Every Zombie Movie I've Seen

With the book being one of my absolute favourites, I was in a really odd position with this film.
When I first heard about it I was expecting it to absolutely rape the book. Thankfully it doesn't really rape it, it's more as though it shags it and never calls back.
Whilst I think alot of it was adapted nearly perfectly in terms of tone, more of it was nothing like the book at all. Ultimately, this is an incredibly glossy and very well made action movie but it lacks much of the depth contained within the novel and sadly falls victim to alot of Hollywood cheese.
It's sadly a real mish-mash of bits and feels like alot is missing from the final cut (including the original ending which sounds alot better, God damned American test-screen audiences).
It's a shame the Oscars wouldn't touch this type of film with a barge-pole for any proper awards because Will Smith really gives a nomination-worthy performance.
Ultimately, it's easily the best film adaptation of it yet, even if it's not as close to the book as "The Last Man on Earth", and I REALLY enjoyed it in spite of it's many flaws.

Forget the over-rated Cloverfield, THIS film is the "giant pussy that eats YOU out!".
Possibly the scariest film I have ever seen, certainly the most tense. I'm yet to find a film that properly scares me, but this one got my heart going for most of it's running time.
I couldn't give one about any of the characters if I'm honest. And unlike Cloverfield, that works here because the film doesn't seem too fussed about them either and they're realistic enough for me to feel for them simply as human beings in a crisis. Just because I don't care for them doesn't mean I want them to die, you know?
The zombie origins are handled brilliantly in a fairly original twist on the usual formula of zombie movies.
There's very little to separate this from the countless other zombie films out there, other than it makes such effective use of it's zombies. The film is all about jump-scares, and that's fine here. That's all the film is meant to be taken as, a wild-roller-coaster ride of a movie. And allmost all of the film's scares are incredibly obvious. You see them coming a mile-off, BUT they're still just as effective as a normal jump-scare, if not more effective because by making you wait for it, the film forces even more tension upon you.
That said, the film is far from perfect. There's a period of about 20 minutes where it just drags sort of after the middle. This is when the zombie crisis starts to kick off. It's just boring because all the characters seem to be doing is running in circles and shouting alot. However, it soon stabalises back into being fantastic for it's final moments (although the ending is abrupt and frankly a bit dissapointing).
The dragging moments would have lost this film a point, giving it 7/10, however I felt the need to give it an extra point for being the most tense movie I've ever encountered. As such...

Personal enjoyment: 8/10
Actual quality as a film: 7/10

It's been too long since a truly wonderful zombie movie came along. I say too long, I mean about a year, but still.

There's something so endearing about Hong Kong's sense of humour. This film, whilst no masterpiece, is a great bit of fun.
Almost every character is candidate for the most 2-dimensional character I have ever seen and some of the dialogue is awful, however, I have a sneaking suspicion this is due to the dub I watched as opposed the film itself (couldn't get a subtitled copy). Especially as some parts of the dialogue are great and really witty.
It's a very strangely structured film, starting off almost like if Stephen Chow had directed Mallrats and soon turning into a typical straight-to-video zombie film (except it's good) before moving on to a dark ending. But for some reason that works here. Zombie films are often weirdly structured after all.
Overall, it's incredibly enjoyable, but if you can, go for the subtitled option. The two main characters are very likeable and there's some great humour. Also, it's the first film or anything that I've ever seen suggest the notion of human sushi, which is in my opinion something for it to be proud of.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10
Actual quality as a film: 6/10

You know those 80s horror-comedy, B-movie homages? This is one of the good ones. It's fantastic fun.
The characters are all quite bland with the exception of the absolutely fantastic police chief who whilst a massive stereotype is a wonderful massive stereotype and really likeable.
The concept is fairly original (or at least it was back in 1986, it's almost identical to countless films now, most obviously Slither). I mean, there's only so much you can do with zombie movies, but the idea of a slug-brain parasite was fairly unique back in '86.
The film has a good few unexpected minor plot points (though the majority is textbook zombie movie), some decent special effects given the obvious lack of budget, competent everything and some genuinely creepy moments. As already said, it's great fun.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10
Actual quality as a film: 7/10

This is a film realisation of the stereotype of adolescence, well, male adolescence. And if you take it as such, it's really very enjoyable. Guns, gore, naked women with huge boobs and as the title suggest, heavy metal, it's all here.
The first segment is like a blue-print for The 5th Element and even Bladerunner to an extent. I'm almost certain they drew some inspiration from it. Other segments vary in quality. My favourite was the one featuring zombies on a plane during World War II.
The wrap around is confusing and utterly cheesey, but in a film like this, you really can't complain.
The music is suprisingly good, the heavy metal music isn't really over-emphasised at all and the actual score is suprisingly majestic.
The animation is also (though dated), top notch.

This is really worth checking out, just for it's cult quality and it's obvious influence on the world of animation and sci-fi.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10
Actual quality as a film: 7/10

Wtf did I just watch?

As far as the slasher films of the 70s and 80s go, this is one of the most inventive. To the point that it's arguably not a slasher film.
There's some fantastic special effects work, or at least fantastic special effects for gore. The plot is very simple when you look at it on paper, but that's why it works.
I was suprised to find out that Pinhead is such a minor character in the whole thing. He's not even the villain, really. I get the impression that he becomes the main villain in the sequels though.
Anyway, it's one of the better horror efforts of the 80s.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10
Actual quality as a film: 7/10

A very good zombie movie. And yes it bloody well is a zombie movie. PS. Funniest movie ending ever.

Brilliant in aspects and easily the best Italian zombie movie I've ever seen. Great atmosphere above everything else.

I thought after Bride, the Frankenstein sequels would just drop off into naffness. How wrong I was. Son of Frankenstein does an incredibly good job of continuing the Frankenstein storyline far beyond how long it deserved to last. Whilst not even close to the same level of Frankenstein or even more so Bride of Frankenstein, there is alot to like about Son of Frankenstein.
Firstly, the acting is all-round pretty top-notch featuring the likes of Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi and of course Boris Karloff in his swansong to playing the monster.
It's also shot beautifully and manages to capture that morbid poetic nature that can be found in many old black and white horror movies, albeit less than many.
The main flaw is the lack of emotion you can feel coming from the film-makers. Bride of Frankenstein was a labour of love for James Whale and as such dicks all over the first film (which was great to begin with). This film doesn't have that. It feels like it was made by big fans of the original, but big fans who didn't quite get what made the original two so special. That's topped off with a major drop in scale from Bride which was really quite an epic film for the 30s. Son of Frankenstein is much more intimate, and whilst that would be fine if it was a film on it's own terms, it feels like a step backwards from the others.
That all said and done, Son of Frankenstein is a typical threequel. A very good film but one that doesn't live up to the standards of the first two. It's certainly worth a look if you're a fan of classic horror movies though.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10
Actual quality as a film: 7/10

What we have here is an unfortunate mish mash of things that work brilliantly, things that don't work at all and things that are inbetween.

It is at very least, MILES better than Cloverfield.


Romero has some great ideas lying away in this movie and some of the set-piece moments are great, it's just a shame that our main characters and their main quest isn't as interesting. It's also a shame that Romero runs his context into the ground. He seems to have forgotten the idea of subtlety.


In all honesty, I think this is actually the worst Dead film so far. Land of the Dead was far from a bad movie, it just wasn't great. Unfortunately, this is slightly weaker than it, but hey, it's still way better than most horror we get nowadays.


I had no real beef with the acting like I've seen in some reviews. All that got me was how formularic this film was. It was oh, so predictable, and unfortunately didn't bring enough to table to justify it. Romero's social commentary was far too heavy handed and in your face for my liking, and I've never had a problem with his unsubtle nature before.


This review might seem like a bit of a mess, but that's kind of how the film itself turned out, so it's fitting. Also, I REALLY wanted to adore this movie. It's Romero and it's been getting good reviews unlike Land which I actually quite enjoyed. I was hoping for a return to form for the zombie master, but this is just 'above average' at best.


Personal enjoyment: 7/10 (would be 6/10 if it weren't for the extra 'clips of footage downloaded off the net')

Actual quality as a film: 6/10

I really wish I could see why this film is so hated. I mean, it's far from anything special and it's certainly noway near the first, but I genuinely enjoyed it alot. As far as cheesy horror films go, this is one of the better.

More early Cronenberg.

The premise is genius, but unfortunately Planet Terror is so-so and Death Proof is just boring. That said, the trailers for Don't and Werewolf Women of the S.S. are both 10/10 material.

I really expected the worst from this. I thought the concept of zombies living among us who are just like us, but decomposing was stupid as what's the point in zombies if they're not a bit different. Flesh eating provides horror for example.
However, this only caused me to be very pleasantly suprised by how a horror film is sneekiliy popped in to the back half of this movie.
It's just a shame that it end's abruptly. This could have made for quite a nice 'start of the zombie apocalypse' type movie had they cut half of the start off (mostly un-needed) and skipped on allowing more time for the 'new world order'.
The ending is really what lets this film down. With a more wrapped up ending or something bigger happening, then this would have got 7/10, but alas, I guess they didn't have the budget.

It's mildly funny and quite creepy at times, but purely as a high-concept exploration of race as well as racial documentaries, it's a huge success.

Personal ejoyment: 6/10
Actual quality as a film: 6/10

Cheesey as hell but fairly entertaining.