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xSamhainx
Paws of Doom
Joined: 11 Sep 2002
Posts: 2192
Location: San Diego |
| Dawn of the Dead 2004 - 2 thumbs up! |
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Saw this last night, and thought it was pretty good. Not too busy at work so I banged this out mid-day in case anyone cares about this cool remake
Dawn of the Dead - 2004
Great movie! Different type of Zombie than I am accustomed to, but it seems the "wave of the future, baby" From the get-go, I sighed along with other horror aficionados at the non-traditional "sprinting zombie" popularized by the recent film 28 Days Later. My view of things when it comes to horror is "if it aint broke, dont fix it". Usually *new and improved* is a step in the wrong direction. I set that all aside for this film, for these undead are a whole new look at Zombii. They are somewhat different from their shambling, shuffling cousins, and it is both a good and bad thing. In the past, zombies have always been portrayed mostly as slow-moving, lurching, hungry re-animated corpses ultimately looking for their next meal. The horror of the slow plodding Zombie is akin to being locked in a room which is very slowly filled with water. You can chuckle about it for a while and shrug it off, but sooner or later it's going to catch up with you and you're screwed. You're lulled into a complacency running and gunning thru the crowds of slow lumbering undeath, which is shattered abruptly by the realization that you're suddenly dead meat, surrounded by 500 more of their pals and ammo-less. Youre in a dead-end alley, and here comes a wall of hungry undead cannibals from Hell.
These post-modern, frenzied "track star" zombies appear somewhat different. They appear to look at things differently, and act a bit different. This is "Zombie Culture 2.0". Their teeth are simply weapons, not food processors. They seemingly exist solely for the purpose of human extermination, period. They ferociously hate the living, their blind misanthropy sending them into an eyes-rolled-back-in-the-head ultraviolent frenzy. A shrieking, feral, horrific abandon of any former humanity whatsoever. Previous Zombie cousins could be seen occasionally behind the wheel of a trashed car, or holding an upside-down phone to their ear, or whatever. They could use doorknobs, etcetera. They still had at least a spark of remembered humanity screaming to them from the depths of their decomposing cerebral cortex. Driven to murder by primordial instinct to seek food, munching down on any "warmies" they can catch, these are the traditional Zombie out to get a bite to eat. These newer ghouls seemingly live to kill and add to their numbers, they dont seem very hungry, they just seem extremely pissed off. To me they seem driven by some sort of Zombie Jihad over the living. It makes for an effective movie with a new spin on what is arguably the lowest rung on the undead ladder, the lowly Zombie.
The newfound mobility seems quite rational when it comes to the freshly dead Zombie recruit. Rigor mortis could not possibly have set in over the minute-and-a-half it takes for a bleeding, gagging victim to become a Zombie. This movie takes place in the wee hours of a "Zombie Armageddon", most corpses are prolly pretty fresh. Likewise, it's questionable whether a veteran Zombie would still remain somewhat agile after a few days or weeks after death, even after rigor mortis. What effect does Zombification have on rigor mortis tho? For all we know, it may slow or even cease it. What factors determine the mobility of Zombies? How much exercise does the Zombie get? How fit was he or she in their former lives? How "driven to succeed" is the individual Zombie? We may never know the answers to these important questions, we can just deal with the info we already have and enjoy the account put before us. So how was it? I enjoyed the movie, but Tigress and her friend were horrified and disgusted with it. While other people in the audience were silent with shock and peeking thru their fingers, I was snickering. Im not saying it didnt have an impact on me, but it's hard for me to genuinely be scared by something I know is fake. How I know a movie is good and has made an impact, is that it changes my outlook temporarily in the hours afterward. For example, after seeing the film I went into the bathroom there at the theater. The clean walls and shiny fixtures seemed out of place, I almost expected a bloody smear across a wall or something. Driving home I drove pretty much the speed limit, I was quite paranoid about the cops. Stepping into my darkened abode, I for a second looked back and forth almost expecting to see someone there. I lay awake thinking about what I watched, not scared, but reflective. Just a general feeling of uneasiness and a slight paranoia are sure signs of a quality horror film, and uneasy I was afterward. So yes, I liked it. I'll buy the DVD when it hits ='.'=
The Good-
-Excellent makeup that is head and shoulders above the original. I almost had trouble eating my pizza.
-Suspenseful moments do not result in some stupid cat jumping out, it really is something bad.
-Nice blood effects, they did a great job on the spurting gore.
-Very bleak. Very faint light at the end of the tunnel in this flick. Zombie Armageddon, there is no hope.
-The appearance of the first infant Zombie Ive ever seen. Cute little fella!
-No time is wasted. In the first ten minutes, Tigress was already looking thru her fingers
-No stupid one-liners uttered by otherwise uncool characters
-The black characters were not confined to jive-talking ghetto stereotypical roles. No rap crap at all in this movie
-No matter your feelings on the change, faster frenzied Zombies do ramp up the suspense
-Much like the palsy-stricken, wailing older sister in Pet Sematary, there is a hidden secret bound to a bed that is very effin' spooky and effective.
-The transformation from quiet, mousy woman to shrieking, evil revenant is great. Inna Korobkina deserves a freakin Oscar IMHO
-The overhead shot of a propane tank explosion wiping out many, many dead is hilarious.
-New creative Zombie-destroying inventions are always a good laugh!
-Great audio. From the downright feral cacophany of the undead, to the great lounge version of "Down With The Sickness" or whatever it's called, the audio is top notch.
-Cool concept of silent relationship between Ving Rhames & guy on roof of gun shop across the sea of undead.
-Like I said, a sea of undead. This is epic zombiedom, there are thousands of the suckers.
-Ving Rhames is like R. Lee Emry, he's the quintessential no-nonsense badass. He rules!
-The coolest opening and closing credits I have ever seen, period.
The Bad-
-There are really no characters to hate, and subsequently enjoy their demise.Too much teamwork and co-op
-The mall was central to the plot of the original. Here it is merely a prop, an outpost. They do not seem to enjoy and utilize it at all like the original but for a mere few minutes.
-The in-movie timespan of the film seems to run a few days at most, maybe a week. Seems as soon as they get settled in, they are ready to bolt the mall
-The mall is already locked down, so the "mop-up" genocidal fun of wiping out straggling zombies to muzak is minimal.
-Directed by an MTV maven, the fast-cut stroboscopic nature of some of the action sequences amount ultimately to flashes of gunfire, blood and such. Wait 'til the dust settles and see who's left and who's been bit. It all happens too fast
-A ridiculous new type of Zombie, the "twitcher" is introduced. Apparently, not all Zombies can handle the "rigors" of un-life (no pun intended, har!). These weaklings flop around like fish until some warmie puts a bullet in their head.
-Not much of the dark humor of the Romero classic. Most of the times I laughed, was not meant to be funny.
-None of the hilarious Hari-Krishna, Doctor, or any other "themed" Zombies of the original. There is a cool obese female Zombie, but 99% of them are Generic Male & Female Zombie #1&2. Good makeup, but nondescript
-No "just for fun" Zombie turkey-shoots or road rage induced mass Zombie-cide by vehicle like the original had.
-Lots of blood flying, but no dismemberment really and very little grisly feasting. The gore simply isnt as prevalent or intense as the original, and the Zombies dont really seem hungry. This is what leads me to the belief that humans are not looked at so much as lunch, but as a foe to be destroyed.
Two thumbs up from me, it's about time someone made a flick like this!
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“Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.”-Mark Twain |
Fri Mar 26, 2004 5:56 am |
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poohead8989
Village Leader
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
Posts: 90
Location: USA |
I what to see that movie my friend said it was great 
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Fri Mar 26, 2004 6:54 am |
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Pinnen
Wearer of the Hat
Joined: 19 May 2002
Posts: 7092
Location: The Sandy Beach Resort |
Thanks for the suggestion, xSamhainx. I'll be sure to check it out.
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CaptainWorshipperNonFlamer
CrossTopicBaner |
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Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:08 pm |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
You might like Versus. It is a Japanese new-take on Zombie horror. I love it. Tons o' killin' goin' on in this flick with some samurai action. The movie really has no story...just tons of point-blank shootings & sword action. Check it out for your b-rated thrills!!!
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard |
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Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:39 am |
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Secret Agent Lawanda
The last thing you see...
Joined: 23 Oct 2003
Posts: 1041
Location: World of Darkness (LA) |
I'm going to have to check this one out this weekend. That should make the boyfriend happy. ;p
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Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:50 pm |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
Samhain...you need to watch Dead Alive. There is a Zombie baby & a lawmower scene. This was a great Peter Jackson horror movie that I saw while really trashed in college. My buddy had all these #@%&$ up movies...most of which really made me sick. Anyway, I seem to remember these 2 parts of this movie. So I think is the 1st actual zombie-baby in a movie!!!
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard |
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Sat Apr 10, 2004 2:45 am |
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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats
Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos |
Here's a pretty funny piece on this movie: http://www.maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=dawn_rules
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OMG! WTF?! MONKEYS!!!!
=Member of numerous usergroups=
=Active in none of them=
Mediocreties, I absolve you! |
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Sat Apr 10, 2004 6:26 am |
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Gish
Almighty Gish
Joined: 27 Apr 2002
Posts: 249
Location: Spartanburg, South Carolina |
yeah Dawn of the Dead was awesome, especially the part with the baby getting shot in the face 
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"It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible." |
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Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:16 pm |
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Conan The Librarian
City Guard
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 144
Location: Merry Olde England |
I definitely recommend the classic Black and White Night of the Living Dead, I didn't realise it was about racism until the documentary on Horror movies afterwards. I was put off Day Of The Dead by watching the first ten minutes of a preview format for TV. I'm afraid it didn't do anything for me, but each to thier own as they say.
Though my favourite is still the shopping mall one, by the way it's 2am in the morning as I write. So please bear with me if I can't remember the title. There is a English comedy zombie movie called Shaun Of The Dead has anybody seen that yet? Don't worry it hasn't got Hugh Grant and isn't a merchant ivory production.
I totally agree the first article, surely to survive an zombie infestation would it not be easier to shack up somewhere with plenty of food and wait for decomposition.
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The optimist sees the doughnut.
But the pessimist sees the hole. |
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Thu May 27, 2004 1:19 am |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Librarian
Though my favourite is still the shopping mall one, by the way it's 2am in the morning as I write. So please bear with me if I can't remember the title.
That sounds like Dawn of the Dead. The original, I guess. Don't know if the remake also takes place in a shopping mall. My favourite of the originals is Day of the Dead, although I am aware if its faults - good for a remake too, I reckon!
I saw that preview too (good idea, wish they'd do that for more films - for those who don't know, they showed the first 9 minutes of the film unedited on TV). I had mixed feelings about it - I thought the guy getting run down by the ambulance was a bit cheap, and the speed with which Sarah Polley dealt with her family's zombification was borderline unconvincing - but the worst bit was right at the end, when her car ploughed through a crash barrier like it was made of balsa wood (impossible) only to be immobilised seconds later by a tree. Why cheapen the film with an unfeasable stunt when a realistic treatment could have achieved exactly the same thing??? (ie, car stopped, driver unconciuous). That annoyed me somewhat. But I really liked the camerawork when she was driving through the suburbs, and one or two other little touches. I got the impression the direction was a cut (no pun intended) above the typical slasher flick, so I'm still inclined to watch it, even it is just for a visual treat.
Haven't seen Shaun of the Dead yet either, but I loved Spaced (TV comedy series by the same people). Did you like Spaced, Conan, and how does Shaun compare? |
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Sat May 29, 2004 8:39 pm |
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Conan The Librarian
City Guard
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 144
Location: Merry Olde England |
| Sorry. about the delay Piln. |
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Yes, enjoyed Spaced. Haven't seen Shaun of the dead still. What put me off Dawn Of The Dead was the critic before the 9 minute preview, stating no dark humour and no moral message. That's why I liked Romero's Trilogy.
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The optimist sees the doughnut.
But the pessimist sees the hole. |
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Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:47 pm |
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Majnun
Village Leader
Joined: 02 Jun 2004
Posts: 89
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Yep, they did the Dawn of the Dead remake right. The DVD is coming out on July 27th or so and has 25 minutes of extra footage (actual movie content). I hope it's more stuff from between when Sarah flees her house and when they get to the mall (and/or more stuff after they flee the mall in the ruined streets). The great thing is that it made $60 million box office revenue (last I looked), and that's not including the dvd sales obviously. So we'll most likely get a good "sequel" to it. Oh, and Conan, the Dawn remake has plenty of dark humor (as much as the original) and it has as much moral lesson as the original too. Of course that moral lesson is only that the "living" humans can be just as bad or worse than the undead. That and the metaphor that the zombies represent (as in mass society running on blind instinct and conditioned behavior and just going through the motions trying to CONSUMEr everything and make it like they are). It doesn't have as powerful a message as the original Night of the Living Dead did...but neither did the original Dawn or Day (but the jamaican in Day did have his little moments).
Sadly George Romero's next movie will be Diamond Dead if he gets his way. It's about a zombie rock band. Really. Ahem. I think Mr. Romero may have lost his edge and/or his mind. But I'd still go see it to give it a chance just because it's him.
Someone bought the rights to the name Day of the Dead and have already filmed their movie. It's called Day of the Dead:Contagium (no, not contagion...). It looks like a rather low budget movie but it may be ok. I think they're just trying to cash in on the name myself...but it could still be a good movie. Some of their makeup looks good...some looks like utter crap. George Romero has nothing to do with the movie...he lost the right to the name a while back.
http://www.dayofthedeadmovie.net/
As for Zwan, they've had a cd out for over a year. Called Mary Star of the Sea. I've only heard one song and it was kinda average. But most good music takes a few listens to get into the right groove to appreciate it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007M84Q/qid=1087410300/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-2165697-0852066 |
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Wed Jun 16, 2004 7:43 pm |
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