by jellydonut25 » Thu Oct 05, 2017 1:13 am
October thus far:
Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
The Crazies
Land of the Dead - I like this movie a lot. It's definitely a noticeable step down from the previous three, but it feels totally at home with all of them and a completely worthy addition to the franchise. Quirky characters, social commentary, and cool twists on the genre/lore that don't take anything away from the originals and feel like they fit in perfectly with what came before (specifically I'm thinking of the fireworks thing, which is never mentioned one way or another in the original three but sure, it's a cool twist). It (like Day) has some layout problems with knowing where the action is all taking place, and it doesn't feel quite as visceral as the previous three, but I still like it as a very fun zombie movie. 3.5/5.
Monkey Shines - This movie catches a lot of flak for its goofier moments but I think what actually holds it back is that it's too long and has too many side plots that don't really coalesce into the whole. If it were 90-100 minutes instead of two hours, I think it'd be a really fun, tight little thriller. Still, I kinda enjoyed it, more than I was expecting to for sure. 3/5
Season of the Witch (aka Hungry Wives) - Hm. Its budget holds it back for sure...especially since I watched the "Hungry Wives" edit which cuts out like thirty minutes of the movie and so it feels like it was edited on the fly by someone with ADD, but there are some really cool directorial flashes here, showing Romero knows how to use angles and cameras and the frame. It's more a character study of a woman who feels trapped in a (mostly) boring housewife role with an often emotionally, mildly physically abusive husband (he does stuff like slap her on the nose with newspapers) than it is a horror movie. There are horror elements, and it's an INTERESTING film, but it wasn't super enjoyable. 2.5/5.