A Welsh filmmaker has produced a zombie film that sees the world from the viewpoint of the undead. His film,Colin, has caught the attention of critics at the Cannes film festival. (See article.) The film only cost about US$70 to produce. Worth a viewing?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Scary Type of Hype
This book review/interview is available at the "Slice of SciFi" weblog, which had grabbed it from the "tor.com" weblog.Author Sees "Patient Zero" as All Too Possible
June 23, 2009 by Michael Hickerson
While researching the non-fiction, zombie-myth debunking book, “Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead” writer Jonathan Maberry says he discovered something interesting.
“My intention had been to use science to (gently) knock down the backstory to most zombie movies and books,” Maberry told Tor.com. “However during the research I discovered that there was a lot more scientific validity to those monsters. It creeped me out, and anytime something creeps me out that much I think: ‘Man, that would make a great story.’”
The inspiration led to Mayberry’s new novel, “Patient Zero.” The story explores a Baltimore cop who is recruited by a secret government organization to help stop a group of terrorists who have a weaponized pathogen that turns people into zombies.
“I was trying to build a case for how the real world would react, research and respond to a threat as described in the George A. Romero’s Living Dead films, and in some of the better zombies (or zombie-like) films that followed,” Maberry said. “I was surprised to learn that science could explain a lot of what we saw in zombie films. That’s both cool and creepy, depending on where you stand. I listed the ‘symptoms’ of a zombie—lack of cognition, ability to walk, ability to bite and chew, reduced or absent blood flow, and so on. Taken separately, science can provide answers. It’s only when you put them all together in one organism that we move from scientific possibility into practical improbability. But only just.”
“A pathogen always seemed more likely,” he said. “I posed this to a range of scientists and doctors. The radiation theory was shot down pretty quickly; but the docs who work with diseases said that if zombies were suddenly a real fact of life then one of the first places they’d look would be prions. Prions are misfolded proteins that act like viruses and/or genetic disorders, which is crazy since they have no DNA and technically cannot be passed down generationally. But that’s science for you. For every item you prove there are a few new mysteries popping up. The creepiest prion disease is fatal familial insomnia, in which the sufferers cannot fall asleep, even when medicated. They remain perpetually awake until they go crazy and their bodies break down. It’s a horrible disease…but a perfect core pathogen for a zombie tale. I went a few steps along that dark road to have my villains bond it with an aggressive parasite (also based on things found in nature).”
The novel, which has just hit bookstores, is the first in a proposed series. The second installment, “The Dragon Factory” will debut next year.
“I speculated about how scientists could use cutting edge genetics to restart the Nazi Eugenics program and pursue the program of ethnic genocide,” Maberry said. “It’s all too possible.”
Tokyo Zombie Takes Out the Trash
A couple of online (private blog) reviews of a Japanese Z-flick, "Tokyo Zombie," are offered below with links to the original blogs. This sounds like a typical Japanese romp-comedy. The idea of the zombies arising from the trash bin leaves the sound of the Python in my head: "Bring out your dead."Monday, June 22, 2009
Review: Tokyo Zombie
Directed by Sakichi Sato.
Starring Tadanobu Asano, Sho Aikawa and Erika Okuda
Released by Madman Entertainment
Black Fuji is an impressive mound of rubbish in the middle of Tokyo where locals dump all kinds of unwanted material - anything from household waste to corpses (and in one memorable scene, an unwanted mother-in-law). So it's natural that when two blue collar workers accidentally bump off the boss, they would take him there to dispose of the evidence. What's not so natural is that their arrival coincides with a mysterious force which is reanimating the dead and producing a plague of zombies.
Fujio (Tadanobu Asano) and Mitsuo (Sho Aikawa) are an amiable pair who seem to be unfazed by the marauding herd of undead on their doorstep. The first half of the movie is a light-hearted romp as they stock up on supplies, talk about their lives and practise their beloved ju-jitsu. Oh, and fight off the zombies too.
However, after rescuing a surprisingly ungrateful woman, things go downhill for the pair. Because the plot contrives to separate the friends halfway through, the movie falls uncomfortably into two sections - the first is a light-hearted 'zom-com' and the second a dour, post-apocalyptic scenario. The 'love-interest' played by Erika Okuda only serves to irritate, though her daughter has one of the film's best lines. It's certainly directed with verve by Sakichi Sato but you get the feeling that some of the humor may have been lost in translation.
Stereotypes abound (the Japanese male as pervert looking up the skirt of young girls, housewives acting as screeching harridans), though it's hard to take offense as the whole film has such an oddball and strangely innocent feel to it. The special effects are cheap and cheerful - Industrial Light and Magic certainly have nothing to worry about. All in all, it's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Just don't expect any of the gravitas of a Romero film. And don't expect to always understand exactly what is going on.
To read Mark Smith-Briggs erudite comments on the same film look below.
Review: Tokyo Zombie (Japan, 2005)
Writer/director Sakichi Sato brings the much-loved Laurel and Hardy style zombie invasion Manga of the same name to the big screen with mixed results. Marketed as a Japanese Shaun of the Dead, and released hot on the heals of the British hit, it’s a film that shows loads of promise early, but ends up biting its own foot with a frustrating tonal shift half way through that undoes all its hard work.
But following the zombification of one of the main characters about 45 minutes in, the film then shifts nine years into a stark Mad Max: Thunderdome meets Land of the Dead style society where the rich have enslaved the surviving population – and zombies – and use them for a series of bloodthirsty fighting games for their entertainment. While potentially an interesting film in its own right, the futuristic vision lacks the biting humour of the previous act, missing the buddy act that made the story so engaging.
Tokyo Zombie is brimming with potential, but for all its efforts it never quite gets there. Still, with its trademark style, including an anime interlude, and mostly fun mix of screwball humour it’s sure to find a home on cult cinema shelves.
Tokyo Zombie is released on DVD through Madman Entertainment. Extras include a making of featurette, Q and A session and original trailers.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Artistic Reanimations of Romero's Classic
I don't quite comprehend what this is, but it looks like a film company has put a lot of time and effort into creating an animated version of Night of the Living Dead. When I first stumbled upon this I thought it was a contest. Of course, a contest wouldn't be such a bad idea.The "reanimated" project seems to call upon a variety of animation styles from different artists to complete the film. As DreadCentral.com notes: "Mike Schneider, organizer/curator of NOTLD: Reanimated, designed the poster as a small glimpse into the dozens of styles on display in the project, which features over 100 artists from around the world. Working from the same source, George Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead, each artist has taken scenes and "reanimated" them through processes ranging from CGI to puppetry and oil paintings to tattoos. This creates a new viewing experience of a timeless classic."
Zombie Lawn Ornament
I'm guessing this is a bit too creepy for most front yards! But it's great for Halloween.
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