Such was the fire-induced gloom recently that I kept thinking it was getting near Halloweenwhich is still more or less six weeks off. But a flood of horror-themed releases (as well as less entertaining real-world horrors) certainly made it seem as if the years most pagan holiday was already nigh.
Now that we can open our windows again (just how low can that bar for positive news go?), its still appealing to stay inside and watch someone else endure reassuringly fictive travails that are worse than even off-screen 2020 has coughed up yetfingers crossed. One such film we were looking forward to reporting on but cant isAntebellum, an intriguing construct in which superstar musician Janelle Monae plays a woman surviving 21st-century academiaand, it seems, 18th-century plantation slavery. I wont spoil (as some advance reviews did for me) how those two things turn out to co-exist. What sounds like a fascinating thriller in the Jordan Peele mode of genre-fied overt race-relations commentary unfortunately proved inaccessible to moi, as screeners are increasingly being given to press under such high cautionary security measures that, well, I just couldnt figure out how to watch the damn thing despite having official permission to. Oh well.
Less troublesome was recent Netflix arrival#Alive, a South Korean zombie movie by Il Cho that is not to be confused with a concurrent low-budget U.S. horror simply entitled (like numerous films before it)Alive. The hashtagd one felt particularly relevant when it premiered last week, as it centered on a protagonist trapped in his home. Though in this case, its not ash-filled smoky air hes avoiding, but, well, you know: Shuffling cannibal undead. Alone in his familys high-rise apartment while the others are out, Ah-In Yoos immature video gamer is not in the least prepared for long-term isolation when some sort of plague descends. Relatively safe in his hidey-hole, he nonetheless must witness the carnage outside, fend off external attacks, and eventually collude with another cowering neighbor (Shin-Hye Park).
A couple years ago a French movie calledThe Night Eats the Worldput a similar protagonist in an identical situation, and let us get bored with him for 90 minutes.#Aliverisks no such stasis, serving up a busy series of perils and resourceful solutions. If what you want from zombie movies is gore, gore, and more gore, you may be disappointed, but otherwise this is smart, fun genre entertainment.
Less ingenious but also entertaining isSpiral(another title with umpteen movies attached to it), which is sort of theGet OutMeetsRosemarys Babyof homophobia. An interracial gay couple (Jeffrey Bower-Chapman, Aaron Cohen) and their bratty teenage daughter (Jennifer Laporte) move from city to country. But their reception in this lily-white community is a littleoff, or at least so it seems to the African-American half of this domestic duo.
His fears are dismissed as paranoia until its too late but suffice it to say that if you see your neighbors lurking around in a circle wearing monastic robes in the dead of night, its probably not Jesus theyre worshipping. Kurt David Harders film doesnt provide any great originality, or the most subtle of political metaphors, but its a solid piece of supernatural suspense.Spiralis available on AMCs genre streaming platform Shudder.
Likewise treading familiar ground in a diverting if not quite memorable way is Jeremy BergsThe Last Laugh, an old-school slasher with some elements of Italiangiallo. Steve Vanderzee plays a once-hot comedian whose career faded after a tragic personal setback five years ago. Now his agent has gotten him an overdue big comeback break, opening at a huge theater for a movie star returning to his standup roots.
As if he werent already nervous enough, our protagonist keeps finding evidence of violence (even dead bodies) at the venue in the hours leading up to showtime. No one else believes him, of coursebut in fact we do see a masked figure picking off the staff one by one. Just out on VOD,The Last Laughis well-made of its type, even if it fails to build much cumulative tension from its nice atmospherics and perhaps too-measured pacing. Be warned, however, that the fadeout hits a Wha? kind of narrative wall sure to infuriate those who expect a mystery to be solved, at the very least.
Beyond the stricter boundaries of horror, theresLuz: The Flower of Evil, SF-based Colombian director Juan Diego Escobar Alzates visually sumptuous debut feature. Its characters live in an isolated mountain community under the spell of wild-eyed religious zealot El Senor (Conrado Osorio) and his three angel daughters (Yuri Vargas, Sharon Guzman, Andrea Esquivel). He keeps promising miracles, even a Second Comingbut the latest youth (Julian Camacho) he abducts, dubs Jesus and holds captive seems to be simply another unlucky child. These people seem frozen in another century; only the discovery of a portable tape recorder suggests the time is no earlier than 1970.
Luzmay remind you on the one hand ofThe Witchor the more recent GermanHagazussain its folkloric tale of fear and hysteria amongst superstitious people. On another, its voiceover narrations, drifting music, and sometimes overweening poetical lyricism suggest the influence of Terrence Malick. That twain doesnt quite meet, in that the narrative and suspense elements are somewhat sapped by an aesthetic thats gorgeous, yet doesnt quite suit those elements (or render them convincing). Now on digital and VOD,Luzis an often frustrating film, but also a strikingly ambitious maiden effort with a distinctive artistic sensibility.
Likewise flaunting a singular, highly worked style isFaustfrom famed Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, whos still active at age 86. This newly restored 1994 feature was his second, coming after 1988s Alice (which itself followed a quarter-century of fascinating shorts), and like that Lewis Carroll-derived fantasia mixes live action and stop-motion imagery to conjure a bizarre fresh take on a familiar source tale. This labyrinth of grotesque and surreal amusements finds a modern-day Prague businessman (Petr Cepek) entering a theater to apply greasepaint and costume. He then sporadically plays the role of the good (well, not-so-good) Doctor F. in interactions with a marionette Mephistopheles and other phenomena. This no more a straightforward version of Goethe (or Marlowe) than Aleksandr Sokurovs marvelously perverse Russian one from 2011. But its a witty, eccentric delight, with the directors trademark mix of the droll and macabre on full display. Its currently playing via Roxie Virtual Cinema.
Speaking of Beelzebub (and religious hysteria), hes got title billing inThe Devil All the Time. But this new Netflix drama requires no otherworldly influence to spur its characters misdeedsthe evil on display here is lamentably all-too-human. Adapted from Donald Ray Pollocks novel (with the author himself providing somewhat gratuitous voiceover narration), its a nearly 2 1/2 hour dirge of cruelty in the Rust Belt backwaters of post-WW2 Ohio and West Virginia.
Bill Skarsgard, Riley Keough, Jason Clark, Tom Holland, Mia Wasilkowska, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan and others portray figures spanning a few decades and generations, all dedicatedly etched by the actors yet never transcending one-dimensional victimhood or villainy. Theres murder, suicide and death by cancer within the first half hour; and thatsbeforewere introduced to a transparency phony preacher with the proverbial lust in his empty heart, not to mention a couple of roving serial thrill-killers. Its the kind of movie where you know right away that if theres a dog, and a child loves that dog, the dog is gonna die.
Directed by Antonio Campos,The Deviltakes itself very seriously, yet never manages to seem more than an arbitrary pileup of gloating misfortunes. All this presumably worked in the well-regarded book (which has been both called grindhouse literary and compared to Faulkner, so go figure). But here it seems too sprawling and digressive to function as extra-dark neo-noir, too literal-minded to become larger-than-life American Gothic, too stereotypical and inauthentic to provide any larger truth unsullied by glib cynicism. Its a well-made yet peculiarly joyless enterprise that is hard to defend as art, and harder still as entertainment.
Moving from the pretentious to the ridiculous, we have last (and very much least)Ravers, a movie so stupid I thought ithadto be Halloween already. Harking back to theRaver Madness-type cautionary flicks of twenty years ago or so, albeit with no presumably serious cautionary intent, it finds a lesbian germophobe (Georgia Hirst) and others trapped at an illegal rave that unfortunately takes place in an abandoned beverage factory where a chemical accident spiked the product. When a stash of the tainted grog is broken out, the partiers turn homicidal in a not-quite-zombies-but-kinda-just-like-zombies way.
Crass (theres an early closeup of someone picking their nose), silly, and with a whole lot of truly terrible musicGroove, this aintRaversis also energetic and colorful. If you have a soft spot for the brain-dead pleasures of something like Uwe Bolls infamous (and, lets face it, entertaining)House of the Dead, you will find theres some fun to be had here. Releasing to limited theaters today, it may provide savvy drive-ins with a throwback to the days when such joints were more likely to play B-grade sexploitation and/or gore horror than the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
You can, by the way, now have a more-or-less actual drive-in experience without driving to San Jose or Concordthough youll still need a car. Launching today and running six days a week through October. 18,Fort Mason Flixis a pop-up drive-in on the SF waterfront with a 40-by-20-foot LED screen purportedly ninety times brighter than the average indoor theater projector (a good thing, since some shows start at not-so-dark 6 pm). This opening weekend is heavy on fantasy, ranging from family-friendly cartoonage (Minions,Frozen,Into the Spider-Verse) to sci-fi (The Matrix) to cult musicals (Xanadu,Purple Rain). There will be concessions and bathrooms, but also COVID restrictionsyoull be expected to wear a mask when not in your vehicle. For the full schedule and ticket info, click here.
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Screen Grabs: Bring on the zombies! | 48 hills - 48 Hills
- 'Dawn of the Dead' at 45: A Zombie Love Affair That Never Died - The New York Times - April 12th, 2024
- Hyper-sexual 'zombie cicadas' infected with bizarre STD fungus will emerge in US - New York Post - April 12th, 2024
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- Zombie Classic Dawn Of The Dead Coming Back to Theaters for 45th Anniversary - MetalSucks - April 12th, 2024
- E-News | 'Zombie cicadas' infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year in parts of US - WVU ENews - April 12th, 2024
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- Opinion | Today's Opinions: Haunted by zombie law and thrown into abortion time-travel - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - April 12th, 2024
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- Arizona Reviving Its Zombie Abortion Ban Is Trump's Doing - The Cut - April 12th, 2024
- Hyper-sexual "zombie cicadas" that are infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year - CBS News - April 12th, 2024
- Should we be concerned about zombie cicadas? - WGN Radio - Chicago - April 12th, 2024
- You need to play this underrated zombie shooter before it leaves Xbox Game Pass - Digital Trends - April 12th, 2024
- End the 'zombie' Comstock Act - Star Tribune - April 12th, 2024
- OPINION - Flesh-eating zombie narcotics are on our streets Britain is badly losing its war on drugs - Yahoo News UK - April 12th, 2024
- What Is Xylazine - The Flesh-Eating 'Zombie' Drug Linked To 11 Deaths in The UK? - Times Now - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie Cicadas To Emerge In Virginia: What To Know - Patch - April 12th, 2024
- What Is "Zombie Drug" Gripping The UK? - NDTV - April 12th, 2024
- OJ Simpson's Final Film Will Resurrect His Naked Gun Character - As A Zombie? - Looper - April 12th, 2024
- Flesh-eating 'zombie drug' sweeping US is linked to 11 UK deaths - The Telegraph - April 12th, 2024
- Flesh-rotting 'Zombie drug' tranq raises alarm in UK - The Times of India - April 12th, 2024
- Zombie Cicadas To Emerge In GA: What To Know - Patch - April 12th, 2024
- What was the first-ever zombie movie? - Far Out Magazine - April 12th, 2024
- Even Will Smith Couldnt Save Zombie Survival Game Undawn, Which Flopped Spectacularly - IGN - March 24th, 2024
- Rob Zombie Recommends This Surprisingly Wholesome Comedy - Dread Central - March 24th, 2024
- Army Writing and the Zombie (Noun) Apocalypse - Modern War Institute - United States Military Academy West Point - March 24th, 2024
- Fatal Fury's Mai Shiranui Is In This Zombie Survival Game For Some Reason - Time Extension - March 24th, 2024
- Should you be worried about 'zombie deer'? | College of Public Health - George Mason University - March 24th, 2024
- 'Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island' Scares Its Way to Blu-ray for the First Time This Spring - Collider - March 24th, 2024
- Rob Zombie hates my guts: GWAR's Dave 'Oderus Urungus' Brockie was a genius, and here's an interview that proves it - Louder - March 24th, 2024
- In the fight against gun violence, Rep. Frost Introduces the Destroy Zombie Guns Act - The Apopka Voice - March 24th, 2024
- Elfriede Jelinek's 'The Children of the Dead' is a historical zombie novel - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - March 24th, 2024
- Germany's Zombie Government Is Fueling the Far Right - The Atlantic - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie Survival Game Undawn Has Crashed And Burned According To A Reuters Report - MMOs.com - March 24th, 2024
- Will Smiths Zombie Game Has Been Hit Harder Than Chris Rock at the Oscars Its Astronomical Budget Was ... - imdb - March 24th, 2024
- Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island / Return to Zombie Island Blu-ray (Warner Archive Collection) - Blu-ray.com - March 24th, 2024
- Registration almost here for Dothans annual Zombie 5K Chase - WDHN - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie magic and gambling club Magic Island will come alive again this summer - Houston Chronicle - March 24th, 2024
- Undawn | The $140m zombie survival game starring Will Smith that bombed while nobody was looking - Filmstories - March 24th, 2024
- After 4 years, a cult classic zombie horror manga from Ga-Rei's creator is finally getting an official English release - Gamesradar - March 24th, 2024
- Will Smith's Zombie Game Has Been Hit Harder Than Chris Rock at the Oscars - Its Astronomical Budget Was ... - FandomWire - March 24th, 2024
- "The game literally no one knew existed": The Will Smith Zombie Survival Game is Reportedly a Big Flop and Fans Are ... - FandomWire - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie-palooza --- Get to the biggest undead music event in the latest Dead Island 2 expansion: SoLA - Gaming Trend - March 24th, 2024
- Bournemouth University medical students treat 'zombie attack' in mass training simulation - The Tab - March 24th, 2024
- Zombie car factories on the rise in China as buyers opt for EVs - Financial Times - March 16th, 2024
- Hey, Remember When Rob Zombie Was Going To Direct THE CROW 3? - FANGORIA - March 16th, 2024
- New Walking Dead Twist Shows How The Zombie Outbreak Will Finally End - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- Candid conversations from death row with The Zombie Hunter - Arizona's Family - March 16th, 2024
- Zombie! The Musical - REVIEW - City Hub Sydney - March 16th, 2024
- A Gorgeous Harp and Guitar String Duet of 'Zombie' by The Cranberries in Honor of Alexei Navalny - Laughing Squid - March 16th, 2024
- Y2K Review: A 1999 Youth Nostalgia Comedy That Turns Into an Attack-of-the-Computers Zombie Movie. But Only the First One Is Fun - Variety - March 16th, 2024
- AMC Announces Every Zombie in The Walking Dead Getting Its Own Spin-Off - Hard Drive - March 16th, 2024
- The Growing Threat of Zombie Code - CXOToday.com - March 16th, 2024
- The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever Gets Theatrical Return For Anniversary - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
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- 'Land of the Dead' 19 Years Later: Romero's Return Was Smarter Than the Average Zombie Movie - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- Z Nation Season 6: SYFY Tease Return of Zombie Series 6 Years After Its Death - ComingSoon.net - March 16th, 2024
- Zombie! The Musical (Hayes Theatre Co) - Limelight - March 16th, 2024
- Get This Definitive Edition Zombie Game For Free Right Now On Steam - Screen Rant - February 19th, 2024
- The Best Ghost and Zombie Movie Romances - Vulture - February 19th, 2024
- The couple trying to keep killer 'zombie viruses' at bay - and protect us from another pandemic - The Telegraph - February 19th, 2024
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- Dead Island 2 Spreading Its Zombie Virus to Steam in April - GameSpace.com - February 19th, 2024
- Lincoln hosts Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie - Omaha - KETV Omaha - February 19th, 2024
- 'The Walking Dead - The Ones Who Live' Review AMC's Zombie Epic Shambles On - Collider - February 19th, 2024
- Legislative recap: zombie bills, teacher pay, lithium tax, pipelines and more - Black Hills Pioneer - February 19th, 2024
- Japan's stock markets are on a tear. Will 'zombie firms threaten the bull run? - CNBC - February 11th, 2024
- Thebe Phetogos haunted response to zombie figuration in art - The Washington Post - February 11th, 2024
- Cosmic dust from 'zombie' galaxies could form planets and life - The Telegraph - February 11th, 2024
- I walked with a zombie: 16 monster love interests that set hearts aflutter - The A.V. Club - February 11th, 2024
- Free Steam zombie shooter you've never heard of is getting rave reviews, somehow - GAMINGbible - February 11th, 2024
- South Korea's 'zombie football' finally leaves them in a hole too deep to climb out of - ESPN - February 11th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero