What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[trebor8273]

OK, but far better films similar too this around same time, Beverly Hills cop, lethal weapon, kindergarten cop to name a few. The films suffers from being a tad on the slow side with not a lot happening and both leads aren't that convincing in their roles as cops. 6/10

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

First viewing and now probably my favorite Romero movie, a great take on the usual vampire movie,well directed and acted. 9/10

Up tonight either stakeout or twins.

Amazing film that has George Romero scoring off the charts with writing, editing and direction. Would love to own a blu-ray of it.

[Justin101]

I'm feeling all the love for Martin, it's long been my favourite Romero, I first saw it on the Redemption VHS in the 90s.

[Rik]

Think I might watch it today before I head out teaching

[keirarts]

Night of the living dead

Possibly one of the most important horror movies made. along with Psycho it dragged horror kicking & screaming from gothic melodrama & atomic monsters into the modern era with a level of brutality and rawness that had been missing from modern horror. Shot with a team of people more used to shooting commercials, the ability to shoot quickly and effectively benefits the film immensly. The opening scene of Johhny and barbara going to visit the cemetary only to be suddenly attacked and throwing the world into chaos is still effective today. Little clues are thrown, like the emergency broadcast that Johnny switches off. We see the Lurxching ghoul in the background of the scene. At first he seems to be someone who accidentally wandered into shot. It's only when he gets near we realise somethings wrong. The colourised version ruined things by making the lurching 'zombie' (they are never reffered to as that) played by Bill Heinzman luminescent green, so its clear he's some kind of monster from the start.
While Romero always seemed play down or dismiss the politics of the film, stating duane jones was simply the best actor in the Pittsburgh area, its hard to ignore his casting adds a lot to the film. The whole disperate group of characters who find themselves trapped in the remote farmhouse are ultimately doomed by their inability to work together. Given the political turmoil of the time with civil rights its almost hard not to draw paralells. If Mr Cooper and Ben could simply listen to each other the whole group might have lived.
Ultimately, if it had been the only film romero ever made it would have sealed his reputation as a master of horror. Its still a favourite of mine and never ceases to entertain me.

[keirarts]

Dawn of the dead

Following on from Night, Romero decided to revisit his first success after the mixed reactions to films like the failed There's alway vanilla, the interesting season of the witch, the strangelove inspired the crazies and the sublime Martin. He had the finaincial backing of Dario Argento, himself riding high after a series of successes and even lucked out on the newly constructed monroeville mall owned by friends.
The film has a group of surviviors fleeing the city in the wake of the dead returning. Civil order is breaking down, law & order is disintegrating. Heading out in a chopper they discover things are little better out in the wilderness. The redneck posses and national guard are making sport of the growing numbers of the dead but its still precarious as the team realise they are risking their lives each time they refuel or stop to rest. At this point they stumble across the mall. Initially they stop to get some rest in the civil defense shelter, however realising the fully stocked mall might contain everything they need they decide to secure it and make it their home.
Given malls were not as widesrpead at that time, Romeros film seems whether by accident or intention the growing culture of conspicuous consumption and the scenes of shuffling corpses in the mall would mirror scenes across 80's America. Romeros critique of consumer culture is not so much a sub text as a text. The films message is failry blatant and fits the grand satire he seems to be after. I prefer Romero's cut for this reason as Argento's european cut diminishes the films wicked humour and makes it more of a adventure movie with copious gore and it doesn't work half as well.

[bleakshaun]

Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
The 4th installment of the series begins with Kristen paranoid and nervous thinking Freddy will return, surprise surprise he does thanks to a dog pissing on his grave. Freddy kills Kincaid, Joey and Kristen, Kristens friend Alice survives and takes Kristens dream power; which Freddy uses to kill of her friends.
This for me is where the decline from horror to comedy really becomes noticeable. there are still elements of horror however these are lacking in every way. There are still some good kills and the one-liners Freddy comes out with are very humourous; not enough though to really boost the film.
6/10

[keirarts]

Day of the Dead.

Considered on its release as something of an anticlimax after the wild and over the top Dawn. Dead is a somewhat bleak and sombre affair as a group of military & scientists holed up in a missle silo slowly begin to turn on each other. Things come to a head when Captain Rhodes is given command after his superior dies. Rhodes, played with sadisitic glee by Joe Pilato, has a hair trigger temper and wants to get his men out of the silo. He's reached his limits with the scientists who are lost for answers and is prepared to either kill or abandon them if needs be. Only Dr Logan (richard liberty) seems to be able to talk him round. Logan is a bit of a fruitcake to say the least, but his research is beginning to show results. Logan has opted to attempt to domesticate the dead and his star pupil BUB is showing an awareness not seen in the rest of the dead. Ultimately it's Logans experiments that end up pushing things to far and the whole set up comes crashing down in traditional Romero style.
While Day is considered the bleakest of the trilogy , its a reputation thats a little unfair. Ultimately, while its about peoples inability to work together to solve a common problem, it also suggests that it's important to realise some things cannot be solved, that material things are ultimately unimportant , if not imprisoning. Howard Sherman as Bub gives the best performance of 1985 and his interactions with Richard Liberty are one of the most entertaining parts of the film. The gore is spectacular, it was initially quite heavily cut but the uncut version has some of the best of any of Romero's films. Over time the films reputation has improved and some people even regard it now as the best of the series.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Day of the Dead.

Over time the films reputation has improved and some people even regard it now as the best of the series.

I prefer it over Dawn but I think you'd be daft to say it's better than Night!
I went to a screening of this at the local cinema about 18 months ago, it works so well with a like-minded audience!

Choke on 'em...

[keirarts]

Land of the dead.

In a walled off area of central pittsburgh, a feudal society has arisen surviving on scavenging the zombie filled wasteland. The wealthy rulers led by Paul Kaufman ( Dennis Hopper) live in luxury in the high-rise fiddlers green, while at ground level, soldiers and workers and underworld that all keep things running . the main source of protection for the colony is Dead reckoning, a highly armoured vehicle used for foraging missions. After years of subservience to Kaufman, Cholo DeMora (John Leguizamo) realises he'll never be allowed to rise above his station and claim a flat in fiddlers green so he steals dead reckoning and takes it into the wilderness, threatening to launch a missile at the building unless he's paid whats due. Kaufman in desperation turns to Riley Denbo (Simon Baker) the designer of Dead Reckoning and his team to prevent Cholo from taking vengence. Matters are complicated when Big Daddy, a zombie with Bub-like intelligence decides to launch a raid on the city and leads an army of the dead to the city.
Land was Romero's return to the genre after years in the wilderness writing scripts for Hollywood that never got developed. The success of Shaun of the Dead, a homage to Romeros work created an appetit for zombie flicks that has not gone away. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg even turn up briefly in one scene. Land was received comewhat cooly by fans, and its taken a while for people to warm to it. The studio's removal of lots of trademark gore probably didn't help much. A lot of it was reinstated for home video which explains why its reputation appears to have grown. I like it more and more each time I see it. As a 'state of the nation' commentary it works well as a critique of post 9/11 america, with Hoppers Kaufman making an admirable stand in for Donald Rumsfeld ( Hopper himself said he based his performance on him) Also late 20th century to early 20th century American Capitalism where the American dream of unfettered social mobility has been stymied by an elite ruling class determined to cling to wealth and privilidge.