A Love Letter to "The Walking Dead"

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kdpINcSWARNING: We spoil everything about the comic book series so if you’ve yet to catch up with the horror comic book, display caution. Plus, the comic book may reflect storylines from the television series so, again, display caution.

Back when “The Walking Dead” began running at local comic shops across America, I just wasn’t a comic book reader. I’d spent most of my young years being an absolute hardcore comic book geek and making it my mission to catch the latest issue of Superman and keep up with the most recent multi-issue arcs, and for a long time I swore I wouldn’t stop reading comic books. To this day I still have my crate with my personal collection of Superman, Avengers, and X-Men comics tucked away somewhere in plastics with back boards.

But somewhere along the line I pretty much lost my track and moved on to something else. Frankly I moved on to collecting movies and they became replacements for comics, but mostly it was because of the dwindling outlets for purchasing comics that did me in. Once you could go in to a pharmacy to buy some comic books, maybe a grocery store, and often times the news stands were packed to the brim with amazing comic books being handled by an Asian or Mexican man who had no idea what the hell Spawn was, but was more than happy to stock them.

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The Tree of Life (2011)

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kKPYRJ3Back in 2011, there were rumblings of audience members in attendance of “The Tree of Life” screenings who were asking for their money back. Primarily because they didn’t understand the film. Sitting here I can safely say that this movie isn’t for everyone. It’s a thinking man’s picture, an existentialists dream, a study in to the nature of our universe and what we view as world’s colliding and collapsing in on themselves. I couldn’t understand what was so difficult to comprehend with “The Tree of Life.” It’s a film about the crisis of faith, pure and simple.

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More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead (2011) (DVD)

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BSqHk4mOne of the most enduring films of the 1980’s, “Return of the Living Dead” is such a relic of its decade and time that it’d be impossible to remake it. Which is why it’s become such a beloved film among horror aficionados and film buffs alike. For its time, “Return of the Living Dead” was a fresh bold take on the zombie sub-genre and to this day continues to be a template upon which most horror comedies and zombie films are created. Dan O’Bannon’s zombie was an intelligent, unstoppable, lightning fast force of nature and it shockingly only worked for “Return of the Living Dead.” All other efforts were null and void.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 – The Dream Child (1989)

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“Dream Child” is admittedly one of my favorite of the Nightmare sequels. While it doesn’t do much to further the lore like “Dream Master,” either, it does strike me as something of an entertaining installment in the series. Even years after watching it on network television time and time again, it still holds up very well to scrutiny. The premise is actually very creative this time around. Though it’s still a cheap excuse to keep the series moving, it’s quite innovative. Freddy has been revived once again and this is through the dreams of Alice. He revives his mother who gives birth to Freddy yet again, and Freddy is able to take on his true form as an adult. He knows something Alice doesn’t.

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Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

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nightmare_on_elm_street_6_p“Freddy’s Dead” is what you would call absolute zero for the franchise and god help me if it isn’t one of my all time favorite guilty pleasures. This is the film that my dad took my brother and I to decades ago and we experienced it in its full 3D glory, loving every single solitary second of it. This is the moment when Freddy Krueger finally dropped all pretense and became a demonic Scud Farkus, a clown prince of the dream world who resorted to cartoon tricks and treats to murder his victims rather than revel in the evil of it all. It’s a shame too because this is technically the final entry in the series and rather than play to the Craven crowds and deliver us a helping of frightening Freddy, we’re instead given funny Freddy. I use the term funny loosely, of course.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

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nightmare_on_elm_street_3As a person who has taken part in lucid dreams, it’s refreshing to see a sequel strive to turn the premise of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” completely on its head. With states of dreaming and forms of the sub-conscious there is so much one can do with the premise that it’s a dream come true to see folks like Frank Darabont and Wes Craven re-visit the material and figure out a new way to deliver it to fans. Considered arguably the best of the “Nightmare” films, “Dream Warriors” takes a look at what would happen if the kids in Freddy’s dream world decided to finally start fighting back once and for all.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 – The Dream Master (1988)

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A-Nightmare-on-Elm-Street-4With “Dream Warriors” there was a purpose for its premise. It was the last of the Elm Street children and they had a score to settle with Freddy. With this Renny Harlin installment there isn’t much that can be done beyond the visual and Harlin brings it to the forefront with all sorts of surrealism that audiences will appreciate. Sadly, the cause for Freddy’s revival isn’t too creative, nor is the reason for the continuation of this narrative. There could have been a lot more to do with the concept of the dream warriors, and “Dream Master” is sadly just a vague reflection of the creativity brought to the aforementioned.

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