It's Day 290 of my One Movie a Day for 2023, and Day 17 for my own 31 Days of Hallowe'en, as well as the 31 Days of Horror Challenge being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street. Plus, I can not forget to mention the 100HorrorMoviesIn92Days challenge I joined this year.
As always, this is the part where I tell you that over the last decade, I did my 13 Days of Hallowe'en project that ran from October 19th-31st on my old various social medias, where I would do movie reviews, recipes and comedy skits; and that this year I decided to keep it just here on this site and my Letterboxd.
Today, my mini theme is Horror Comedy.
The mini theme for the 31 Day Horror Challenge being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street is In A Graveyard. I ended up using Return of the Living Dead for both.
A group of teenagers decide to go party on Hallowe'en night in the local cemetery, right across the street from a warehouse and mortuary. Little do they know, a top secret toxin has been stored in the warehouse for decades. When the toxin gets spilled, it poisons the two night workers, and exposes the dead body at the bottom of the barrel. When the body reanimates, the workers have no choice but to chop it up and take it to the mortuary to cremate. The smoke from this is released into the air and turns into poisoned rain, which drench the teenagers partying. Soon, the dead bodies rise and search for brains.
Okay, so this is the culprit. This is the movie that started the zombie craze when I was a teenager and spread like the virus it talks about into what would be the zombie culture of the 2000's. Dude, I'm not happy.
I have probably seen this movie close to thirty times over the decades, but I have to say this was the first time I actually watched it by choice. Every friend I've ever had has listed this as their favourite movie. Every man I've ever dated has listed this as one of their favourite movies. This is why I'm not much of a zombie fan. This movie was forced on me over the years. To be fair, I'm sure they feel the same about Lost Boys as I played that for everyone every change I got for decades.
Return of the Living Dead, is a time capsule. It's one of the first reboots in horror while being a sequel. It really is a cultural icon. It blends horror and comedy really well, and the practical effects they do with the zombies are amazing. As much as I don't care for this off shoot of the vampire genre; and yes the zombie movie as we know it is a vampire movie, from a technical stand point, this movie is art. I understand why so many people gravitate towards this film and why for so many it dug itself into their lives and hung on tight.
I might be wrong on this, but I believe this is the first time the idea - no pun intended- of zombies needing brains was introduced. The zombies in this movie are fast moving and intelligent; as we see more than once someone using a radio to call for help. When the main characters capture one to question, it actually is able to have a real conversation with them.
Come back tomorrow to see what tricks and treats are on the slab.
댓글