the Monster Roster:
Creatures:
Middleweights:
Cyclops vs Witch B**ch
Heavyweights:
Swamp Gut vs Wolfman
Undead:
Middleweights:
Lady Vampire vs the Mummy.
Heavy Weights:
Frankenstein vs Zombie Man
Monster Brawl Champion:
Heavyweight Creature vs Heavyweight Undead
Another cool thing about the movie is that they go into the history behind each monster, and virtually all of the effects are practical. Yep! No BS CGI Frankenstien, or Green Ball on a stick wolfman! All of it is makeup and costumes! they use CGI only where needed.
But as good as the movie is.....
well.... it's lacking in plot, even though there's backstory to much of it (even how the show got started) but it's not gone into too much depth, and fights can drag a bit, especially the last one, but it's worth a rent from netflix if you can find it.
And now.... my number favorite zombie film.....
(1: Shaun of the Dead.
My absolute FAVORITE zombie movie, this British Comedy stars Simon Peg & Nick Frost as Shaun and Ed, two lazy, beer drinkin' idiots who must man up to save the day from zombies...!
Only to fail miserably. XD
It's got great comedy, features memorable characters, clever writing, touching moments, and plenty of gore.
So, Happy Halloween and-<door breaks down> HOLY SH&%, ZOMBIES!!!
<gets my self-reloading crossbow, painters mask, goggles, & rifle-mounted machete and runs out to deal with the brain munchers>
