CNAMB Presents: The 25 Best Films of the Decade Part 2!

I got some nice feedback with numbers 25-11 yesterday, so thanks to everyone that commented. I can’t wait to hear what you folks think about the rest! Continuing right where we left off yesterday, I present you with my top 10 films of the decade. Ready-set-GO!

10. Apocalypto

 

After some concise, simplistic character development, Apocalypto throws our main protagonist headfirst into a nonstop, tightly paced adventure that will suck you right in from the very first moment. The movie is shot in such a way that it makes you feel as if you are along for this frightening ride with “Jaguar Paw” as he and his fellow tribesmen are tortured and beaten along the way to their impending sacrifice.  His motivation to escape is so overwhelming, that there is nothing that will stop him from getting back to his preggers wife and son, and the tension built from him looking for any opening to escape is incredible. With the use of Yucatec Maya dialogue, the amazing nobody acting and the true to history locations and costume design, Apocalypto is like watching history come to life in the truest sense.

9. Requiem for a Dream

 

I caught Requiem at the local (at the time) dollar theater and walked out of it mentally crushed by how unapologetically bleak and dark it was. Darren Aronofsky took what he had started with his feature debut PI, mixed with the intense writings of Hubert Selby Jr. and brought to life a story with themes of obsession and the clouded madness that can come from one’s infatuation. Technically, it is a stylishly made film filled with dreamlike (and nightmare like) qualities and an erratic editing style that would inspire many less than capable filmmakers still to this day. From television, obsessing about one’s looks, to over the counter medicine and street drugs, the numerous themes of addiction are something that could hit home for a lot of viewers and that is where the movie’s effect is strongest. On a side note, Ellen Burstyn was robbed by that fish face scrub for the Oscar…maybe Burstyn would have won if she made her tits look bigger. 

8. Battle Royale

 

Even with films such as Ringu and Ju-on being best known for spearheading an explosion of interest (and remakes) in dark Japanese cinema, another film that may be just as impactful, but certainly less mainstream, is Battle Royale. A social commentary about the injustices of government, Battle Royale had a lot to say politically, but what it came down to was a bunch of high school kids forced to kill their classmates for the purpose of population control. The brilliant idea of a last man standing, no escape or your head will come clean off, game, played by kids nonetheless, is jarring and incredibly taboo. This is a film that got me to seek out even more Asian cinema than just what it had to offer horror wise and that influence is something that led to me watching other films, films that are also on this list. 

7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

 

Here is another example of a game changer…one that influenced cinema and introduced a lot of people to a world of Martial Arts films outside of what people saw in America. I grew up on the genre, a genre that is more than vast, and to go to a theater and see a movie as well crafted as Crouching Tiger was quite mind-blowing. The fight scenes are some of the best and most beautiful action sequences ever put to screen and the look of the film is more than brilliant with explosive colors and amazing locations. Even outside of the grand brawls, the epic love story was so immense, it could have stood alone as a non-Martial Arts movie.    

6. Let the Right One In

 

One of the freshest and most original takes on the Vampire genre couldn’t have come at a better time. A beautiful movie from head to toe, Let the Right One In is a very complex and deep film, one that can inspire many different thoughts and theories all wrapped up in what is a basic story about loneliness. Two completely different characters in similar places, but for entirely opposite reasons, you cannot help but feel for both Eli and especially Oscar. There is so much depth to each of these characters and their harrowing back stories that they are destined to come together, with each one needing something that can be found in the other. Let the Right One In shows what can be done in the horror genre, a genre that is often frowned upon. And that ending! But that’s for another time.     

5. The Two Towers

 

Love the Lord of the Rings films, but by far the best one of the trilogy for me is, The Two Towers. Right from the hair-raising “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” opening and on through to the final battle for Helm's Deep, I was blown away, jaw dropped all the way to the floor when I saw this film. It is one of the most epic, grand and fucking awesome action/fantasy films ever made and the rollercoaster of emotions that are gone through when watching it are intense.

4. Oldboy

 

Being able to take a revenge film and make something that is as beautiful, operatic, and thought provoking as Oldboy, is an amazing feat. It has a challenging story that left me thinking for days, rationalizing the decisions that Oh Dae-su made and thinking how wrong is it to do what he did for love? There is no other film that touches on such subject matter and as shocking as it may be, it is made to be almost understandable coming from his perspective. That takes balls. Chan-wook Park has a visual style all his own and one that is better than most every filmmaker working today. The use of colors, patterns, and camera angles come together in a way that can almost boggle the senses - throw in a song like The Last Waltz and you have a film that will forever be embedded into my personal cinema history as groundbreaking. 

3. Unbreakable

 

Say what you will about M. Night, he can make an amazing film and has done so a few times now. With the exception of  The Happening, I pretty much love all that he has done, but Unbreakable is his masterpiece and one of my all time favorite films. First off, the realistic approach to comic book characters is done so well, it is to the point that you almost have no idea that you are essentially watching a comic book movie…if super heroes were real that is. The acting is top notch and that leads to what is the biggest strength of Unbreakable and that is it’s emotionally driven scenes. There are at least three scenes that choke me up every time I watch this one and the emotion is created in so many different ways. All of the scenes involving David and his son are enough to send chills right down my spine.

2. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

 

Well, I just gushed over the man a few movies ago and here we go again. Many people give me a strange look, or a typed “really?!” when I say that I like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance more than Oldboy, but I do and that has not always been the case either. Showing just how great Chan-wook Park is, Mr. Vengeance could not be any more different from Oldboy in almost every sense, outside of the revenge aspect that is. It is the definition of slow burn, and yet, it has more going on in it than you think and you don’t even realize it until a second, or even a third viewing. Everything about how this story is told is done in a (technically and narratively) slow moving and very quiet, natural way and it goes along so greatly with the deaf character of Ryu and how he is forced to communicate to the world around him. There is a lot of shit going on in this movie, yet, nothing is force fed to the viewer and we are left to understand what is happening, because it happens, not because someone told us. Park doesn’t treat his audience like children with no ability to think. I have sooooo much more to say about this film and once again, this is not the time, nor the place…so I need to move on.

1. Children of Men

 

By far and without a doubt, the best movie of the decade in every way, shape and form. The story is very layered and deep, with extreme undertones that mirror modern society in so many ways that to get into it here would be a terrible idea and a very long one at that! It is made in a way that you are on an adventure with Theo and not once are you ever away from this character. Even when he is not the focus of a scene, he is just around the corner and his presence is very known to the viewer and so important to the story. There is much to be said about what the miracle baby represents and the impact and effect on everyone involved, whether it be positive, or negative, the baby represents something greater than flesh and blood and it brings out the worst in people, or the most heroic.

There are a few scenes in this film that are beyond astounding and the one in the car when the protagonists are attacked is so mind-blowing, but it is the end that really does it for me. The last 15-20 minutes of Children of Men is the most powerful, chaotic, frightening, hopeful, and beautiful 15-20 minutes in cinema history. Period. I so want to go on about this movie, but I will save my ramblings for a better time. The fact is, Children of Men is my favorite movie of all time, for the time being and unless something else better comes along, then it will remain that way.  

Aaaand…done! I had some honorable mentions, but decided to scrap that idea at the last second. There are plenty of other movies that I loved and could have made this list, but to bump anything else off wasn’t going to happen. Once you hit a ceiling, you have to stop and I didn’t want to name movies just to name them…there are too many and it seems pointless. This is the list and I am very happy with it - these are all films I have and will watch many times and films that will give me something new with each viewing. I certainly want to hear your thoughts on my list and if there is anything you disagree with or think I missed, tell me all about it. Thanks for sticking this one out guys – see ya on the other side!

CNAMB Presents: The 25 Best Films of the Decade Part 1!

And here it is, one of the most difficult things to do as a film fan, put together a list of the best/my favorite films of the decade that has now past us – the 2000’s! Wha-WHAT!!! This shit was so hard at first, trying to decide what should go where and then I thought of a few other films I would love to have on this list, but couldn’t take anything off either. And heaven forbid I forget something and someone reminds me! I may have an aneurism!

Now, I was going to post all 25 in one shot, but my lady friend said that might be too much to ask of people to read in one sitting and I think she’s right. So this is 25-11 and tomorrow I will put up my top ten films of the decade!

Alrighty, nuff shit chat already, let’s get this party started!

25. No Country for Old Men

The Cohen brothers came out with one of their best films period and showed they still have the chops to make movies like they did early on in their careers. This film partially brought the awesome Josh Brolin back into the limelight and even more so, gave us one of the greatest on screen villains of all time in the form of Anton Chigurh played brilliantly by then mostly unknown, Javier Bardem.

24. Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle is one of the best filmmakers working today and the variety of cinema that he has brought to us is quite impressive if you look at his solid career as a whole. He hits on all cylinders and touches on many different genre aspects with Slumdog Millionaire - A movie that mixed the horrors of violence, poverty, and street culture, with a story about childhood and love, and all done with an artistic visual style all its own.

23. The Departed

That’s three best pictures in a row! Sure, it’s a remake, but it is a remake that is just fantastic and The Departed brought the cool back to American gangster films and even brought me back into Leonardo DiCaprio’s corner with his great performance. It’s a rollercoaster of a movie that goes at a hundred miles a minute and never lets down once – there is no lull and absolutely no downtime. It’s straight beat after beat and doesn’t stop to linger for even the slightest moment.

22. Equilibrium

One of the best Sci Fi films in the last ten years, this highly under known film was completely overlooked due to The Matrix, but Equilibrium is a phenomenal movie that was nothing short of badass. Christian Bale has been one of my favorite actors for some time (though he is starting to stray) and that is mostly due to his amazing performance in this film. The action is so original with the Gun Kata and the emotion of the story was spot on and heavily influenced by the classic Fahrenheit 451…which is one of my favorite stories to begin with.

21. Pan’s Labyrinth

Over the years, darkness and heavy subject matter have been traded for wallet emptying merchandising in what would be considered the fairytale. In fact, it really isn’t a genre that exists anymore and I think many a horror fan yearned for a dark, adult geared fantasy film and Pans Labyrinth is the movie that gave it to us. Guillermo Del Toro shows why he is a master as he guides the viewer through a modern day fairytale that isn’t afraid to be tough and dark.

20. REC

No, there is not a lot of depth or anything of the sort in this Spanish zombie film, but what it lacks in thought provoking themes, it certainly makes up for with the horror factor. REC expertly uses the handheld vérité style and never feels forced, but very natural in how the filming is executed. You can’t quite make everything out at times and that makes you physically peek your head as if you might actually see something more than the camera is showing you. There were some very effective jump scares and the tension is so thick at times that you can’t help but jump. In the end, it is scary as shit and just a true horror flick in its purest form.

19. Kill Bill vol 1

Kill Bill made a whole genre of film cool again and people can scream rip-off, I scream amazingly made homage to films that almost no one knew about beforehand. Great music, awesome fight scenes, and amazingly shot, Kill Bill is a movie that can mix over the top Japanese samurai cinema, with epic moments of honor and emotion. Kill Bill also has one of the best all time cliff hangers to boot.

18. Martyrs

Here we go again, talking about Martyrs. It was number 2 on my best of ‘09 list and it makes my best of the decade list too. No film challenged viewers more than Martyrs and even if you aren’t into how things unfold in the movies third act, as I am, you cannot deny the perfection with how this film is crafted. This will be a film horror fans will be talking about in 30 years and I think it may be most comparable to what The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did to its audiences back when it released.

17. Donnie Darko

Mixing science fiction with what could almost be a coming of age story, Donnie Darko captured a decade with a creative eye and injected a certain amount of realism to all its inhabitants. It is a film filled with tragic characters that would do nothing more than try and make a difference in someone else’s life through selfless acts. I was Head Over Heels for this film and the impact it had on me as a movie fan looking for something different is why it makes this list.

16. Inglourious Basterds

And again, Tarantino has showed up on my list with a film I have talked about more than once. It was my favorite film of last year, so of course it is in my top 25 of the decade. “Wait for the cream!”

15. Shaun of the Dead

One of the best comedies of the decade and even more so, one of the best horror comedies of all time. I think we all know that it’s not an easy thing to do, make a horror comedy that is. The balance is tough to work – keeping the funny, funny and the horror, scary enough. Shaun of the Dead brought something so fresh to the Zombie genre as well as horror in general and Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are one of the best on screen comedic duos ever!

14. American Psycho

And here is another reason why Christian Bale is one of my favorite actors. He brought to life one of the most insane characters to ever grace the screen and I have no need to spew out the classic lines about shitty 80’s pop music – we all know them, we all know how gosh darn funny that shit was too as he waxed intellectual about music while waxing a couple of fine asses. The blackest of black comedies, American Psycho is a film that created a perfect mix of madness, humor, and is one of the most original horror films of the decade.

13. The Royal Tenenbaums

Wes Anderson made magic with Rushmore, but that magic made was just a warm up for the masterful story telling of The Royal Tenenbaums. Amazing character development, beautiful color palate, brilliantly shot, this is a film that is completely hysterical at times, while being powerful in its emotional impact at others. One of the best ensemble casts ever put to screen with performances that were just plain wonderful from all involved.

12. A Bittersweet Life

From one of the finest directors working today, Ji-woon Kim crafted a gangster film that is much more than meets the eye. With deep undertones of self inflicted loneliness and one characters search for the happiness and enjoyment that can be found in the intricacies that life has to offer, this is a film where silence speaks volumes. There are action scenes that are just superb and staggering in how they are shot with such originality and freshness. And the performance by Byung-hun Lee is movingly subtle and it is this role along with JSA that made him one of my favorite Korean actors.

11. 3-Iron

I actually wrote a review back in November for this one and just haven’t posted it yet (I tend to do that), but this is a film that I saw very recently and it is one that made an incredible impact on me with its thought and heart. One of the most original, unconventional, and wonderful love stories ever made, Ki-duk Kim has an ability to go way outside the box and his metaphorical presence is an ability unlike very few filmmakers can achieve. 3-Iron is a movie that should be the blue print for how to make a film with depth and meaning. It shows you do not need to cater to stupid, just to tell a love story and actions speak more than a thousand words, while the smallest of touches result in the biggest of impacts.

That about does it for now ladies and germs, hope you found a few interesting picks among my list thus far and please let me know what you think. Otherwise, see ya tomorrow with 10-1!

The Horror Hangover

Wake up you sleepy heads…you can’t sleep all day because if you do, you will miss all the goodies than are in store for you today. You don’t have to get out of bed, up off the couch, or anything crazy like that - you can stay right where you are to enjoy today's events, because  it’s time for The Horror Hangover! I got a great one for you today with a couple of very solid films that should make your cloudy day just a tad brighter. So go take your first of many draught beer dumps, get a couple glasses of water for rehydration, shut your ringer off, and cozy up while I give you the gift of guidance through this painful Hangover.

Starting off with a Monday to Friday bang, at 10:30 Snakes on a Plane (2006) is on FX. Not a great movie, but it is fun as all hell, not that all hell is fun I assume, but that’s not the point. Snakes is entertaining for what it is and it is a film that played very well in theaters with an audience of appreciative horror dorks. How will the film translate to cable? Just click on the monkey fighting clip below and that question will be answered.   

At Noon, SyFy shows up very strong with The Crow (1994). Love The Crow and have very little to say about it besides it is a great way to spend an afternoon holding back vomit and trying to remember that girl or guy’s name that probably gave you gonorrhea from the night before.   

At 3:00, you better be ready to protect ‘cause Kickboxer (1989) is playing on ION! I haven’t seen Kickboxer in a hundred years (which is odd since it came out in the 80’s), but I used to watch that and Bloodsport all the time when I was wee. Bloodsport always plays on cable (like ALWAYS!), but Kickboxer…not so much, which is too bad, ‘cause it’s awesome. Watching this great trailer brought back a flood of memories from the movie with some of the best fight training sequences eva! Love drunk Van Damme doing some Van Dammage to the dance floor when he gets cocked, then tricked into fighting those thugs! Pick of the week!

If Van Damme doesn’t tickle your pickle, also playing at 3:00 is Pitch Black (2000) on AMC. I think I am not alone in saying that Pitch Black is a very solid horror/action/sci fi film and makes for another very great choice during today's Hangover. Though, it’s no The Pacifier, but what exactly is? 

And if Pitch Black ain’t yo thang, then 3:00 gives you yet another choice with Saw (2004) on SyFy. Not the biggest fan at all, but it is something I could probably sit through as the drool count lowers late in the afternoon during a hardcore Hangover. Cary Elwes’ acting certainly fits in perfectly with the standard SyFy movie fare at least.

Okay chalupa’s…I’m outta here like Doug. Hope you have a great Sunday free from any new burning sensations!

A Strapped Shoplifter, a Pirate on Cassette

The LAMB does this fun little blogathon thingy called the LAMBs in the Director’s Chair, in which a specific director is put under the spotlight and any LAMB member can contribute in any way they see fit as long is it has to do with the directors overall work in film or a specific movie helmed. When they announced that the fifth director for the Directors Chair event was going to be Clint Eastwood, I was very ecstatic to say the least. Eastwood is a director that I adore and his filmography is filled with so many great movies, but there is only one that came immediately to mind when I thought about my own contribution.

1973’s High Plains Drifter is set in the town of Lago, and the townsfolk have a whole lot to worry about. They suffer from a dark past that haunts them for their greedy ways, and there’s a trio of gunslingers that are to be released from prison and will be looking to take revenge on the town that betrayed them and had them sent to jail. In rides a mysterious gunslinger only known as The Stranger (Eastwood), who seems to be just stopping by for a drink and some R&R.

The Stranger immediately makes his presences known when he is confronted by a couple of would be tough guys, whom he turns into human targets after they try to attack him. Seeing an opportunity to keep the three imprisoned gunslingers from coming back to seek vengeance on the town that did them wrong, the people of Lago talk The Stranger into helping them out with the issue. The Stranger, claiming not to be a gunfighter, only agrees when the townsfolk offer him anything he wants during his stay in Lago – all the food, drink, room and board, anything he wants and all for free.

Eastwood’s character is the definition of anti-hero and it comes across as clear as day in the matter of a few minutes. You root for him right from the get go when he is confronted by the men in the opening moments, but in the blink of an eye, he has his way with a woman in a way that shows he isn’t necessarily a good guy at all and he clearly has no concern for rules. His character goes much deeper than that though - the town does have a history involving a Marshal that was whipped to death by the three imprisoned gunslingers due to the people of Lago and their greed. For some reason The Stranger seems to be plagued, or connected to this tragic event, but why exactly is this?

High Plains Drifter is certainly a Western…on the surface, but it also has many elements of a supernatural Thriller in many ways. Eastwood was unsurprisingly influenced by Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, two directors he famously worked with on films very different from one another. The influence shows greatly in High Plains in that it is a Western in the classic sense, but the epic presence found in a Leone film is traded for what I would consider a gritty urban styled thriller more along the lines of Dirty Harry in how it is shot and the feel of the film. It is almost a meeting of the two genres and it makes for an interesting combination and one that works very well.

One big stand out that shows the two genre styles come together, is the superb music in the film done by Dee Barton. Right as the movie opens, you get a great and almost traditional Western tune that steers you to think that the movie will be a straight up Western. As the movie goes along and especially when the whipped to death Marshal first shows up (in the form of a dream via The Stranger), the music becomes very ominous and eerie. Even as High Plains movies along, the music gets even more dark and brooding, as does the movie itself and it almost reminds me of something that you might hear from Goblin even.

Eastwood still being somewhat green as a filmmaker at this time does a fantastic job with High Plains Drifter and the film looks great on all technical levels. Some of the best stuff in the film is the long panning shots of The Stranger as he’s walking or on horseback, going slowly from one place to another as the camera follows him patiently. As the inhabitants of Lago look on in curiosity, the only sound you hear is that of his spurs. Fantastic stuff. The entire ending is great looking too, with the set design and the how the town of Lago is turned into the town of Hell with a fresh coat of red paint – just for the purpose of putting fear into the hearts of the three bandits on their way to torture the townsfolk.

Eastwood is perfect as The Stranger and he does a great job portraying a character that would seem to be just another gunslinger, to his transformation to something more supernatural. In whatever form it is, whether it is a brother, the soul of the Marshal that was killed, The Crow, or whatever, The Stranger is clearly one that is sent to take vengeance on more than the three gunslingers that murdered the Marshal. He is awful and  despicable to the people of Lago, but they deserve it and if he were sent to avenge the death of the slain Marshal, then he would have to make the townsfolk suffer as well since they are the ones responsible in the first place. And that plays into the end of the film heavily as he lets things unfold in a certain way, instead of taking care of it right away…he wants the town to pay for what they have done before he steps in.

High Plains Drifter is one of the best and most original takes on the Western genre and Eastwood really shows his mastery early in this one by going with something that is a little different stylistically. The ambiguity of what The Stranger is makes this a fascinating film and giving it a supernatural feel is a bold choice that pays off. I can only highly recommend this film and the slight supernatural aspect, mixed with the grittiness of the movie, makes it something that may be enjoyed by fans of horror as well  as fans of Westerns. 

Freddy’s Friday Night Dance Party!: Beat on the “Dead Cat” With a Baseball Bat Edition!

Gabba Gabba Hey kids! Have I got a super duper song lined up for tonight’s edition of Freddy’s Friday Night Dance Party! A classic track from a band that should need no introduction…but I will introduce them anyway, it’s The Ramones with their fine contribution to horror, Pet Sematary!

Written by Daniel Rey and Dee Dee Ramone for the 1989 film adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, the titular song would prove to be one of the bands most successful and would soon after appear on their album, Brain Drain. While it isn’t the most loved film ever, I actually like Pet Sematary and think it has a lot of solid qualities, but the title track by The Ramones is probably the best thing to come out of the Mary Lambert directed film.

I love The Ramones - their music is beyond influential and Pet Sematary is one of the best songs that they put out, so it’s pretty great that it was a decent success, especially since it can out so late in their career. I actually think the song may have been my introduction to The Ramones - I was already way into horror and around that time I was also getting into punk music and I remember always loving the Pet Sematary song. It is a little subdued and almost darker that most of their other work, but still, the song is incredibly catchy and the main chorus is slightly hokey, but great. Though, I don’t know exactly why Joey Ramone would fear being buried in a Pet Sematary…at least you’re surrounded by a ton of pussy.

Dream Theater

Summer School is a 2006 independent film that is somewhat of an anthology film in that there are five different stories, but all five stories are bridged together by one main character and setting. Summer School’s setting is…summer school, of course, and the film follows Charles, a horror fan and internet movie reviewer, who after a marathon horror-movie session, succumbs to a series of terrifying dreams. Each nightmare is worse than the last and Charles begins to have trouble knowing what exactly is real, and what is not as he wakes up from one bad dream, only to be in another, even more frightening nightmare.

Summer School is written and directed by five different film school acquaintances that filled numerous roles behind and in front of the camera in this low-income $8K horror film. The directors include - Lance Hendrickson, Troy McCall, Mike P. Nelson, and Ben Trandem. Trandem, who also produced, wrote, edited, and even did the special FX, is the brainchild behind Summer School, which came about when he himself was actually in summer school. Being a fan of horror films, as one would guess, Trandem was bored out of his mind, so he created the character of Charles and the idea of having him be tortured by a series of five different nightmares during a day spent in summer school.

After this initial idea, Trandem got a bunch of film school classmates to come up with their own take on a favorite horror genre and make a fifteen-minute story out of it with Charles being the connector to each one. Each story itself is very simple, but varied from one another with genres touching on monsters, vampires, Nazi’s, Hill Billy rapists, Slasher films, and even the occult. There is nothing super original about most of the stories, but they are very short and to develop so much is a somewhat more difficult than with a full-length feature. It is the simplicity of these stories that almost makes Summer School kind of fun and is something that may be great for a younger horror fan. If I saw this at 14 or 15, I would have loved it for sure!

I didn’t necessarily love it, but I did really enjoyed Summer School and with the movie having its story limitations, it keeps such a quick pace that it isn’t much of an issue. Each dream is fast, fun, and directed with an individual style from each other. That is where the biggest positive comes from in this negative budget film, the movie is so well made and even with major budgetary restraints, it is impressively shot and looks almost as good as any well made film found in theaters with a budget of $45 million. It is shot in a way that looked very natural, with great camera placement and angles.

The overall films style was very tight too and there is a huge 70’s-80’s vibe and it is done quite well, especially at the very first few moments as Charles comes rollerblading into his empty class, to this music that you would hear in a video collage of New York hustle and bustle from an old ass Sesame Street episode (long sentence). Even the character of Charles has a slight retro look with a slightly moppy hairdo, a yellow t-shirt (‘cause yellow = 70’s to me), and swap the rollerblades for a brand new pair of roller-skates and the look is complete. It isn’t overpowering or obnoxious either and along with that, a film involving a horror fan, made for a low budget and it is not self-referential is such a nice break. Not once was there a line like “Guys! What would Bruce Campbell do in this situation?” or “This is just like a Carpenter movie!”

The supporting characters are all fine and a few of the youths are near typical of a low budget horror film, but they are all interesting enough. There are only a few supporting roles played by Tony D. Czech, Lance Hendrickson, Amy Cocchiarella, who would make up Charles’ two trouble maker friends and a love interest/crush. Charles, aka “up-Chuck” is played by Simon Wallace, who does a mostly solid job as the film’s driving character and he has a good enough look and quality to pull off the lead role. Some of the acting is pretty bad, however, to give a film that cost less than James Cameron’s cum rag would be slightly unfair. Clerks had some terrible acting too.

Summer School has very recently shown up on “the second coming of Christ,” or better also known as Netflix instant watch – so it can easily be seen that way and I think it is worth a look if you are a fan of fun independent horror films. Most of you know how I feel about the subject; support the little guys, especially when they are making some technically great films with almost no money.

Check out the Summer School website for more info and film credits for the movie and also, CNAMB club kid, Cortez the Killer did an awesome interview with the filmmakers over at Planet of Terror not too long ago. If you get a chance to check out the movie, please let me know your thoughts, just be sure to bring a hall pass with you.

Zombie Holla-caust!

1979’s Zombie Holocaust is a film that I have a bit of history with and one that brings back some nostalgic memories for me. Sometimes known as Zombie 3, but better known by myself for its U.S. release under the title Doctor Butcher M.D. - M.D. being short for MEDICAL DEVIANT, of course. It is a movie I had seen way back in 8th grade (yikes!), when a good friend and fellow horror fiend had told me about the film and all of its gory glory. This same friend had two VCRs (which back in 90-91 was rare and badass) and would tape every horror movie he rented from the almighty video store, including one Doctor Butcher M.D. So I saw it many many years ago and my memories of it were more that it was a big gory deal for my buddy and myself, but besides that, I couldn’t tell you much more about it.

Flash-forward to about a year ago when I was scoping out the used DVD scene at FYE, when I stumbled upon a cheap copy of Zombie Holocaust. Not knowing anything about its connection to  Doctor Butcher beforehand, I was very delighted to read that it was the original Italian version of the film from my youth and one that I had not thought I would probably never see again. Plus, it was like $5 bucks, so that made it all the greater.

Like I said, my found memories are not so much of the movie itself (cause I barely remember it), but of the time in my life that it reminded me of. So I had no expectations in watching Zombie Holocaust outside of some cheap gore and poor dubbing. It is a clear cash in on the zombie craze as well as the popularity of cannibal films at the time and it takes a lot from Fulci’s classic Zombie (or Zombie 2) with some of the same locations, and even some footage from Zombie is used in Zombie Holocaust.

Directed by Marino Girolami and written by Fabrizio De Angelis and Romano Scandariato, Zombie Holocaust even has a story very similar to Zombie in that it starts of in “big city” New York and eventually ends up placing the characters on an expedition in  a foreign land filled with many dangers. In New York, a doctor named Lori (Alexandra Delli Colli) discovers a cult of flesh eating, organ stealing foreigners. When the cannibals are caught in the act, they go crazy and proceed to take their own life. The only clue left behind is a symbol painted on the flesh eaters body, a symbol that kind of looks like a set of butt checks to be completely honest with you.

Lori meets up with another Doctor, Peter Chandler (played by Ian McCulloch who also appeared in Zombie), who organizes a mission to find out exactly what is happening with the organ stealing, which is apparently an epidemic that has been happening in more than just New York. Joined by a reporter named Susan (Sherry Buchanan) and Peters assistant, George (Peter O'Neal) the four head out on an expedition to the primitive island of Keto, which is where the butt check symbol stems from. This island inhabits many dangers, with one being the cannibalistic natives and the other being the zombies that are a result of the work done by the mad Dr. Obrero (Donald O'Brien), better known (to me) as, Dr. Butcher…MEDICAL DEVIANT! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! *Cough-cough*

Overall, the movie is poorly made, even for a cheap Exploitation rip-off of genres and films that were being done by better directors like Umbero Lenzi with his cannibal films and of course Fulci with Zombie. Zombie Holocaust is watchable and not the worst filmed movie ever, but in general, it’s near incompetent. There are  dubbing issues, but that almost comes with the territory in any film of this type, so no need to harp on it. Even if the dubbing was good, however, it wouldn’t help with dialogue that is just poor to the point of humor at times.

Our characters are standard and very typical - and trying to make anyone believe that the ever so beautiful Alexandra Delli Colli character of Lori is more than eye candy, is as mad as DOCTOR BUTCHER! She has degrees in medicine and even has one in anthropology, which is just kind of funny since at no time does any sense of brilliance leave her lips…though, her clothes more than once leave them hips - and thankfully too.

Even though it isn’t a well-made movie, Zombie Holocaust is not a terrible film by any stretch – it’s not great, just more of a middle of the road one. The biggest issue that can arise with a movie of this nature (besides craftsmanship) is pacing and it’s surprisingly a well-paced movie with very little downtime. It movies along quickly and there is something always going on to keep the viewer entertained in one way or another. I mean, the movie has cannibals, zombies, nudity, and gore, so there is no excuse not to have something interesting to see every ten to fifteen minutes and the goods are delivered.

As far as the gruesome stuff goes, Zombie Holocaust lives up to its rep and my memories as the gore count is very high and most of the FX are executed and “fuck yeah!” inducing. There is a great booby trap scene when a character gets one of those beds of sharpened sticks sprung up onto his body, trapping him while the natives proceed to slit his throat and go to town on his tasty flesh. Then there’s an eye gouging of epic proportions that put quite the smile on my face. The cannibals provide most of the good stuff, not the zombies – in fact, the zombies are strangely not very prevalent in a movie that is titled Zombie Holocaust.

Though they aren’t in the film much, their impact on me is something worth mentioning. I do love that the zombie’s make grunting and moaning noises along the lines of something you would hear from a fourteen-year-old boys bedroom while reading one of his dad’s Hustlers. Even better, they look like old dog crap – like when it gets all brittle and white…they are very ashy zombies to say the least and Oil of Olay would make for a great Christmas present for these undead creatures if you ever decide to visit Keto (Kaelin?).

I actually really enjoyed the ending of this movie and some of the best stuff is with Dr. Obrero and his MEDICAL DEVIANCY! as he performs his mad brain surgery on the poor reporter, Susan. Pretty mean-spirited stuff and this scene was actually shot pretty well in a great ramshackle sort of cabin setting that was also a setting used in…you guessed it, Zombie! Even during these moments, Zombie Holocaust finds a way to once again steal from another film with some of the things that happen to Lori, being very reminiscent of things that happen to Ursula Andress character in the Sergio Martino film, The Mountain of the Cannibal God.

Messy and imperfect, Zombie Holocaust completely steals so many things from so many movies (that stole from so many others!) and has very few original qualities about it. However, this “thievery” makes for a fun mishmash of so many different types of Italian Exploitation films that it is hard not to enjoy for how much shit is thrown into the blender. Not every sip tastes great, but overall, I enjoyed my Zombie Holocaust smoothie and can recommend it to any one that is a fan of these genres.

Best start to a trailer ever, by the way!