I’m a huge fan of director Marko Mäkilaakso and I have been eagerly anticipating his debut film War of the Dead ever since it was announced some years ago. Today 4th of May the film premieres here in Finland.
I had the pleasure of seeing the film already at Night Vision Film Festival here in Helsinki a few weeks back and it was everything I expected and more. I enjoyed the film so much I wanted to list 10 good reasons why You should see this movie also.
1. It has zombies!
2. Action, action and more action! One thing that surprised me the most was Mäkilaakso’s abilities as an action director. In my mind War of the Dead is not so much a zombie movie but a full blown action flick. The kind of action flick I have been craving to see from a Finnish film maker for ages.
3. It’s a love song to 80′s and 90′s action movies and their stars. And what’s better than action movies from those days? Nothing, I tell you!
5. Mikko Leppilampi and Samuli Vauramo. They make a great team and I hope to see them together more often in the future.
6. It has zombies! And they are nazis!
7. It’s good old fashion fun. If possible go see the film with your friends, grab some beers and just have fun. Don’t take everything so seriously.
8. Crazy German nazi scientists doing crazy-ass experiments on people! You can’t go more old school than that!
9. Everybody speaking Finglish, that’s English with a Finnish accent. It’s just hilarious – in a good way! Like I said, don’t take everything so seriously.
10. And probably most importantly we need to keep genre films alive in Finland and the only way to do this is to buy a ticket and go see the film!
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the movie I’m most exited about at Night Visions is War of the Dead. This Finnish Zombie war movie, directed by Marko Mäkilaakso and starring Andrew Tiernan, Mikko Leppilampi and Samuli Vauramo, has been a long time coming and I’m so happy it’s now set a release date to 4.5.2012 in Finnish cinemas. But if you are like me and can’t wait another minute more, you can check out the film in a preview screening at Night Visions tonight!
Screening: Fri 13.04.2012 at 20:45 (Bio Rex)
A platoon of American and Finnish soldiers is driven deep into a Russian forest where its Captain discovers a terrifying secret.
For reasons that remain to be unclear tome, the plans to re-create Michael Jackson‘s Thrilleras a feature film are afoot. I’m not surprised at all, the music video made in 1983 by John Landis and featuring Michael Jackson himself must be one of the greatest moments of Zombies on a screen of any size, and was a remarkably great and important part in making music videos have their golden age in the 80s that lasted all the way to late 90s. So picking a good old idea since everyone seems to be completely out of good new ideas is a natural way to go. Yet, making a remake of Thriller without Michael Jackson is like making The Predator without Arnold Schwarzenegger – and look how well that went…
(By the way, Schwarzenegger stated just 4 hours ago in his Twitter that we should “stay tuned for more info on his next project with James Cameron”. I intend to.
Anyway, now the big film blogs have started to whineabout how wrong it is that the short film is being remade. The same people who think it’s just OK to do a remake of a film like Let The Right One In – the main difference there really is that Let the Right One In is a Swedish movie, made in this strange language, so it’s OK to rape the shit out of the film. But when it comes to a Zombie music video, remaking that seems to be one hell of a whining point.
Anyway, I’m not specifically looking forward for the remake of either one of them – Thriller or Let the Right One In – but I’m aware that the latter of thes two was remade only because that’s the American equivalent of subtitles. Anyway, here’s the original Thriller music video, enjoy:
A bit of Zombie news, for a change. I happened to buy the copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith quite randomly from Brisbane, and haven’t read a page of it. More than a book I want to read, it’s a book I want to own. But nevertheless, a film of it is coming up, yet it’s still quite ambiguous what kind of a film – directed by who and starred by who – it’s going to be. But more than a film I want to see, it’s a film that I’m happy to see get made. It might be directed by David Slade, or Mike Newell, or Neil Marshall, or … well, it basically could be anybody who’s done some sort of a genre hit lately. Yet I’d be happiest to see it being directed by Finland’s own AJ Annila. That would bring an interesting angle to the film indeed.
In other news, there’s been obviously a lot of talk about The Walking Dead TV-series lately, and as far as I can gather, it’s premiering on Halloween somewhere in the states, and exactly 30 seconds after it’s out, also on Pirate Bay. Latest bit of goodies are the new behind the scenes shots from the makeup studio of The Walking Dead, available here. Oh, and here’s the trailer for the series, check it out.
Ever wanted to do a Zombie film? Well, it’s easy; just follow these five simple steps, and you’ve got yourself a seller!
The remake of The Crazies is a teflon-coated horror film. It’s made carefully to entertain everyone, crafted so that it won’t offend too many people, and tuned down so that there’s not too much of gore that would push the rating too high. And as in many similar cases, when you try to do a film for everyone – especially a genre film – it becomes a film for no-one. Luckily, there’s a big mass of people called General Audience, and they’ll munch anything thrown at them like zombies. If you’ve done your math, you can’t go wrong with a general audience horror flick.
I haven’t seen Romero‘s original The Crazies (1973), so I can’t do any comparison to the original, but the film that it reminds me of is The Mist (2007). The setting, the feeling, the look and the main characters are very much alike. Both are films made with 20 million, and made their money back 2-3 times. The only main difference is that The Mist is actually quite a good film.
To sum it up, I’d say that The Crazies is a perfect horror film for the douchebags in their mating season. I can’t see anyone else finding anything even remotely interesting in it.
You shouldn’t waste your money on the film – easiest way to see it is to check out the trailer. It’s a chronological walk-through of the film with the coolest moments stitched together. Here you go:
There, I saved 10 bucks of your hard-earned money.
It seems that Universal Pictures is working on a project called The Something – which they described to be “Sci-Fi Zombieland” – “an ensemble comedy/horror hybrid set in deep space” – with the script that’s supposed to be similar to the one of Zombieland. The film is written by Rodney Rothman, who as the youngest head writer in the history of Late Night with David Letterman. (via SlashFilm)
“Fair warning to those out there who expect this to be a straight up animated version of Romero’s undead zeitgeist of a flick. For better or worse, it isn’t. Instead what we have here is a massive multimedia art project, a mobile gallery show, collected and presented on one platform for consumption, IE a TV or theater screen.”
A.D. is Zombie Room’s new favorite project out there – an animated zombie feature, that looks just plain amazing! Let’s start out with the trailer, since it’s just going to blast your brains all over the walls.
We conducted a short interview with the makers of the film – here you go!
ZR: Zombie animation. Sounds first like there must’ve been tens of them… but actually, no. This is the first. And it strikes me as being a brilliant concept – gives me an idea that one can extend the borders of this otherwise pretty well-explored genre quite much by doing it in animation. What were your main motivations to approach it from this angle, and what possibilities you find it offering?
Haylar Garcia, creator/writer: There were a few motivations, one was to take the genre and make it an original reinvention, bigger, stronger, faster, more insane than ever. The other was to have the stylistic power given to us by the medium of animation itself. There is so much more we can do, so much more we can push. The set pieces and situations in “AD” are unlike anything ever done in a zombie film, and so in many ways animation and Ben’s [Hibon, the director] vision and expertise are what make this thing possible.
Tarik Heitmann, producer: As Haylar said, the main motivation for all of us, including the director Ben Hibon and my producing partners on this, Bernie Goldmann (who produced one of my favorite movies –300) and Renee Tab was to make a cg-animated zombie film and use the medium of animation to its fullest potential. Most zombie films tend to be very self-contained, but we rarely venture out into the open road. Zombieland, which had more of a comedic approach, felt more like a road movie. A.D. is a lot bigger, though, and feels a lot more like a big action horror-adventure with characters that are fully developed.
ZR: Can you briefly tell me the background of the project – when did the idea appear and how far are you now? What’s the budget and when is it coming out?
Haylar: Many years ago I set out to write the mother of all zombie films (as I am a walking dead fanboy myself) I found Ben through his amazing work on Codehunters and knew in 3 seconds, even though he was in another continent, that this was the person I could trust to take my ideas and put them on steroids. Once the producing team came into play, the planets just aligned. Rewrites were done based on their notes, and we came up with something truly cool.
Tarik: Pretty much everything aligned. I had previously read another script of Haylar’s which had just blown me away. That one was a drama, so when I first received A.D. which was called something else at that time and with his explanation that it needed to be done as a full-scale animated movie, I was completely hooked. Ben Hibon’s work was introduced to me a few years back and his short Codehunters was completely original and cinematically outstanding. Partnering with Bernie just felt natural and he completely got what we had in mind, having produced 300 and having been tangentially involved in The Matrix as President of Production at Village Roadshow. When is the movie coming out? We literally just put the teaser out to the public to see, if there was an interest in a movie like this and we’re amazed how many people have responded favorably. Hopefully in a few years!
ZR: Where and with who are you going to do the animation with?
Tarik: We haven’t decided yet. There are so many incredible animation houses out there, but ultimately they have to be able to recreate what Ben’s vision is.
ZR: What’s your take on Zombie films in general – there was a bit of a lift for them going on for a while, but now it seems it’s turned to vampires or even werewolves – do you think zombies will hit the big screens again in near future? Maybe in the form of animated zombie films?
Haylar: Ok I’ll be the fool to say it: zombie films will never “die”, they revolve like many other genres but never seem to truly fade, sometime they go camp like Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland” but the public f ascination never really stops. I think the genre will continue to evolve and morph, our idea of making the first animated film of this kind is only a milestone in that evolution.
ZR: How about “adult animations” (sounds dirty, but you know what I mean . They’ve been shunned for quite some time, since the general atmosphere has been that animation is for kids… But now we’re starting to see more of these. Do you think there’s future in animations for adult audience?
Haylar: In a few years there will be no major demographic left that did not grow up playing video games. The Hollywood engine is always
reluctant to take huge steps, but this one is coming no matter what. Mark my words; as video game generations are becoming the world majority, stylistic adult geared animation (especially in genres where animation can be used for extreme filmic effect) is an undeniable future. The first studio to do it will reap the benefits. By The Way – AD is poised and ready to go, just the push of a button… hint hint.
Tarik: Gotta go with Haylar on that one. It wasn’t long ago that Pixar made a mark with >Toy Story, one of the first CG animated features and now everyone is doing it. Before that, it was all about traditional 2D or cell animation. Adult animation is starting to make a mark – look at 9 which was only the beginning.
ZR: Did you see Dead Snow? Did you like it? What’s your personal favourite of zombie films?
Haylar: I have not seen Dead Snow, but as of now it’s on my list. Favorite Z-film? That’s hard. Because the genre evolves it’s like comparing heads to limbs if that makes sense. I think I’d have to go with Zack Snyder’s remake ofDawn of the Dead mainly because it was both scary and fun.
Tarik: I loved Dead Snow. Freakin’ Nazi Zombies – what could be more scary!!! My favorite zombie films – there are tons. >Dawn of the Dead was the first zombie flick I saw and it scared the living hell out of me. The Return of the Living Dead was great, even newer movies like 28 Days Later….
Well, as you can see, these guys are our kind of people – and needless to say, they’re in to Iron Skyas well – for some strange reason, Nazis and Zombies walk hand in hand. Both are cool, evil and you can kill as many of them as you like, and the audience just keeps on cheering! We’ll be watching closely the progress of the world’s first animated zombie feature film A.D.!
Got too much money?! Yes, I know the feeling – nowhere to spend, but shitload of it at hands. Well, why not spend it on some cool Zombie stuff. This sunday the Zombies go shopping online – let’s see, what we found!
Everybody needs a calendar on the wall. In most cases it’s some ugly-ass paperscrap with boring pictures of nature – or even worse, Anne Geddes “funny” baby photos… Zombie Room suggests you to get something to enjoy – a Zombie Calendar! Empty Room Studios has one for you:
I’m always shocked on how utterly horrible the mobile phones – especially the ones made for iPhone – look like. I know that some of you wield an iPhone on your side. For those, Zombie Bikini Babes is probably the worst thing to spend your hard-earned money on. But they got Marina Orlova, the hottest babe on the Net – so maybe it is worth a dollar or two. Who knows.
Buying a shotgun for the Zombie Apocalypse preparations is not always easy. Here’s an experience snatched from Not Always Right:
(A customer in their 50s walks into my pawn shop, which sells weapons.)
Customer: “Yeah, can you get me that shotgun behind the table?”
Me: “Sure, do you have your license and registration?”
Customer: “Yeah, right here.”
Me: “Thank you sir. There’s a 5 day waiting period for firearms. Come back soon.”
(He looks disappointed, but forks over the cash and walks out. Five days later…)
Customer: “Okay, dude, I’m back. Where’s the gun?”
Me: “Right here, sir…
(I make the transaction and hand him his shotgun.)
Me: “Have a nice day and come back soon!”
(About one minute after the customer leaves the store, I hear several loud shotgun blasts. I look through the window and the man is firing rounds into the air! He then runs into the store.)
Customer: “The zombie invasion has begun! It’s every man for himself!”
(I hide under the desk and press the silent alarm. Five minutes later, the police arrive, taser the guy, and bring him out of our back room in cuffs. I work at an ice cream store now.)
The guy should probably check out the Guns ‘n Gardens How To Survive Zombie Apocalypse -show, so he would know what to do when he gets back from the jail – don’t go shooting around aimlessly, you have only this many bullets and there’s always more of Zombies, that’s for sure:
Since it’s Father’s Day today I though I would do something for all you daddies out there. So, let’s have look at the sexier side of the undead, because who says zombies can’t be sexy too? Is beauty and brains a combination you are looking for in a woman? If so, read on…
If you are looking for next years calender, here’s a hot tip. I found this calender from My Zombie Pinup. These girls might be brain dead, but they are still drop dead gorgeous!
Say hello to Miss February…
… Miss June…
… Miss July…
… Miss September…
… and last but not least, Miss December.
To see all the moths and buy this 2010 calender, go to My Zombie Pinup.
As you can see, not all zombies are ugly, even hot, beautiful girls can be attacked by zombies. For the most beautiful ones there are of course Zombie Beauty Pageants…
One of these Zombie Beauty Contests are held annually at the Phoenix ComiCon. The winner of the 2009 Zombie Beauty Pageant was…
… was the lovely Heather.
Well maybe not. But if you don’t care for pageants and you are looking for something wilder, there is always stripping…
The Zombies wish Happy Father’s Day to all you daddies, and have a great week!
With those glasses, you would see dead people everywhere, too.
There’s only one real thing to do on Halloween, and that is to talk about the master of all Zombie horror – George A. Romero.
Romero is the guy who set in motion the whole Zombie film genre. Yes, there had been zombie films before his Night of the Living Dead (1968), but it was Night of the Living Dead, and the two films that followed – Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) – that basically set the rules for one of the coolest genres in film history.
If, for some reason, you’ve managed to have missed Night of the Living Dead, or want to see it again, you can watch it for free online – the film is in the public domain, thanks to the original distributor’s failure to include copyright marks on the film prints. As such, you can download and watch the film for free at the Internet Archive (thanks to Mashable for the tip!).
After the “Trilogy of the Dead”, Romero hasn’t been producing anything noteworthy to the screens, unfortunately. He has continued his trilogy – films that end with the words “…Of the Dead”, but so far – both Land of the Dead (2005) and Diary of the Dead (2007) – were quite lazy, especially compared to “modern” zombie films out there nowadays, like 28 Days and Weeks Later. Survival of the Dead (2009) is the latest incarnation in the long line of “…of the Deads”, and the reviews have been surprisingly positive compared to two earlier films. The synopsis says: “On an island off the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state.”
The new promo teaser does promise a lot of blood and gore, but I’m not convinced. But I’m gonna see it anyway, once it lands here in Finland (undoubtedly, on DVD).
Oh, and here’s a fun diagram for you I found on the Internet the other day:
Aight, happy Halloween to all, and stay tuned for Essi’s review on The Box, comin’ right up!
. They’ve been shunned for quite some time, since the general atmosphere has been that animation is for kids… But now we’re starting to see more of these. Do you think there’s future in animations for adult audience?
