I made a comment the other day that Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is the most 80's horror movie of all time. It's a cacophonous mess of a film, but everything from the script to the soundtrack, to the wardrobe, to the setting just screamed "I voted for Reagan twice." It's as if the movie were filmed in a glossy haze of hair product. Yet, knowing that I'm a bit of a horror movie buff, a friend of mine followed up this comment by asking me what proved to be a rather thought provoking question about my favorites. Specifically, what are my favorite Zombie movies.
Zombies are totally my genre when it comes to horror, so I'm a bit opinionated when it comes to these films. As a result, it was actually pretty difficult for me to fully populate the list (obviously some were easy choices, but others proved a challenge to narrow down), but I think the thing about any genre horror piece is that it has to follow a set of rules. For the first rule of this list: the zombies must be undead monsters. Not diseased people (28 days later), not trance induced slaves (I walked with a zombie) - not inhuman creations (the golemn). Just walking dead people. Number 2....well actually there is no number two. I'm incredibly flexible on what the status quot implied by the term zombie is EXCEPT that a zombie MUST be the walking dead. That's the fear, that's the hook - that's what makes it a damn Zombie. Voodoo, aside - the popularity of zombies as a horror movie convention was largely defined by George Romero in his seminal work, "The Night of the Living Dead" The formula can be tweaked, and modified a bit, but this one basic tenant is all that I ask. Zombies are cannibalistic corpses. That's not to discredit the quality of these other movies (particularly the aforementioned "28 days later" and Wes Craven's "the Serpent and the Rainbow") just to limit their credentials as "Zombie" movies.
Well Without Further ado:
5). The Reanimator (1985)
The Reanimator tells the story of Herbert West, a med student who magically discovers that glow sticks can revive the recently deceased if injected soon after death. He and his lab partner try to perfect the formula, while the evil Dean Halsey (why are college deans always stodgy, evil old men in movies like this?) tries to steal their formula for himself. Of course lots of people get all kinds of dead, and then - dun dun dun - Reanimated! This movie is a great mix of silliness and seriousness, and that's where it's strengths really lie. The first zombie we see is quite a Jolt, and legitimately disturbing (ooh, great gore effects for 1985, - even the undead cat was pretty legit) - but as the story progresses, the film's tone shifts ever so slightly toward the wonderfully absurd. Bowling bags become means of transport, gut's are quite routinely torn and devoured, and there's a "getting head" visual-pun that is so delightfully cringe worthy that it has gained a notoriety divorced of the film itself - even mentioned in the best picture of 2000, American Beauty.
4). Planet Terror (2007)
From the moment I heard about the concept of the "Grindhouse" double feature from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, I knew I would love it. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. Planet Terror follows Go go dancer Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan in the Role that made me love her again), her ex-boyfriend, Wray (an excellent Freddy Rodriguez) and an assortment of other random people in rural Texas as they deal with a plague of Zombies, and evil Bruce Willis led military separatists. This film is GLORIOUSLY over the top - and I love it! Fergie has her brain's eaten out, Quentin Tarantino's wedding tackle literally melts off his body, and -of course - Cherry Darling's severed leg is replaced with a fully functional AR15 machine gun. I think one of the glories of this movie is the legitimate actors who revel in the chance to spew schlock worthy of Roger Corman. Naveen Andrews ("I need Your balls, sweetheart"), Josh Brolin (Now I'm gonna eat your brains to gain your knowledge."), and -most memorably - Bruce Willis ("where's...the......Shit.") match tough guy bravado and gravelly voices with onscreen antics one can only safely refer to as ludicrous. This movie also gets bonus points for featuring Tom Savini in a speaking role. Thatta boy, Tommy!
3). Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Return of the Living dead was the first Punk Rock horror movie. In it a chemical released from an old military barrel reanimates the dead of a small town in Kentucky. A warehouse manager and his trainee are the first to discover the chemical's effects when a naked yellow corpse hops off a meathook and attacks them. Meanwhile a group of punks (which inexplicably includes 2 new wave kids and the typical "good Girl" cliche that seemingly every 80's movie Incorporated by senate order) are hanging out in a cemetery, doing typical punk things drinking, smoking, talking about being eaten alive while stripping naked - you know, the kinda shit Punk kids do. When Zombies show up, people get deaded (to borrow a phrase) until the Govt decides to Nuke the town....oh, uh.....spoiler alert I guess. This movie plays with the Romero rules a bit. It was the first (that I know of) to use fast zombies, make them talk, and state their prime directive as feasting on Brains. It also features an awesome soundtrack features songs by the Cramps, TSOL, and the Damned to name a few. Like the other films on this list, it does a great job of mixing the serious with the ridiculous and features copious amounts of gore, and even gratuitous nudity. What set's it apart is the strength of the special effects. For the 80's the effects are remarkably well put together and produce lasting images. The tank zombie is creepy as hell, the devouring of "Trash" (a character name, this is what movie executives thought punk rockers were like) is actually quite haunting, and the bisected dog is gross to say the least. The pacing is as quick as the zombies, and you'll move from screaming to laughing at the drop of a hat. At once you are horrified at a zombie horde devouring a team of paramedics, but at the next your laughing at the "Send more cops" distress call. It's great for a saturday night flick with your most talkative friends. Mysty the damn thing for the full effect.
Stay tuned for Part 2. Coming Soon.
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