Thursday, October 31, 2024

Underrated Films - Wolfen

 


Wolfen is a crime horror movie, that's based on Whitley Strieber's 1978 book The Wolfen. Orion Pictures did production with distribution duties going towards Warner Bros. Wolfen was written by Michael Wadleigh and David M. Eyre J. and directed by Michael Wadleigh.





The story is, there's been a series of bizarre, vicious murders which are first thought to from wild animals. Because of the odd nature, former NYPD captain Dewey Wilson is called in to solve the case. But the more Dewey uncovers, the more he realizes these are animal attacks, but they're by no means simple.








Why It's Underrated

The movie, much like many others, is just not well known. It really goes under the radar especially since when people think of a 1981 wolf film, the first ones that'll come to mind are either An American Werewolf in London or The Howling.








My Thoughts

Now I do want to slightly criticize some things. First off, Wadleigh is a very talented director. He did a fantastic job with handling the movie, for 99.99% of the time. Where he slightly lost me was his overuse of the "Wolfen Vision". Basically it use seeing this from the wolves' point of view. But sometimes we'll get a pov that'll leave us confused on how many wolves there are or point of views where the wolves really shouldn't be able to see anything.



The there's the story. Don't get it wrong, the murder mystery is fine, the creepier points are pretty good, and the message was fine, but the ending dialogue really shouldn't have been included. All it does is tell you exactly what the message, and in a very ham-fisted way even though you already put the pieces together.



Alright now let's talk about the truly positives aspects, with the more interesting spin. Let me state that this isn't a werewolf movie, that's a misconception. It's more in line with nature attacking, but with a very subtle element put into it. I would tell you what that is, but when it comes to this segment, I prefer if you guys go figure it out yourselves if you want to give the movie a try.



Then we move onto the cinematography. Michael Wadleigh and Gerry Fisher did a tremendous job with the look of the movie. New York looks decayed, creepy, but yet still has a beauty to it.



The last thing I'll credit is the suspense. This movie really takes it, but it felt worth it because it's only a matter of time before the tension finally breaks. Which it does in a very fun finale battle.








Wolfen has flaws but there's still a lot of good in it. However if you prefer the previously mentioned An American Werewolf in London or The Howling well I'm not gonna argue. Those are some pretty sweet movies.








My final rating is, Good.








My not have ended this Halloween season with a huge bang, but hey, it's better than ending with some hugely disappointing like Exorcist: Believer. Anyhow, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Nov 4th, for my comic book review of, Captain America: Winter Soldier. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🎃

Monday, October 28, 2024

Looking Back at the Films of 2023 Part Nine - The Exorcist: Believer

 


Well, it's yet another edition of Looking Back, so let's not waste with a long opening and get right to it.








Why Didn't I See The Exorcist: Believer?

It's the usual there wasn't a showing.








What is The Exorcist: Believer?

The Exorcist: Believer is a supernatural horror movie that even though it's the sixth one in the franchise, it serves as a sequel to the classic 1973 film. Production was done by Blumhouse Productions, Morgan Creek Entertainment, and Rough House Productions, with distribution handled by Universal Pictures. The script was written by David Gordon Gordon, Peter Sattler, Scott Teems, and Danny McBride and was directed by David Gordon Green.



The story is, two girls named Angela and Katherine performed a séance in the attempt to contact Angela's mother. Then after being missing and found, the two while be traumatized still seem normal. But as time goes by it's made clear that something has taken over the two innocent souls.









My Thoughts


The Good: I've got nothing.




The Bad: Oh boy, there's quite a few things wrong, let's start of with how there's barely any character. These people are so uninteresting. So much so I can't remember their names. Hell, I had to look who the two possessed girls were just so my synopsis didn't repeatedly keep calling them the two possessed girls or the girls. They try, emphasis on TRY, to make us care by having the parents be scared and concerned, but it takes more than that. It worked with Regan and Chris in the original because we got to see them be a loving mother and daughter to each other before the possession. We don't get that with Angela's dad or Katherine's family. A matter of fact we know nothing about Katherine's family other than they're evangelical Christians, but that's it. Then we have the scares or lack there of. With the 1973 movie we get this uneasy feeling before the possession and then the messed up stuff with the possessed Regan, with this movie I felt nothing. Sure I wasn't bored out of my mind, but I wasn't exactly thrilled either. I was just...indifferent. Not exactly the feeling you want to give your audience no matter what the movie genre is. The last thing I'll touch on and it's its biggest problem, and that's it offers nothing new. Both for the Exorcist series and the possession genre. They even ripoff the whole is it possession or insanity and the "Help Me" craved into the skin bit.




The Okay: Well the cinematography looked decent enough. Not mind blowing, but still something, and that's better than nothing at all.




Final Verdict: Bad.











Yeah this movie isn't very good, but I can't say it's the worst out of the franchise. That infamous title goes to Exorcist II: The Heretic.








So yeah, that's all for now. Originally I was gonna end here, but this is just a sad way to end the Halloween season. So instead, come back on Thursday, Oct 31st, for an Underrated Films review of 1981's Wolfen. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Venom: The Last Dance Review

 


Venom: The Last Dance is a comic book movie based on Marvel Comics' anti-hero Venom. It's the sequel to Let There Be Carnage, the conclusion to the trilogy, and the fifth Sony's Spider-Man Universe installment. Production was done by Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, Matt Tolmach Productions, Pascal Pictures, TSG Entertainment, and Hutch Parker Entertainment, along with Hardy Son & Baker, with Sony Pictures Releasing handling distribution. The movie is written by Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy and directed by Kelly Marcel.





The story is, Eddie Brock & Venom are still on the run after their battle with Carnage. At first it was very simple, but things take a drastic turn when both military operatives and an unknown alien creature are chasing them down. They later they must make a devastating decision. One or both of them must die in order to protect the world.








Initial Reaction

The reason for wanting to see this was because I actually don't mind these. I'll admit they're not perfect, but they're far from being the worst comic book movies ever made. Also, I reviewed the previous two Venon movies, so why stop now?








Cons

I've got nothing.









Middle Ground

Now the biggest mix bag is the story. There does seem to be a pretty good story in this, but there's some hiccups along the way. An example is a character will do something not very smart and then oh no something bad happened. Not too mention but it does seem like there was some character driven moments, but it seems to be an abridged version.








Pros

One credit to give is the humor. Much like the previous two there's a good sense of humor, sometimes it doesn't work, but I've seen far worse. Then there's the visual effects. One of the two consistent things to this movie series have been the good work on the VFX teams' part. Really great stuff, especially on the Xenophage (that's the creature hunting Eddie & Venom). That thing looked awesome. I also enjoyed the action. I was very entertained. There was tons of fun to be had, and I certainly enjoyed the chase through the river and the final fight with a whole bunch of Xenophages. The last thing I'll credit is Tom Hardy's performance. If there's one thing we can agree on, or hopefully agree on, it's that despite the questionable quality, Tom Hardy provides a great performance. Whether he has to goofy and/or serious, he's great in this role.









While there are issues with the movie, I can't say it's the worst in Sony's cinematic universe. That crown still goes to Madame Web.








My final rating is, Okay.









That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Oct 28th, for part nine of Looking Back at the Films of 2033. For that one I'll be reviewing The Exorcist: Believer. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Classic Film Night - Misery

 


Misery is a psychological thriller horror movie. It's based on Stephen King's 1987 novel with the same name. Production was done by Castle Rock Entertainment and Nelson Entertainment with distribution by Columbia Pictures. Misery was written by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner.





The story is, famed novelist Paul Sheldon is planning the next phase of his career after finishing the last book in his successful Misery romance series. While traveling back to his home, he's caught in a blizzard and crashes his car which results in him being badly injured. He's soon rescued by a big fan of his novels. At first she's very kind, but he quickly finds out she's not what she seems.









My Thoughts


One praise I'll give is there are a few comedic moments. Not too many and they don't wind up either clashing with the movie's tone and/or ruin the tension. They're mainly just there for a breather. A let's take a step back for a brief moment then get right back on track.



Speaking of tension, wow. The suspense is perfect. Any time Paul makes a plan to escape or tries to outsmart Annie, a sense of dread just engulfs you. This film can really mess with you psychologically.



Now let's move onto Rob Reiner's directing. The movie looks really good. Not to mention, but Reiner seemed like he took some of Alfred Hitchcock's tricks when making this. However, he still managed to make this movie his own.



The other fantastic aspect of Misery is the performances from Kathy Bates and James Caan. First Kathy. She earned that Best Actress Academy Award. She's phenomenal. It's amazing how she's able to go from sweet to psycho in what feels like the snap of a finger. And what's amazing is this was her breakout hit, but yet it feels like she's done these award winning roles before. Then there's Caan. While he was overshadowed by Kathy, he still provides a great performance as well. The most challenging then he had to do was act on top of acting. What I mean is he has to act like what the character is normally, then he has to have his character pretend that he's falling in love with Annie, even though he isn't. That is a tremendous challenge, and James Caan successfully nails it.



Now for the woman herself, Annie Wilkes. This is definitely one of the top villains in not just in a Stephen King adaptation, but one of the top villains in cinema. She's clearly and unhealthy living in her own twisted little world. There's also the way she goes about killing. She kills because she wants to protect her made up world, kills for personal gain like say to get a promotion, but the scariest of all, there's one scene where Paul is looking at her memory lane book, and she committed murders while treating patients as a nurse. But there's no motivate giving, so there's a good chance she probably just killed for the sake of killing. But what truly makes Annie disturbing, is the fact she can be real. Think about it. Think of all of the celebrities that were killed by an obsessed fan, or were almost killed by an obsessed fan. There's a very good chance they're just like Annie.








I love Misery. It's a great movie to watch both regularly and for the Halloween season.








My final rating is, A MUST WATCH!








That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Oct 26th, for my review of Venom: The Last Dance. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Monday, October 21, 2024

Scream 4 Review

 


Scream 4 is a slasher movie and the fourth installment of the franchise. It was produced by The Weinstein Company, Outerbanks Entertainment, and Corvus Corax Productions and distributed by Dimension Films. Scream 4 was written by the returning Kevin Williamson and once again is directed by Wes Craven, but this would sadly be his last movie before he passed away on Aug 30th, 2015.





The story is, it's the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders, and because of that this has drawn the attention of a brand new Ghostface, who intends to make a remake.









  • Negatives

I've got nothing.








  • Mix

The only gray area is the characters, mainly the new ones. Sidney, Gale, and Dewey are still the best things out of the franchise, while the newer ones were just okay. I didn't overly like them, but at the end of the day they were serviceable. Expect for Kirby, she was actually pretty cool. I liked her.








  • Positives

Now for the good stuff, where one of those is the humor. Some great jokes whether they were meta or not. There was a pretty good gay joke in there. Remember when you could make those and not have people give you shit about it?



The next thing I'll praise is the violence. If you were disappointed with how tone down Scream 3 was, well don't worry, this one's got you covered. Scream 4 has violence come back with a vengeance. The kills are way more unhinged. And when it's not just the kills, Ghostface's phone calls are also absolutely insane. I remember one where it was "You hang up on me and I'll cut through your neck until I feel bone!" Yeah, Ghostface is a bit more hate fueled this time around.



The last thing I'll give credit to is on the movie touched upon social media. Basically that's the killer's motivation. To get famous by using social media to show Ghostface's kills, which in return will make their survivor status all the more shocking and/or inspiring. Now initially back in 2011 I did kinda groan because I thought it was the movie trying to be relevant. But now I realize it is relevant even to this day. We seen or read about people doing horribly violent things and then upload them in the vain hope on getting clout.








Scream 4 is pretty good. While not without its flaws, the movie still provides a very entertaining experience.








My final rating is, Good.








Wow, until Scream 7 comes out I have officially reviewed all of the Scream movies. Anyways, that's all for me. Come back on Thursday, Oct 28
4th, for my Classic Film Night review of Misery. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Smile 2 Review



Smile 2 is a psychological supernatural horror movie and the sequel to 2022's Smile. It's produced by Temple Hill Entertainment and Bad Feeling and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Smile 2 is written and directed by Parker Finn.





The story is, pop-star Skye Riley is making a comeback tour after a highly publicized struggle with both substance abuse and a car crash that killed her boyfriend. Just before a show, Skye goes to a dealer where she witnesses him killing himself just before freaking out and giving her a disturbing smile. Now, Skye is being haunted an entity that killed another woman not too long ago.








Initial Reaction

It's very simple as to why I wanted to see this. The first movie was surprisingly good and I was curious where the sequel would go.








Cons

I've got nothing.








Middle Ground

I'll keep this part of the review short because it's exactly the same mix feeling I had with the previous movie. That being Parker Finn's directing. Again, the movie looks stunning, but again, Parker makes some unusual choices. Maybe there's a reason behind it and it's just me missing something, but it was so odd choices.








Pros

One credit to give the movie is once again Parker focuses on people's struggles. The guy seems to have a knack for writing stories of how horrible events can really mess people up. So go job there Mr. Finn. I also liked the horror, but not just with the evil entity. This is something I wished I brought up in my review of the first, but while the demon is scary and the jump scares are actually worth it, what I found most terrifying with both movies is how we sadly see our main characters lose their grip on reality. And it goes without saying but that's scary because you actually picture that happening. Cut out the supernatural element and you can picture somebody, maybe yourself, a family member, or friend, one moment seem normal and next then you know they look like they're breaking down mentally. Which brings me to the ending. I found it to be a great "Oh sh*t! What's gonna happen next?" I won't give it away, but if there's ever a Smile 3, I'd be very interested in seeing that. But if we don't because this is where Parker Finn wants to stop, then I'd be fine with that because then it'll be a great "Well those people are royal screwed" ending. My last praise goes to Naomi Scott. This woman held nothing back. She was in full force with her acting. If there's any other reason to see this, it'd be for her performance.









While it has flaws, Smile 2 is just like it's predecessor where it's actually pretty good and you'll have a fun time.







My final rating is, Good.








That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Oct 21st, for my review of Scream 4. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Thursday, October 17, 2024

My Bloody Valentine (1981) vs. My Bloody Valentine (2009)

 


Alright time to do another one. Let's get to it.








Contender #1 - My Bloody Valentine (1981)


Director - George Mihalka



Writer(s) - John Beaird (screenplay) and Stephen Miller (story)



Release Date - Feb 11th, 1981



Production - Canadian Film Development Corporation and Secret Film Company



Distribution - Paramount Pictures



Budget - $2,300,000



Gross - $5,700,000









Contender #2 - My Bloody Valentine (2009)


Director - Patrick Lussier



Writer(s) - Todd Farmer and Zane Smith



Release Date - Jan 16th, 2009



Production - Jack Murray Productions



Distribution - Lionsgate



Budget - $14,000,000



Gross - $100,700,000









Story

The story for the original is a miner named Harry Warden was once trapped with his fellow miners, where during that time we went crazy and went on a murderous rampage. Now, 20 years later, new murders are being committed, and now a group of young residents must survive against this crazed maniac.


The story for the remake is in 1998, crazed miner Harry Warden awakened from his coma and terrorized a group of young party goers, before disappearing. Ten years later it now seems like he's come back to finish what he's started.





Round #1 - Visuals

Let me start off by saying I've got nothing against George Mihalka, especially since this is the only film of his I've seen. Having said that there really wasn't anything about his style that really interested. However one could say something similar to Patrick Lussier. Although his style might have been brought down cause the movie was marketed and made for 3D.


So which one am I gonna go for, well I personally prefer the remake. Mainly cause I felt like Lussier was trying to give this movie a look to it.







Round #2 - Harry Warden

This is actually a tough one cause it mainly comes down to how you like your villain.


With the original Harry Warden, he was just a simple miner doing his job, then a terrible event drove him mad. And he really only killed the people who were responsible for the incident happening and no one else. So I guess you could kinda feel sympathetic, but he is killing people who probably didn't deserve death, but you get the motivate.


Then you have remake Harry Warden. Who's very selfless, in a very psychopathic way. You're giving the impression that the moment things looked bad Harry killed his fellow employees just to save himself. So when he goes out for revenge it's more about himself than his fellow men.


So honestly I'm calling this tie. Both Harrys, despite how little we see them, are pretty good villains.








Round #3 - Scares

I'm gonna have this one very brief cause honestly I feel both movies win. They both have great amounts of suspense and their kill scenes are really good. So this is yet another tie.








Round #4 - Story

Let's start off with the 1981 original. While I find it entertaining, the horror story is fairly standard. But, what I will give it credit for is it's character work and how realistic the love triangle is, but mainly the character work. They even made one minor character [Mabel] have some sort of charm and impact when she could've easily been a throwaway. However, the original's twist isn't very good. It almost felt like it was put in there at the last minute as one last surprise even though there wasn't any build up and/or mystery.


Which brings me to the remake. Now I didn't hate any of the characters. They were just okay. However I liked the story far more. Unlike the original the twist is pretty handled mainly cause there's an actual build up. So while I do like the characters of the original, I gonna say the remake has a better story.








Winner - My Bloody Valentine (2009)








Now if you don't agree with that then my power to you, but I just enjoyed the remake more.








That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Oct 19th, for my review of Smile 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Monday, October 14, 2024

Scream 3 Review

 


Scream 3 is a slasher movie and the third installment of the franchise, and was initially going to be the final film until the series was revived back in 2011. It was produced by Craven/Maddalena Films and Konrad Pictures and distributed by Dimension Films. Scream 3 was written by Ehren Kruger and directed yet again by Wes Craven.





The story is, it's been one year after the events back at Windsor College, and a new Stab flick is being made. This attracts the attention of a brand new Ghostface killer who's targeting the cast and crew. Now, the cast along with Sidney and her friends need to find out why?







  • Negatives

I've got nothing.








  • Mix

One very tough thing to complain about is how it's very obvious things are toned down, primarily the violence. Nowadays when something is toned down it's because corporations are afraid of offending a whole five PC puritans on social media, however the filmmakers for this had a FAR better reason. This came out on Feb 4th, 2000. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China you might be asking? Well public scrutiny for violence in media was still going on because of the tragic school shooting at Columbine High School which occurred almost a year earlier. Because of the that the violence and horror are slightly close to a PG-13 rating than an R. So while it is a bummer things aren't as intense as the first two, you can understand why the filmmakers came to this decision.



Sorry if I put in a sad mood, but don't worry we can move onto to something far more lighter, like the comedy this time around. Well I still had a few good laughs here and there, there were a few times when the meta was going too far. Not to the point where it's like Scary Movie like I've heard some critics and/or fans say, but still a little far.



Then there's the story. Now for a while it's just like the previous Scream movies, but I think what needed a bit more work put into was the twist. Now the twist honestly could've had worked, yes it's a retcon, but similarly stories have used this retcon before and turned out great. The slight issue was the landing, it just didn't quite stick it.








  • Positives

There's two very good pros to the movie. One of them being Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette continue their great chemistry that they had all the way back in the previous installments.



Then we have the pacing. Even if you hate this movie, at least you can enjoy how it keeps the ball rolling.








I by no means hate Scream 3, but having seen all of the Scream movies (almost all, Scream 7 is still in production) I do admit it's the weakest one out of the series.








My final rating is, Okay.








All finished here. Come back on Thursday, Oct 17th, for a brand new "VS." Where I'll be pitting the 1981 version of My Bloody Valentine against its 2009 remake. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Saturday, October 12, 2024

Mr. Crocket Review

 


Mr. Crocket is a horror movie that's based on the 2022 short of the same name. It's produced by Hulu Originals and WorthenBrooks and distributed by Hulu. Mr. Crocket is written by Brandon Espy and Carl Reid and directed by Brandon Espy.





The story is, a mother finds a video tape to an old children's show. It seems normal until the host himself emerges from the TV and kidnaps her son. Now, she must rescue her boy from this demonic entity.







Initial Reaction

Now originally I had no plans of reviewing this, primarily because I had no idea it existed mainly cause I've pretty much moved away from streaming services' original movies, unless it was something like Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon. That all changed when I was on Twitter/X one day and an account I follow (I forget which one it was) posted a trailer, I was interested.

It looked like a horror movie take on Mister Rogers.








Cons

I've got nothing.








Middle Ground

Let me start off by saying I still had fun with this movie. Like I said previously, this is basically a horror version of Mister Rogers, Pee-wee's Playhouse, and all of the other shows in those veins. So there's some entertainment, among other things in that, however I gotta admit it can be predictable. One of those things being a character enters the frame and it's pretty obvious they're a red herring.








Pros

With the mix bag out of the way let's get into the good stuff, and there's quite a lot. One of them being some really good creepy building up. The first six minutes alone have spectacular build up and intensity going on. Then there's the practical effects. It's so nice seeing a movie use practical effects. Don't get the wrong idea there was still bits of CGI here and there, but it was pretty obvious it was barely used. I give tremendous credit to the make-up artists, the props crew, everybody who made those effects. They did a bang up job. Speaking of those practical effects, let's move forward to the kills. They're pretty creative. I won't this isn't too big of a spoiler, but I gotta say, never seen a horror movie kill someone with a bubble before. The last thing I'll credit is Elvis Nolasco's performance. Now I'll fully admit, I haven't seen any of this guy's work, but what I will say is he is awesome. He was the show stealer in this, I loved his scenes, and he played this Mr. Crocket character perfectly.








While this isn't gonna break any molds, Mr. Crocket is still a very fun horror movie and think a lot of people will get some sort of kick out of it.








My final rating is, Good.








That's gonna do it. Come back on Monday, Oct 14th, for my review of Scream 3. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Scream 2 Review

 


Scream 2 is a slasher movie. It's a sequel to 1996's Scream, thus making it the second installment of the franchise. It was produced by Craven/Maddalena Films and Konard Pictures and distributed by Dimension Films. Scream 2 was once again written by Kevin Williamson and was also again directed by Wes Craven.





The story is, it's been two years since the events of the last movie and the survivors of the Woodsboro massacre are living their lives at Windsor College. But their years of peace are over when a copycat killer is donning the Ghostface mask and targeting them.








  • Negatives

I've got nothing.








  • Mix

Now I think my only mix feeling was sometimes the movie can be predictable. Not all the time, but some parts you do know what's gonna happen. It didn't bother me too much because there was still a lot of things I did enjoy.








  • Positives

Alright time to praising. One good aspect of the movie was the humor. Much like the first, there's great moments of both dark comedy and satire, mostly satirizing sequels, makes sense given this is a sequel. Even the dialogue can be really funny.



Then we have the intensity. While I wasn't fully scared, I can't say I wasn't tensing up quite a lot. There's this one great scene where Sidney and her friend Hallie are trapped in a police car with an unconscious Ghostface. I won't give away what happened, but believe me it's pretty nerve-racking.



My last bit of credit goes to the whodunit mystery. Now I have read people saying they found out who Ghostface was because someone barely shows up. Admittedly that was my attitude for quite a while. However I realized there was far more thought put into the mystery then I gave it credit for. When watching again I found clues to the identity of the killer and also went online where people pointed out more clues. Some of which were in plain sight and I somehow missed them. So I say the mystery aspect is far better than I thought.








Scream 2 isn't better than it's predecessor but, it's still a very entertaining sequel.








My final rating is, Good.








That's all for today. Come back on Saturday, Oct 12th, for my review of the newest Hulu original horror movie, Mr. Crocket. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Monday, October 7, 2024

Dawn of the Dead (1978) vs. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

 


At first I was debating if I should do another one of these, but people seemed to enjoy when I did with The Thing movies and the Night of the Living Dead movies. So I figured I'd do it again.






Contender #1 - Dawn of the Dead (1978)


Director - George A. Romero



Writer(s) - George A. Romero



Release Date - Apr 13th, 1979



Production - Laurel Group



Distribution - United Film Distribution Company



Budget - $1,500,000



Gross - $66,000,000









Contender #2 - Dawn of the Dead (2004)


Director - Zack Snyder



Writer(s) - James Gunn, Michael Tolkin (uncredited), and Scott Frank (uncredited)



Release Date - Mar 19th, 2004



Production - Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment, and New Amsterdam Entertainment



Distribution - Universal Pictures



Budget - $26,000,000



Gross - $102,300,000








Story

The story for both movies is a out of nowhere a disease is spreading that turns living people into zombies. During this time a group of random people find shelter inside an abandoned mall and must find various ways to survive an undead onslaught.





Round #1 - Visuals

Oh boy, once again I'm at crossroads when it comes to how these movies were directed. Especially since once again, neither Romero or Snyder went about their flicks in any wrong with and once again their styles heavily differ from each other.


Romero definitely changed a little bit from the previous installment [Night of the Living Dead]. He definitely went just a bit bigger but still remains very subtle. Dawn of the Dead didn't have a near documentary feel like Night had, but it still very well directed.


Meanwhile you have Snyder who, while still taken time for smaller character moments, does handle the bloody and action scenes to a really good degree. Although I do get a slight feeling he was still trying to find his footing as a director.


So it's really hard for me to decide a winner. Sure I could use Romero's later zombie movies, those being Land, Diary, and Survival of the Dead, to see how he went about directing and then compare it to Snyder's, but that'd be cheating since I'm not comparing those films to the remake. I'm comparing the Dawn movies. So I'm sorry but I'm calling it a tie.







Round #2 - Monster

I'm giving it to the remake. First off, I don't care what people say, RUNNING ZOMBIES ARE JUST AS TERRIFYING AS THE SLOW ONES! Second off, no disrespect to the make-up artists of the original, but I'm not a big fan how it's just this blue-ish gray face paint. Sure some zombies do have more of a design to them, but there's so few of them. With the remake, there's a lot of zombies with more of a look to them, and if they don't have that then they at least look like people who caught some sort of disease.







Round #3 - Scares

This was honestly yet another tough decision. Both movies do have some very scary moments. While both films have the zombies as a threat, they both have other horrifying aspects to them. With the original, we're giving the threat of an armed biker gang who pretty much start a war with our characters of who should have the mall. So we get a very human threat. With the remake, we do have some tension with the human characters. That's still a slight human problem but, the main concern is that they're trapped inside the mall. Sure a mall sounds like a good idea to hideout during a zombie apocalypse, but imagine being stuck there for the longest time until you find another way out. Not only would you go stir-crazy but it's only a matter of time before your supplies run out.


So who's the winner? Well for me I'm conflicted. Both have some really good moments to them, and even in a what if scenario where I didn't find them scary, I would've found them to be pretty entertaining. So once again it's a tie.







Round #4 - Story

When it came to this section it was also another hard choice to make. Because both have some good stories to them it's just the approaches were different.


Romero story is still about people in the middle of a uprising zombie apocalypse. But I found his story was primarily about how this event is effecting people more than the living dead eating people. Nothing wrong with that especially since that was also what made Night of the Living Dead such a classic.


The story for Snyder and co's remake still had those small character scenes but it does feel like a really fun survival horror movie. Again, nothing wrong with that mainly because the end result was actually pretty good.


So it comes down to taste. Do you want a slower pace, character focused movie or a fast pace survival movie?







Winner - Tie.








Again you're probably gonna feel like this is a cop out, but honestly I really do like both movies because they both offer so much. But if you're a fan of one or the other or both then that's fine.





Anyways, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Oct 10th, for my review of Scream 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.