It should serve as no surprise that a zombie movie produced by Uwe Boll is nothing but an empty and utterly tedious experience. I’m not going to proclaim “Eaters” as the worst zombie movie ever made, but it’s definitely one where there’s simply no substance and nothing to take away from it. It’s not too much to ask for a zombie movie where we can empathize with characters, and experience something exciting while also having a good time. “Dead Set” managed to accomplish that well.
At the moment there are almost five remakes of “Night of the Living Dead” in the works, as well as another attempt to remake “Day of the Dead.” One of the “Night” remakes is being tackled by Romero’s opportunist son, who wants to give us an origin of some kind. And there is just no stopping indie filmmakers from digging in to Romero’s masterwork and fiddling around with it to mold their own film out of it. There are many more indie filmmakers right now who think they can do better than Romero ever could, and we’ll just keep seeing more “Night” remakes. Especially now that making movies is so easy and accessible. What was once a tough task that required immense resources is now something that can be accomplished on a fucking cell phone. A cell phone!
Here is the list of “Night” remakes ranked from “Inspired” to “What Were They Thinking?” We’re not counting sequels, remakes of sequels, unofficial sequels, or loose sequels. We’re talking about movies that attempted to completely redo the 1968 “Night of the Living Dead.”
What is your least favorite “Night” remake?
I won’t call “Dead Rising” the most original zombie movie ever made, but you have to give it to Zach Lipovsky. He makes a movie based around a zombie video game, and delivers big time on zombie carnage. Unlike “Resident Evil.” That said, while I wasn’t completely bowled over by the movie adaptation of the hit video game, I did find “Dead Rising” to be a surprisingly solid and entertaining zombie romp in the end. Its supply of guts and grue is hefty and it packs a punch with slick direction and some neat casting here and there. The film mixes dark comedy, horror and science fiction surprisingly well, with some good laughs followed by genuine zombie frights that I just dug from beginning to end.
I won’t accuse “Dead Kansas” of being a masterpiece of zombie cinema, but damn it you have to appreciate Aaron Carter’s ambition behind this project. I assume if given a huge budget, Carter would have given us a damn good zombie movie. But since it’s mainly a film on a tight budget, he gives us the best movie he can, and at times “Dead Kansas” has glimmers of a strong zombie film. In between it’s mediocre fodder with shaky performances. But damn, you have to appreciate the inherent ambition here.
The mythical Doctor Frankenstein spent years perfecting his monster which was tragically chased in to the maniacal doctor’s castle for all eternity. Hoping to escape the hatred from the villagers, the doctor travels to Hollywood in hopes of finding a way to perfect a formula. They accidentally cross paths with Alvin and the Chipmunks who are performing at a theme park very similar to Universal and Disney. While there they accidentally interrupt the Doctor who is performing experiments on his monster.
No better way to celebrate Halloween than with David, Alvin, Simon and Theodore. As usual, the Chipmunks dynasty is always on point to celebrate any occasion. This time out they celebrate Halloween with five Halloween and horror themed animated shorts that I had a really good time with. It’s tough to dislike the Chipmunks, and even in modern times there’s just something about their misadventures and brotherly dynamic that makes them charming and entertaining. Alvin is still Alvin, and his family is still the lovable characters that either put up with his antics, or match wits with him.
Director Ryan Spindell’s short horror film is something of sheer brilliance if only for the fact that he perpetuates the horror of the dentist. Going to the dentist is something no one enjoys doing and “The Root of the Problem” plays upon that fear by taking a young woman and putting her in to the hot seat of delirium and what may or may not be a heinous plot to take her wisdom teeth.