Scary Shorts! Zombiemania (2008)

Zombiemania is a 2008 Starz! documentary directed by Donna Davies. Featuring interviews with many of the legends of the horror genre, Zombiemania is a great introduction to the field to non-horror fans. However, many undead enthusiasts will be puzzled by the focus on American directors, actors and authors and the total exclusion ( except for Shaun of the Dead) of Fulci or any foreign influences on the field. Additionally, Zombiemania skips entirely any mention of such great films as Return of the Living Dead or Zombie Holocaust or many others. In fact, outside of George Romero's works, not a lot of films are highlighted.

I did appreciate interviews with Max Brooks, author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide, and Tom Savini and Gregory Nicotero. Some great coverage of "Zombie walks" are shown and horror video games are mentioned almost in passing.

Basically, Zombiemania is about half of a fantastic documentary. Toolshed verdict: 7 out of 10 viscious vipers.

Dead Snow (2009)

They're Zombies! They're Nazis! They're Nazi-Zombies! Yes my blood-thirsty bretheren Dead Snow delivers!

I'm not really sure where I heard of Dead Snow (probably Freddy in Space) but I was hooked at once. Oh sure, there have been Nazi-Zombie movies before, i.e. Shockwaves, Night of the Zombies, Oasis of the Zombies. And there have been Nazi-Zombie books (The Night Boat-Robert R. McCammon) and even Nazi-Zombie video games (Call of Duty: World at War) but that's just not enough of a great concept, is it?

Anywho, I put Dead Snow on my Netflix list at once. I was pretty psyched over it but not quite enough to bump it to #1. And then, lo and behold, Dead Snow gets released to instant view! Thank the Maker! But, is it worth watching, once you look past the (admittedly) super-awesome-funtime Nazi Zombies?

Yup, sure is. Dead Snow is a goofy, funny,gorey, scary rush from director/writer Tommy Wirkola and writer Stig Frode Henriksen. This movie abounds in winks to the horror fan base. Everything from t-shirts, casual remarks and Evil Dead-style "arming up" is in there, kids.

The plot? Seven college kids spend the weekend at a remote, snow-bound cabin yada yada yada. You guys know the score. Anywho,a crusty, crazy mountaineer shows up to warn the victims-to-be about the legendary platoon of blood-thirsty Nazis that made life a living hell for the local Norwegians during Occupation sixty years before. Finally having enough of the beatings, torture and what not, the locals rose up and drove what few Nazis they didn't kill into the mountains. Whereupon, the Nazis(presumably) froze to death. Of course they did but of course, that's not the end of the story. The gang finds hidden loot the Nazi stole from the locals and I'm pretty sure you know what happens next.

I ususally have a tough time getting into foreign films. Sadly, I get too distracted trying to read subtitles when I should be digging the movie. However, Dead Snow was so familiar and campy, I mostly just ignored the dialogue and watched the disembowelings. And, my weren't there lotsa disembowelings? And enough blood to almost fill ten minutes worth of Brain Dead.

So, what else is there to recommend in Dead Snow? The cinematography was gorgeous; lotsa lovely shots of Norwegian fjords and mountains. A good looking cast that seemed to be having a loads of fun.

Anything wrong with Dead Snow? Well, it was just a little too derivative of Sean of the Dead. That was a small hiccup though. I can't see how anyone could write a horror-comedy featuring zombies that won't strongly remind you of Sean.

Toolshed verdict? 9/10 deomonic goosestepping Obersturmfurhers

Fi' Dolla' Show! Severed (2005)

Ah, man, where to begin? Severed starts off promising and quickly fizzles, dragging along about 3 times longer than was welcome. Bad, just bad.

I gotta tell you, at first I was intrigued with the creative spin on the slow zombie genre. Severed is set in an isolated logging camp in the Pacific Northwest. It seems that the big bad multinational logging concern was sponsoring genetic engineering on the forest in the hope of increasing yields. Instead, the trees begin developing a mutagenic sap that turns people into mindless 28 Days Later style zombies when introduced into the blood stream. Bad news for the loggers in said camp. Bad news for the hippy protesters chaining themselves to trees. Bad news for the CEO's son, who shows up to find out why production has ceased. Initially, Severed hits the ground running.

Then the sour notes began to hit. Terrible CGI? Oh, you betcha! Gorehounds beware; the bloodsplatters are particularly unconvincing. No one expects topshelf gore effects in low budget films like this but Severed looks like they used MS Paint to draw blood flying around. Speaking of blood, when you completely coat your characters faces in blood, it's tough to tell them apart! Especially with lifeless, one-dimensional characters as presented in Severed.

Action sequences are likewise unconvincing. When battling the zombies, the actors just seemed to be attempting to avoid hurting themselves.

Corny dialogue? Hell yes, corn by the truckload. Every other line made me wince a little. I just had absolutely NO chance to immerse myself in this movie.

Well, I could go on like this for hours but I just don't have it in myself to beat this particular dead horse.

Can I say anything nice about Severed? Well, it's not the worst horror movie I've ever seen. Severed promised a neat original hook but completely choked. Look, no one expects much from a flick that was part of a $10 multipack from Best Buy. So I can't say my expectations were too high. Severed lived right down to them.

Toolshed verdict? 1/10 blood-splattered plaid shirts.

Fi' Dolla' Show! Night of the Living Dead (1990)

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Greetings, ghouls. Today I'm introducing a new feature here at the Toolshed. Fi' Dolla' Shows! Cheapy-cheap DVDs I found at Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, etc. First up: Night of the Living Dead (1990) directed by Tom Savini.

Regular readers of the Toolshed (both of you) know I'm not averse to remakes in general. Advances in filmaking tech or the chance to introduce a classic staple of the horror genre to a new generation are worthy reasons to film remakes. If done with respect to the original, I say bring 'em on. My chief peeve with the rash of remakes Hollywood is generating ad nauseum these days is that they're simply trying to generate cash while exploiting a license languishing in their vaults. Happily, Night of the Living Dead '90 (hereafter known as NOTLD 90)falls into the first category.

NOTLD 90 took a crictical thrashing when released but has garnered more respect over the years. As well it should. I think most critics were espcially harsh simply because Mr. Savini had the audacity to be remaking a classic. What seems to be overlooked is that Savini was no iconoclast; his remake honors the original without being a shot-for-shot refilming.

Director Savini is famous for his brilliant makeup effects and practical effects as well as occasional turns in front of the camera. Mr. Savini knows the genre and genuine affection shows in his directorial debut. NOTLD 90 features a familiar cast of horror favorites, including Bill Moseley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and most everything Rob Zombie puts on film) and Tony Todd (of Candyman fame) as the iconic Ben. I was also very impressed with Patricia Tallman's Barbara. Possibly the best feature of NOTLD 90 was the re-imagining of Barbara as an alpha-female personality.
Ms. Tallman ably goes from shocked and bewildered to can-do over the course of the film. I may be cursed by the horror fanbase at large for saying this but Judith O'Dea's Barbara in the original bored me to tears. She was a one-note character.

Of course, anything associated with Tom Savini is going to have top-notch makeup effects and though NOTLD 90 has been eclipsed by twenty years of innovations, the zombies are still grody enough to pass muster. I was a little surprised by the restraint on the gore quotient, however. I would've thought a Savini-helmed Night would feature blood by the buckets.

The supporting cast, for the most part, turned in a competent though not stellar performance. Tom Towles, for example, as the sleazy Harry Cooper seemed to fall short of being sleazy enough. William Butler (Tommy) and Katie Finneran (Judy Rose) were earnest and well meaning but just not ENOUGH. To be blunt, I didn't care all that much when they were killed when I was supposed to be shocked.

And that is NOTLD 90's failing. Mr. Savini's remake is competent but didn't really reach for the notoriety of the original. Of course, it's harder to shock us these days, and who doesn't know the well-worn plot Mr. Savini tried to tell the story with? Simply put, if you're going to remake a classic, you gotta give us something new to be amazed over. NOTLD 90 doesn't give us anything that George Romero or Lucio Fulci hasn't shown us already. Hell, even Dan O'Briens Return of the Living Dead gave us fast zombies.

Still, Tom Savini's directorial debut shouldn't have been as lambasted as it was. NOTLD 90 has it's heart in the right place, if nothing else and it was fun viewing. Although I couldn't say that I was emotionally invested in any of the characters it was still worth the $5 I gave Wal-Mart.

Final verdict? NOTLD 90 has some great zombies and is a fun, if overly familiar, flick. Nothing special but deserves a viewing or two.

Toolshed gives it 6.5/10 shrieking bonesaws.