Review: The Walking Dead Season #2 Finale at Muvico

Photo property of TWD productions

There's nothing like watching something on the big screen, and this was absolutely a finale that deserved a cinema-style presentation. My husband and I headed to Muvico at 4:30pm this evening to watch the finale of The Walking Dead with 198 other crazy, zombified fans. The free event, hosted by Chicago Horror Society, Flashback Weekend, and Zombie Army, was really a hoot. By 5pm, Bogart's restaurant in the Rosemont Muvico was flooded with the undead. As we waited to be admitted to the theater, my husband and I played The Walking Dead board game in a booth over dinner.

The theater was really comfortable and the sound and picture quality were well worth both the wait and the trip. I have a 60" TV, but it's rear projection and not HD. Even HD on a 60" LCD wouldn't have been anywhere close to this experience. With the surround sound you could hear the wheezing and oozing of a dying Dale's guts. That's right, we ended up watching not only the second to last and last episode, but even the one before that. Muvico was even nice enough to allow us to remain in the theater to watch Talking Dead. The event hosts suggested that they'll try to play the season three premiere at a similar event, and I highly suggest you go. It was a great way to enjoy a really great show, and the audience was enthusiastic without being poorly behaved.

Photo property of TWD productions

As far the episode, it was so awesome. I would have liked it no matter what, let's be honest, but they really delivered with a fast paced, no-nonsense piece of storytelling. From the jump, the story moves at a break-neck pace and people are killed off and abandoned left and right. I found the confusion and panic extremely realistic, especially when they drove off and left Andrea behind. That's exactly what would happen, and I appreciate this show's willingness to not tie everything up in an easy little bow.

Sorry to see Jimmy and Patricia go (I guess that means no prison rebellion? lol.), but they seemed like easy enough characters to kill off. To be honest, I'm glad that they didn't kill off any principal characters; after the last two episodes, they didn't need to. I found it a little convenient that everyone met up on the road, but maybe I missed them discussing that as a contingency plan earlier in the season? Did that happen or have they perfected some sort of group telepathy?

Photo property of TWD productions

My only other complaint would be that Rick went about explaining the whole Shane thing in a totally bass-ackwards way. The way he explained it, it sounded like he had a choice; he made himself sound like the bad guy. The reality was that Shane backed him into a corner and gave him no other choice, but the way he tells the story makes him sound like a tyrannical loose cannon. I have entertained the notion that maybe Rick has convinced himself that killing Shane was a choice and not a requirement because if it was a choice than Rick ultimately had control. It might be a more comfortable scenario for Rick to accept. Still, I think he could have phrased that whole story in a more diplomatic way.

But, let's talk about the most awesome parts of the episode--Michonne showing up and the appearance of the prison. Michonne's appearance was awesome, but to be fair I totally called that it would happen that way after the first or second commercial break. I don't care if it was predictable though; it was also freaking cool. I'm glad that they stuck with the iconic first image of her from the comics, and I'm just glad to see her around. She's such a valuable part of the narrative.

Photo property of TWD productions

And of course, seeing the prison was pretty cathartic for us comic fans. That's where some crazy business is going to go down. Its pan out appearance was very season three finale of Battlestar Galactica (anyone else remember? when it pans out and we see Earth?), and I remember loving that foreshadowing--a sign of things to come. There was also plenty of prison foreshadowing in Rick's speech about finding a place to "start making a life". In the comics, that place is the prison for sure. I loved the line of "we won't make that same mistake again" referring to getting a complacent sense of safety...of course, in the comic they do. Ahh, you guys.

Well, time to reenter my cryogenic freezing chamber until October. I guess I'll pop out to post reviews, events, and news...but other than that it's right back into my carbonite hibernation.

News: Guest Announcements for Flashback Weekend

For Chicago horror lovers, Flashback Weekend is often a summer must. This convention has been around for a decade, and it delights in bringing some big names in horror to the Chicagoland area. This year's highlights for zombie lovers will be Ken Foree of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. He also made a brief appearance in the 2004 version (you can check out my post on that here). I've met Mr. Foree during past conventions and can attest that he's a very chill dude. Additionally, and this is their headliner, the great John Carpenter will be present and signing autographs. If I have to list some of his movies for you, you're likely on the wrong blog, but my personal favorite (and I know it's not his best...but still) is Ghosts of Mars. I guess you could sort of say that's an "infected" movie.

There are plenty of other horror and zombie themed guest making an appearance at Flashback this year, so check out the convention's webpage here. Hopefully I'll see you there this summer! The convention will be held at the Crown Plaza in Rosemont on August 10th-12th. I'll post more information as it comes through.

Review: Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave

I'm a big fan of mindless and crappy movies on SyFy Saturdays. The disaster movies are personally my favorite. When there was a zombie-themed Saturday a couple of weeks ago, I decided to DVR Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave for a future mindless day of R&R. That's how 1pm today found me on my couch with a bowl of frosted mini wheats and the TV remote.

This movie is bad, but I knew that would be the case going in. What I didn't know, however, is that it wasn't going to be like funny bad; it was just going to be sort of bad-bad. It had all the usual low budget identifiers: horrible acting, bad writing, random topless scenes. In addition to these symptoms, however, it just wasn't engaging. It was too silly and not in a good way. My personal favorite moment was when two frat zombies started talking: "Come on, Jimmy. We're frat brothers. We share everything." "Including internal organs!". I almost turned it off right there. Zombies should never, ever speak...not even to say "brainssss".

I'm not saying this flick doesn't have some of the fun of a bad, campy movie (it certainly does), but at times it crosses the line into just plain stupid and honestly kind of boring. My last negative comment would be that some of the "conceptual" stuff was super dumb or irritating. For example, one of the zombies is basically just a corpse who spends the last 20 minutes trying to hitchhike to the rave. Ridiculous and not funny. But worse than that was the choice to shoot an entire scene with a strobe light. Now that was just flat out irritating.

On a positive note, the zombie makeup was very nice, and the blood effects were usually pretty realistic looking and gross. My personal favorite was when a zombie bit a guy's cornrow off of his head. Delicious. While the dialogue and acting were horrible, the plot was at least somewhat original (the idea of idiot teenagers accidentally selling a rave drug that turns people into zombies), and it followed the plot as logically as it possibly could have. The two INTERPOL agents were kind of funny, but also just kind of randomly casted.

Overall, it was pretty much the usual SyFy Saturday offering. Maybe a smidgen worse. There are much better campy zombie movies...but I would suppose there are also probably worse ones out there. Not many, but some. I'd say skip it, really...unless you're as bored and lazy as I am.

Swag: Zombie Kicks

I am, like most women, a great lover of footwear. Whether it's a pair of combat boots or wedge sandals, I've worn them in every shape and color. So what do you get for the zombie-loving femme fatale in your life? Combine her two great loves with a pair of zombie inspired shoes from sinistersoles.com! Here are some of my favorite finds from the site:

http://www.sinistersoles.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=S-DEMONIA-ZOMBIE-103-SHOES

 

http://www.sinistersoles.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=S-FUNTASMA-BLOODY-12-SHOES-W

http://www.sinistersoles.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=S-IRON-FIST-ZOMBIE-STOMPER

http://www.sinistersoles.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDesc=N&PhotoNumber=7&ProductCode=S-IRON-FIST-ZOMBIE-STOMPER-GLO

 

 

More holiday gift ideas will be on your way. Hope your Black Friday went well, Shopping Zombies! Can't wait for the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead on Sunday!

Review: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Is the cellar the safest place or is it a death trap? This is one (of the many) questions posed during the Romero's original masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead. Although Romero sadly lost his rights to this proverbial zombie bible, it remains the number one reason for his success and for the success of the genre today. Without it, Robert Kirkman, Max Brooks and many others would still be hanging out in their parent's basements reading comics and wishing they had girlfriends. Of course, hanging out in Max Brook's childhood basement would be way cool in its own right, but I digress.

The film is a black and white beauty, so please for the love of all that is unholy, do NOT watch a colorized version. In fact, if you happen to end up in possession of a colorized version I advise you to incinerate it immediately. Also, avoid any remake like the plague. 1968. Black and White. Romero. Nothing else comes close.

Anyway, the film opens as a brother and sister visit a graveyard to place a wreath on the headstone of their long-departed dear old dad. The brother is irritable and cynical, and the sister is nervous and tired. As they lay the wreath upon the grave, the sister, Barbara, notices a man walking in the distance. His black form stands out starkly against the bright white of the skyline, and Johnny (who is quickly becoming an annoying little jack ass), begins to tease his sister with the now-popular catch phrase, "They're coming to get you, Barbara."

Now of course, Johnny thinks he's joking. He doesn't believe that the man is a zombie. How could he? What a ridiculous notion! But as the man comes nearer and nearer, it becomes clear to the viewer that something is desperately wrong. This man is not your run-of-the-mill graveyard mourner, and before anyone can say or do anything to stop it...

Goodbye, Johnny.

From there, the story never slows down. We are taken through what can only be defined as "a really bad night" for a group of survivors barricaded inside a local farmhouse. They fight the zombies as much as one another, and truly give credence to Sartre's famous quote: "Hell is other people". While the vast majority of survivors are painfully inept, one hero rises from the cesspool of idiocy: Ben.

Ben is meant for this kind of scenario, the kind of man who knows how to keep his head even when the entire world has quite literally gone to hell. He's rational, methodical and brutally honest. And yes, this reviewer does have the world's biggest crush on him. Sadly, he died many years ago and so my crush will never be realized. Sigh.

If you like the normal zombie gore, this movie has plenty of it. Do not be fooled by its black and white exterior, this is a zombie movie in the truest sense, and there's plenty of flesh-munching and gun-shooting to keep even the children of the 21st century entertained. But what this movie is really worth watching for is the character development and interaction. Romero truly knows human beings, and it is not difficult at all to believe that this is exactly the stupid way people would react in such a crisis. You'll love Ben. You'll hate everyone else. And...of course...the ending is to die for. True film making cojones.

The only complaint I'll even entertain is about some of the acting. Remember, this was a small budget film and some of the actors are just that--small budget. My personal favorite is Judy, a trendy girlfriend-type with the emotional depth of a petri dish. I've directed seven year old children who had a better grasp on communicating character emotion. But alas, this is a small flaw in an otherwise pristine masterpiece. The "corny" parts are even enjoyable for their comedic value, and one has to appreciate the film for its contribution to the genre if nothing else. If you've never seen it, call in sick tomorrow and watch it.

My review: 5 out of 5 head shots