by jellydonut25 » Wed Oct 18, 2017 3:22 am
Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
The Crazies
Land of the Dead
Season of the Witch
Monkey Shines
Martin
Two Evil Eyes
Bruiser
Diary of the Dead
Survival of the Dead
Monster Squad
The Final Girls
The H-Man
The Human Vapor
Secret of the Telegian
Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare
Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Night of the Living Dead 1990
The Great Yokai War - Miike essentially remakes Spook Warfare to great success. Lots of fun, and though I don't know if I would have liked it as a kid, I feel like kids in Japan who are lucky enough to have seen this movie probably love it. It's a great kids film. 4/5
Dawn of the Dead (2004) - It lacks the oomph of Romero's film (doesn't stick with you when it's all over) but it's still a really fun movie in its own right. It's got a solid cast, some good set pieces, solid gore, and fun twists on the zombie sub genre. I'd say it's a shade better than the NOTLD remake, and somewhere around Land in terms of just being a great bit of zombie fun. 4/5
Circle (2015) - Not to be confused with the woeful Tom Hanks, Emma Watson film THE Circle, this is a bottle movie that is almost entirely set in one location, where 50 people are placed in a room, and have to vote on which one of them dies next. It's not too long, but I wonder if a rewatch would have it start to feel like it's overstaying its welcome, as it might be better served as like a 50 minute episode of Black Mirror or something. Still, it's pretty enjoyable, honestly, and manages to work its premise very well. The bit at the end feels like something more worthy of a show, where the director might lack a touch of confidence that the idea has been gone through effectively and can point to the stinger as "opening the world to more potential exploration," but hey, it doesn't ruin the movie. 3/5
Cult of Chucky - Wow. First of all, no seventh film in any series has any right to be (a) still pulling through continuity, (b) still able to make its audience guess or (c) so creative, but Cult of Chucky does it. I wonder if it'll hold up on repeat viewings, knowing more the end-game (because I'll be honest...it was a bit of a let down, and the climax didn't feel like a good blowoff, more like a set up for a future film), and being less engrossed by being genuinely uncertain of where everything was going, but Brad Dourif still has some great moments, there are still some fun kills, and it's a visually pretty unique film...maybe not particularly beautiful, but unique, and I can appreciate that after nearly 30 years, something so earnestly stupid is still going this strong and trying to pave new ground. In an era of remakes, and grounded realism and nostalgia porn, Don Mancini dares to do something different....and yet at the same time, comfortable and warm and familiar. Remember when these long-running franchises used to essentially force themselves to forge FORWARD instead of just hitting the reset button every few years? Mancini remembers...and he's willing to put himself "in" that box, which oddly enough forces one to think OUTSIDE the box. You can't just repeat yourself because you have to reconcile everything that came before. I dunno, even with this one definitely not being my favorite entry or anything, I feel like every Chucky film since 3 has made me appreciate the franchise more and more...and that's as someone who absolutely HATES Seed. I still feel like I'd rather see a franchise TRY new things than just be enslaved by its first outing or two and constantly bow to the past. Cult of Chucky doesn't always hang together as a film, and it's one of those "that was somehow amazing and terrible at the same time" movies, but it was a wild ride. I'm gonna give it a 3.5/5 until I figure out whether that's going to be adjusted up or down.