Wicked Little Things

Director: J.S. Cardone
Writers: Boaz Davidson & Ben Nedivi
Released: 2006
Labels: Chiller|Supernatural|Zombies|2000's

The bereaved Tunney family move to their newly inherited house in the remote, wooded hills of Pennsylvania. Nearby is a deserted mine where a group of working children were mistreated and died many decades before. An evil presence lies in the woods and the family soon learn that being out after dark can be dangerous.

Wicked Little Things looks creepy, it has a good lead cast and the SFX are well handled.  However, these few plus points come no where near saving this movie from being a slow, labored, uninspiring affair. Every cliche in the book is thrown at this flick, things like: vehicles that just won't start (or are stuck), staring yokel locals telling you not to go into the woods/out at night and creepy sounding children's laughter. 


Instead of increasing the tension, these well-worn devices clog up the screen making you lose touch with the actual story or any characterization. In short, you are never engaged. Zombie kids....so what?, Daddy died.....who cares? The Mine shaft has a dark history?....wow. On top of the lack of interest, we are subjected to some ridiculous moments that defy all logic (even when faced with Zombie children), most notably the standing in a shower of blood scene in the barn at the end (just move one step forward you dumbasses!!!!).

Wicked Little Things is not even a good idea ruined by bad filmmaking, it was just a bad idea from the start.

Wicked Little Things on IMDb

Wicked Little Things on Wikipedia

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Deadgirl

Directors: Marcel Sarmiento & Gadi Harel
Writer: Trent Haaga
Released: 2008
Labels: Thriller|Zombie|2000's

Two teenage tearaways, J.T. and Ricky, make a startling discovery deep inside an abandoned mental institution - the body of a young woman naked and tied up. Not only that, but she is also one of the un-dead. J.T. decides that this is a good opportunity to get some "free-pussy'", Ricky remains unconvinced by this idea, however both agree to keep her a secret, but for how long?.............

After looking at various responses and reactions to Deadgirl, it is clear that it totally polarizes opinion (in fact here at HMF we were divided by this flick). There are some that view this as just a roughly made, sick-minded, exploitation piece and others that regard it as a compelling study in human nature when faced with an (im)moral dilemma. 

There's no doubt that some of the scenes are pretty disturbing and you do feel like the film excuses this by presenting the girl as "already dead" but nevertheless she is still a young woman. Watching the teenagers acting in such a savage way is hard to stomach at times, but your distaste is directed more to the low moral character of the young men themselves rather than their indecent acts (and this, it seems, is the filmmakers intention).

The same degree of emotional interest could have been created without so many scenes of nudity or molestation, so it is gratuitous to some extent. The bad guys' actions do not go unpunished, but the final twist makes you wonder if any of it was worth it.

It's not a bad film and its intentions are well above being just another piece of "torture-porn". The atmosphere is heavy with teenage angst and small-town claustrophobia (reminded us of Donnie Darko for that). The acting is good (quite a few of those, "I'm sure I've seen them before" faces in the cast) and as far as for a low budget independent film it's visually great.

There's a lot in Deadgirl to set you thinking, but there will definitely be some who just can't wait to forget it.

Deadgirl on IMDb

Deadgirl on Wikipedia

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La Horde

Directors: Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher

Writers: Arnaud Bordas, Yannick Dahan, Stephane Moissakis, Benjamin Rocher & Nicolas Peufaillit

Released: 2009

Labels: Action|Zombie|2000's

A small tight-knit group of police officers seek revenge on the criminal gang that killed one of their ''family." The cops raid the gang's hideout high up a derelict apartment building in a run-down part of a French city. The raid goes horribly wrong, two cops and their informant are killed and the remaining cops end-up as hostages. Suddenly and inexplicably the informant rises from the dead and ferociously attacks the gang members. A bloody fight ensues and shortly the apartment is littered with bodies, bodies that soon re-animate and attack. The remaining uninjured cops and criminals successfully fight back but soon realize that the apartment building is under siege from a city full of these bloodthirsty un-dead. Reluctantly they team up and look for a way down to the ground floor to take their chances outside.

La Horde (aka The Horde) is yet another re-telling of the ''band of humans vs the un-dead'' story (of course that's no bad thing because there's no point of having one without the other if you set out to make a film in this genre). Romero's influence is here in bucket-loads with our motley crew holed-up in a large multi-level building, think ''Dawn of the Dead," but in this case the zombies (for want of a better word) are the fast moving, infected type rather than the shuffling, back-from-the-grave type and it's that, combined with the gritty urban setting, that puts us in mind of ''28 Days Later."  

What is interesting about this film is that it dwells somewhat on the characters back-story, their emotional reaction to the situation and to each other, in doing so it gives them some depth and motives for their actions. It could also be argued that there is social commentary here that highlights the film-makers' fears about mans' inhumanity to man and society's self destructive nature. 

Although apocalyptic, La Horde is never a somber film, there are some brief moments of levity (the ''chop off his leg'' scene is one to look out for) and the action is thick, fast and positively brutal. The quantity of blood splattering is magnificent and, as well as the extensive range of weaponry in use. The heroes are not scared to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the zombies which makes for some gory slapstick moments.

There is nothing particularly new that this film adds to the genre but it gives you all that you should want from a film of its kind, and it delivers it with a firm slap across the face!

La Horde theatrical trailer

La Horde at IMDb

La Horde at Wikipedia

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Zombieland

Writer: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Director: Rubin Fleischer 
Released: 2009
Labels: Comedy|Zombie|2000's

A young man, known as 'Columbus' (Jesse Eisenberg) survives a zombie holocaust and sets about making a journey across states to get to his parents' home in Ohio. He puts his survival down to a set of rules that he lives by in order to stay safe (see list of examples below). Along the way he teams up with 'Tallahassee' (played by Woody Harrelson), a gun-toting hard-ass heading to Florida. This mis-matched couple bond and travel along together using their very different approaches to survival. Soon they run into a young woman, 'Witchita' (Emma Stone) and her younger sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). They too have a survival technique which involves conning our two male heroes out of their ride and guns! The girls have heard that there is an amusement park in LA that is zombie free and that is where they are headed. After some more path-crossing, the four decide to stick together and end up at the girls' chosen destination only to find that a bloody battle awaits them. 

Zombieland Rules of Survival
1. Cardio
2. Beware of bathrooms
3. Wear seatbelts
4. Double tap
6. Cast iron skillet
7. Travel light
8. Get a kickass partner
12. Bounty paper towels
15. Bowling ball
17. Don't be a hero
18. Limber up
21. Avoid strip clubs
22. When in doubt, know your way out
29. The buddy system
31. Check the back seat
32. Enjoy the little things
33. Swiss army knife
34. Clean socks
48. Hygiene
49. Always have backup

Zombieland is an absolutely brilliant take on the Zombie genre. Of course comedy in zombie movies is nothing new, (Shaun of the Dead instantly springs to mind, as well as the new movie Deadheads and let's not forget the shuffling Mall-Zombies going about their business in George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead), but this film stands out because of the fast-paced directing style (Ruben Fleischer), some incredibly well-written dialogue (Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick) and top-notch acting from all the leads. The action is suitably slick, especially good is the slow-mo opening titles. The SFX make-up is first rate and the movie makes good use of the CGI blood splattering that seems to be the norm for modern horror. They have made the un-dead the fast moving kind, which does still bother some fans of zombie movies, but in Zombieland it is entirely fitting as the action relies on sudden surprises and snappy chase scenes.

The film is made up of a series of mini episodes and is interspersed with flashbacks and back-story explanations which engages you with the characters so that you really do care what happens to them. Also there is an on-going commentary from "Columbus" as he tries to make sense of the situations he find himself in and this also gives you explanations as to why his "rules" are in place. 

Zombieland is absolutely full of moments that you will want to tell your friends about, not least is the best mystery cameo performance you will see for a very long time! (we won't spoil the surprise here). Also look out for the scary clowns, Twinkies, 'zombie kill of the week' and great use of a banjo! 

Although not scary, Zombieland is packed with gore (oh yes, these Zombies bleed..... a lot!) and is as funny as you could ask for. So "Nut Up Or Shut Up" and rent yourself a copy. 

Oh and P.S....Rumor has it that Zombieland 2 is "in development" :) 

Zombieland Theatrical Trailer

Zombieland Official Website

Zombieland at iMDB

Zombieland at Wikipedia




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Trailer for new 'Zom-Com' Deadheads

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Writers: George A. Romero, John A. Russo         

Director: George A. Romero

Released: 1968

Labels: Zombie                                                                             

Night of the Living Dead is generally considered to be the original Zombie movie (although  director George A Romero at the time referred to them as 'ghouls'). It was the first movie to feature the re-animated dead, hungry for the livings flesh and so redefined the use of the term 'Zombie' (previously in movies it had been used to describe those living but under a voodoo spell) This movie spawned a few sequels and remakes that were orchestrated by Romero but it inspired a whole truck load of future directors and producers to rework the Zombie movie blueprint that he laid out.

The plot is straightforward, a mismatched group of people hole up in an isolated farmhouse and try to survive the night from the increasingly persistent wave of Zombies that try to eat them, it's a plotline that has been reproduced a million times and still works! (the simplest ideas are often the best). 

Romero co-wrote the script with John Russo as a three-part story. Part one became Night of the Living Dead. Sequels Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) were adapted from the two remaining parts.

Romero himself has stated that his original inspiration for the movie was Richard Mathesons book 'I Am Legend' which itself has been made into three major motion pictures (The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man, and the 2007 release I Am Legend). 

He explained..

“I thought I Am Legend was about revolution. I said if you’re going to do something about revolution, you should start at the beginning. I mean, Richard starts his book with one man left; everybody in the world has become a vampire. I said we got to start at the beginning and tweak it up a little bit. I couldn’t use vampires because he did, so I wanted something that would be an earth-shaking change. Something that was forever, something that was really at the heart of it. I said, so what if the dead stop staying dead? ... And the stories are about how people respond or fail to respond to this. That’s really all [the zombies] ever represented to me. In Richard’s book, in the original I Am Legend, that’s what I thought that book was about. There’s this global change and there’s one guy holding out saying, wait a minute, I’m still a human. He’s wrong. Go ahead. Join them. You’ll live forever! In a certain sense he’s wrong but on the other hand, you’ve got to respect him for taking that position.”

The male lead 'Ben' was played by a black actor (Duane Jones) and in 1968 that was potentially a controversial casting decision but Romero simply states that Jones gave the best audition. In fact the film as a whole is rife with themes that were considered taboo for its time (not least cannibalism) and many reviewers speculate as to Romero's social commentary and political leanings evident in the movie. The original screenplay had the Zombies hung lynching-style at the end but this did not make the final cut because of the racial tensions at the time, it did however, make it into Tom Savini's faithful 1990 re-make which was produced by Romero.

We love Zombie flicks at HMF and therefore we LOVE Night of the Living Dead. Don't expect a happy ending from this movie but do expect to be chilled and enthralled and please realize that you are watching the birth of a whole genre of horror, a genre that is ever expanding, occasionally brilliant, oftentimes ludicrous but never, ever dull.

Night of the Living Dead Trailer

Night of the Living Dead at iMDB

Night of the Living Dead at Wikipedia

Sequels and re-makes...