Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Francesco Francavilla was asked to design/illustrate a poster for a limited German theatrical release of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Francesco hit a home run! I love that Ben is given center stage and we see him surrounded by the living dead. Walking zombies in the foreground and hands seen through the boards over the window. Bravo!
Source: Francesco Francavilla
The Munsters (2022)
Director: Rob Zombie
Screenplay: Rob Zombie based on the television show The Munsters by Allan Burns, Chris Hayward
Stars: Cassandra Peterson, Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Richard Brake, Daniel Roebuck, Dee Wallace, Sylvester McCoy, Pat Priest, Jorge Garcia, Catherine Schell and Butch Patrick
Tagline: None
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
The Munsters was a television comedy that ran for two seasons from September 1964 to May 1966. The show featured a family of monsters living in the suburbs. The family consisted of Herman Munster, based on Frankenstein’s monster; his vampire wife, Lilly; their son Eddie (a werewolf); Lilly’s father, Grandpa who was a vampire and their niece, Marilyn who was pretty by conventional standards (but the family thought of her as unattractive). The comedy came from neighbors’ reactions to the Munsters and the family’s interactions with each other and normal folks.
Rob Zombie’s reboot explores how Herman and Lilly first fell in love. I wanted to like The Munsters. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the original series, I did watch it as a child. My wife who is just a few months younger than me was a huge fan. She had high hopes for the reboot. We started watching and she was ready to bail after the first few scenes. Ultimately we stuck with it for about 30 minutes before tapping out.
Part of the problem is the movie starts with several scenes and no Munster in sight. Instead we have a mad scientist and his halfwit hunchback, Floop (I kid you not. His name is Floop. Is that supposed to get a cheap laugh?) robbing graves. When Floop is sent to retrieve the brain of one of the world’s smartest men, he instead brings back the man’s brother’s brain. The world’s smartest man and his brother, who happens to be one of the world’s dumbest men both conveniently (for the joke to work) died within hours of each other.
Meanwhile Grandpa is trying to hook Lilly up with a Nosferatu-looking vampire. We get to see them on a date. Lilly’s brother (a werewolf) is trying to get Grandpa to sell the house. Meanwhile the mad scientist is creating Herman. Oh, and there’s scenes of Grandpa watching Transylvania tv talk shows.
Does this sound like fun or anything even remotely funny? If you think so, then give The Munsters a go. It wasn’t for me… or my wife who is a Munster‘s fan. Of course your mileage may differ.
The Munsters earns 1 of 5 stars.
How cool is this? It’s a rare theater poster advertising Bela Lugosi appearing live on stage for a performance of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart followed by a Bela Lugosi movie. It have been awesome to attend that!
Source: Comic Crusaders
State of Emergency (2011)
Director: Turner Clay
Screenplay: Turner Clay
Stars: Jay Hayden
Tagline: When the dead walk, the living… run.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
When a chemical plant explodes, a toxin is released that turns people into blood thirsty cannibals. The area is put on a military lockdown and survivors are to hunker down until help arrives. Jim (Hayden) makes it to a farmhouse where three others have sought shelter. Will they survive each other and the cannibals until help arrives?
State of Emergency is a low-budget, but well done film. It is helped by a likeable cast, a decent story and able direction. If you’re a fan of the genre, you should enjoy State of Emergency.
State of Emergency earns 3 of 5 stars.
Morbius (2022)
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Screenplay: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless
Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Tyrese Gibson and Michael Keaton
Tagline: The line between hero and villain will be broken.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Michael Morbius (Leto) is a brilliant doctor who uses vampire bat blood to cure himself from a rare degenerative blood disease. The process also gives Morbius powers associated with vampires (heightened senses, super speed and strength), but also a need for human blood. When Morbius hungers, he loses control and all around him are in danger.
When Morbius’ friend Milo (Smith), who suffers from the same rare blood disease realizes that Morbius has found a cure, he goes through the process and becomes a vampire. While Morbius sees himself as a monster and looks for a cure; Milo embraces being a vampire. He sees himself as the next step in evolution and enjoys feeding on humans. The police believe that Morbius is responsible for Milo’s murders. Morbius struggles to find a cure with the police and Mio out to kill him…
I was surprised how much I enjoyed Morbius. While the movie is set within the Marvel Universe, it played out pretty much as a standalone film. Leto is perfect as the slightly strange Dr. Morbius. When the movie started I felt it carried a vibe similar to the under-rated television show The Passage (which is a good thing). I’m not a big superhero movie fan, but I enjoyed this one.
Morbius earns 4 of 5 stars.
Goodnight Mommy (2022)
Directors: Matt Sobel
Screenplay: Kyle Warren based on Goodnight Mommy (2014) written and directed by Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Starring: Naomi Watts, Cameron Crovetti, Nicholas Crovetti, Peter Hermann, Jeremy Bobb and Crystal Lucas-Perry
Tagline: None
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
When twin brothers, Elias and Lukas arrive at their mother’s remote home for the summer, they’re surprised to find her face covered in bandages. She explains that she’s had cosmetic surgery. Pretty quickly they see that their mother isn’t acting normal… and they begin to wonder if it is their mother! When she takes their cell phone they have no way to contact anyone and mom’s behavior is getting worse.
Goodnight Mommy is a fun ride in the tradition of The Twilight Zone or a good M. Night Shyamalan film. There are at least three “What?!” moments. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Goodnight Mommy.
Goodnight Mommy earns 4 of 5 stars.
It Came From Outer Space (1953)
Directors: Jack Arnold
Screenplay: Harry Essex from a story by Ray Bradbury
Starring: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake and Russell Johnson
Tagline: Terror In 3-D… Reaching From The Screen To Seize You In Its Grasp!…
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
When John Putnam (Carlson) and his fiancé, Ellen Fields (Rush) see a meteorite crash nearby, they go to investigate. What they discover is an alien spaceship. They escape to inform the town folk, but no one believes them… until people begin to act strange!
When I was a kid, I didn’t like It Came From Outer Space. There’s more suspense than action. The aliens look goofy instead of scary. It’s also a movie where the aliens don’t want to cause harm. Like ET, they just want to get home. I recently re-watched It Came From Outer Space, it’s not great but it’s also not a bad way to spend 81 minutes. ; )
It Came from Outer Space earns 3 of 5 stars.
The Return of Dr. X (1939)
Directors: Vincent Sherman
Screenplay: Lee Katz based on The Doctor’s Secret (1938) story in Detective Fiction Weekly by William J. Makin
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane, Dennis Morgan, John Litel and Huntz Hall
Tagline: Back from the Grave He Came!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Walter Garrett is a newspaper reporter following leads on a story involving murders where bodies are drained of their blood. Garrett consults with his friend, Dr. Michael Rhodes (Morgan) who then joins the investigation. Garrett and Rhodes discover that Dr. Marshall Quesne (Bogart) bears a strong resemblance to Dr. Maurice Xavier. Xavier was executed in the electric chair for horrible experiments that killed a child. As Garrett and Rhodes get closer to the truth, they may be getting closer to their deaths…
When The Return of Dr. X was released, Humphrey Bogart wasn’t yet Bogart the star. He ended up with third billing, reportedly hated the film and never again worked on a horror movie again. The Return of Dr. X is a fun Warner Brothers B picture. Getting Bogart is a bonus!
The Return of Dr. X earns 3 of 5 stars.
I like both the poster and trailer for Knock At The Cabin. M. Night Shymalan looks like he has another winner. Deal me in.
While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.
From visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, Knock at the Cabin stars Dave Bautista (Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy franchise), Tony award and Emmy nominee Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Mindhunter), Ben Aldridge (Pennyworth, Fleabag), BAFTA nominee Nikki Amuka-Bird (Persuasion, Old), newcomer Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn (Little Women, Landline) and Rupert Grint (Servant, Harry Potter franchise).
Universal Pictures presents a Blinding Edge Pictures production, in association with FilmNation Features and Wishmore Entertainment, an M. Night Shyamalan film. The screenplay is by M. Night Shyamalan and Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman based on the national bestseller The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. The film is directed by M. Night Shyamalan and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Marc Bienstock (Split, Glass) and Ashwin Rajan (Servant, Glass). The executive producers are Steven Schneider, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos and Ashley Fox.
White Buffalo (1977)
Directors: J. Lee Thompson
Screenplay: Richard Sale based on his novel The White Buffalo
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, Will Sampson, Kim Novak, Clint Walker, Stuart Whitman, Slim Pickens, John Carradine, Ed Lauter and Martin Kove
Tagline: Two legendary enemies unite to fight the charging white beast!!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Wild Bill Hickcock (Bronson) tormented by dreams of being killed by a giant white buffalo, heads west to face his fears. While on the hunt for the beast, Hickcock meets Chief Crazy Horse (Sampson) who also wants to kill the creature. Although natural enemies, Hickcock and Crazy Horse slowly develop a mutual respect as they attempt to track and kill the monster.
While Hickcock did wear his guns in a sash, sunglasses weren’t invented until decades later and look so out of place in Bronson’s characterization. The White Buffalo is a giant creature that works best, and is almost hypnotizing in dream sequences. In the final scenes (where Sampson has jumped on it’s back), the buffalo looks silly. The most fun in the film is seeing star cameos by Kim Novak, Clint Walker, Stuart Whitman, Slim Pickens, John Carradine, Ed Lauter and Martin Kove.
White White Buffalo earns 3 of 5 stars.
Frogs (1972)
Director: George McCowan
Screenplay by: Robert Hutchison, Robert Blees from a story by Robert Hutchison
Starring: Ray Milland, Sam Elliott, Joan Van Ark, Adam Roarke, Judy Pace and Mae Mercer
Tagline: It’s the day that NATURE strikes back!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Pickett Smith, a wildlife photographer, ends up on the Crockett estate where, grumpy, old Jason Crockett (Milland) has invited family to celebrate his birthday. Unfortunately that same weekend all of the animals – frogs, lizards, birds, snakes have decided to start killing humans. Yep. Killer frogs and other animals with no means of hurting a human are killing them. Yeesh.
Frogs earns 1 of 5 stars.
Killadelphia took the comic world by storm. If you know, you know. If you don’t know, here’s a summary…
Finally, the acclaimed horror title which was nominated for an Eisner Award for “best new series” is collected in a stunning hardcover featuring the first 12 issues and more!
From RODNEY BARNES, the breakout star comics scribe and television writer behind HBO’s Winning Time, and the show-stopping artist who redefined SPAWN for a new generation, JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER.
When a small-town beat cop comes home to bury his murdered father, revered Philadelphia detective James Sangster Sr., he stumbles into a mystery that will lead him down a path of horrors and shake his beliefs to their core. The city that was once the symbol of liberty and freedom has fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, brutality…and vampires.
Now, it’s up to Jimmy and an unexpected companion to stop long-thought-dead President of the United States John Adams from building an undead army and staging a bloody new American revolution.
There’s a reason they say you can’t go home again. Welcome to Killadelphia.
Collects KILLADELPHIA #1-12 and chapters 1-5 of the terrifying werewolf tie-in story ELYSIUM GARDENS
I’m glad that Killadelphia is getting the deluxe hardcover treatment. I’m looking forward to mine. Pre-orders are available now.
Zone of the Dead aka Apocalypse of the Dead (2009)
Director: Milan Konjevic, Milan Todorovic
Screenplay by: Milan Konjevic from a story by Vukota Brajovic, Milan Todorovic
Starring: Ken Foree and Kristina Klebe
Tagline: This City Is a Living Hell
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Agents Mortimer Reyes (Foree) and Mina Milius (Klebe) are transporting a dangerous criminal when a zombie apocalypse breaks out. The agents and criminal join forces in an effort to fight their way to safety. Think Assault on Precinct 13 meets Night of the Living Dead (but not nearly as good as either).
Zone of the Dead isn’t good by any stretch of the imagination, but if you’re in the right frame of mind and enjoy zombie films, you could do worse.
Zone of the Dead aka Apocalypse of the Dead earns 2 of 5 stars.
Hunter Hunter (2020)
Director: Shawn Linden
Screenplay by: Shawn Linden
Starring: Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa and Nick Stahl
Tagline:
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Joseph Mersault (Sawa) lives in a remote wilderness log cabin with his wife Anne (Sullivan) and daughter Renée (Howell). Joseph is a modern day mountain man, living off the land, hunting and trading animal skins for goods. They’re just barely getting by. Anne doesn’t enjoy the life, but tolerates it. Renée loves hunting with her dad and living in the wilderness.
When a huge, rogue wolf returns to the area, Joseph decides he will hunt and kill it. When Joseph doesn’t return after a couple of days, Anne fears the worst. But the worst is yet to come…
I liked a lot of Hunter Hunter. For me it went off the rails when characters started doing really dumb things. I could accept Joseph going to hunt the wolf. But when he finds something totally unexpected and doesn’t go back to get his family away to safety and he doesn’t go to the police… well, that’s just dumb. When Joseph doesn’t return after a couple of days, and Anne and her daughter have had a run-in with a wolf and Anne still decides to wait it out in the cabin… that just dumb. When… well, you get the idea.
I had the feeling at the start of the film that we may be dealing with a werewolf. The lingering shots of the full moon also added to that feeling. Was the director just setting us up? The thing that really brought down my rating of this film was the final act. It seemed out of character for Anne, and the gore was over-the-top. Then for the police to allow her to simply walk away? C’mon, man.
Hunter Hunter earns 2 of 5 stars.
The Day (2011)
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
Screenplay by: Luke Passmore
Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Brianna Barnes and Dominic Monaghan
Tagline: Fight. Or die.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
The Day has an interesting premise that is perfect for a low-budget film. A group of five weary survivors living in a post-apocalypse, come upon a remote farm house. In addition to shelter they find a basement stocked with canned goods. Or so they think. What they’ve really stumbled into is a trap set by a cannibalistic tribe!
I wish that The Day lived up to its premise. I like the idea of cannibals, but once the fighting starts it’s just kill after kill. There was no real suspense and truthfully, I didn’t care one way or the other about which characters lived or died.
The Day earns 2 of 5 stars.
