Pet Sematary 2 (1992)

Every review I could find about this movie mentioned its over the top gore, and while I usually have the same policy towards gore as CGI (only use it when absolutely necessary) and thought I could just ignore it and make my review focus on the deeper meaning of the film, I find that the goriness of the film is all I can think about after watching this one. I absolutely loved the first Pet Sematary by Stephen King (as you can see in my review of the film at the link) but this one just isn't the same. Now that being said I still think the film is decent if you're a fan of the first because there are a lot of similarities: the evil pet, pretty much everyone dying, several references to the events of the first film, similar sets used, and of course a great Ramones song playing at the credits. The sheer amount of gore is the film's main weakness, but other weaknesses include its trying to hard to be a teen movie. There are all sorts of angsty "teens have problems" scenes, but in the grand scheme of the film they are totally irrelevant to rest of the events in the film, except that they help to emphasize that the main [teen] characters of the film are outcasts whose only true friends have died (the main boy's mom, and the fat boy's dog). This movie has an unlikely hodgepodge of B celebrities: Anthony Edwards (Goose from Top Gun), Edward Furlong (the boy from Terminator 2), Lisa Waltz (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Starry Night), Jared Rushton (Tom Hanks's friend from Big, Honey I Shrunk the Kids) and Clancy Brown (Shawshank Redemption, Highlander, and the voice of Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants). The movie also has some unexpected black humor in it, most of which comes from Clancy Brown's character (the dinner table scene, and the teen with motorcycle scene). As with the first movie when people or animals die the characters then bury them in the special Native American burial ground behind the Pet Cemetery and they come back to life, but usually 

with a murderous streak in them. Furlong's character is obviously messed up psychologically after the death of his mom at the beginning of the film, and he only continues to get more messed up as the film goes on and more people die. But at one point he becomes so messed up (as does his world around him) that this weird synergy is created and it's almost as if his misfit character has found a place he belongs (albeit among the dead/undead), and that is probably one of the best/weirdest and most unique moments of the film, because you don't really know what will happen next (except that he will resurrect his mother). The only other thing worth mentioning about this one is that it has one of the most realistic looking car wrecks I've ever seen in the movies, and I have no idea how they could have damaged the car the way they did without the people inside actually getting killed. And there's a crazy scene where a guy pops the eyes out of a 

taxidermied pug dog (who you think is alive at first).  Also I liked the dog in this movie. In my opinion the dog is much scarier than the cat from the first movie. I should also mention this movie is pretty hard to find at the moment, except if you have Xfinity on demand with Comcast it is currently available there. I give the film a 3.25/5, and you can view the trailer below:

Night of the Creeps (1986)

I had high hopes for this one because I'm a huge fan of The Monster Squad (1987) and Night of the Creeps was the first film for the Monster Squad's director Fred Dekker (House[1986], Robocop 3[1993]). Night of the Creeps is a wonderful cross genre film, with parts of it fitting into Sci-fi, horror, comedy, action, romance, slasher,  and everything in between. Night of the creeps is one part tribute to 50s Sci-Fi B films, one part teen scream (horror movie that appeals to teens), one part parasitic alien film, one part detective film, and one part crazy Animal House-esque comedy. With all those areas to cover it would be fairly easy to mess up in any one of them or have the film not feel like a whole, but Dekker wrote a phenomenal screenplay for the film and never at any point do the films different genre components take away from the strength of the plot or the film as a whole. This is as classic as 80s movies get, the movie has all the classic 80s sterotypes but at the same time it has so many things most 80s movies, or movies in general for that matter, don't have. The film's highlights include a wonderful wise cracking character who happens to be crippled (you don't so many disabled people in movies in general and this film creates a wonderful character who's strong despite his affliction), great catchy phrases from the detective character (every time he answers a phone or acknowledges someone he says "Thrill Me!"), killing zombies with Flame Throwers, explosions, lawn mowers and more, puppet aliens, great special effects and wonderful Animal House inspired Frat antics.  The plot is that parasitic aliens have gotten lose into town the night of the college's formal dance, there's a lot more to it than that but it's best to just see it. Sure there were some parts where the acting is poor or some lines that make no sense (such as the detective shouting "it's Miller time!" while killing a zombie), but overall the screenplay is absolutely wonderful, and so are the actors. The special effects were made by some of the soon to be greatest make-up and special effects artists in Hollywood. Everyone usually raves about the actor Tom Atkins and his performance as the hard boiled detective in this movie, and while I love his character and his dialogue, I don't think it's a role that couldn't have been pulled

off just as well by another actor, though this is probably his best loved role. This film is a huge cult classic and ultimately was denied success in its time like so many genre bending films because people didn't know how to market it. The film is also insanely quotable with my favorite line being the one that is echoed in the poster up there: "I've got good news and bad news girls, the good news is your dates are here" "What's the bad news?" "They're dead." The film has endured over the years because of its intense cult following, and we can only hope that they will keep it around for as long as films can be accessed on one format or another. I give it a 5/5. The movie is featured in Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See book, and you can watch the trailer below:

Deathdream (1972) aka Dead of Night

I've seen a lot of movies lately that have been based around the famous horror short story by English author W.W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw. In The Monkey's Paw a mother wishes that her recently deceased son would come back to life, but when he does he's not the same way she wished he was. The Monkey's Paw is a "be careful what you wish for" story, and so is Deathdream. Deathdream is about a family whose son goes to fight in Vietnam and gets killed, and the mother in her deep grief and denial about her son's death, somehow manages to bring him back home from the dead. Upon the son's arrival back home the family is immediately aware that something is different with Andy and he is completely different from how he was before the war, he becomes increasingly violent and he seems more dead than alive. The film is also a less than subtle look at the issue of how war changes people and a look at the baggage they bring home with them (primarily PTSD). The film covers troubled relationships the soldiers had with family and friends upon coming home, but also their romantic relationships and how difficult that could be, and the film also symbolically looks at soldiers and the drug addictions they would come home with (primarily Morphine because of its use as a pain medication), even though the main character needs blood to survive instead of actual drugs. 

The movie is a good "be careful what you wish for" story, as well as
 a unique zombie and vampire story. This was one of director Bob Clark(Black Christmas, Porky's, and A Christmas Story)'s first films, and for famous horror movie make-up artist and actor Tom Savini (original Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Creepshow, The Burning, Martin, and Knightriders)'s first film. I love Bob Clark and his style and cinematography that he brings to each of his films, and that style is still present even this early on in his career, and the special effects are of course great (of course because they're by Savini) as well. The acting is great too by the whole cast which includes John Marley (The Godfather)as the father and Oscar nominated actress Lynn Carlin (nominated for Faces[1969] in which she also starred with Marley) as the mother. Deathdream is marvelously creepy and lots of fun because of it and it's message, be it metaphorical or not is much like the message of another film I reviewed  recently (The Walking Dead[1936]), which is "let the dead stay dead." That message of course can also be reinterpreted to apply more directly to one's life as "let the past stay in the past." I loved the film and I give it a 5/5. The film is mentioned in Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See.  You can view the trailer below:

The Walking Dead (1936)

The 1930s are known for such immortal horror classics as Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), King Kong (1933) and The Invisible Man (1933). But often forgotten are other great horror films that should be just as widely known as the aforementioned, like The Most Dangerous Game (1932), The Island of Lost Souls (1932), and this gem. Though White Zombie (1932) is credited as the first zombie movie, it like many early "zombie" movies only used the term zombie in the context of people being hypnotized or drugged during voodoo rituals,  (people who are either just hypnotized and called "zombies" or people who were under the influence of a drug that made them appear dead and then came back to life, but were never dead at any time) but I would argue that this could be considered the first zombie film in a sense as well. This (from what research I did) is the first time the term "the walking dead" is used, it is also one of the first times a person comes back from the dead and is not the same as they were, (Dracula and Frankenstein excluded). Boris Karloff was very influential on the overall turnout of the film. For example his character was originally supposed to not speak once revived, and was supposed to have "Tarzan-like agility," and Karloff thought the

character's lack of speech was too similar to his Frankenstein role, and that the character

should walk more slowly as his body probably would have sustained injury from receiving such large amounts of voltage. It was also Karloff's idea to make his character more likable and also empathetic by having him be a musician instead of a bum and an alcoholic. It is mentioned on IMDB's "Connections" section for the film that "The movement of the first zombie in Night of the Living Dead (1968) was inspired by the way John Ellman walked." This film also has unique cinematography for its time, and a unique blend of on location sets and fabricated ones. The plot of the story is that Karloff plays a man who is framed and sentenced to the electric chair, two witnesses to the crime come to his aid to clear his name, but they arrive too late, however an experimental medical procedure is done involving implanting a mechanical heart The procedure is a success, but when he comes back he is not the same, into Karloff's body to bring him back to life. he now knows subconsciously who framed him, but he is not able to voice any information that he has gained about life after death upon his return from the other side. Karloff's character is wonderfully empathetic, you really feel for him as Karloff has such a wonderful expressive face. The film also has a wonderfully creepy atmosphere since Karloff's character frequents walking through 

graveyards. The ending is also very good in that it has a message/warning  similar to that of Frankenstein and other "coming back from the dead" stories like The Monkey's Paw, in that it is better to let the dead stay dead, and also that one should not "play God." I really enjoyed the film and I give it a 5/5. I could not find a trailer for this film.

28 Days Later (2002)

I'd been meaning to see this one for a long time, but just never got around to it like so many other movies on my "to see" list.I had heard basically nothing but good things about this one, though my main hesitation to see it was because I'm not a fan of zombie movies, and yet that's why I liked this one, because it stops being a zombie movie at some point. I had always heard that 28 Days Later was a very non traditional zombie movie, but I was thinking that meant because it was the first film to feature running zombies (lots of movies have used them since though) and other unique qualities that would still make the zombies the key focal point of the movie, while this is true for a while, the film does change at a certain point. At a certain point about a third of the way through the movie, the two main characters meet up with a man and his daughter and flee to the countryside in his taxi cab. Once they leave London, the movie becomes more of an experimental/art film than a zombie film, and zombies won't even be seen again in the film until very close to the end. The

cinematography, countryside and music are all gorgeous at this point in the movie, and the characters are all relieved to be safe and among friends, so their happiness rubs off on the viewer and makes the film just that much more enjoyable. And with the exception of some of the earliest scenes of the movie, even when the zombies are around, the movie is much more about survival and figuring out how to continue/rebuild civilization as we know it than it is about just killing/escaping from zombies. In case you do not know the story, the film is about a zombie apocalypse in London brought on by bacteria found in monkeys. The story really begins though when a man (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma to a completely deserted hospital. The man finds other survivors in the city and the film follows his adventures from there on. The director Danny Boyle is known for using a guerrilla film style with all of his movies ( In Slumdog Millionaire he used cell phone cameras in the alleys of India, Trainspotting uses very fast shaky shots throughout, etc.) and this one 

is no exception. Arguably the most impressive part of this film are its scenes where Murphy walks through a completely deserted London, and that's all real. In order to get the shots of a deserted London, Boyle and his crew filmed early in the morning when there was hardly anyone around and then they used handheld cameras to quickly capture the shots they needed before cars and people would begin to invade their shots. I liked the film and its unwillingness to be confined to the traditions of one specific genre. The ending didn't really sit all that well with me though (it didn't feel like there was any resolution much at all), and I'm still not a big fan of post apocalyptic zombie movies of any kind so I give it a 4.25/5. You can view the trailer below:

Night of the Comet (1984)

Predating most of the 80s classic teen comedies (John Hughes films included) was this unique film. The film is about people in the L.A. area of California who are all getting ready to watch the arrival of comet fly overhead one night, but then due to unforeseen forces (radiation or possibly some alien bacteria) all who were exposed to the comet were either immediately vaporized, or turned into zombies (those who were in a house as opposed to watching the comet outside). At first it seems only two teenage valley girls (both sisters) survived unharmed (all those who were behind steel structures remained unaffected) and all of L.A. is now their playground. The film is unique not only in its plot but also with its characters and their interactions with each other. The girls' father is in the Military Special Ops forces, and apparently he did weapon and combat training with each of them from a

very young age, so though they are typical 80s teenagers in many ways, they are different because they know their weapons and prefer Uzies, also the older sister is really into/good at video games, and nerdy things like Superman. The film is advertised as a comedy but I didn't find it that funny at all actually, (except for my favorite line of the movie: "I'm not crazy! I just don't give a fuck!") but it was still fun and enjoyable because of how unique and different it is. The movie has a very fitting 80s soundtrack and the highlight of the film (or at least most famous scene) is when the girls go on a shopping spree at an abandoned mall. As interesting as the movie was it never really built to a proper climax in my opinion and it just kind of ended without any kind of (or at least very little) resolution. I still liked it though and recommend it if you dig 80s movies, zombie movies, post-apocalyptic movies, horror comedies, or teen movies in general. The movie is now available on Instant Streaming on Netflix, or you can also find the full movie in decent quality on YouTube here. I give it a 4.25/5, and you can view the trailer below:

Cemetery Man (1994) aka Dellamorte Dellamore

This film is kind of like a bridge between Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, in my opinion. It is not as scary as Evil Dead II, but not as illogically funny as Army of Darkness. It's also similar to Shaun of the Dead (2004) in many ways, like the main character being British, the humor is similar, and there's a fat guy and skinny guy that are best friends and killing zombies. This movie is based on The Dylan Dog comics. Dellamorte is the caretaker of a Cemetery in Italy, where the died have a bad habit of rising a week after their death. The feel of the film is a mixture of neo noir, zany black comedy, horror, and a cynical look at love and life. The romance part of the film is similar to that of the original TV show Dark Shadows, in that the main character keeps finding different incarnations of his lost love. This

one has a huge cult following, but I liked it less and less as the film progressed. The film starts off as interesting and funny, and the main character is likable and easy to be empathetic with, but the character does a 180 in the last 15 minutes of the film, and though it is believable that he would be crushed and cynical at that point, I did not find it believable that he would make the decisions that seemed SO far out of his character, even if he was crushed. I also thought this was going to be more of an adventure film but the horror and comedic aspects of the film seem to be just a distraction from what the director intended to be the meat of the picture, which is his musings on love and death.So what I did dislike of the film was its indecisiveness with its plot (the plot seems to switch at times which makes it seem like you're watching several different movies with the same characters, which though interesting, I felt was poorly executed), its feel, and the convictions of its characters, but because both life and death are unpredictable it still kind of works. It is pretty funny at times, and the acting is well done. So I give it a 4/5, you can view the trailer below:

Shock Waves (1979)

I don't have a lot to say about this one. It's about a small cruise of people (think Gilligan's Island) getting stranded on an island that was once used to experiment on Nazi soldiers to try create the perfect soldier that couldn't die, and could also survive/attack underwater. So yes this could quite possibly be the only film about underwater Nazi zombies, and Peter Cushing (Star Wars episode IV, Horror of Dracula, Dr. Who) is the Nazi commander who used to be in charge of the zombie operation. The only other notable names in the movie are John Carradine (Grapes of Wrath, The Howling, The Sentinel [1970s version] several dracula films), and Brooke Adams (Days of Heaven, The Dead Zone). The movie is a low

budget flick with a similar feel to a Roger Corman flick from the 70s: very gritty, limited makeup or costume effects, and film mostly during the day. The movie has some pretty good POV scenes as well as zombie stalking scenes shot underwater. The zombies are always creepy whenever they're shown too because they do everything in unison. The acting is all pretty well done considering the plot's premise and the movie's budget. The last notable thing that should be mentioned about the film is how wonky its soundtrack is. The film has a lot of very ominous unusual synthesizer tones that are at sometimes very slow and heavy, and at others super frantic and high pitched creating a near fever-dream of an atmosphere that is very effective for creating a very fitting atmosphere for this film (it's really similar to another little known classic 70s horror Let's Scare Jessica to Death[1971]). My only problem with this film though is that it does tend to drag in some spots and seem rather boring at times, so I give it a 4.25/5. You can view the trailer below: