The autumn is slowly slipping past us, leading the way for the winter. The days grow grayer, duller and rainier by every week. To prevent the autumn depression, Zombie Sunday discusses topics on health, science and love to help you make you feel better – well, compared to a decaying corpse, at least.
The best way to get rid of this murky and lazy feeling the lack of sun and chilly weather brings, is to exercise – and what better way to exercise than yoga? Here’s how to do it – the Zombie style:
Another way to stay sharp is to use your brains for something productive – and if possible, spend some hard-earned tax money to a research on zombies. Professor Robert Smith? (the question mark is part of his surname and not a typographical mistake) and colleagues wrote: “We model a zombie attack using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies.
And last, but not least – the best way to keep you in good shape – both mentally, and physically – through the long winter is to find someone to love. And the Zombies are the most romantic mythical creatures out there – what could be more romantic than you and the one you love fighting together till the Dead do you two apart?
When there’s no more room in hell, the dead shall walk the Hellsinki.
The Norwegian Nazi Zombies are finally crawling to Finland, and what better way to hail their excellency than throw in a proper Zombie Walk! In collaboration with Night Visions and Zombiewalk Helsinki, Zombie Room is proud to invite all you freaks to join the Zombie Walk from Helsinki Railway Station to Maxim movie theater, and then watch the greatest nazi zombie film ever -Dead Snow.
Dresscode
Well, it’s simple – Dead Snow Zombies are deceased soldiers and wear military – you know what I mean. Now add some blood, guts and gore and you’re all set. Then show up at Helsinki Railway Station at 20:00 on Wednesday, October 28th – and be sure to book your ticket for the screening beforehand! The price ain’t bad – 7,5€.
You can (and you should!) order the tickets in advance from here.
There’s also a competition here! The Night Visions organizers will pick the most rotten zombie corpse among all of the Zombie Walkers and hand out some cool prices.
Oh, how about the film? Yeah, we’ve seen it – we were actually among the first ~15 people who saw the film – and you can check out a review for the film from here.
TL;DR: Fucking awesome.
Here’s the trailer:
Here are some photos from the movie for inspiration:
This is a repost from an older review posted to Iron Sky blog right after the first screening of Dead Snow, but I’m reposting this for Night Visions’ Dead Snow screening in Finland. You can get the tickets for the screening here - it’s the only possibility to see the film on screen in Finland as far as I know, so don’t miss this.
And here’s the review:
While visiting in Os, Norway, I was honoured to be invited by the producer Kjetil Omberg to see the Norwegian Nazi Zombie flickDød Snø in a private screening. I’ve been following the film actively ever since I heard about it through Twitch because, well, it has Nazis, zombies and it’s from Scandinavia. Before we go further, do check out the teaser poster art. With artwork this cool and a concept this strong (and don’t forget the coolest tagline ever: Ein, Zwei, DIE!), what could go wrong?
The story unfolds with a very classical setting: a group of youngsters are heading for a cabin, with the intentions to drink, party and preferably have sex through the whole weekend. But, as we are talking about a Norwegian film, the events take place during wintertime, and the cabin is located high up in the mountains, in the middle of endless fields of snow.
What starts out as a fun in the snow and sun, snowball fights, fooling around with a motor sled and a Stiga, soon turns into a gory zombie onslaught as the kids find a box full of Nazi gold that definitively doesn’t belong to them.
The unique setting in the genre gives an unforgettable flavor to the easily one of the greatest zombie films that I’ve seen in ages. Director Tommy Wirkola breaks most of the deeply-rooted Zombie traditions with Norwegian rock and metal banging in the background – the Zombies run, think and even talk (well, just one word). Død Snø manages to do what many have tried and almost as many have failed while trying: it’s entertaining, scary as shit, agonizing, bloody, fun and kicks in like a 12-pack of beer. The story is well written, actors do an awesome job and director Wirkola’s comedy timing is excellent, as is his ability to build up the horror. He seems to know exactly how scary place an outhouse can be when it’s -20 degrees outside, in the middle of the night. Added with a Nazi zombie roaming outside, it’s definitively not a place you’d like to be with your pants around your ankles.
Död Snö is a wonderful piece of film that isn’t ashamed of it’s roots and language, and stands proudly as one of the great examples of Norther horror wave that’s going strong right now (with Sauna and Let the Right One In).
And here’s the trailer:
I haven’t enjoyed watching a film this much in a long time.
Hey to all you night owls and movie geeks! We are starting a countdown to Night Visions Film Festival here in Zombie Room. Night Visions focuses on horror, fantasy, science fiction and cult movies and is the biggest genre film festival in Finland.Night Visions Maximum Halloween 3009is held here in Helsinki 28.10.-1.11.2009 and this year the festival has expanded to five days, which means more awesome movies and of course less sleep. I can personally guarantee a great line-up of genre films and a couple of incredible international filmmaker guests joining the festival.
Established in 1997, the festival has been organized in Helsinki usually twice a year, the first Night Visions event of the year taking place in the spring around February/March and the second one around Halloween in late October. The festival’s main venue is the historically and architecturally significant cinema Maxim in the very heart of Helsinki. Active non-stop since 1909, Maxim is the oldest cinema still operating in Finland.
And with that note let’s start with the most important thing, the movies. I went trough the whole selection and here’s a few tip’s on what to see at the festival. You can buy tickets by pressing the screening time link.
JENNIFER’S BODY
Jennifer’s Body is a dark comedy and horror film written by Diablo Cody. She is the writer behind Juno and United States of Tara, which is a TV series I’m super hooked on right now. Jennifer’s Body tells a story of Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and her best friend Jennifer (Megan Fox), the smoking hot cheerleader who turns into a blood thirsty killer. I’m expecting lots of blood and guts, spiced up with some snazzy dialogue à la Cody.
DEAD SNOW
For me Dead Snow is definitely the most exiting movie of the whole festival and it’s about time we got this film to Finland. I was lucky enough to see the movie already, but that won’t stop me from going to see it again. In Dead Snow a ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies!!!
We also have a few treats in store for all you Dead Snow fans, but more of that later
Read Timo’s blog entry about the Nazi Massacre Championships 2009 here
THE BOX
I have been waiting for this movie like crazy. It’s Richard Kelly’s chance to redeem himself from the last movie mess he made (Southland Tales) and get back on track that he started with his first feature film, the amazing Donnie Darko.
A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who open it and become instantly wealthy. Little do they realize that opening the box also kills someone they do not know…
YÖN SAALISTAJAT
And last but not least, we have the amazing Finnish exploitation movie (or Finnsploitation) from the 80′s Yön Saalistajat, directed by Visa Mäkinen. The movie is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary and Night Visions is organizing a gala screening for it. Do I really need to say more..?
Just look at this awesome trailer! It is in Finnish, but I think you get the picture…
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Keep in mind that most (if not all) of these movies screened at Night Visions might never get distributed theatrically here in Finland, so this just might be your only chance to see them! So I advice you to buy your tickets now, before they are all sold out! Also all films in Night Visions Maximum Halloween lineup are eligible for the festival’s Audience Award. You can cast your vote after each screening. I think it goes without saying that my vote will go to Dead Snow, because there just can’t be anything more awesome than that!!!
During the festival The Zombies will be posting a daily festival diary, photos and we even have a couple of cool surprises in store, so stay tuned!
For the complete list of movies, events, schedules and ticket information visit the official site www.nightvisions.info
Püha Tõnu kiusamine (The Temptation of St. Tony) is an Estonian/Swedish/Finnish co-production directed by Veiko Õunpuu. The Estonian production company is Homeless Bob Production. The Swedish company is ATMO, that also produced Metropia (you can read my review of the movie here). And last but not least the Finnish production company is Bronson Club, where I work, and I was the production manager of the film in Finland. The Estonian premiere was on saturday and I travelled to Tallinn to see the film.
Here’s the trailer:
The Temptation of St. Tony is a film about a man who reached middle age, and finds himself in exactly the kind of darkening forest that Dante describes. An unusual problem intrudes upon his moderately prosperous and quiet life – morality. Is it possible to be a “good person”? What does that mean anyway? And what’s in it for you? On his journey towards a cleaner conscience but an increasingly complicated reality, Tony meets several typical specimens familiar from contemporary Estonian society and lives trough exciting adventures, not without diverting humor. And it starts to to seem that slowly, and quite inevitably, the man loses his job, his family, and finally reality, itself.
Taavi Eelmaa is Tõnu
The Temptation of St. Tony is more than a movie, it is a piece of abstract art and Veiko Õunpuu is the artist. It feels almost impossible to place this movie into a certain genre, it’s more of a combination of drama, art house and even thriller. Luis Buñuel was thanked in the end credits and I imagine that he has been a big influence in the directors life and especially in the making of St. Tony.
I went to Tallinn for the premiere and here are some pictures from the premiere and after party
And for more info about the movie you can visit the official site here.
I’m extremely proud of being a part of this production and I want to thank all the people involved in the making of this movie. And a special thanks to producer Katrin Kissa, whom without this movie wouldn’t exist.
Now, imagine your home city would suddenly get a serious zombie infestation. It would start from a nearby mall, and spread fast everywhere. How would you defend yourself? What tools would you choose, where would you reside and how would you kill those fuckers?
First, you need to understand a little bit about Zombies – what are they, where they roam, how they operate and what are the best weapons against them. Let’s hear it from the very professionals themselves – Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, on Danger! 50,000 Zombies!
Part 1/3
Part 2/3
Part 3/3
The first thing you should do is to look at where you reside, and how can that place be defended against the Zombies. We set foot outside the door for the first time in ages to take a little tour around our building, and see what are the weak and the strong points of it.
We live in a 100-year old building made mainly out of stone, so there’s no fear for us the building collasing, even if there’s a fire inside – it’s been standing there through two World Wars, suffered a direct air bomb hit and still standing strong, so couple of Zombies are not going to tear it down.
Another good thing is that the only entrance to the inner yard is blocked by a sturdy metal gate. The good thing about a metal gate is that you can snipe the zombies with a shotgun or a rifle between the bars. The bad thing is that it’s a human-operated gate – and whenever there are humans in the equation of fight against the Zombies, there’s danger. There’s always some wounded (say: zombie-bitten) friend or lover that can’t be left out, and once he/she is inside, there’s nothing a stone building or a gate can do no more.
As you can see, the yard is completely surrounded with tall buildings, so no zombie (unless flying or catapulted, which is – to be realistic – quite rare) can get inside.
Even the wall on the other side is tall enough so that Zombies can’t climb over it. Well, unless there’s a pile of corpses they climb on top of, but one can always climb on the roof and pour some gasoline on the corpsepiles leaning against the wall on the outside and burn them to ashes.
The weak point is that we live on the ground floor. This is a problem if the Zombies get in to the yard – they can easily climb through the ground-floor windows, and then we’re fucked. And as we know from every Zombie film, barring the windows and doors won’t do it – they will come through the barricades eventually. The one good thing about ground floor is that it’s easy to use flamethrower to the Zombies swarming in the yard to clean it and make a run to the gate to lock it again.
So all in all, I think we’re quite safe here, despite some quite apparent flaws. How about you? How’s your house, is it Zombie-safe, or are you about to be the first ones to go?
And the last thing to know is how to kill them. The good thing about Zombies is that they are quite easy targets – the shit thing is that there’s usually way too many of them. But from time to time, you need to be creative in the ways you kill a Zombie.
I remember when I first came to contact with Metropia. It was trough our favorite movie site Twitch and I instantly fell in love with the cool visual style of the movie. Since then I have been eagerly anticipating to see it. Finally at Love & Anarchy film festival the Zombies got to see it.
First check out the trailers below.
Metropia takes place in a not-so-distant future. The world is running out of oil and the undergrounds have been connected into a gigantic subway network beneath Europe. Whenever Roger (Vincent Gallo) from Stockholm enters this system he hears a stranger’s voice in his head. He looks to the mysterious Nina (Juliette Lewis) to help him escape the disturbing web of the Metro, but the farther they travel, the deeper he’s involved in a dark conspiracy.
Director Tarik Saleh’s Metropia deals with themes of monitoring, surveillance and control. It’s a grim world where a popular shampoo can transforms your hair into little antennas so your thoughts can be heard and your mind can be manipulated to consume or worse.
Metropia’s true magic lies in it’s amazing and unique visual style. The weirdly realistic animation is a mixture of still photographs and 2D Animation, the kind I don’t ever recall seeing before. The photographs were edited in Photoshop, and animated in Adobe After Effects. Apparently ordinary people spotted on the streets were used as models for the characters. Director Tarik Saleh has a background both in animation and graphic design, which would explain his ability to create such a beautiful and absurd world as in Metropia.
An example of Metropia's beautiful color palette
Metropia also has quite the impressive voice cast. Vincent Gallo plays Roger, who accepted his part as the lead voice actor after having seen 30 seconds of finished animation as well as hearing that German actor Udo Kier, of whom Gallo was a fan, already was attached to the project. Juliette Lewis is the voice of the mysterious Nina and the voice in Roger’s head, Stefan, is portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård. Also Stellan Skarsgård gives his voice to Ralph.
The Skarsgårds
CONCLUSION
Metropia is a one of a kind animation. It is not without flaws, but it is still one of most original and captivating movies of 2009. I can’t wait to see what director Tarik Saleh will do next.
Ps. Once again I have no news on when this movie will be distributed in Finland, but when I do I will let you know. In the mean time you can check out more info from the official site.
If you’ve seen the movie 9 your head might be filled with unanswered questions and you might feel a bit confused. Don’t worry, that’s the proper and only way to feel. If you haven’t seen the movie, well then you’re probably better off…
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD (If you read on and I spoil the movie for you, it’s your own damn fault)!!!
9 is an animated fantasy adventure directed Shane Acker. It is the feature-length expansion of his Academy Award-nominated 2005 short film of the same name. The story is set in the near future when the world has come to an end after a war between men and machines (you know, like in Terminator basically). With the last breath of humanity a scientist makes 9 small creations to sustain life on earth before dying himself.
Here is the trailer…
… and also the 2005 short film, that the movie is based on.
So far so good, right? WRONG! The sorry excuse for a story doesn’t hold a candle to the amazing visuals (which is a damn shame). The story is wafer thin and so full of plot holes, that it makes the viewing experience a bit frustrating. Even the characters themselves seem to have a huge question mark imprinted in their facial expressions all trough the movie (with those round bug eyes). WHA WHA WHAAT???
The story starts when #9 is created (voiced by Elijah Wood). He start looking for answers and finds #2 (Martin Landau). Right after they meet, a horrible dog-like creature called the Beast attacks them and takes #2 away. From this point on #9 is obsessively driven to save him and everyone else. So here’s my first question.
1) Why #9 (the protagonist) does what he does? He starts off as this fragile and scared person, who suddenly transforms into a brave warrior. I can almost buy into the fact that he wants to save #2, because he saved #9′s life first. But when the story goes on it just doesn’t make much sense. Soon after, #9 finds #1 (Christopher Plummer), #8 (Fred Tatasciore), #6 (Crispin Glover) and #5 (John C. Reilly). He tries to get them to help #2, but #1 is against this because it would be too dangerous. Later on #9 discovers that #1 has send #2 out on purpose (to die), because he was old and was asking too many questions.
2) How the hell is #2 old, if he is not human and he was created just a short while ago? Did the scientist make him old on purpose or what? This doesn’t make any friggin’ sense. The timelines are all mixed up. Well anyway, #9 won’t take no for an answer and persuades #5 to go with him. #9 and #5 arrive to the old factory, where the Beast had taken #2, who they find alive. The Beast is there and they fight. Suddenly from thin air #7 (Jennifer Connelly) emerges and kills the Beast like it was nothing. Mind you that the Beast is supposedly the only machine left, and has been agonizing our creatures for a long time now.
3) So why is it suddenly so easy to kill the only threat they had?Why weren’t they able to do that before? Well there is no answer except deus ex machina. They kill the Beast and free #2. But in the middle of all this #9 inserts a small device that I call a thingamajig (which he found from the scientists study earlier) into the Great Machine.
4) Why the hell #9 inserts the thingamajig into the Great Machine? WHYYYY????!!!! This bit drove me crazy. It is just shown a few seconds ago that the Beast was trying to do the exact same thing. HELLO!!! Usually you do the opposite than the bad guys are doing! This brain fart of an idea of course awakens the Great Machine, that immediately starts building more machines. So now it’s 9 little rag dolls against hundreds of killer robots. This also raises the question:
5) Why wasn’t the Great Machine working before?Why wasn’t there any other robots left? I would understand if the war would have been fought a 100 years ago, but the human bodies laying around implicate that the war ended like a week ago. I just can’t wrap my brain around it. Well then…
6) Did the scientist have something to do with this? In the end of the movie it is revealed that it was the same scientist who had created the Great Machine. It is implicated (but not explained in any way) that maybe the scientist had taken the thingamajig out from the Machine, thus enabling it. Also when the Machine is awaken it kills #2 by sucking something that seems to be his life force (soul) out of him. Way to go #9! Because of you #2 is now dead and now you have hundreds of killer robots after you. I mean, what the f*ck were you thinking?!? At this point I had to ask myself…
7. Why did I go see this movie? Well, this I actually can answer. It’s simple. The movie had so much promise and potential. The visual world is great and Tim Burton is one of the producers. So why not, right? About that same time I was also wondering…
8. Why is #8 getting his rocks off with a magnet?I know this is not a plot hole or anything like that, it was just a bit weird.
9. What is up with that anti-climax ending?Before the movie is over, the Great Machine has killed three other creatures. No wrong in that, but it is clearly implicated that the life forces or souls of the creatures are trapped in the Machine and by destroying it, the souls can go free and the creatures can be brought back to life. But noooo. After the creatures get the thingamajig out of the Machine and destroy it, the souls just simply rise to the heavens with a very religious wibe. And then, it starts to rain…
Ok, my point is, the story leaves out so many things that you spend all of your time wondering and pondering, instead of concentrating on the movie.
So the bottom line is that the movie feels fast and unthought. Like there just wasn’t enough material to go on. The movie has great themes, that get lost in the mess. What you need to realize is that in the fantasy genre you can get away with anything if you just give you viewers the right instructions.
But truth be told, it’s not all bad. At times the movie is actually pretty decent. I loved the “steampunk”-styled visual world and the grim killer robots that the Great Machine created. Also the all-star voice cast was quite enjoyable (nothing special, but still enjoyable).
All and all I give the movie 2 1/2 stars. It could easily have been a four star movie, but the script just didn’t work.
Good morning! It’s Zombie Sunday – so let’s take a quick look to the Internet for Zombies!
One of my favourite zombie pictures, spotted from 4Chan, is Jason Chan‘s “Zombie Playground”. Check out Jason’s blog for more nice art. You can also order the Zombie Playground as a print, too – from here.
Ok, how aboutRob Zombie? I used to be a big fan of Rob’s first band, White Zombie, especially the album Astro-Creep: 2000 (Spotify link) kicks some serious ass. After he gone solo as Rob Zombie, I haven’t found his shit so thrilling, but I think Zombie Sunday is a great place to drop some brand new tracks I spotted via Blabbermouth:
In other news, Rob Zombie has just recently finished his remake of Halloween II , and is turning his milky white eyes next to the legendary The Blob.
And last, but not least, everybody has been going crazy aboutZombieland – a horror comedy with Woody Harrelson – which is running strong 8.5 on IMDB and doing pretty well on box office, too. I’ve had my doubts on this film after seeing the trailer – can’t actually explain why – but it seems it’s really worth the watch. Go check Zombieland’s review on Bloody Disgusting, and here’s the trailer.
On Wednesday was the premiere of a Finnish indie movie What Became of Us. This was actually the second screening of the film in Finland since it was also shown to a sold out theatre in Love & Anarchy film festival a couple of weeks ago. The Zombies were invited to the premiere and after seeing the movie I felt compelled to spill my guts about the experience.
First off you should know that What Became of Us is a no-budget movie that is completely independently made. There is no distributor, no professional actors or even professional film makers involved. Regardless of this What Became of Us is one the best Finnish movies I have seen in years. It is not even in comparison to most of the so-called professional films that are produced in Finland each year. And do you know why? The answer is simple; the movie actually manages to move, make you laugh and surprise you. This is unfortunately more than I can say about most Finnish movies.
It was clear from the beginning that the movie is made with love and true passion for film making. Even the opening speeches felt different and I could have listened them for hours. The true power of the movie comes from the amazing script, combined with great acting and of course the directors ability to tell a story. It’s the perfect example that you don’t always need money to make a great film, after all it’s about telling stories and telling them well.
What Became of Us is a movie about friendship. It’s a tale of gathering of the former elementary school classmates. At the climax of the story is the class reunion, set on a cruise ship. In the chilling night even the most kept secrets of the past are revealed by the salty sea wind. Only the debt of gratitude of one bullied young man can save the classmates from certain death. Check out the trailer below.
The film is directed by the multi-talented Miika Ullakko, who is also responsible for writing the script and playing one of the lead characters. The movie is more or less a sequel to his award-winning first feature film Graffiti Within, that was also made independently and with only 2000 euros or so in 2006. Here is the trailer, unfortunately I couldn’t find one with english subtitles.
For the past few days I’ve been asking myself what is the difference between an amateur and a professional film maker? The description for amateur from Wikipedia says: “An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without formal training or pay. An amateur receives little or irregular income from their activities, and differs from a professional who makes a living from the pursuit and typically has some formal training and certifications in the domain. Translated from its French origin to the English “lover”, the term “amateur” reflects a voluntary motivation to work as a result of personal interest in the activity.”
Of course these are just words and pointless titles per se, but as long as you a considered an “amateur”, finding a distributor for your film can be very difficult. If your movie isn’t funded trough governmental money, you don’t exist basically. Even if you have made the best movie of the year, you can’t get help for example making a film print to send to festivals, or you don’t get considered for the Finnish Oscar, the Jussi Award. This doesn’t seem quite right…
I admire the spirit and determination of the film makers and actors involved in What Became of Us. I for one am inspired and a bit more hopeful about the future of Finnish cinema.
Unfortunately I don’t have any news on when or where you could see this movie, but as soon as I do, I will be sure to post it here. Until then visit the official site for more info. And stay tuned for more coverage on these guys and their plans for the future.
