Matt Frewer (Frank): Supergirl (1984), Spies Like Us (1985), Max Headroom (1985), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Lawnmowerman 2 (1996), The Watchmen (2009)
Jayne Eastwood (Norma): The Santa Clause (1994), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), Chicago (2002), Hairspray (2007)
Director Zack Snyder gives us a new take on George Romero’s cult classic Dawn of the Dead. This new version takes place in modern day Wisconsin. A global epidemic happens around the world as the dead come back to life and attack the living; thus turning them into the walking dead also. A group of survivors in Milwaukee take refuge in a local shopping mall.
The survivors barricade themselves in the mall as they wait for help from the government or whoever else is out there. Catastrophic reports flow in from news casts and day by day zombies flock to the outside of the mall pounding on the doors to get in and feed on some human flesh.
Pretty soon the survivors realize that no one is coming to help them, and they decide on their course of action. Initially they hold up in the mall believing that they are okay, but as supplies run low and cabin fever sets in, the group decides they need to leave the mall and try to find a new home.
Villain:
The Dawn remake features the fast moving zombies as the film’s main villain. The move to switch from Romero’s classic slow moving zombies to the rabid super charged cheetah speed zombies that 28 Days Later featured two years earlier was a bold move. Initially I was skeptical about the move, but as it turns out in the end…it turned out fabulous!
The change in the look of the zombies was a brilliant move. It was the first indication that the movie wasn’t going to be a “cut and paste” of the original. That’s good, because I wasn’t a big fan of remakes at the time anyway. I didn’t want a cheap generic rip off of the original, which at the time, the original was held up to a great standard in my book.
Back to the zombies…okay, they’re fast moving. So what’s the big deal? I like to just think of them as wild animals who want to feed on flesh. It’s called primal instinct. I know that I’ve referred to them as super zombies, but they’re nothing genetically enhanced. They don’t fly or knock down walls, they just move fast with a purpose…to feed.
Cast:
Honestly I never thought I would like a cast in a zombie movie better than I did in the original Dawn, but I was wrong…again. The original Dawn featured four main characters for the whole movie the remake has a whole bunch of colorful characters that made the remake that much better. I’ve debated this amongst myself for years, but the remake’s cast has surpassed the originals.
Despite the overall dark theme of the movie, the cast of Dawn of the Dead showed the audience light. The cast worked well together there was members you wanted to hate and members that you rooted for. Snyder did an excellent job in casting and portraying these individuals.
Leading the cast is Sarah Polley who portrays Ana, a hard working area nurse. The film starts off following the everyday life of Ana as she comes home after working a long shift at the local hospital. The initial outbreak hits the next morning leaving her to narrowly escaping her zombie turned hubby. After series of events which puts Ana through an emotional rollercoaster at the beginning of the film leading up to the point where she meets up with Kenneth and the rest of the group.
Ana displays the typical qualities you would expect from a nurse, caring about other humans, good decision making and being smart. She quickly becomes one of the group’s leaders and somewhat becomes a tough chick bad *ss in the end…but not in the “I’m the ultimate warrior all of the sudden” way. The film is good at making Ana tough, but staying within respectable boundaries of what typical everyday humans can do.
Kenneth (Ving Rhames) is a local Milwaukee police force sergeant who was on duty during the outbreak. To say the least, he was already packing some firepower to help him fence off some zombies. Kenneth plays a “cool cat” as he remains quiet and reserve for the majority of the film. He is just the total bad *ss of anything he touches, from Pulp Fiction to whatever, Ving Rhames is just the poster child of being a super cool dude. Kenneth is the remake’s equivalent to Peter from the original. Kenneth initially wants nothing to do with the group held up in the mall. He has a brother in the service and believes he’s at a military stronghold named Fort Pastor. Kenneth wants to abandon the group and head for Fort Pastor to be with his brother. Unfortunately Kenneth realizes over time that with all the zombies crawling and roaming around the streets, that getting to Fort Pastor is going to be impossible.
After realizing his hopes of seeing his brother again has gone down the drain, Kenneth forms a unique friendship with Andy (a gun shop owner trapped on his roof across the street) and takes on a more serious approach with the rest of the group.
Michael is the remake’s version of Roger, but cooler. Michael is the typical “Average Joe” anyone can relate to. He has a calm outlook at things and is wise in making decisions. He has that touch of vulnerability and past of being “burned by women” to him which makes his eventual relationship with Ana heartwarming. Jake Weber (Pictured right) plays Michael.
CJ is the mall’s lead security guard. He’s in command of a few other security guards when the group shows up at the mall. At first he is reluctant in letting the group take refuge with them, but eventually lets them in. He is out to protect numero uno, and doesn’t care for any outsiders in fear of letting the “wrong ones” into the mall. CJ’s character starts off the film by being a prick, but after time in some lock down, he comes around and is one of the film’s heroes.
Steve is the group’s dick head who everyone knows is eventually gonna “get his” in the end. Steve comes from a background of money and has little interest in helping anyone but himself. He is emotionally weaker than most in the group and a coward when it comes to facing danger. Every horror film needs this character and Steve was Dawns.
Mekhi Phifer’s character, Andre, was quiet the surprise for me. Leading up to the film, he was headlined as one of the cast’s top actors. Going into the theater I had totally different expectations out of his character. I thought he would be some super cool dude that would kick some serious *ss. Instead his character came out as a self-centered, idiot you wanted to die. In the end, I was cool with that.
SFX/Gore:
Another category which the remake has a leg up on the original is in the film’s special effects. Of course the remake has the benefit of being treated to state of the art special effects due to the technology around. Let’s be frank, special effects in the late 70’s come nowhere close to the sh*t we do now a days.
It was awesome seeing zombies get their heads blown off with bullets properly. Now that sounds pretty demented doesn’t it? But my point being, it’s great seeing special effects on the slaughtering of zombies look realistic like it should have.
The group does share their own A-team moment down in the mall’s garage as they “reinforce” some parking shuttles into a pair of pretty bad *ss vehicles. It’s probably the inspiration for Land of the Dead’s Dead Reckoning, not as cool or bad *ss looking, but a worthy idea. Once again, I like to say that’s the type of sh*t that needs to be done in a zombie apocalypse.
TNA:
Dawn’s remake goes 4 for 4 by capturing this category over the original. Let’s cut to the chase here. Original had one…decent looking chick, while the remake has…1…2…3…4 smokin’ hot chicks. Lindy Booth (Pictured Left) and Kim Poirier go head to head for the film’s top hottie. It’s a close tie, depending on whether you like blondes or reds.
The interesting part of the film is how Sarah Polley evolves into a super hottie by the end. My friends and I refer to this as the Polley Effect. She starts off the film by looking like: a 6 out of 10 on the scale of hotness. The film progressively continues on and by the end of the film you’re staring at her like she’s a 8 or 9. Wow. It’s a film where a chick gets hotter as the film goes longer. Puzzling…but nice. Sarah pictured below. T.Gun’s Take:
The Dawn of the Dead’s remake is hands down one of my favorite horror movies of the past twenty years. I thought the original could never be topped, but I was wrong. Snyder delivered a homerun.
I admit there was a lot of excitement when the film first came out, but even I didn’t think that it would surpass the original in superiority. I was just hoping that it would be something worthwhile, decent and possibly a fun ride. Basically I hoped to get my money’s worth. The TCM remake had just started the new wave, and at the time, I was less than impressed. So I made a pact to myself with a set of expectations of this film…just give me something fun to watch.
I left the movie theater in astonishment. It was better than the original! It was new and improved. Dawn’s remake was slick and sleek. This is how you remake a classic movie…or any movie…if it had to be remade.
The remake is better than the original in my opinion, but by a slight margin. I didn’t think it would be possible, but Snyder managed to make it better. The film’s pace was awesome it reminded me of Empire Strikes Back. A lot of action off the bat, and then some time to take a breather, followed by an action packed ending.
Snyder also took a page out of Romero’s book and made the characters in the film likable. Instead of typical horror movie casting of disposable, “insert type” of characters, Dawn had a strong cast of characters who the audience could relate to and bond with. There were a lot of key emotional moments in the film that made this film that much stronger.
If there were anything that struck me the wrong way it would be two scenes. The first was when the group first got in the mall and was checking it out. Andre was wandering the halls and came across an exit. A zombie came running up and smashed into the window without breaking it. Andre remarked, “Shatter-proof glass.” That irked me a little bit. Really, he’s a window expert? That is kind of cheap and generic to explain something important in the film. It’s totally minor in the grand scheme of things.
The second thing isn’t a knock on the film, but more of a…I can’t believe they went there. For anyone who has seen the film, they might agree with me. It was the zombie baby plot line. It was kind of unnecessary but on the other hand, it was very bold and they handled it in the classy way you could. It took a HUGE pair of brass balls to present that past the studio exec.’s. I wasn’t completely against the idea…I just thought it might have been an unnecessary road to travel down.
Those two story points didn’t set with me real well, but they both are relatively insignificant in my view of the whole movie. I just wanted to mention them because I feel that they are the only two reasons that kept this movie from being perfect. It’s close to perfection, but not all of the way there.
Overall, this remake is a great film to see if you are any type of horror movie fan. Even if you’re not, it’s still a fun, action-packed ride to witness. Bravo! Well done Mr. Snyder! Congratulations to giving us dignity with a remake of a classic film.
Misc. Movie Trivia: -Film opened on March 19, 2004 and made $59 million at the box office ($26.7 opening weekend) -Ended the Passion of Christ consecutive weeks at #1 -James Gunn (Slitherdirector) wrote the screen play -Matt Frewer (Frank) starred in the 80's sensation, "Max Headroom" -Filmed at Thornhill Square Shopping Centre in Thornhill, Ontario -The word “zombie” is never used in the film -Was the 1st movie ever to broadcast the first 10 minutes uncut on network television five days before its nationwide release (USA Network) – And I saw it!
Gaylen Ross (Francine): Madmen (1982), Creepshow (1982)
David Emge (Stephen "Flyboy")
Trailer:
Plot:
Following the events from the previous movie, NOTLD, Dawn of the Dead picks up in the city of Philadelphia. The U.S. has been engulfed with the epidemic of zombies across the land. The government and armed civilian have formed hunting parties in an attempt to distinguish the zombies. Marshal Law and government curfews restrict remaining survivors to close quarters in the major cities.
Two survivors (Stephan and his girlfriend Francine) working at a Philadelphia T.V. station devise their own plan for escaping the zombies as they have their eyes set on stealing the stations traffic helicopter. Along with two of the city’s SWAT members, Roger and Peter, Stephen and Francine steal the helicopter and take off for the wilderness of Canada...eh.
The group ransacks an abandoned airstrip for fuel and half of the group almost gets bitten by rouge zombies. They escape the landing strip after a quick refueling of the helicopter and continue on in the air.
While looking for a place to set down and rest for the night, they spot a mall in a small town. They land the helicopter on the roof and work their way down into the Monroeville Mall. Once in the mall, they realize that the mall is pretty much free from zombies. There are a few zombies hanging around in the mall, but the group thinks that they can take care of them if needed.
After finding some food, the group stays the night in a hidden storage room located near the roof of the mall. In the morning, Peter and Roger head back into the mall to scavenge for supplies. Peter thinks that if they barricaded the doors and take out the zombies inside the mall, they could possibly hold up there for quite a while. He convinces the group that they could take shelter in the mall.
Stephen flies Roger and Peter over to a local truck yard via helicopter. Roger and Peter both drive a few big rigs over to the mall and park them in front of the entrances, reinforcing the doors. After they complete their task, the group then “cleans up” the remaining zombies in the mall and the four take refuge in the mall while zombies pile up outside.
Villain:
Zombies in color! Slow moving and flesh cravin’ bluish dead people populate the bad guys in the film. Still, there is very little explanation on how the world became infested by zombies or what caused the dead to be re-animated. I guess the film just banks off the theory from the first movie that radiation from a returning probe from Venus caused the dead to come back to life.
Cast:
It’s the best cast out of all of Romero’s zombie movies. The cast is the glue that keeps the movie together. Once again Romero creates a cast that the audience can feel and relate to. His movies are about zombies, but Romero specializes in making the cast into the everyday people the audience can relate to.
There are four main characters in Dawn. Gaylen Ross plays the role of Francine, the film’s featured female. Francine was one of the employees at the T.V. station. For the first part of the film it seems that her character is nothing important and she is just tagging along for the ride. Even during an early zombie encounter, Francine plays a frightened helpless girl.
We discover that she is pregnant with Stephen’s child during the course of the film and her character steadily grows stronger in strength. She becomes more vocal in the groups plans and shows the initiative to want to learn how to shoot a gun and fly the helicopter.
Francine’s boyfriend, Stephen “Flyboy” Andrews was the least likable of the main characters. His character started off as a tightly wound over bearing man. Stephen wanted to be treated as the man of the household. Early on he bossed Francine around and was a little skeptical of Peter and Roger’s ideas and leadership.
Stephen’s character started to loosen up tremendously as he became involved in wiping out the mall zombies. It’s like he started having fun killing them off. Stephen also came down a notch of his high horse as Francine grew stronger in her role and stood up to him. I admit that I hated his character at the get go, but Stephen wore on me as the film went on.
Scott Reininger played Roger, a cocky Philadelphia SWAT team member. Roger and Peter formed a special friendship in Dawn. The film starts off where the two don’t know each other they are just parts of two different SWAT teams that converge during a mission. They quickly earn trust with each other and quickly become friends after that.
Roger was a little crazy and reckless, but in a fun way. I liked Roger’s character, and was a little disappointed when his recklessness got him in trouble and bitten by a zombie. It was sad to see Roger get blindsided by a zombie and then slowly deteriorate in physical condition as he changes into a zombie.
My favorite character of the film was Peter, played by Ken Foree (pictured right). I admit…I’m a big fan of Ken Foree and it probably stems from his role in this film. Peter plays a calm, smooth leader of the bunch. He clearly sees the big picture before anyone else in the film does.
SFX/Gore:
Special effects king and wizard, Tom Savini, joins Romero’s crew to deliver some of the goriest and bloodiest effects in movie history. With all that said...maybe the effects weren't TOP notch, but they were pretty creative and gory. After all, that's what Savini does. Savini creates his own image on how zombies decay once they've turned. The zombies are a bluish color in nature.
T.Gun’s Take:
Dawn of the Dead is the film that has inspired my fascination with survival situations and zombies. The film pretty much "hit it on the head" on what to do in case of a zombie holocaust. First of all...you need to escape. Secondly, barricade yourself in a place with limited access and a whole bunch of supplies. Thirdly, wipe out the limited zombies still occupying the area. Finally...enjoy the life style!
Well...basically. I have a more in depth plan thought out...but that's for another day. I'll give you a hint: it involves a home improvement store and a nearby retail store.
Once again Romero strikes gold in his character development. The greatest thing about Dawn (besides zombies) is the film's characters. I truly fell in love with them by the end of the film. It was even sad when Roger had turned and needed to be put down by his best friend. Sniffle.
Dawn is the second best zombie movie on the market...stay tuned for the best. Despite some cheesy and gory effects, the heartbeat of the movie is its storyline and characters. Definitely a movie to check out.
Misc. Movie Trivia: -Filmed opened on May 24, 1979 -Filmed at Monroeville Mall in Pennsylvania between the hours of 10 pm to 6 am; the mall actually opened at 9 am, but apparently no one knew how to turn off the mall’s Muzak radio and it interfered with the filming -SFX expert Tom Savini played a zombie in the film -Extras were reportedly given $20, a lunch box and a Dawn of the Dead T-shirt
Cast/Notable Credits: George Romero (Director) Duane Jones (Ben) Judith O’Dea (Barbara) Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper) Marilyn Eastman (Helen Cooper) Keith Wayne (Tom) Judith Ridley (Judy)
Trailer:
Plot:
“They’re coming to get you, Barbra!”
Yes, they are coming to get you…and you…and you, because that’s what zombies do. We have to thank George Romero for that. Romero brought us the world of zombies (or at least popularized them in the way we know them) in his black and white 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead.
Night of the Living Dead is the movie that created a whole new genre in the horror industry. There are slasher movies, there are suspense movies, there are monster movies, and then there are zombie movies. So how did it all start?
Two siblings (Barbra and Johnny) visiting their father’s grave at a rural Pennsylvania cemetery come across an unusual being…a zombie. But they don’t know that yet. A pale faced man appearing to be human is also wondering around in the cemetery, but then he quickly attacks Barbra. Johnny comes to her aide and fights with the man. After a struggle, Johnny falls on the corner of a gravestone knocking him dead…or unconscious. Barbra flees the graveyard towards Johnny’s car.
Unable to start the car (no keys), she knocks it out of gear and the cars coasts downhill, out of the cemetery and into a tree. Women drivers! Just kidding:) Barbra abandons the car and heads toward a nearby farmhouse. She finds the house empty (outside a few corpses) and takes refuge as other pale faced beings (zombies) become attracted to the house and gather outside. They have only one thing on their mind: human flesh…Barbra.
A little bit later, a pickup truck arrives at the house and its occupant, Ben, emerges from it and fights off zombies while making his way to the house. Ben and Barbra boards up the house and barricades themselves in as more and more zombies gather outside of the house. Speaking of boarding up houses, I always love seeing this in movies. Whoever boards up doors and windows has no sense when it comes to wood shop.
To say the least, Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor and Bob Villa would be disappointed in Ben’s job of boarding up the house. The job looked something like a project a retard that would have done if given a box of Lincoln Logs. “Ah…let’s put a board here and…here. That would look purty. Maybe another one here.” No wonder the zombies always burst through at the end.
Barbra has a hysterical breakdown and gets knocked the “F” out by Ben. Ben then finds the radio and they listen to the radio for updates on this anomaly. The radio reports explain as best as they can what is happening, but just like the media, they have no idea what’s going on. Apparently similar events have been occurring around the east coast.
Pretty soon afterwards, an additional group of survivors emerge from the house’s cellar. The group includes Mr. & Mrs. Cooper and their daughter, Karen and a teenage couple, Tom and Judy. All of them had come to the farmhouse to hide. Each had their own separate stories on how they came to be. Karen was bitten by one of the attackers earlier and has fallen ill as she lays sick on a table in the cellar. My gut feeling says that she isn’t gonna make it.
Ben finds a television upstairs and with the help of Tom, they drag it down stairs and get it working. Mess with the rabbit ears! Wow…rabbit ears. And we’re just a few months away from having completely digital T.V.
The survivors huddle around the television listening to reports on what is going on. I guess we learned early on that T.V. has ALL the answers. I can’t wait until we find a horror movie based on the internet! Wait a second…hmm…I think they did do one…I think it was the Mangler 2 or 3. Whatever.
The T.V. reports explain that the deceased have been coming back to life and feeding upon the flesh of the living. T.V. and radio reports refer to the dead as “ghouls” and reports that the epidemic has engulfed most of the eastern seaboard and other parts of the U.S. The first initial case may have stemmed from an incident two days earlier in Texas.
Scientific experts believe the reanimation of corpses are stemming from radiation brought back from a recent space probe returning from Venus. Not Mars…for once. Or Uranus. He he. But Venus. Isn’t Venus the Greek God of beauty?
The scientists have figured it out that a heavy blow or gunshot to the head will kill a ghoul (zombie). The T.V. also reports that local “rescue stations” have been set up for survivors, and groups of posses are patrolling the countryside hunting down the ghouls (zombies).
With zombies knocking on the doors and windows, the group faces the dilemma of their next course of action…run, hide, or die.
Villain:
Zombie…zombies…zombies! Or ghouls…ghouls…ghouls! Okay, I’m going to stop calling them that. Zombie…zombies…zombies! One of the best villains ever! The more the merrier! Night of the Living Dead kicked off a new era in villains by creating a villain out of something that is already dead. How do you kill something that is already dead? Shoot em’ in the head…of course.
So what is a zombie? Many films have their own version or take of what a zombie is, but the most common denominator is that a zombie is a dead person brought back to life with the craving of flesh. Once bitten by a zombie, there is only one path to go down…turning into a zombie. The zombie “virus” is transmitted through bites (at least in 99% of cases in movies) from zombies to living beings.
Zombies typically display no intelligence (though some cases incorporate this at a low level) as they live to fulfill one purpose…to eat off of living flesh. Perhaps this is because the human brain has decayed and is only restricted to motor functions. In most cases, zombies don’t talk, but if they do, it usually mutters, “BRAINS”. I don't know about you, but that doesn't look very appetizing to me.
Outside of philosophical differences on what a zombie can or cannot do, the biggest discrepancy is in the zombie’s speed. For years, it has been understood that a zombie is a slow, lumbering dead corpse. A zombie would typically sneak up on someone or use mass numbers to overwhelm people. It was not typically quick until recent years.
The zombies in Night of the Living Dead are the typical slow moving, flesh craving dead person. Although I do want to point out that the first zombie in the film (one in the cemetery) moved pretty quick despite the myths and typecasts of Romero’s zombies.
Cast:
Duane Jones (Ben) leads the cast of relatively unknowns in this independent film. Jones also has the distinction to be the first African American to have a starring role in a horror film. For me, Ben is one of the two only likeable characters in the film. Ben is smart and quick to take charge in his fight for survival…and he’s got a mean right hook! Ben knocks two dumb *ss, bickering mother f*ckers out! Ben don’t stand for any sh*t!
One of the characters that I hated the most was…drum roll…Barbra. Yeah that’s right. The main b*tch. Judith O’Dea plays the character Barbra. Let me say, “Oh my God. She was annoying as hell.” Whine, cry and sniffle. Boo hoo. Barbra has a meltdown thirty minutes into the film and takes a Ben right hook and she’s done. She goes into some catatonic state and says like ten words after that. That part was pretty cool. She wasn’t the typical heroine that you would expect in a horror movie.
Karl Hardman plays Harry Cooper, a.k.a. the Dick of the bunch. From the get-go he clearly is the village idiot craving power. Harry’s a control freak, but yet he hasn’t got the balls to do anything. Always with him is a pessimistic view and no real game plan for survival. Harry appears afraid of the black man as he constantly battles Ben’s ideas and eventually gives way to him. Also a victim of Ben’s right hook. It was like a game of Tyson's "Punch Out".
The last character of any real significant value is Tom, played by Keith Wayne. Tom is a young naïve teenager who means good will, but is a “tool” in the end. His dialect in the movie makes him sound like a character straight out of the Leave It To Beaver show. “Golly. Swell. That would be super!” Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating…or not.
SFX/Gore:
Night of the Living Dead was made back in the mid 60’s, so what do you expect in this category? The film is in Black & White, which has its own classic eerie feel to it. Chocolate syrup was used as a substitute for fake blood. That’s awesome! By the way, the kid in the photo looks like my cousin's third grade photo. Maybe he was a zombie. As you can tell, the effects are pretty primitive, but it doesn’t mean the film held back in not being disgusting.
Most of the film’s budget was probably blown on the effects during the daring…yet laughable…escape attempt by Tom and Judy. Now I hate to bash a classic film, but this series of events are just too incredibly silly to watch.
During this sequence, the plan for the bunch is to take a pickup truck (already low on gas) and fill it up with gas so the survivors can drive to the nearest town (rescue station). There is a gasoline pump at the barn of the farmhouse, but it was locked. Tom finds a set of keys in the cellar of the house, and they believe that they unlock the gas pump.
Ben and Tom decided to make a daring rush through the zombies outside and make a break for the pickup and then barn. At this point in the film, they have already figured out that zombies hate fire or bright light. So Ben equips himself with a rifle and a fire torch as he and Tom breaks for the pickup. At the last second, Judy decides to go with them. Ah. Young lovers.
Tom and Judy gets in the pickup as Ben fights off some zombies and hops in the back of the pickup and they make the short drive over to the gas pump. This is where things get kind of comical. Tom fiddles around with the keys to the lock and eventually gives up, the key doesn’t work.
Ben comes in and sets the torch on the ground by the truck, pushes Tom aside and shoots the padlock with the rifle. Timeout.Are you f*ckin’ kidding me? You’re gonna shoot at a padlock protecting a gas pump with the hopes of blowing off the lock. Really? I get paranoid about the whole static shock thing every time I go and fill up with gas, and this guy is taking a shot at a f*ckin’ gas pump with a rifle!
On to dumb *ss move #2. Ben has just set a FLAMING torch down on the ground in between the pump and truck. This guy’s asking for it. Okay, a miracle happens and Ben shoots off the padlock cleanly in the first shot. Tom then grabs the nozzle and flings it and the gas around like a garden hose watering plants.
Guess what happens next? You got it. You don’t have to be a chemistry major to figure out that gas and fire equals bad. Tom’s gas pump watering show and Ben’s brilliant idea of leaving a torch next to the pickup truck leads to the truck catching on fire.
What’s the next logical thing to do? If you answered hop back in the burning truck with your girlfriend still inside to drive it away to safety, then you’re on par with the film. Tom hops back into the pickup truck and drives it away. A few seconds later, Tom and Judy are…to quote Bon Jovi, “Going down in the blaze of glory!”
TNA:
Don’t expect much from this category. I guess Judy was pretty hot in her hay day (SHARK FACTOR). Barbara…well I couldn’t stand her. On a positive note, there is a zombie chick that shows her naked behind. Whoop dee doo!
T.Gun’s Take:
NOTLD is one of the classic horror movies of all time. It’s pretty easy to pick apart things in the film, but sometimes we need to take a step back and look at the film for its achievements based on a historical perspective. After all the film was the first of its kind, the mother of all zombie films.
Despite some minor flaws in the film, it still remains pretty sound. Romero uses eerie music and great sound effects to optimize the film’s tense moments and create a good dark atmosphere. This is one of my favorite aspects of the film. I’m a sucker for eerie music used in the right way.
Romero does an excellent job in his films to focus on the characters of the film. Any idiot can cook up a disaster story about zombies taking over the world. What Romero does, is make the audience care about the characters. It's not all blood and guts for him...its all about the people.
The bookends of the film are the zombie attacks, but the middle is filled with great character development and stories. Romero has a great knack for creating characters, back stories and bringing them to life on screen.
In NOTLD, Romero uses the farmhouse as an opportunity to bring a cast of colorful characters together. Barbra is the damsel in distress, Ben (Duane Jones pictured left) is the strong leader, Mr. Cooper is the antagonist, and Tom is the good willed follower, and the others are the supporting characters in the film. Despite my hatred for Barbra's character, her role in the film is actually very important. I didn't like her, but Romero made an effort for me to feel for her character, just like all the other characters.
Romero's films all tend to having an underlining message to the audience in them. For NOTLD, I think the message is teamwork. In order for humans to survive in his films, they seemed to be put in situations that the characters need to rely upon one another in order to survive. Once a wheel comes off the teamwork wagon, things start to unravel and people tend to die.
The situation the group of characters face in the film is a very dangerous predicament. In the aftermath of the movie, you can look back and basically hypothesize that if they showed patience and worked together, they probably would have survived as a group.
The set up of the film is great Romero keeps the audience in the dark to what is happening. The film starts off with siblings visiting their father’s grave and before you know it, the girl is hiding in an isolated farmhouse from her attackers. It is like, “What the hell’s going on?” And that’s great about it. Before you can catch your breath, a lot has happened with no back story or explanation to how we got to that point.
I believe that Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is a film that everyone has heard of, but not everyone has seen…and that’s a shame. I bet if a poll was taken, people that have actually heard of the movie vs. ones that have seen it differ tremendously.
Why do I say that? Probably because if it weren’t true, there would be more love for this film. When greatest horror films get brought up in lists and topics of conversation, all the big names like Halloween, Psycho, Friday, and Nightmare get mentioned, but very little props is given to this flick. Even its sequel, Dawn gets more love than this film. All horror movie lovers need to watch this flick. Period. Then there probably would be more respect for the film.
Misc. Movie Trivia: -Filmed opened on October 1, 1968 -Chocolate syrup was used as blood -The film’s events take place on April 30, 1967 -The word “zombie” is never used in the film -Loose copyright laws (original distributor neglected to do) makes the film the most downloaded movie on the internet -Cemetery scene filmed in Evans City cemetery, Pennsylvania
America Olivo (Amanda): Iron Man (2008), Transformers 2 (2009)
Richard Burgi (Officer Brackett): Decoys (2004), Starship Troopers 2 (2004), Cellular (2004), Fun with Dick & Jane (2005), Hostel 2, Desperate Housewives, 24, & The Sentinel T.V. series
Nana Visitor (Pam Voohrees): Star Trek: Deep Space Nine T.V. series
Normally, I try not to do reviews on movies that was just released in the theaters. Typically I'm really opinionated with them, and tend to either really, really hate or like them. But let's be honest. I'm a Friday guy. This is my baby. I'm gonna give it the benefit of the doubt and love it anyways. I might have a stronger opinion on it later...or not. So let's roll with the review (kind of long, but I tried not to throw too many spoilers)...
Friday the 13th 2009 is a re-imagining of the series, mostly taking parts from the original first four movies. Since Jason’s mother was the villain in the first movie, and he is the focal point of this movie, it can’t be necessarily called a remake.
Five young adults go on a camping trip to Crystal Lake to find a secret stash of weed. Unfortunately for them, weed is not all they find as they run into the horror icon, Jason Voohrees, who quickly dispatches them for trespassing onto his land…and trying to steal his weed. :)
A couple weeks later, the brother (Clay) of one of the missing adults (Whitney) is on his own quest to find his missing sister. Clay has given up on the local police’s efforts to find his sister, and has hit the road on his motorcycle himself, to find her.
While going door to door posting missing flyers, Clay comes across another group of young adults heading to Crystal Lake for the weekend. One of the adults, Jenna, sympathizes with Clay and tags along with him for the search around the lake.
The new group of young adults arrives looking for a good time…i.e.: sex, drugs and drinking…only to find themselves eventually crossing paths with Jason. Jason wins, they lose as he dispatches them for coming onto his territory.
Villain:
The Friday the 13th re-imagining focuses on everyone’s favorite hockey mask wearing retard, Jason Voohrees. This re-imagining tries to bring the human element back into the Jason character. The early Friday the 13th’s (Parts 2-4) really portrayed Jason as a humanistic person. This for me made him a lot more terrifying.
As the sequels grew in the franchise, Jason’s character evolved into a zombie/Frankenstein monster. He moved slow and methodical and also became indestructible. His victims always ran away from him, but yet he was always able to catch them by walking. That never made sense to me.
Jason also demonstrated an unusual amount of strength as he confronted his victims. Even when they fought back, it did them no good, as Jason was able to with stand all the punishment they could dish out. The bottom line was that he was indestructible and incredibly strong both of which made him a super beast from hell.
Being a horror and Jason fan, seeing that version of Jason was nice, because it made him the ultimate badass. But…as the franchise grew in sequels, outrageous plots, and Jason’s character evolving into the fleshy version of the Terminator, the scary aspect of him and the films lost all of its “mojo” that it had in the early films.
The producers, director and writers of the film realized that and gave Jason a make-over for this film. They threw the zombie/Frankenstein portrait of Jason out the window and brought the character back to being more human. They traded the slow, dumb and imperishable version for a faster, smarter and vulnerable Jason. I loved the idea! But did they pull it off?
The first new task of reshaping Jason was to find an actor to play him. Sure they could have dipped back into the Kane Hodder pool, but they passed on that and went with Derek Mears. Mears (Pictured Left) has notably played some of the mutant hill billies in the remakes of The Hills Have Eyes.
Whereas Kane is the poster child of a scary imposing dude being a huge, magnificent physical piece of work, Mears statue is terrifying in itself in different ways. He’s not as built, but more of a taller and leaner person compared to Kane. As this translates to the Jason character, is still makes Jason an over lurking body compared to his victims, but it doesn’t give him the freakish Frankenstein look.
Jason still is able to be physically strong and terrifying, but he is also limited in his strength. Put it this way, he’s not crushing skulls with his bare hands in this one.
Now onto Jason’s demeanor in the film…for years, he had always been the dumb, slow, stealth and popping out of nowhere to catch his victim’s guy. Now Jason is smarter and has been reshaped into a hunter. It makes sense for somebody who has been living off the land for years. You would expect for him to be able to survive somehow. In this film, Jason is actually “setting up” and hunting his prey. And when he attacks, he really attacks. Jason comes after the people…and fast.
He doesn’t give them or the audience time to stare in “ah” at him, he moves with a purpose. No more, “I’ll let you run away so I can magically appear and catch you” bull sh*t. If you’re going to run away, you better be quick and don’t look back, because someone’s on your heels every step of the way. I liked it.
It’s a trait that horror movie should incorporate. If the killer is going to kill someone, let them have the killer instinct to go after the person and carry it out quickly. I’m tired of the screwing around, delaying B.S. that happens in some of these horror movies. Sh*t or get off the pot.
Jason’s wardrobe in this film has some familiar similarities to previous films. First of all, he supports a utility belt. Honestly, it’s quite difficult to tell making it unnoticeable, but he does have a belt. It’s easily identifiable in some of the early promo photos of the film. I’ve read some comments on the web by angry fans exclaiming that Jason never would wear something like that.
Jason actually supported a utility belt in Part 6, after taking out all the paint ballers, so it’s been done before, I don’t see a big deal about it. Besides, I could hardly tell that he had it in the film. That’s probably due to the fact that he was a movin’ mother*cker! He just wouldn’t stand still. See what happens when you make him fast.
The movie also pays tribute to his debut movie, Part 2, and he dons a pillow case mask on his head to conceal his identity. Honestly, that part didn’t do it for me. I liked the old potato sack looking thing in Part 2. The pillow case looked more like a wrap and I had just a hard time digging it. It seemed a little “off” to me. After some slicin’ and dicin’ with the pillow case on his head, Jason finally has the wrap removed, and comes across the iconic hockey mask. In the originals, Jason received the hockey mask in Part 3. This was another part of the problem when labeling this thing a remake. Just another reason to call it a “reimagining”.
Besides the fact that his mommy did the dirty work in the first film, the mask didn’t come along for a couple movies. It would be impossible to do this film without the mask. Disgruntled fans about remaking old horror movies would have had a coronary if this thing wasn’t in the film. Some people never knew Jason operated without it. So the film makers HAD to incorporate this thing in the film somehow.
I was a little disappointed with the scene of Jason finding the mask. I guess my expectations were a little too high when it came down to the scene. I had heard that it would be memorable, and it would really seal the deal on the new Jason. But the air was let out of my balloon a little bit when it happened. This is probably just me setting higher standards, but I was thinking, “That’s it!” when Jason finally found it. In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad scene, but I just pictured it being more.
Cast:
The Friday films have never been too worried about developing characters or making the audience feel for them, and this film was a little better than most. The two lead characters in the film was Whitney (Righetti) and her brother Clay (Padalecki).
Original I thought that I was going to HATE the Clay character. After all, the character was a WB or CW…whatever…star in Padalecki. I figured that it was just going to be a heart throb, eye candy for the female audience. I didn’t think that Padalecki was going to bring anything to the table.
I know that he stars in the T.V. series, Supernatural, but I’ve never seen an episode, so my expectations of his acting abilities weren’t too high. I was expecting the worse actually. And I admit, he proven me wrong. I actually liked his character a bit. Padalecki (Pictured Right) proved to me that he had some acting talent behind his paper thin character. Clay was a concerned brother looking for his missing little sister. According to the back story (a line or two in the script), they weren’t the closest siblings, but Clay was dedicated to finding his sister. Padalecki wasn’t given much to work with, but he excelled in what he did on screen.
Clay’s sister, Whitney on the other hand…yeah…I just could really care less about her. I saw nothing but a disposable character here. She was the strong female lead in the film and usually it’s a great honor and tradition in the Friday films, but I was rooting for Jason in this time. Well, I always root for Jason, but I wasn’t at all impressed with either Whitney or Righetti. She’s hot looking (Pictured Below), but even that couldn’t turn me from the dark side. Outside of the siblings, the film lined up the usual stereo typical cast of young adults. There was the dick head prick of the bunch (Trent), the funny Asian dude who loved to drink and smoke pot (Chewie), the token black guy (Lawrence), the slutty blonde (Bree and Chelsea), and a couple of others that fit the type molds.
Outside of Clay being one of the respectable characters in the film I cared for, there were two others…actually three if we include the one that gave me happiness, but I’ll get to that in the TNA section. The first one is Chewie who was played by the Asian dude, Aaron Yoo (Pictured Left). He was one of the kids from the movie, Disturbia. Chewie’s character in the film was the comic relief. The film itself was pretty dark and gruesome, so there was little room for humor…unlike let’s say the…last seven sequels of Friday.
Yoo was one of the few who has actual acting talent as he used it to pop outside of the stereotypical molds set up by the film makers. A little change in tone and voice here and there goes a long way to reshaping a character, and Yoo pulled it off.
The last character worth mentioning is the character of Jenna, played by Danielle Panabaker. Since she’s one of the stars of the film I’m going into spoiler mode when referring to her character. So highlight to read. It’s not hard to figure out that most of these people are going to die given the nature of the film. It’s a Friday the 13th movie after all, but Panabaker’s character is a good character and even I had questioned whether or not she would be the one who would live or die in the film. So…* Highlight to Read *
First of all, F*CK WHITNEY! Jenna’s character was sooo much better. Unfortunately I knew coming into the film that she was going to be the last one to “bite it” on the screen. Damn internet rumors! I really didn’t care too much about that until I actually watched the film.
Panabaker’s performance was pretty good in the film. She played the role of one of those good ole’ whole some girls you would love to take home to moma, but with a mysterious “dark side” –in a good way –to her. I actually cared about her character unlike the chick that survived, Whitney. Swap them out! Jenna was good spirited and well intended, but sometimes that even spells doom in the world of Friday the 13th. I was sad to see her go, but oh well, what do you do?* End
SFX/Gore:
What better number of deaths for a Friday the 13th movie than the number 13? That’s old school! They made Jason brutal in his killings but still had that touch of class of not over doing the gore. I can’t recall too many things that were actually that gory in nature. There weren’t any fountains or geysers of blood in the film. They were all done in a quick brutal fashion.
The film incorporated some old death ideas with new takes on them into the film. There was an arrow to the head kill which had some shout outs to Parts 1 and 3. There was also a disturbing and creepy take to everyone’s favorite sleepy bag death (Parts 7 & 10). The fire poker from Part 3 was revisited in the film, and I believe it added the element of an eye ball on the end…maybe a blend from Part 3 also? Of course, Jason had his favorite weapon on his side, the machete. Unlike FVJ, he wasn’t afraid to leave it behind and try another weapon.
If there were any complaints about the deaths, it probably stems from them being too scripted. What I mean is they were easily predictable as to who would die in what order. One person leaves and is now isolated…dead. Next couple leave…dead. I just thought there could have been room to mix it up every once and a while. Randomize the kills. We all know that most are going to die, I’m just saying throw in a little surprise here and there. I just thought it was too predictable on who would go next.
Another complaint is that, I didn’t think that the film had that ONE kill that stood out. You know that kill that hasn’t been done, and then catches the audience in “Oohs” and “Aahs”. I just didn’t see any of them really separating themselves from the pack.
My favorite kill: *Highlight to Read *This death was more of circumstance death than a better than the rest. The chick water skiing topless finally realizes that Jason is out there, so she swims to the dock and hides underneath it in the water. She looks up through the cracks in the floor boards and sees Jason walking on the dock above her and scanning the lake her.
She thinks that he’s walked away and then a machete comes through the boards and into the top of her skull. As Jason pulls the machete out of the head, it lifts her body out of the water until her head reaches the boards and then just gently slides off the blade and submerges into the water.
It was pretty cool because she’s got that look of having any orgasm on her face as her half naked body is pulled slightly out of the water. Her boobs are just jiggling away in the wind. I thought it was pretty funny.* End.
TNA:
This movie makes up for all those lame remakes, 90’s movies and PG-13 pieces of crap. Big time. It installs some of the true elements of horror movies…sex and nudity…and then you die. For starters, there are five smokin’ hot, sexy chicks in the film (Pictured Below: Guill, Panabaker, Ford; Not: Righetti and Olivio). Over half of them (three) show their goods. Americo Olivio…what a great porn star name…is the first one, and she oils them up for us as she takes it in the rear doggie style with her boyfriend. Unfortunately her pair seems a little…unnatural. Rack Grade: C+
Next, we have Willa Ford water skiing topless. Hey it works for me. And it’s just not one quick take or a cheap shot of a side boob. We really get to see her chest exposed. Rack Grade: B
Finally we have Guill (Pictured Below). God Bless her. She definitely has a career in the horror industry and has officially won my heart over. Not only does she have a long sex scene exposing her body in perfect poetry, but she’s videotaping it and has it hooked up to the T.V. playing. YOU GO GIRL! Back to her body…because it’s worth the price of admission alone. Let’s get this part out of the way…the dude refers to her chest and nipple placements as “stupendous”. He’s right. They’re damn perfect. I know I like surgical enhancements as an option, but this is a perfect example of being the way God made you. Her body was rockin’. Just as she was.
The movie even didn’t shy away from it. It wasn’t just a quick ten second glimpse of her artwork, but it was like a 5 minute scene of her going to town and exposing her nude body. Even Jason stopped by the outside window to check the show! Rack Grade: A+
T.Gun Factor:
I was excited about the rebooting of one of my favorite franchises. I saw the movie twice and I loved some things about the movie. Yet, there’s still one of those weird feelings I’ve had about it. I know it’s a Friday, it’s got the same ingredients, but yet there’s something “off” about the film.
It could have been just another slasher flick with a dude in the hockey mask. I’ve tried to decipher what it is, or would be and I've come up with a couple conclusions or ideas that may have made the film seem a little "off". I think the missing "it" centeres around the change in Jason and the music to the film.
As far as the Jason conclusion, I think it’s the change in character. I knew it was coming and I was expecting it. I even was looking forward to it. But I guess it has been beaten into me over the years with the zombie/Frankenstein look to him. The new version looks like him, and does stuff like him, but I still find myself not entirely buying into him. It has nothing to do with Mears or the film; it’s mainly the years of conditioning that I’ve endeared.
I guess somewhere in the back of my noggin, I still miss the little things he did to make him the Jason of old. I found myself looking for one of those patented stares, or the tilt of the head, or the deep exhale of breath, but the new version offered none too little of those traits.
I was expecting those traits from the new one, but I guess somehow I really wasn’t ready for it. I think after a couple of sequels to this new look, it’ll probably be something of a long, lost quirk.
Also, on a character note of Jason * Spoiler: Highlight to Read *Jason does NOT take hostages! WTF!? I know Nispel and Fuller were playing it off as Whitney looking like his mother, but he doesn't take hostages! Period. Now that's off my chest...okay...he did in the film, but let this be a lesson to him in future films. In the end she came back and f*cked him over.* End.
Another thing that might lead to my conclusion is the music. The new version hands the reins to the musical score to Steve Jablonsky. Jablonsky’s movie credits include the score for both of the new TCM movies, The Hitcher, D-War and both Transformer movies (2nd one coming out this summer). He incorporated a few things from the original, but it sounded more like a Terminator soundtrack than a Friday movie.
I know the original flicks centered on Henry Manfredini’s cheesy, but eerie sounds. I have to say, I did miss the simplistic sounds of plucking a guitar down the frets to create a terrifying sound. Jablonsky did stay with the Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma theme at times, but overall, I just couldn’t “feel” it with the musical score.
A few other notable gripes in the film include: the racist jokes, the poorly edited opening sequence with mom, and the campfire story with Wade.
Let's start with the racist thing. The film has the "token" black guy in Lawrence, and every f*ckin' chance it has in it's dialogue it takes a dumb racist joke route. Like the "I'm gonna be a singer" reference. Don't profile me into rap. But in the end, that's what he wants to do. It's just dumb. Why does Hollywood need to make those dumb jokes?
Secondly, the opening sequence with his mother's death was poorly done. The film opens with a sequence showing Jason's point of view during the night of his mother's beheading. You can tell that it was thrown in last minute, as it is spliced together with the montage of opening film credits. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that Producer Brad Fuller listens to his fans, and implemented his mother back into the film (after early test screens had her scenes cut), but it could have been done better.
The last real gripe is the campfire story with Wade. Is this a tribute to the iconic scene in Part 2 where Paul has the camp counselors sitting at the campfire and telling the legend of Camp Blood and Jason. I hope not. I would really hate to see this thing as the opening summary scene for future sequels. I thought it was a rushed and not really done correctly. It didn't help that I wasn't a big fan of Wade in the film...outside of him having a Star Wars Tee on and rockin' to Night Ranger's "Sister Christian".
Okay, I think I got everything I didn't like or didn't live up to my expectations off my chest. Let's move on to the good things about the film. First of all, I give a huge shout out to Nispel, Fuller, Cunningham, and others for rebooting the film. They realized what a joke the last six or so sequels were, and they wanted to make this franchise scary again.
One of the nights I saw this movie, I witnessed...at least a new generation of fans...actually get scared during the film. I sat next to a six pack of teenie boppers (who I'm not sure was even 18...17 maybe...18 could be)and the closest chick next to me was scared out of her mind.
Now, I don't know what her experience is with horror movies, but she was jumping out of her seat all through out the movie. It was pretty funny, because she would shake the row of seats with her constant movement. The ones next to her, I could tell got scared also, but I judge how much based on the one next to me always being jumpy.
This is the stuff that the film makers aimed for. Make it a horror movie again. Not just some random event to make Super Jason kill again. No one took that Jason or franchise seriously anymore. I applaud them for trying to make the franchise good again. As for me...I think I'm too beaten down with horror movies to get scared anymore.
Secondly, the film itself was very polished and complete (outside of the bad opening mommy scene). The look of the lake, and camp was awesome! The film truly felt like there was a haunted place like Crystal Lake. As for the lighting, it wasn't too dark and rough like the old films, but also wasn't glowing with some weird tint to see everything that's going on.
Another great idea they brought into the movie was the maze of tunnels that Jason lived in. They would explain a lot for minor details that might help explain the mystique of Jason. If people went missing around there, it would be easy to track Jason down, BUT if he had a secret maze underneath the ground to hide in (and his victims and their stuff), it would make sense for his disappearing.
The tunnels also make sense from the stand point of him popping up everywhere. It was hard to buy with slow moving Franken-zombie Jason, but makes a whole lot of sense with the newer Jason.
Another great idea the flick gave us was the whole Mary-Jay-Wanna thing. Yep. Jason's a marijuana farmer. So don't mess with his weed! OR He'll F*CK YOU UP! Damn there was a lot of weed in the film. It was great! And the center piece of everything was that it all happens in Jason's backyard.
Could he be like Snoop Dogg? Does he just want to relax, and have some munchies? Probably. But nooo. Young adults come hunting for his weed. No wonder he gets pissed and f*cks them up. Who cares about that whole mother revenge thing? I know why Jason kills...to protect his stash.
Overall, I'm a sucker for Friday films, and with all the hype and anticipation for this flick...I was pleased. I know there will be a lot of hate and discontent by fans who think they are some type of purist, but for me, I'm glad it wasn't a train wreck. Nispel, Fuller and crew did a great job staying true to the franchise and gave the majority of the fans what they wanted.
This movie stastified my hunger for the Friday franchise and I eagerly await the sequel coming on August 13, 2010? Hmm.
Misc. Movie Trivia: -Film opened on Friday, February 13, 2009 (BOX OFFICE still going) -First film by Paramount and New Line Cinema together -Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie in new Halloween) auditioned for the role of Jenna -Olivio was Playboy’s Babe of the month for February 2009 in Playboy Afterhours -Principle photography wrapped up on Friday, June 13, 2008 and released on Friday, February 13, 2009 -Is the 5th Friday to open up on Friday the 13th -One of the longest opening sequences in movie history; film titled popped up 25 minutes into film -Biggest opening weekend ($43.5 million) by a horror remake; beat out the Grudge (2004)
Shark-factor:What is the shark-factor?Unlike the Matrix, I’ll explain the shark-factor.A while back, I was with my friends watching the Planet of the Apes (1968 version).My friend Bookie commented on how hot the chick in the flick was and pretty much said he’d give his left nut to have her. Then my other friend, Shark, commented, “You know she’s like sixty now!”And that dampened the day.So every time we’ve watched an older movie and mentioned how hot the chick was, Shark came in and ruined the day.So to fairly grade the “hotness” of the chicks in the films, I need grade them based on how they looked year they were made and not how old they would be now.So the shark-factor is to make up for any time-age-difference for the women in the films between present date and time and production date and time.So F*** You Shark!
help from the government or whoever else is out there. Catastrophic reports flow in from news casts and day by day zombies flock to the outside of the mall pounding on the doors to get in and feed on some human flesh.
main villain. The move to switch from Romero’s classic slow moving zombies to the rabid super charged cheetah speed zombies that 28 Days Later featured two years earlier was a bold move. Initially I was skeptical about the move, but as it turns out in the end…it turned out fabulous!
Kenneth initially wants nothing to do with the group held up in the mall. He has a brother in the service and believes he’s at a military stronghold named Fort Pastor. Kenneth wants to abandon the group and head for Fort Pastor to be with his brother.
Michael is the remake’s version of Roger, but cooler. Michael is the typical “Average Joe” anyone can relate to. He has a calm outlook at things and is wise in making decisions. He has that touch of vulnerability and past of being “burned by women” to him which makes his eventual relationship with Ana heartwarming. Jake Weber (Pictured right) plays Michael.
mall’s garage as they “reinforce” some parking shuttles into a pair of pretty bad *ss vehicles. It’s probably the inspiration for Land of the Dead’s Dead Reckoning, not as cool or bad *ss looking, but a worthy idea. Once again, I like to say that’s the type of sh*t that needs to be done in a zombie apocalypse.
the original. Let’s cut to the chase here. Original had one…decent looking chick, while the remake has…1…2…3…4 smokin’ hot chicks. Lindy Booth (Pictured Left) and Kim Poirier go head to head for the film’s top hottie. It’s a close tie, depending on whether you like blondes or reds.
-James Gunn (Slither director) wrote the screen play
