 
Two siblings named
Barbara (Patricia Tallman) and Johnny
(Bill Mosley) travel up to a graveyard to
visit their mother's tombstone and Johnny
keeps taunting Barb that the dead is
coming to get her but suddenly they see a
sick old man walking by them and then a
zombie attacks Barbara and Johnny battles
with the zombie but he is knocked
unconcious so she reuns down to a
farmhouse but it looks deserted. However,
a zombie farmer is in the house and
nearly attacks Barbara.
Then a black man in a truck named Ben
(Tony Todd) enters the farmhouse and
helps Barbara out as a few more zombies
enter the house as well.
While they try to board the house up they
encounter a couple of the residents named
Tom (William Butler) and his girlfriend
Judy (Kate Finneran) as they brought
along a family who decides to stay in the
basement to hide out as the parents
daughter was bitten by a zombie.
Meanwhile, the little girl who got bitten
awakens and is turned into a zombie
Afterwards, Tom and Judy die from an
explosion while trying to get gasoline
nearby and to Barbara's surprise the dead
starts to eat their corpses after she
finds out what caused the explosion.
The beginning with both Barbara and Johnnie driving up to the graveyard seemed slightly hokey when we hear the voices on them speaking and him teasing her as this seemed all too planned out as well as seeming like a typical remake as it even seems that way when they go to their mothers tombstone. However things really get going greatly when there's the zombie attack scene towards Johnnie as there's more grizzly make up effects to look more convincing that these are the living dead plus things looked way more intense and deadly when these moments happen which was done in good brutal style.
More effective situations when Barbara tries to get away from the zombies at the cemetary and showing off by being powerful as well as nice shots on the zombies trying to come after her while she runs away in a wooded area.
A different situation when she enters the farmhouse as there's a shocking moment on a zombie rolling off a ledge in the home as well as being attacked with her struggling away from them and then Ben comes to the rescue by blowing them away. Things looked perfectly intense when we spot all of this happening. Plus good moments when she loses control when he tries to be patient with her as this was a memorable scene and hard to forget.
Good shot on Ben lying there on the ground hollering out of frusteration with all that's happening which looked incredibly effective to watch.
Good still moment when Ben walks upstairs in the farmhouse and a good gruesome shot on a corpse with a gun which can please the gorehounds a bit and well done for a flick such as this one.
Nice fast action moments when Ben gets forceful to some of the people that came to the home but yet things looked too rushed and typical for a remake when they explain on who they are such as the parents and their sick daughter as well as the resident farmer with his girlfriend. How this was all done was a little too hokey.
Great outdoor night shots on the zombies wandering around which will please zombie fans big time.
In the story we have everyone boarding up the home as well as real intense moments on zombies hands trying to grab at others which makes you wonder if they will survive the madness as things looked perfectly powerful. Plus we spot another moment when Barbara is by a window talking and a zombie is at a window suddenly which almost makes you jump. Offers nice still timing and then BAM!
Also some great moments when Barbara was showing others on how to kill a zombie with a gun which seemed mildly clever to watch.
Perfect night shot on a middle aged woman zombie wandering around as well as turning her head to go towards the farmhouse.
Nice strong situations when both Ben and Tom look for boards and other supplies to board up the house as this looked realistic on everyone working hard by trying to stay alive.
A great moment with Harry Cooper watching a TV news broadcast as well as good points on them discussing as to why the dead are coming back to life. Also a great moment with him dragging the TV down and Ben wrestling him to get the TV and something happens to the set as well as having a bad sinking feeling on what they will do with no news helping them. This all looked strongly done. Plus good intense physical moments between the two of them.
Perfect intense moments when Barbara and Harry tries to fend for themselves when zombies try to get in while Ben, Tom and Judy Rose try to start up their vehicle to get help and the engine doesn't start up right away which is often a typical moment in a horror film but it leaves you in suspense wondering if everyone is going to be safe or not.
Nicely done moment with the Coopers child as a zombie attacking her Mom in the cellar by biting her as this looked perfectly intense as well as good gun fighting sequences between Ben and Harry while this child tries to come up and go in to attack them. ALot of good peer pressuring situations happening here making this look mildly psychological. The child has more zombie make up on her compared to the original and looking a bit creepier too.
Another effective moment when Barbara is outside and spotting the dead victims to the car explosion and what they're doing to these people as we reveal some good psychological moments on someone being grossly upset on what's going on here offering more strong situations in a horror flick.
We have something different than the original when Barbara meets up with some kookie redneck hunters as she spots dead zombies in the back trunk of their vehicle along with another scene taking place in the daytime near the farmhouse with a festival going on with other rednecks playing deadly games with the zombies which is a different twist making the moments look a bit sick. Yet works in well and nicely concentrated when we have Barbara involved by going into the farmhouse to see if anyone survived as there's another different moment compared to the original to see on what happened including a vengeful moment on Barbara towards someone she never liked as this was also a memorable scene to anyone who saw this. It does stick in your mind a great deal.
Bottom line is that this
remake was poorly made as it was way too
rushed with the events happening. However the film can be considered campy fun even if it tried so hard to be dark and serious. There are some interesting touches a
quarter way through the film with the
classic battles etc. It's a little stiff I admit but a nice party flick nevertheless to watch on a season like hallows eve. Seems like a typical remake nonetheless.
The acting isn't as
convincing but it still pulls through.Tony Todd (Ben) is pretty good
as a tough guy and delivers his lines
alright but does better when he is
aggressive. He was perfectly forceful to certain others and adds a great punch to all of that. Was a total ball of energy especially when he goes outside and screams out words about what is happening. Shows a nice heroic attitude as well. Of course he is remembered to
millions as the Candyman.
I
must say that actress Patricia
Tallman (Barbara) really stole the show with
her performance outbeating the original actress
. She was great with her
intensity after encountering the zombie's
for the first time and was super at being
tough while shooting the zombie's from
the farmhouse too. Also knew on how to lose control with her intensity which shines off nicely.
Also shows some great aggressions by not taking any crap. This gal has got it.
Tom Towles (Harry Cooper) was a total piece of dynamite with his obnoxious and arrogant behavior. He for sure studied this character and brought it out more so than what we've seen in the original. Has his speaking to a total hype as well as coming across as convincingly loud and annoying too. Plus does well hollering intensely when he is pitted to the ground.
McKee Anderson (Helen Cooper) shows a good sharp type of behavior as she says her lines clearly and powerfully. She also has a good no nonsense type of attitude as well as being powerful within anything that she did in her role when she acts stubborn on a situation which shows off believeably as well.
William Butler (Tom) however seems a
little too comedic with his role as he
was meant to be serious. Seemed that he saw the origignal flick and tried too hard to be this role as he was quite stiff and a little over the top with everything. However he fit the suit by being a redneck type of hunter residing in the farmhouse so that worked well in his favor.
Katie Finneran (Judy Rose) was overly annoying in her role as the girlfriend in the flick. Her screaming was out of focus and does it too much that it drives you crazy. She really needed acting lessons pretty badly also had too much of a whiney behavior as I don't think she was supposed to have portrayed that type of a role. A bad choice in casting for this one.
Wait, we have horror veran Bill
Mosley (Johnnie) as the mocking brother of
Barbara's who does great with his work
and it's a shame that his role was small. He seemed to do well with his hyped energy when he goes in a teasing rage as well as reacting to the intensity that happens to him. This was a different type of role as he often plays horror characters but not this time and seems passable as a decent guy next door type.
There are a couple of naked
zombie's showing their butt
A cut off hand
falls from upstairs in a farmhouse.
The remains of a farmman is revealed with
his cut off wrist and bloodily shot head.
A zombie is stabbed in the head
There are body pieces.
The music is very cheesy
with a synthesizer playing by Paul
McCollough and sounds nowhere near
as good as from the original film but
however there's great guitar playing
during the closing credits. Yet the music seemed to work in well for certain parts of the flick as we also hear whooshing and ghoulish sounds too that was well composed. Nice dark sounds here and there too. Also in a scene there's some old fashioned horror music which shines off nicely too.
[first
lines]
Johnnie: They're coming to get
you, Barbara!
Harry:
A way out is a way in.
Ben:
You know what, Cooper, I've only been
around you a minute or two, but that's
enough time for me to decide that I don't
like you very much.
Ben:
You're boss down there. I'm boss up here.
Ben:
Cooper, I've got a shotgun out here. Open
this door, you motherfucker, or I swear
to God I'll blow it to shit.
Ben (Looks
at a thin closet door): No good
Tom: Better than nothing
Ben
Ben (Punches through
the closet door): No good.
[on
the zombies approaching the house]
Barbara: They're so slow. We could
just walk right past 'em and we wouldn't
even have to run. We could just walk
right past 'em. We have the guns. If
we're careful we could get away.
[she looks at Ben]
Barbara: You told me to fight,
well I'm fighting, this place is not
safe, not upstairs or down. We should
leave before it's too late.
Harry:
You can't get any reception in the
basement, dickhead.
Ben:
You are losing it girl, you are losing
it.
Barbara: You think so?
[Barbara shoots an approaching zombie
in the face]
Barbara: Whatever I lost, I lost a
long time ago and I do not plan on losing
anything else. You can talk to me about
losing it when you stop screaming at each
other like a bunch of two-year-olds.
Hondo:
[after almost killing Barbara thinking
she is a zombie] Jesus, Goddamn,
holyloving, shit! What in the name of
Jupiter's balls are you doing out here
alone little lady?
Harry:
[discovering Barbara as she returned
to the house the next day. Harry had
cowered to the attic and left her for
dead] You came back!
[pretending to be sincere]
Harry: You... Came back.
[Barbara glares at him and then shoots
him in the head]
Barbara:
That's another one for the fire. |
