George Romero’s Tribute Statue Gets Perfect Location!

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If you were going to decide on the perfect place for this bust of George Romero, the man who re-invented and re-invigorated the zombie movie genre, where would it be?

If you asked me (and no one did) I’d say the mall where the original Dawn of the Dead was filmed.  Guess what?

The Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylania just got 1000% times more in touch with it’s creepshow roots. A large copper bust of indie horror director (and grandfather of the genre) George A. Romero was finally installed… in the very shopping center that served as the location for much of his ‘birth of the modern zombie’ classic, 1978’s Dawn of the Dead.

Source: SyFy Wire.

The 25 Best Horror Movies of All Time

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David Houghton and GamesRadar present The 25 Best Horror Movies of All Time.  Using just his list here are my top three choices…

4. The Thing (1982)

The movie: A shapeshifting alien stalks the inhabitants of an Antarctic research station, masquerading as one of them until it gets an opportunity to attack. John Carpenter’s remake of the 1950s sci-fi The Thing From Another World ramps up the gore and the paranoia, and ends on a note of resignation, not triumph.

Why it’s scary: That paranoid atmosphere, for one thing. The Thing’s oppressive, one-second-from-doom vibe never lets up for a moment, amplified by brilliant, tightly-wound performances throughout. And it’s impossible to over-value The Thing’s ground-breaking (and award-winning) special effects work, which unleash increasingly bizarre, hybrid nightmare creatures that will stick with you for life.

 

3. Alien (1979)

The movie: Arguably one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made is also one of the greatest horror movies, as director Ridley Scott sends the crew of the Nostromo off to investigate a distress call from an abandoned alien spaceship as innocently as any gang of hormonal teenagers headed off to a remote cabin in the woods.

Why it’s scary: There’s nowhere more horribly isolated than a spaceship light years away from home. And Giger’s alien is as terrifying a monster as you could wish for. The dread goes much deeper than teeth and claws. The creature represents a multilayered, bottomless pit of psychosexual horror, its very form praying on a raft of primal terrors. And the visual ambiguity of Scott’s direction during the final act – during which the high-tech environments almost merge with the monster’s biomechanical countenance – are a masterclass in ‘What’s that in the shadows?’ tension.

 

1. The Exorcist (1973)

The movie: After messing with a Ouija board, Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting weirdly. And not just acting weirdly in a normal teenage kind of way: she talks backwards, scuttles around the house like a crab, and does unspeakable things with crucifixes. Her mother calls in a couple of Catholic priests to cast out Regan’s demons, but it won’t be easy.

Why it’s scary: It quite simply has the most evil-soaked atmosphere of any film ever made. The Exorcist is relentless in its determination to creep you out, but ignore the scares for a moment and you’re still left with an exceptionally smart and sophisticated film that demands your unreserved attention and has kept people talking to this day. A bona fide cinematic masterpiece that just so happens to be an edge-of-your-seat scare-fest too.

A few movies that didn’t make Houghton’s list that I’d have included are: 28 days later, Them! and World War Z.

U.S. Government Has Plan If Zombie Outbreak Comes!

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Did you know in 2011, the U.S. Department of Defense prepared and released the Counter-Zombie Dominance Plan, or “CONPLAN 8888-11″ which outlined the steps our military should take in the event of a zombie outbreak?  It did.

CONPLANN 8888-11 laid out a 31-page strategy in three parts. First, create and uphold a defensive plan to protect humankind from mind-munching predators. Second, establish procedures to eradicate any threat of zombies. Third, restore law and order to a war-ridden economy.

Want to know more?  You can get all the gory details at History.com.

The 50 Greatest Comedies

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Empire Magazine took a look at The 50 Greatest Comedies.  Using just their list, here are my top three with their rankings & comments as well as mine…

12. Dr Strangelove

Stanley Kubrick‘s jet black comedy famously stars Peter Sellersplaying three separate roles and wildly improvising in all of them. He’s the buttoned-down British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake; the ineffectual US President Merkin Muffley; and the mechanically-armed cartoon ex-Nazi Dr Strangelove (real name “Merkwürdigliebe”) who can’t quite get out of the habit of calling the president “Mein Fuhrer”. Sellers was also supposed to play Texan Air Force Major TJ “King” Kong, but injured himself and couldn’t work in the fighter plane’s cockpit (he was replaced by Slim Pickens). Devastatingly deadpan, this has the darkest of all imaginable endings, which is all the more impressive given that it originally climaxed with a pie fight. Kubrick, wisely, thunk again.

Dr. Strangelove is the perfect mix of comedy and drama with a strong message that will leave you laughing at the absurdity of nuclear escalation.  Dr. Strangelove is played straight which makes it all the funnier.  Some comedies aren’t as funny on repeat viewings but Dr. Strangelove offers increased pleasure with each visit. And remember, “There’s no fighting in the war room!”

35. Young Frankenstein

Slap bang in the middle of Mel Brooks‘ 1970s run of movie parodies, Young Frankenstein is obsessive in its devotion to the Universal take on Frankenstein’s monster (down to using the same props and lab equipment as the 1931 film) but also willing to go to any length for a gag. Physical humour brings the wordplay to life, and there’s even a legendary dance number in ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’. Brooks and co had so much fun shooting that the writer-director even added scenes near the end of production just so they could keep on going, resulting in a disastrously long first cut that required a marathon editing session to bring down to the swift, 106 minute final running time.

Young Frankenstein is the perfect merging of two genres (horror and comedy) to create a classic.  Brooks was at his best with a cast in sync with his vision.  Blazing Saddles was released around the same time as Young Frankenstein, but while Blazing Saddles seems a bit dated, Young Frankenstein is timeless.

34. Step Brothers

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play pampered fortysomethings whose juvenile worlds collide when their single parents get married, in this classic Adam McKay comedy. Often overlooked as the difficult third album following Anchorman and Talladega Nights, it can actually hold its head high in that company, and Reilly is great Ferrell foil. The pair are currently at work on Etan Cohen’s Holmes And Watson.

I absolutely love this movie. This pairing of Ferrell and Reilly is perfect. So many laughs and stuff that would just get eye-rolls from other actors.  Sure, I’ve seen this same pairing in other comedies, and they’re ok.  Step Brothers rules.

Since we’re talking comedies, I have to give shout-outs to 3 movies that I saw in crowded theaters and the audiences (myself included) roared with laughter throughout the viewings:

  • Airplane (the original)
  • 10 (yeah, with Bo Derek and Dudley Moore)
  • Richard Pryor Live in Concert

I’ve seen them at home and without the large audience, they just weren’t quite as funny.

Stephan Franck Interview – “Silver” Conclusion and More!

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Stephan Franck is the genius (writer & artist) behind Silver which he describes as…

… an original universe built around Bram Stoker’s original Dracula, and it begins 40 years after the events of the novel, into the noir/pulp era of the 1930s. You meet James Finnigan, who is the most notorious conman/gentleman-thief of his day, as he teams up with Rosalynd “Sledge” Van Helsing (granddaughter of the original Van Helsing, and altogether the last of the Van Helsings), to steal a mystical treasure hidden in Dracula’s castle. Finn, of course, brings his known associates—a fun assortment of conmen and grifters of all kinds—as well as the kind of amoral attitude that puts him immediately at odds with Sledge. Lastly, the team enlists Tao Leu (or more accurately, he enlists himself), who is a 10-year-old boy with the gift of second sight and who might be the biggest scoundrel of them all.

With the fourth and final volume now on Kickstarter, Franck sat for an interview with Johhny Hughes at Comic Crusaders.

Sylvester Stallone’s Career Tells a Story of Going the Distance

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Illustration by Agata Marszałek

Matt Singer at The Dissolve takes a look at Sly Stallone in Sylvester Stallone’s Career Tells a Story of Going the Distance.   Here are just a couple of quotes that stuck out…

… no matter how badly the odds are stacked against him, Rocky just won’t quit. For him, survival is just as good a victory as a knockout.

The same goes for Stallone.

And if THIS next quote doesn’t get you to want to read the full piece, I’m surprised you read this far.

(Sly)’s the only man alive who’s had a No. 1 box-office hit in each of five consecutive decades. It hasn’t always been easy; after his remarkable early success and a long run as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, he bottomed out in the dregs of direct-to-video thrillers. But years after his action-hero peak, Stallone returned to his roots and sparked one of the most remarkable comebacks in movie history. When things looked their bleakest, he rallied for one more climb up the Art Museum steps. This is the story of how Sylvester Stallone went the distance.