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Reviews
...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà (1981)
Where is the love coming from??
I don't get it. Maybe it was over hyped to me and my high expectations ruined it. Honestly, the first time I saw it I literally had only had the name David Warbeck dropped to me via another bad (newer) zombie flick.
The only saving grace is that the effects were good for their time. The rest of the movie is a tough slog. The plot is confusing and unresolved in my opinion.
Save yourself. It's already too late for me.
The Dead Hate the Living! (2000)
If only I knew then what I know now...
So back when I was in high school and had a ton of disposable income, I used to spend some of it on obscure or budget zombie movies. This was one of those purchases.
Back then I'd never seen anything like it. Making a zombie movie inside of a zombie movie? Sophomore me thought that was genius!
Old me after viewing it again is just sad.
Makeup is actually decent at times, and I felt that the movie did a good job of delineating the fake movie makeup from the actual zombie makeup. I still like the hulking zombie's facial makeup, too.
The digital effects were terrible, though. Thankfully they were used infrequently.
I still find some of the characters endearing, but the guy that says "question" before asking a question is still annoying.
The constant name dropping and reference making definitely reminds you of scream, only scream did it better.
Oh, and screw this film for putting The Beyond on my radar. I hated that movie.
The Hive (2014)
Don't let them fool you
The film is surprisingly better than I expected. Went in cold without reading anything and was pleasantly surprised.
The makeup looked a little weak at times, but I felt the main actor held his own about 75% of the time, and really only was unlikable for the flashback sequences, but I think part of my dislike was the character he was before things went down.
Spoiler:
If you want the short version, think Rick and morty and unity.
Airborne (1993)
Must see for any Cincinnati film enthusiasts
Look, I get it. The plot is typical 90s fish out of water garbage and predictable to boot. If you're coming here for a deep movie, you've made some bad decisions about 50 decisions ago.
For what it is, it's a solid rollerblading teen movie. The third act is exciting enough to keep you interested, but you basically can skip to it and not miss much in the way of plot.
Where this gets the Cincy transplant in me excited is seeing the old locations and trying to match them to their current counterparts. Also, as a kid I thought that the Devil's Backbone was real, and was more than a little disappointed when I came here in 2002 for college when I found out it wasn't.
Still, it's fun seeing familiar sites like ravine, Clifton ave near Mitchell, old Cinergy park, and krohn conservatory etc.
Zombie Bloodbath (1993)
Oh, it's terrible but...
...also fun.
Let me be clear, the movie is bad, and you lose nothing by never seeing it. However, sometimes a scene will stick with you forever.
In this movie, that scene is when the protagonists are running for their lives, they rush into a church to ask for help. At that instant, all the bodies in the pews turn around and, gasp, they're zombies. Preacher at the pulpit included!
That alone is worth watching.
Stalled (2013)
I mean, I enjoyed it...
I think we all know by now that every low budget zombie movie isn't going to hit the right spot for every zombie fan.
I enjoyed the use of confined spaces and tension/comedy though. Worth a watch unless you're the zombie fan that craves action in their movies.
Ridge War Z (2013)
Well, they tried.
Look, I live for anything zombie. I've sat through plenty of stinkers and found a nugget that made the experience worth it, but this film just doesn't have it. It flashes brief glimmers of hope in multiple areas, but never lands a complete punch.
Low budget isn't an issue either. I felt that this filmmaker made the most of what he had and this is where 2 of the stars come in, because I'm impressed with the use of a single location and the effects (though minimal) that were used.
1 star comes from what I felt was decent skirmish choreography when the film actually picked up.
Last star awarded comes from the fact that this could really be a look at any soldiers from any war suffering from PTSD. I found this to be a very accurate depiction based on a few of my friends that deal with it.
I think the camera work needed improvement. I'm a fan of tight close up shots for tension, but you can't do that andthen constantly have the subject of that shot adjust position and be out of frame.
While the "bro" moment in the final act was touching, either you have time to continue running or you don't...
Lastly, I really have a difficult time suspending disbelief when a movie decides to have characters take actions that make no sense. I have no idea what the point of the defensive strategy is. The movie makes a point to say "this strategy is the only one that's worked", but how? I don't get how fragmenting your force against an enemy that instinctively hunts your location and comes straight for you is smart. Again, the film appears to address the smart mouth in me by saying this by saying "if we'd have stayed there we'd be dead", but didn't elaborate. I'm not buying it.
Look, you could do worse, but don't expect much from this look at forgotten soldiers through the lens of a zombie war.
Wasting Away (2007)
Out of all the recent efforts in the genre, this one stands out (in a good way)
This is a great movie. I saw it cold, unsolicited and had never heard or read anything about it. I just sort of, stumbled upon it I guess.
Spoilers- First things first, this is a different movie than any I had encountered before (and since have seen once through Warm Bodies). You follow the characters that have been turned into zombies through some infected soft-serve and beer. Not terribly believable, but still funny, and this film is at its heart a comedy.
The way the film shows humans reacting from their point of view (like they are in fast-forward) is genius in my opinion. And drunk humans are able to understand them. Just pure genius.
Cinematography was good. The use of black and white and color shots made complete and total sense, and definitely improved the viewing experience.
Acting is pretty bad with some of the ancillary characters, but they take on an overall B horror movie aesthetic intentionally, so it fits.
Don't come in here expecting a special effects blockbuster or a scary story. However, the story was good. I didn't think anything made no sense, which is a rare thing in the genre.
Definitely worth the watch, and worth purchasing.
Autumn (2009)
If being faithful to the book was everything, this is a 10/10, but it's not...
Having read the entire Autumn series previously, I was extremely nervous when this appeared in my Netflix queue. I was hot/cold on the books, and I felt the pacing was very poor in the books. I was also afraid because most book to movie projects just completely go in a different directions.
Unfortunately for this movie, that part of the books carried over.
That being said, the good parts of the book also carried over into this movie. You actually care about the living characters and I really didn't find that I felt there was one that i just wanted to die immediately.
Unfortunately, it's pretty much a snooze-fest. Worth taking the time to watch once (I would definitely recommend the books to any zombie fiction fanatic), but after seeing it once I haven't really had that urge to watch it again.
Honestly though, if you skip this movie, you aren't missing anything. It really is only here for fans of David Moody's book series.
World War Z (2013)
Not a zombie movie until the last act
Production values alone are the only thing keeping this in the 5-10 range of ratings. Great effects keep this worth watching.
However, coming from a zombie book, this was an extremely disappointing effort. The infected hardly act like zombies until the final act when they are "dormant". They honestly reminded me of the dark stalkers in I Am Legend, which was a huge disappointment considering I (and I'm sure many other book fans) were expecting either Romero zombies or at least Dawn of the Dead remake zombies.
Funny thing is, the theatrical ending we got was thrown in at the last minute while the original ending was cut. I almost wish they would have included this extra footage just to make the DVD/Blu Ray worth owning, even if the theatrical ending is the only part with true zombie-like behaviors displayed.
Worth owning for genre completionists, but it won't be something you find yourself wanting to watch very often.
Virus (1980)
Not original, but definitely worth a viewing
Having watched this again recently after not seeing it since I was a kid, it really didn't live up to my memories. The acting is pretty erratic (and sometimes downright comical).
The effects are a total mixed bag. Some are great, some are ripped from what looks like nature documentaries, and others are terrible (running out of time in makeup? let's paint these guys blue and put them in the background)
It follows regular tropes that show these guys to be "badass soldiers" but they seem to forget their training and skills at all the opportune moments (you know, convenient zombie movie shtick).
SPOILER: Having watched this again last night with the girlfriend, there was a part that literally made her say "Oh really?" and bust out laughing. As the group of survivors are leaving the infested house, there is a zombie that just straight up opens the moving car's door and starts to sit in like he's one of the living. I found this extremely comical as well.
I can't hate on this film though, as I did have fond memories the first few times I saw it as a kid. It just didn't age very well. Still worth a viewing, and deserves a place in any serious zombie collector's movie collection.
Automaton Transfusion (2006)
Not worth owning at full price, worth 1 viewing
I pride myself on my zombie movie collection and had to add this to the collection. I am glad I didn't pay full price for this movie for an entire myriad of reasons.
Going in, I knew I had seen most zombie movies out there that have any kind of production value or genius behind them, so I knew this wouldn't be great going in, but even keeping up with my low expectations was too much for this movie.
Plot- makes no sense. Typical for lower budget zombie movies though. SPOILER- there is one point where the characters are holding a door shut from the zombies outside, and not 1 minute later they open that same door to escape and there are no zombies in sight...
Acting- horrible.
Special Effects- One of the only saving graces for this film, BUT the shaky-cam sequences ruin them (probably to mask lesser quality effects). The effects that are clear are pretty decent though. SPOILER- the fetus kill was pretty neat the first time I saw it for the shock value, but that's it. But seriously, why is the main character constantly cocking the shotgun without firing it? That is annoying.
Ending- cliffhanger ending, OK whatever. The sequel keeps getting pushed back, and quite frankly I'm not heartbroken over that.
Honestly, if I didn't enjoy screamo music, this movie wouldn't have left any good impressions. That, and the brief boob shot at the beginning of the movie...
Incubo sulla città contaminata (1980)
Not good, Not bad, worth owning for completionists
Considering many of the films out of that era, this is one of the better genre rip-offs. Can't say the story is all that gripping, as the characters are pretty much stock zombie movie fodder.
Acting is middling to poor. Camera work is decent, makeup and effects are a joke at times.
It was fun to watch, but it really is just pretty much a bunch of hide and seek set pieces.
That being said, I didn't dislike this movie. It was gripping and well worth a viewing every so often. It hasn't aged as well as some other movies in the genre, however.
Definitely a movie for genre completionists and hardcore zombie flick fans.