Outpost (IMDb)



Hollywood films seem to follow a recognizable pattern. Once one type of film makes a splash and rakes in a lot of cash, every film that follows in the same genre bears a striking resemblance to it. This can especially be said of the horror genre. At the beginning of the decade, The Ring started a trend of Hollywood remakes of Japanese supernatural films such as The Grudge and Dark Water. After that wave of remakes subsided, the "torture porn" horror film craze launched with the release of Saw, and everyone welcomed the change in pace. It's been years since that film's release and we're still in the thick of it, once again begging for a change. Every once in awhile something different slips through the cracks in Hollywood, such as the recent 30 Days of Night, but more consistently one can find solace in the independent horror film circuit.

Outpost is just the sort of change I'm talking about. It's a good old fashioned, claustrophobic horror film, and a pretty good one at that. It tells the story of a group of disgruntled ex-marines who are freelancing for a mysterious client. The client pays them to escort him to an abandoned bunker in the middle of the forest, where Nazis performed all sorts of experiments in the occult during World War II. The soldiers soon find out that the results of those experiments might still be lingering in the bunker after all those years in the form of homicidal Nazi specters.

The premise may not be the most original one ever conceived (the story is quite similar to a werewolf vs. soldier movie called Dog Soldiers), but director Steve Barker tells the story with class, taking cues from such genre maestros as John Carpenter and Ridley Scott (is any classy horror film NOT in some way inspired by Alien?). Barker creates a constant feeling of suspense by keeping to the shadows and only showing brief glimpses of the Nazi ghosts that inhabit the desolate bunker. Although the film is shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, Barker covers a large part of the widescreen frame in darkness, allowing our minds to fill in the gaps. Like Spielberg did in Jaws, Barker wisely lets the viewer's imagination do the work for the first half of the movie.

Unfortunately, unlike the shark in Jaws, once the Nazi ghosts are finally brought out into the open they're actually not as scary as one would hope. It turns out that the idea of phantom Nazi soldiers is a lot more frightening than the real thing (save for the Nazi General, who is effectively creepy). Furthermore, the supernatural mythology that the film sets up is somewhat muddled. It never really becomes clear exactly what the Nazi soldiers are. Are they ghosts? Are they zombies? A little bit of both perhaps? It's clearly established in the exposition that they have the power to appear and vanish at will. Indeed, the entire first half of the movie rides on that fact, as we catch little glimpses of them in the shadows, only to have them disappear a second later. However, in the climactic siege at the end of the film, all that the Nazis do is lumber about like zombies while the protagonist soldiers shoot at them nonstop. This makes the nature of the villains seem contrived to fit whatever works best for the film at any given time, rather than following a strict set of rules. The film is still suspenseful and entertaining, it's just a shame the film couldn't follow its own mythos.

Outpost may not be without structural flaws, but it's a well-executed suspense-driven horror film. Horror films don't trust the viewer's imagination nearly as much as they used to, so it's a relief to once again see one that relies on shadows and atmosphere more than blood and guts to get the audience riled up. Outpost may not have the most satisfying conclusion, but it's one of those films that is more about the journey than the actual destination.

The Crazies (IMDb)



For a high suspense horror film, "The Crazies" begins at a calm pace with creepy characters and slick snapshots of conspiracy theory. But then Breck Eisner, the director, and the writers zoom in on individual kill segments and chase the main character, Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), and his party of survivors around a rural farming town (Ogden Marsh, Iowa). The kills are a bit inventive at times, but the rescues are definitely not. It isn't a zombie film, Eisner opting instead for the contagion route: the town's people start behaving sometimes like silent, disoriented lunatics and sometimes like ruthless stalkers. But the attempts at paranoia – in a weak effort to exploit the virus so that the survivors won't know who to trust – are mostly confusing and didn't cause enough genuine feelings of deception.

A gradual increase in suspense, however, is well done, especially in the terrific opening sequences. They have a genuine sense of paranoia. The "crazies" mostly run around as wild and aggressive killers. Not to sound like Yoda, but paranoia requires deception and deception requires you to mistake craziness for normality. It's a difficult trick to pull off. It works with Rory and Bill initially, but ultimately it fails. It's difficult to leave time for error when you are busy running away from a crazy person with a pitch fork.

In George A. Romero's original 1973 version, the military was central to the story. Here the story spirals into the personal mayhem experienced by the Sheriff's party of survivors.

Zombies aren't specifically involved, the "crazies" can use a bit of intelligence and a ready supply of lethal weapons (pitch forks, saws, knives, and guns) to add variety to the kill segments. The film tries increasing the tension with extreme paranoia (as best done by "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Thing"), but it gives us frightful kill scenes and maniacs instead, none of which deceive us to the degree of paranoia.

Timothy Olyphant (from "Deadwood" and "Live Free or Die Hard") fits the role of the main survivor well. The best parts are perhaps the gradual opening scenes and small town charm, and it also has a couple conspiratorial special effect shots of satellite monitoring. Many of the kill segments are suspenseful and chilling for fans of slasher type horror. We get perfect locations for scare tactics, including a remote car wash and a truck station, and the kill scenes have sufficient moments of silent stalking to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I actually liked both of those movies, though the Crazies I liked more! I presume you've watched 28 days later and 28 weeks later? I hear they're making 28 months later.

The Crazies was one of the three remakes, since they started recycling/reimagining/reinventing these that I thought were top notch, along with DOTD, and The Hills Have Eyes.

Yes, I have the DVDs.

Yep, there is that rumor that they want to make another movie and title it 28 months Later with Boyle himself directing it. Following the trend of the story, it would probably show the virus spreading outside UK to a worldwide scale.

i loved that scene in the second one, with the chopper blades slicing up the zombies! :D

Last I heard it was still in development. Loved the first two so far.

Just hope they end the trilogy on a high note...

What ending would you like to see?

DOTD and The Hills Have Eyes were very good remakes, which is not usually the case. I am not a very big fan of remakes since I think they're just a clear cut attempt by studios to cash in on our memories and make a quick buck, but once in awhile, there are exceptions. Other remakes I liked, off the bat, are Black Christmas, The Uninvited and The Thing.

I prefer a bleak and gloomy outlook. Very few survivors left. Thinking they have someone from an underground military or civilian base, until they here chaos through the radio, and dead silence. Zooming out and fading to a view of the city, then, the state, or country, and then showing the world in ruins. Loud sound. Cuts to a black screen. Credits roll

I was on a forum once and people were efightning about the movie, saying it was more of an adoption than a remake of the original. Based more on the novel by John Campbell.

I could personally care less. I loved the novel. The 51 version and the 82 version. Which I think was one of the best movies ever all around.

So, it we are considering it a remake. Then yes, Of course I'll need to put that on the previous list

Well, personally, I do consider the 1982 movie a remake of the classic 1951 "The Thing From Another World". But in hindsight, now that you've pointed it out, I guess the latter version is based more closely on the source material--the novelette "Who Goes There?", and it's scary in a different way. In the 1951 film, The Thing was just a big, super human monster. Like you, though, I loved the novel and both the movie versions.

Black Christmas?

Horror remakes I like- Dawn of the Dead '04, Night Of The Living Dead '90(the '06 3D remake with Sid Haig was stinky), Invasion Of The Body Snatchers '78, The Fly, The Thing, The Blob '88, Hills Have Eyes, The Crazies...

I guess it is iffy on whether Carpenter's The Thing is a remake or not, some movies that are based on the same novels I don't consider remakes of each other. Like Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman, I don't consider it a remake of the original 30's version, but a closer adaptation of the novel.

And for thrillers, I love Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13(which is a modern remake of Rio Bravo)

Hey, I happen to love Christmas!

Well, if we're talking about remakes lists, then I'm including The Blob, The Fly, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Night of the Living Dead, Body Snatchers (Yeah, yeah.), Last House on the Left and Frankenstein. As for borderlines, Happiness of the Katakuris comes to mind.

i watched this over the weekend, kinda zombiesh...i liked it, it was really pretty good.




http://doyouhavethecrazy.com/

if you liked shawn of the dead, you will probably like this too.

Didn't like the Crazies, nor 28 Days Later, but LOVED 28 Weeks Later.

The good news is your dates are here. The bad news is... they're dead.


Night Of The Creeps '86





Detective Cameron: "What is this? A homicide, or a bad B-movie?"




Fred Dekker pays homage to many genres- zombie flicks, 50's scifi, teen comedies just to name a few. Two frat pledges accidentally thaw a corpse infected with parasites. The parasites then begin infecting other college students.




Detective Cameron: "Zombies, exploding heads, creepy-crawlies... and a date for the formal. This is classic, Spanky."




A fad with a few horror comedies during the 80's- characters are named after horror directors- Hooper, Raimi, Cameron, Craven, Romero, Miner...and the college is named Corman University.




Detective Cameron: "Corpses that have been dead for twenty-seven years do not get up and go for a walk by themselves!"


Trailer:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x78f43_the-trailer-for-night-of-the-creeps_shortfilms

POW's in Vietnam...starved in captivity...released with a taste for human flesh.


Cannibal Apocalypse9 '80 aka Apocalypse domani aka Cannibals In The Streets, aka Invasion Of The Fleshhunters






Captain McCoy: "Charlie can you hear me?"
Charlie Bukowski: "I can hear you. Shitface"


Vietnam vets return home and spread a virus that turns those bitten into cannibals.


Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES-Jvnm20gY

Great news! (Written by Neal)

"AMCs zombie fest The Walking Dead is breaking ratings records left and right, reaching more viewers in the 18-49 demographic than any other cable TV show. Realizing they have a massive hit on their hands AMC has wisely ordered a thirteen episode second season. I guess this means I need to be on the lookout for stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal and Sarah Wayne Callies around Atlanta this winter.

The first episode of the show, based on the comic by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, brought in a staggering 5.3 million viewers. The second episode fell off slightly to 4.7 million which is still almost double what the Real Housewives of any city enjoy. I’ve been entering the contest each week to win a “stagger” on role on the show so when if I win I’ll be sure and get all the zombie related gossip."

How'd that 9 get in there?