Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
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Post by Chainsaw on Jun 10, 2007 0:42:55 GMT -5
^Yeah Land of The Dead sucked bad. How many times did he do that "zombie is right out of the frame of the camera so when this guy moves he'll be there" thing? How are these zombies sneaking up on people? Why is money important in this city? Its just paper. And why are the people so stupid, like that one soldier repelling down into a crowd of zombies. For what? Just to have a cool death. Man I hated the stupidity in that flick, these people have lived in a Zombie World for years, yet act as if they've never seen one before. Soldiers empty entire magazines to kill one Zombie, Zombies take out the cities main depot and they all go "meh", Zombies get in the city and people are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. God man, there was like 300 of them, an elevated Fire team (like they had) should have been able to waste them all with no problem. Also, how many damn "scare cord" BOOO! scenes do we need, this is Land of the Dead not The Grudge.  Well, part of it was that they had grown complacent with the zombies, so a lot of the soldiers weren't vigilant when an actual outbreak occured. One of the things that Romero had said was that everyone was basically ignoring the zombie problem, and that they had become unprepared for dealing with the situation. After all, Kaufman wasn't as concerned about any approaching zombies as he was getting Dead Reckoning back. Thus, Fiddler's Green was caught off guard. Really, the zombies almost seem like a background as much as they are the bad guys. Me personally, I liked LOTD. It's the lesser of the 4 movies, but it has it's charms. Like Asia Argento. Groooooowwwlllll. And Rue Morgue editor Jovanka Vuckovic appeared in the uncut version as a zombie so I can't fault them for that. |
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rra
King Koopa
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 0:43:14 GMT -5
Yeah the shooting thing makes sense, not everyones gonna be a sharpshooter or whatever, but whos gonna rappell down into a crowd of zombies? It was just lazy filmmaking... Well, that shot of the guy who rappells, he was slow man. ;D Lazy filmmaking doesn't change 4 whole decades of people fearing an afterlife of being a zombie until a character suddenly decides....you know, being immortal isn't necessarily a bad thing. Lazy filmmaking is 96% of modern Hollywood Horror cinema. |
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 0:43:40 GMT -5
^I doubt the parents woulda let him kill there daughter. Come on the mom was stupid enough to lay there in shock while her daughter walked up to there with that farming thing (cant remmber the name)... Good, Bad, Who's the one with the gun? Black Ben. BOOM |
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Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
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Post by Chainsaw on Jun 10, 2007 0:45:49 GMT -5
Heck you shot better if you put your gun on Semi-automatic instead of just spraying full auto, maybe they should have thought about that. Stupid humans and Seld-em-break chain lick fences are just a way to advance the story tho' so whatever, Land was still a bit on the poor side. LOL at Seld-Em-Break Fences. Can we all agree, at the very least, that Shaun Of The Dead rocks major balls? |
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Post by -Lithium- on Jun 10, 2007 0:45:58 GMT -5
I read that LOTD was only 3 years after NOTLD. Hope not cause I dont see how anyone could miss the fact that its still 1972, so they shouldnt have all this technology...
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 0:46:45 GMT -5
Man I hated the stupidity in that flick, these people have lived in a Zombie World for years, yet act as if they've never seen one before. Soldiers empty entire magazines to kill one Zombie, Zombies take out the cities main depot and they all go "meh", Zombies get in the city and people are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. God man, there was like 300 of them, an elevated Fire team (like they had) should have been able to waste them all with no problem. Also, how many damn "scare cord" BOOO! scenes do we need, this is Land of the Dead not The Grudge. Well, part of it was that they had grown complacent with the zombies, so a lot of the soldiers weren't vigilant when an actual outbreak occured. One of the things that Romero had said was that everyone was basically ignoring the zombie problem, and that they had become unprepared for dealing with the situation. After all, Kaufman wasn't as concerned about any approaching zombies as he was getting Dead Reckoning back. Thus, Fiddler's Green was caught off guard. Really, the zombies almost seem like a background as much as they are the bad guys. Me personally, I liked LOTD. It's the lesser of the 4 movies, but it has it's charms. Like Asia Argento. Groooooowwwlllll. And Rue Morgue editor Jovanka Vuckovic appeared in the uncut version as a zombie so I can't fault them for that. You're correct. You're ABSOLUTELY correct. RRA scores the DEAD films: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) - ****1/2 DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) - **** DAY OF THE DEAD (1985) - ***1/2 LAND OF THE DEAD (2005) - *** |
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Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
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Post by Chainsaw on Jun 10, 2007 0:47:56 GMT -5
^I doubt the parents woulda let him kill there daughter. Come on the mom was stupid enough to lay there in shock while her daughter walked up to there with that farming thing (cant remmber the name)... That was Karen Cooper, played by the lovely Kyra Schon. Friend of the show. ;D |
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 0:49:16 GMT -5
I read that LOTD was only 3 years after NOTLD. Hope not cause I dont see how anyone could miss the fact that its still 1972, so they shouldnt have all this technology... Don't take Romero's word literally. Back in 1968, it started bcak then. In 1978, it started in 1978. In 1985, it happened in 1984... and 2005, it happened in 2000-2002. Its like Tom Clancy would do with his books. I mean, he started out those Jack Ryan tales with the character being a teenager in high school during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, but this was retconned over time. Better example is THE SIMPSONS man. Hell, officially Bart Simpson was born in what, 1980-1981? He should be 26 now, instead of forever 10. Like SIMPSONS, Romero keeps the same continuity, just when exactly it happens. A rough chronology I guess. |
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 0:50:04 GMT -5
Heck you shot better if you put your gun on Semi-automatic instead of just spraying full auto, maybe they should have thought about that. Stupid humans and Seld-em-break chain lick fences are just a way to advance the story tho' so whatever, Land was still a bit on the poor side. LOL at Seld-Em-Break Fences. Can we all agree, at the very least, that Shaun Of The Dead rocks major balls? Can we ask the SAW fan? Anyway, yeah SHAUN rules. |
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Post by Rorschach on Jun 10, 2007 0:53:46 GMT -5
Someone mentioned THE GRUDGE in a post above there, and I have to say, that I feel the reason American horror is lacking nowadays is because we're always looking somewhere else for inspiration, and apeing what was already popular somewhere else.
Movies like THE RING and THE GRUDGE and PULSE have proven that point, and in the process, driven the "little kid ghost with inky black hair" genre straight into the ground.
All of them were hits overseas before being remade for an American audience.....and it just leaves me to wonder just how creatively bankrupt we Americans are if we can't even come up with a decent scary movie anymore?
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Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
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Post by Chainsaw on Jun 10, 2007 0:54:25 GMT -5
Cooper was wrong. If they had locked themselves in the basement, more than likely, Karen would have bitten someone and they would have been killled anyways. Cooper was a dick and got everybody killed. ;D Unless the girl's head was splattered from the get go by Ben and others. Besides, the door is such that the weak zombies couldn't have broken through no matter what. BTW, you're right about THE THING. Masterpiece it is, and yes its because of the dread. Hell, the ending is dread too, since its obvious that Kurt Russell, and the audience on hand, suspects Keith David of being THE THING...the war isn't over... They actually had a comic series by Dark Horse that picked up the story and I believe they actually had MacReady surviving. But to both John and Kurt, they both agreed more than likely, both character ended up freezing...either to death or in "hibernation". I like to think that neither Childs nor MacReady were infected, and that they died making sure the other didn't try anything. It's a good continuation on the theme of mistrust. |
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jun 10, 2007 0:55:23 GMT -5
I agree with the "sense of dread" being important, but it doesn't work without characters that you give a damn about. Which goes to writing. You can flood the screen with zombies, vampires, werewolves, chainsaws, axes, ghosts, goblins, witches and the Devil himself, but without a well-written story it's just a mish-mash of monsters and gore.
I do have one complaint about the newer horror movies... they show everything. Nothing is left to the imagination anymore. "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was scary (to me, that is) because your imagination fills in the blanks of chainsaw-meeting-skin that isn't shown on the screen. The shower scene of "Psycho" was another perfect example of showing everything but what you thought. There's nothing scarier than what's going on between your own two ears...
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erisi236
Fry's dog Seymour
... enjoys the rich, smooth taste of Camels.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
Posts: 21,904
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Post by erisi236 on Jun 10, 2007 0:56:09 GMT -5
I read that LOTD was only 3 years after NOTLD. Hope not cause I dont see how anyone could miss the fact that its still 1972, so they shouldnt have all this technology... Don't take Romero's word literally. Back in 1968, it started bcak then. In 1978, it started in 1978. In 1985, it happened in 1984... and 2005, it happened in 2000-2002. Well, if you really look at Night, Dawn And Day, there really isn't that much stuff that could clue you in to what time it's taking place (other then maybe hair styles and the arcade games in Dawn). It's only in Land is there a real glaring clue to the fact that this is happening in the modern day (GPS for one thing). I like to think Land is a slightly different Universe that's not connected perfectly to the first 3. |
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Post by -Lithium- on Jun 10, 2007 0:57:25 GMT -5
LOL at Seld-Em-Break Fences. Can we all agree, at the very least, that Shaun Of The Dead rocks major balls? Can we ask the SAW fan? Anyway, yeah SHAUN rules. lol, hope I get remembered as the SAW fan too. Shaun Of The Dead is real good, actually care about the characters. It aint all that laugh out loud funny, just more subtle and stuff. I really liked it... ...oh and dogs CAN look up... |
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Post by Rorschach on Jun 10, 2007 1:00:42 GMT -5
I agree with the "sense of dread" being important, but it doesn't work without characters that you give a damn about. Which goes to writing. You can flood the screen with zombies, vampires, werewolves, chainsaws, axes, ghosts, goblins, witches and the Devil himself, but without a well-written story it's just a mish-mash of monsters and gore. I do have one complaint about the newer horror movies... they show everything. Nothing is left to the imagination anymore. "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was scary (to me, that is) because your imagination fills in the blanks of chainsaw-meeting-skin that isn't shown on the screen. The shower scene of "Psycho" was another perfect example of showing everything but what you thought. There's nothing scarier than what's going on between your own two ears... That goes back to what I said in my original post. If i don't give a tinker's damn about the characters involved, or what becomes of them.....then ANY movie I am watching, be it horror, comedy or even a chick flick, has FAILED. Horror seems to have a big issue with this problem though. More often than not, characters are rendered into flat streotypes, one dimensional cannon-fodder for the Creature-of-the-moment to dispose of. And shit like that pisses me off. Especially when it comes from big name studios that have the budget to hire GOOD screenwriters. |
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rra
King Koopa
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 1:00:45 GMT -5
Someone mentioned THE GRUDGE in a post above there, and I have to say, that I feel the reason American horror is lacking nowadays is because we're always looking somewhere else for inspiration, and apeing what was already popular somewhere else. Movies like THE RING and THE GRUDGE and PULSE have proven that point, and in the process, driven the "little kid ghost with inky black hair" genre straight into the ground. All of them were hits overseas before being remade for an American audience.....and it just leaves me to wonder just how creatively bankrupt we Americans are if we can't even come up with a decent scary movie anymore? One would argue its not just horror. Look at what movie won the Best Picture Oscar for 2006. Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED, which was a remake of a world-wide acclaimed Hong Kong movie called INFERNAL AFFAIRS. Wouldn't you be pissed as the guys that made IA for Hollywood to remake YOUR movie and win the Oscar for it? |
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Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
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Post by Chainsaw on Jun 10, 2007 1:00:53 GMT -5
Someone mentioned THE GRUDGE in a post above there, and I have to say, that I feel the reason American horror is lacking nowadays is because we're always looking somewhere else for inspiration, and apeing what was already popular somewhere else. Movies like THE RING and THE GRUDGE and PULSE have proven that point, and in the process, driven the "little kid ghost with inky black hair" genre straight into the ground. I disagree with this point, because Japan, and the Asian market in general, have driven the scary black haired girl ghost genre straight into the ground, much more than Americans have. They get a pass because ghosts like that are a major archetype in their literature and culture. We Americans are just lazy. Really, I liked Ringu, and the Ring remake. I thought they were plenty creepy. But they went to the well too many times with the Grudge, and Dark Water, and then that awful teenybopper version of Pulse, a movie that was much creepier and meaningful in it's Japanese original. |
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erisi236
Fry's dog Seymour
... enjoys the rich, smooth taste of Camels.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
Posts: 21,904
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Post by erisi236 on Jun 10, 2007 1:06:28 GMT -5
Someone mentioned THE GRUDGE in a post above there, and I have to say, that I feel the reason American horror is lacking nowadays is because we're always looking somewhere else for inspiration, and apeing what was already popular somewhere else. Movies like THE RING and THE GRUDGE and PULSE have proven that point, and in the process, driven the "little kid ghost with inky black hair" genre straight into the ground. I disagree with this point, because Japan, and the Asian market in general, have driven the scary black haired girl ghost genre straight into the ground, much more than Americans have. They get a pass because ghosts like that are a major archetype in their literature and culture. We Americans are just lazy. Really, I liked Ringu, and the Ring remake. I thought they were plenty creepy. But they went to the well too many times with the Grudge, and Dark Water, and then that awful teenybopper version of Pulse, a movie that was much creepier and meaningful in it's Japanese original. it's not really all lazy Americans tho' all those movies where remade for America because the Japanese creators thought it would be a damn good thing to do, heck they even directed 'em. and of course in Japan stuff like Ringu and Ju-On caused a legion of similar movie to be made over there, most people over hear just haven't heard of them cuz they blow. ;D |
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Jun 10, 2007 1:06:38 GMT -5
Someone mentioned THE GRUDGE in a post above there, and I have to say, that I feel the reason American horror is lacking nowadays is because we're always looking somewhere else for inspiration, and apeing what was already popular somewhere else. Movies like THE RING and THE GRUDGE and PULSE have proven that point, and in the process, driven the "little kid ghost with inky black hair" genre straight into the ground. I disagree with this point, because Japan, and the Asian market in general, have driven the scary black haired girl ghost genre straight into the ground, much more than Americans have. They get a pass because ghosts like that are a major archetype in their literature and culture. We Americans are just lazy. Really, I liked Ringu, and the Ring remake. I thought they were plenty creepy. But they went to the well too many times with the Grudge, and Dark Water, and then that awful teenybopper version of Pulse, a movie that was much creepier and meaningful in it's Japanese original. I liked RINGU and THE RING. But I prefer RINGU if only because despite all the mystery that Verbinski's remake tries, there really isn't THAT much of a revealing story to it. Plus, the Japanese in their culture seem to incorporate supernaturalisms more seriously into story plots than Americans do. For RINGU, its just a given, almost like MARVEL origins were with radiation in the 1960s. Second, while the same shot of the husband being killed is more elaborate and money spent with the CGI in the remake, RINGU is more effective because you have A FACELESS GIRL really crawling out of the TV. Not A FACELESS GIRL made in CGI. But still, Verbinski made a good movie in THE RING. That editing cut of the mother describing seeing her daughter's corpse, and that shot of the head MOVING when found....thats one of the few times in my life when a horror movie got me good. Its not expected, and worse, its an image that nightmares can be created from. Thats a sign of a good director. |
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Post by Rorschach on Jun 10, 2007 1:07:46 GMT -5
Someone mentioned THE GRUDGE in a post above there, and I have to say, that I feel the reason American horror is lacking nowadays is because we're always looking somewhere else for inspiration, and apeing what was already popular somewhere else. Movies like THE RING and THE GRUDGE and PULSE have proven that point, and in the process, driven the "little kid ghost with inky black hair" genre straight into the ground. I disagree with this point, because Japan, and the Asian market in general, have driven the scary black haired girl ghost genre straight into the ground, much more than Americans have. They get a pass because ghosts like that are a major archetype in their literature and culture. We Americans are just lazy. Really, I liked Ringu, and the Ring remake. I thought they were plenty creepy. But they went to the well too many times with the Grudge, and Dark Water, and then that awful teenybopper version of Pulse, a movie that was much creepier and meaningful in it's Japanese original. Well, yeah, but it's not just that, either. If we're not scoping overseas for the "next big thing" in horror.....we're lazily and sloppily remaking our OWN horror movies that have NO NEED to be remade or retold. The point is, the American horror market is in dire need of the next Romero/Craven/Carpenter stepping up and making a great horror movie. And I'm sorry, the likes of Eli Roth just aren't cutting it, horror fan though he may be. |
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