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AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

Posted in Halloween, holiday, monsters, movies, pop culture, zombies with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Halloween, Hammer Studios, holiday, monsters, pop culture, reviews, zombies on October 15, 2013 by Paxton

I am a huge fan of Hammer’s gothic horror movies so I try to incorporate them in every one of my AWESOME-tober-fest celebrations. This year, I get to include their one crack at a zombie movie, The Plague of the Zombies.

By the mid 60s, Hammer Studios had run out of Universal horror movies to remake, so they had to start coming up with their own stuff. Hammer decided to do a movie based on the voodoo concept of the zombie. They took inspiration from the 1932 Bela Lugosi movie, White Zombie. So, in 1966, two years before Romero’s genre defining Night of the Living Dead, Hammer released The Plague of the Zombies. Hammer’s zombies, like most zombie movies before it, were created through voodoo and black magic. They are the undead, but they aren’t quite the cannibalistic walking dead you’re familiar with. They are just, “the walking dead”, period. No brain/flesh eating whatsoever. They are animated by black magic to do the bidding of the witch who resurrected them.

Here are the title screens.

POZ 00 POZ 01

The movie starts with with a voodoo ceremony. We see the grand wizard there in his royal getup. The scene is underscored by this rhythmic drumming that is being performed by actual natives. Presumably from Haiti, as we learn later that this is where our movie’s particular voodoo comes from. Check out that drummer. He is COMMITTED to this role. Get used to this Haitian drummer. He and his friends (there are about three of them) will show up throughout the movie.

POZ 02 POZ 03

An elderly doctor summoned by one of his former students to a small town to help him diagnose and help stop a rash of people dying with odd symptoms. It seems people have been dying and no one can figure out why. Least of all the young doctor.

So the old doctor’s daughter convinces him to travel to the village to help and at the same time they visit an old friend of the daughter who happens to be married to the young doctor. Things and people seem strange in the village, which they discover is run mostly by a wealthy squire. The doctor and pupil investigate the deaths and uncover many crazy goings on all tied to the enigmatic squire.

That’s the basic setup. Two doctors investigating strange deaths in a small town. Not much else going on. The actors are fairly good, but none of the Hammer regulars are in attendance (ie Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, David Prowse).

Let’s take a look at a few screenshots from the movie.

Here are the good doctor and his former pupil during their investigations of the town.

POZ 10

The only attractive woman in the movie is the young doctor’s wife who dies very early on.

POZ 14

The squire in charge of the town looks an awful lot like Guy Pearce.

POZ 06

Here’s another shot of the voodoo zombie ritual including the gussied up Grand Wizard. Oh, and there are those drummers again. And they are a-drummin’. Hammer Studios must have gotten a good deal on them.

POZ 13 POZ 07

The young doctor’s wife turns out to be a victim of Guy Pearce up there. So she dramatically returns from the dead. I like the zombie makeup they use. Looks pretty creepy. Very similar to the Exorcist makeup (scratch that, reverse it. This movie came first).

POZ 09 POZ 11

I read in a few places where the 1985 movie Return of the Living Dead claims to have originated the “zombie clawing itself out of the grave” shot. However, here in 1966, Hammer did it first.

POZ 12

This was a neat movie. Cool to see this version of zombies two years before Romero released his classic. I like this movie, but I like most all of Hammer’s movies. I like their style and atmosphere. Just something about these Hammer movies are fun and interesting to watch. The colors are always vibrant and the sets are greatly designed. However, I’m not going to lie, the movie is a bit dull in the middle. They try to explain the Haiti and voodoo away in some fast exposition and there are other characters showing up that aren’t really explained. This caused a bit of confusion for me.

However, that aside, while this isn’t as engrossing as either of Hammer’s first Dracula or Frankenstein movies, it’s still pretty good.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: The Re-animator (1985)

Posted in 80s, Halloween, holiday, monsters, movies, pop culture, zombies with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Halloween, HP Lovecraft, monsters, movies, pop culture, reviews, zombies on October 11, 2013 by Paxton

Today I’m going to talk about the 1985 cult horror film classic, Re-animator starring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton.

I have seen this movie previously. I watched it numerous times during my Fangoria “horror” phase. In the late 80s-early 90s I was a “gore hound”. I loved splatter films. Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead. All of them. Fangoria was my favorite magazine and it clued me in on many other awesome horror movies that were out for me to rent on the burgeoning VHS rental market. This was one I discovered in the pages of that awesome magazine.

Re-animator is based on the original Lovecraft short story, Herbert West – Reanimator. It’s not a direct adaptation, though. The movie takes many of the characters and some of the situations and re-imagines them a bit. While the Lovecraft story is sort of an homage to the original Shelley Frankenstein, the movie is a parody of both the Lovecraft and Shelley stories. It takes the elements of horror and the macabre from Lovecraft’s story and infuses much dark humor into the situations.

Some might think that this movie doesn’t fit into the traditional “zombie” genre. Herbert West is re-animating the dead, so his creations are, in effect, zombies. Though maybe not the mindless brain-eating zombies popularized by Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead. You could probably also throw this movie into the “mad scientist” genre.

The plot revolves around Herbert West. Newly arrived at the Miskatonic University medical school. He rents a room from Dan Cain, student and boyfriend to Megan, the daughter of the medical school dean. Things start going awry when Dan discovers that Herbert is performing medical experiments with a brand new serum he’s invented for bringing the dead back to life. Dan and Megan are drawn into Herbert’s deadly machinations as the bodies not only begin to fall, but continue to rise up again.

I can see the elements of Lovecraft’s story that were re-imagined as I watch this movie. Herbert constantly wanting fresher dead bodies, Dean Halsey becoming a zombie and being institutionalized and reanimating a head separate from the body. Now that I’ve read the story it’s cool to see this in the movie I know so well. The story in this movie covers roughly the first two parts of Lovecraft’s story.

As the movie started, I was sort of surprised at how blatantly the score rips off Herrmann’s Psycho score with the violins. And, for what is essentially a B-grade horror movie, the effects hold up fairly well. And while the acting is understandably, not great, the performance of Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West is nothing short of awesome. He plays the role with such earnest seriousness it makes the craziness all around him seem that much more crazy.

This film is sort of famous for the “head” scene later in the movie (you should know what I mean). And it’s every bit as awesomely weird and crazy as I remembered. So, yes, this film still holds up pretty well for me. I enjoyed watching it again. The film did well enough that it got like three sequels. I haven’t watched any of them.

However, the title of the first sequel should clue you into how much of a Frankenstein parody this series really is; Bride of Re-animator.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: Return of the Living Dead movie novelization (1985)

Posted in books, monsters, movies, zombies with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Book Report, books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, Movie Novelizations, movies, zombies on October 10, 2013 by Paxton

Today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite things to do on this blog, movie novelizations. If you read this blog, you know I love movie novelizations. Especially movies from the 70s and 80s. Today, I’m going to discuss the novelization of the zombie classic, Return of the Living Dead.

The history of this movie and its novelization is interesting in and of itself. I discussed it a bit when I reviewed the actual Return of the Living Dead movie. Essentially, John Russo who helped Romero write the original Night of the Living Dead movie, also wrote the novelization AND in 1977 a direct sequel book, Return of the Living Dead. When Romero and Russo parted ways, they split the rights. Romero went on to create his “of the Dead” movies and Russo went on to adapt his Living Dead sequel novel. However, when the book was optioned, the studio had Dan O’Bannon rewrite the book as a script with a heavy comedic undertones to the horror. That was how the movie was made. John Russo would go on to write the novelization of O’Bannon’s script.

Like I said, interesting. I’ve always enjoyed this movie so I thought I’d track down the novelization to review. Because of the convoluted back story, it’s tough to actually track this down. Many times the original Russo 1971 Return of the Living Dead book is mistaken for the 1985 movie novelization. You have to make sure you are getting the right book.

But I got it, and I’ve read it. How does it stack up to the movie? By the way, in the below review I’m assuming you’ve seen the movie.

As a novelization, it’s not that bad. Most of the scenes of the movie are there. The character names are a little different in so far as the punker group of Freddy’s friends are concerned. The major story details are the same, however, there are a few changes for the book. It’s a lot more clear in the book that Freddy used to be a major punker. He and his girlfriend Tina had walked in on their friend Sunshine after he overdosed on dope and the sight, in effect, scared them straight. Freddy got a job and was determined not to end up the same as Sunshine. This event is referenced throughout the book, but is only quickly mentioned in the movie.

The major difference in the novelization is a subplot of Russian spies who worked for the government back in the late 60s during the original events of Night of the Living Dead. They are the reason the barrels of Trioxin are mistakenly sent to the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse. The spies sent some of the barrels there to hide them away from the government so the chemical could be released again later. The spies then leave the country and head back to Russia. We have several scenes of them in this book drinking and discussing their actions spying for the government and talking about the missing Trioxin barrels.

More differences involve the character Legs (aka Trash), played by Linnea Quigley in the movie. During her graveyard striptease (which exists in the movie), in the book it turns into actual sex with her boyfriend, Suicide. And even though, in the movie, Trash returns as a zombie for a short appearance at the end, Legs, in the book, stays dead and we don’t see her again.

We get a bit more fleshing out of certain characters like the mortuary owner, Ernie. A little bit more with the paramedics that come to pick up Freddy and Frank, and even some back story to a few of the zombies that go on the rampage. Two of which were being “dressed” by Ernie in the beginning. They were a couple who died in a car wreck. As a matter of fact, the zombie that is interrogated at the end of the movie, in the book, is actually the female side of this dead couple from the beginning.

All in all, this was actually a pretty good novelization. I enjoyed reading it and seeing a little bit more than what we get out of the movie.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: Herbert West – Reanimator by HP Lovecraft (1922)

Posted in books, Halloween, movies, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Book Report, books, Halloween, holiday, HP Lovecraft, monsters, movies, pop culture, zombies on October 7, 2013 by Paxton

Today I’m going to look at a short story by one of horror’s most celebrated writers, HP Lovecraft. I’ve not really read any of his stuff before, so I thought this would be as good a chance as any to rectify the situation. I found a collection of his stories on Paperbackswap.com last year. That collection is called The Road to Madness: The Transition of HP Lovecraft.

The collection includes Lovecraft’s novella At the Mountains of Madness which Guillermo Del Toro has been trying to set up as a film adaptation for many years. But the story I was actually looking for was Herbert West – Reanimator. It was this short story on which the classic 1985 horror film The Re-animator starring Jeffrey Combs is based.

I, for one, love that cheesy horror film from 1985. So, I thought that since I was doing zombies for my Halloween theme, I’d not only revisit the awesome Re-animator movie but I’d also read and review the original Lovecraft short story.

And now I’ve read it. To be honest, the story isn’t the best. It’s not terrible, it’s just sort of fast paced and feels more like an outline of a larger story. The short story is broken up into 4 parts. While reading, it really felt like Lovecraft was repeating himself across the four parts as he continually describes Herbert West’s looks (slight in build, glasses, blond hair) and the events of the previous part of the story. In action that only takes place in about 50 pages, it gets a little annoying. I assumed while reading that this must have been originally serialized in a magazine and Lovecraft was just “refreshing” the reader’s memory from last time. And after some research I see that I’m right. The story was originally published in four parts in the amateur magazine Home Brew in 1922.

homebrew_v1-1

The story is very clearly based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. A brilliant but single-minded and unorthodox scientist, Herbert West, conducts arcane and taboo experiments on human bodies trying to reanimate dead tissue. The story is told by a narrator who has been Herbert West’s assistant/apprentice for many years. It starts off with experiments while the youths are in medical school and each part tells a different time in their lives when they begin their experiments anew. The story is told by the assistant from some unknown time in the future as he’s looking back on the events which led to Dr Herbert West’s disappearance.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the story, I guess. There is potential there and this story is much more serious in tone and dark in nature than the movie which infuses lots of humor into the story. I guess, for better or for worse, that I just know the Re-Animator movie so well that the original story just seems odd to me.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Posted in 80s, monsters, movies, pop culture, zombies with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Halloween, holiday, monsters, movies, pop culture, reviews, zombies on October 4, 2013 by Paxton

Today I return to what I remember as one of my favorite zombie movies, The Return of the Living Dead. I saw it a few times back in the day and loved it. I even had the poster on my bedroom wall for years. I personally don’t think zombies are that interesting of a monster (have I said that a few times this month?) so I like it when a movie plays with the genre and gives you something you don’t expect. Like humor. This is a funny zombie movie.

Anywho, back in the day, I was unaware of the interesting history behind this particular movie and it’s origins with the godfather of zombie movies, Night of the Living Dead.

After the success and controversy over Night of the Living Dead, director George Romero and writer John Russo parted ways. Romero left with the rights to make his “of the Dead” sequels and Russo received the rights to any “living dead” movies.

After Russo’s split with Romero, in 1978 he wrote a serious Night of the Living Dead sequel called Return of the Living Dead. Russo shopped this around to studios as a script. It was bought by producer Tom Fox. Tom Fox gave the book to Dan O’Bannon who re-wrote the script to be more humorous and further differentiate it from Romero’s movies. This new humorous and irreverent zombie movie bears little resemblance to Russo’s original story. The movie was originally supposed to be in 3-D and directed by Tobe Hooper. However, Hooper dropped out and O’Bannon went ahead as director.

The movie was finally released in 1985.

The movie is sort of a humorous side-quel to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. As explained in the beginning of the movie, the zombie ghouls in Romero’s movie were caused by a chemical called Trioxin. When the army was cleaning up the bodies and contaminated soil, some of their trucks mistakenly delivered their cargo to the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse where they sat for like 20 years until two warehouse workers mistakenly crack open one of the drums, release the chemical and cause corpses to start rising from the grave again. And all hell breaks loose.

The zombies in this movie are a little different than the usual zombies you are used to. They can speak. There is a scene in which our heroes actually interrogate a zombie to find out why they eat humans. Several times zombies use a CB radio to call more paramedics and cops so they’ll have more brains to eat. Oh, and this movie was the genesis of the idea that zombies eat brains. Romero made his zombies cannibals who ate human flesh. These zombies can eat flesh, but they NEED brains and many walk around screaming “BRAINS!” You even see a few zombies using tools like hammers and clubs. They can also open doors and set up elaborate traps like using a pulley to pry open locker doors where people are hiding. It’s a little odd to see that now because most zombies these days can’t speak and shamble along just grunting. But I kinda liked it.

Linnea Quigley

If nothing else, this movie is fun. Low rent and cheesy, but fun. The main teens are a bunch of punkers, suitably dressed and named things like Suicide, Meat, Trash, etc. Of course, Linnea Quigley plays the slutty Trash and spends the middle part of the movie mostly naked running from zombies. Then running around as a zombie. The character of Freddy is played by Thom Matthews who the very next year would go on to play Tommy in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Then, in 1988 he’d appear in the sequel, The Return of the Living Dead Part II, but as a completely different character. Not sure how that works as I haven’t seen any of the FOUR sequels they made to this movie. But I plan on giving them a chance.

And if you haven’t seen this movie, and you like cheesy 80s horror, then give this movie a chance. It’s still pretty entertaining.

And I can’t say enough how good the original soundtrack is with punk and hard rock and roll tracks all over it with bands like The Cramps, 45 Grave, TSOL and SSQ.