Spending all of his time providing limbs and blood for directors, Gregory Nicotero is trying his hand behind the camera offering up a sneak peek at his abilities with the short horror comedy “United Monster Talent Agency.” As with many first outings, his is a dedication to the monster movies of old with cameos from some of the greatest monsters as well as cameos from some of the greatest directors (…and Eli Roth), all of which is set to the tune of the classic fifties news reels.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Dead Set (2008)
“Does this mean we’re not on telly anymore?”
Reality television is much too ingrained and injected in to the base of our society and culture to consider it a passing fad these days. We’re living in a world where we’re absolutely obsessed by surveillance, voyeurism and the like to where we can’t get enough of it and we’re provided with an abundance of television that feeds such needs. “Dead Set,” originally a five part television mini-series,” is set in the UK where reality television is a national past time setting down on a society who is consumed by it. It’s so consumed by tabloids and scandals, it can’t stop and notice that we’re being consumed by a ravenous disease turning our entire society in to flesh eating zombies.
Return to Halloweentown (2006)
I’m not sure why, but Kimberly J. Brown is nowhere to be found in this final film of the “Halloweentown” series. I read an interview online from Kimberly J. Brown that explains she never got a call to come back to the movies, even though she was more than willing. I peg it to the fact that Sara Paxton was then blossoming to be tailored for Disney Channel stardom, thus they kicked out the very adorable and quite talented Brown in exchange for the more streamlined and younger Sara Paxton. The difference is immensely noticeable as the character seems completely different from the original Marnie. Paxton is a good actress, but she’s not as charming or soft spoken as Brown was, thus there’s an element missing from this final film. Also, Debbie Reynolds is nowhere to be found, another sad fact considering she was a key element to the formation of Marnie. She was her Obi-Wan. Without her, Marnie is just another heroine.
Brain Dead (2007)
Director Kevin S. Tenney, the mind behind eighties cult classics like “Night of the Demons” and “Witchboard” aims about as low to the ground as possible with a mini-budget horror comedy that’s neither scary nor funny. I guess it takes a special kind of mind to appreciate what Tenney has to offer audiences, but I just couldn’t find the fun in what was really just a series of misfires in an unfocused muddled movie that, in the end, is just a waste of time. I enjoy horror movies where you have to just go on auto pilot and not ask for logic, but “Brain Dead” asks almost too much from its audience.
A Series of Tweets from the Recently Re-Animated Dead
Recovered from @FleshEatr87; Dictated By Joseph Ovelito
Despite experiencing a resurgence in popularity akin to the kind enjoyed by any fading star who “accidentally” releases a hot sex-tape, zombies have never had fair treatment. In the realm of horror movie villains, they are the nameless drones, the middle children, the pawns on the chess board of scary cinema. Vampires get to be sex symbols, slashers get cool back stories, and evil Leprechauns get to explore space and America’s inner cities (Leprechaun 4: In Space and Leprechaun in the Hood, represent). Zombies, on the other hand, exist solely so our protagonists can spend half the movie running away from them in terror before realizing that destroying the head/brain isn’t very difficult when the thing that’s stalking you moves about as quickly as an amputee wading through cement. We never get to know what they are actually thinking… until now, that is. With modern technology revolutionizing the way we communicate with one another/download pornography, it seems only fair that even the undead get a chance to play with all the new gadgets. Here’s what might happen if a zombie was equipped with a smart phone and a Twitter account. Enjoy…
Ticked off Trannies with Knives (2010)
Try as you might, I guarantee you you’ll never find another movie like “Ticked off Trannies with Knives” ever again. You’ve seen what men can do when they’re out for revenge, you’ve seen what women can do when they’re out for revenge, but never have you seen a movie centered on transsexuals who have had enough gay bashing and abuse and decide to band together to wreak havoc on their tormentors. And for that, Israel Luna’s horror thriller gets a bonafide recommendation mainly for his willingness to expose folks to the sub-genre now defined as transploitation where a group of tormented transsexuals and drag queens band together with their own phallic symbols to mutilate anyone and anything that gets in their way and makes their lives pure misery.
Night of the Demons (2009)
I’ll be the first to say that a remake of “Night of the Demons” is pointless. While it is considered a mild classic among horror geeks who remember the video age, that’s about as far as we can go from calling it a classic. It’s a fun party movie. This inane 2010 remake is more brand name exploitation than a remake. Sure it’s called “Night of the Demons,” and features some rather forgettable nods to the original (Diora Baird does a memorable variation of the lipstick-nipple scene, though), but it’s not entirely a remake. In the end though even admirers of the original 1988 horror film (all five of you!) may be able to gladly place this as a companion piece to the original and have some fun with its eighties trash horror comedy style that is never afraid to poke fun at itself but is also never above creeping the audience in to submission.