Diary of the Dead

 

The Story: A group of film students are making an independent horror film when they become trapped in a world being consumed by flesh-eating zombies. They then turn their attention toward making the film into a documentary on their personal horror experiences.

The Good:
This movie is a fan-boys dream when it comes to zombie disposal. If you've ever thought "I wonder if a BLANK to the head would kill a zombie" they probably do it in this movie. The effects were truly top notch. Part of it was that the grainy look of the video camera POV shots help hide any imperfections. Also when you see this, you will never forget Samuel the Amish guy.

The Bad:
There is some truly bad dialogue and acting in this film. "Oh no, I have just killed three human beings in five minutes. What does that make me?" Was it really necessary to say it? Couldn't this have been better shown by the persons body language and demeanor?

The Ugly:
This did not feel like a Romero zombie movie. Where were the likable characters? Where was the horror? They had some great gore, but nothing made me jump or even twitch during this whole film. The whole film being shown from the cameras POV got ridiculous after a while as well. No one would keep filming while they or their friends were being attacked by zombies. If some friend of mine did keep filming and not even try to help while I was being attacked, well we wouldn't be friends anymore. All in all this was a very disappointing entry into the Romero zombie mythos.

Jess Franco's Count Dracula

Directed by Jess Franco, who is known for his lesbian vampire, cannibal films and nunsploitation films. He tried to do a faithful adaptation of Dracula with this movie, but he didn't quite succeed. The effects, direction and production design really hurt this movie.




Christopher Lee was awesome as Dracula. He's one of the horror actors who always brings dignity to any part he plays. The DVD of this features Lee reading an abridged version of Dracula while posters and images from the movie play. It was a nice touch for the DVD and he does a great job reading it.


Soledad Miranda played Lucy, and while she was sexy, this movie was no "Vampyros Lesbos".


Anyone care to guess who is buried in here?


Seriously, they couldn't find a better coat for this guy?


Please tell me that a stuffed owl isn't about to attack me?


No really, I am.


If they're help him why are they carrying torches during the day and so close to Dracula's coffin?


Oh no! someone took one of our torches and set Dracula on fire, who'd have thought?

Pandorum

What's it about?:
Two crew members (Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid) awaken from hyper-sleep chambers aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. They are suffering from memory loss due to prolonged hyper-sleep and can't remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission? With Lt. Payton (Quaid) staying behind to guide him via com-link, Cpl. Bower (Foster) ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying truth.

My Thoughts: CREEPY AS HELL!

Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster

The idea of going to sleep for who knows how many years is not what creeps me out. It's depending on the people who had the shift before you to do their job while you're asleep that freaks me out. The strange creatures roaming the halls of the ship attacking you at random don't make things any better.

The angry German girl who tries to kill you, it's like high school all over again.

This movie does a great job with creepy atmosphere, the ship reminds me of a mix of the ones from Alien and Event Horizon. When will spaceship designers learn to put 100 watt bulbs in every section of the ship? This movie got a lot of bad reviews and I'm not sure why. Granted they don't do a lot of character development, but part of that comes from the people not knowing who they are.

I thought this was a great B+ sci-fi film that delivered a lot of chills, mystery and twists.

Beating the odds

One of the biggest cliches in horror movies is "The black guy dies first".  It's a cheap way out that tons of horror movies have taken.

There are exceptions of course, and I won't spoil all the movies by listing them.  The thing I find remarkable is that there is one African American actor, who has survived more than one horror movie.  This is an accomplishment that deserves recognition.  Ladies and gentlemen I give you Mr. Keith David.

His voice alone can stop most monsters. 

Keith David's characters have lived to the end of  "The Thing" and "Pitch Black".  David has starred in  over 200 movies and TV episodes including classics such as "They Live" and "Platoon".  Besides voicing Al Simmons in the "Spawn" animated series, his voice work has been featured in several Disney movies.

As a huge fan of "The Thing", "They Live" and "Pitch Black" I think it's overdue he got recognized for breaking this particular cliche.