Stag Night of the Dead Gets UK DVD Release Date

OK our readers in the UK. Mark your calendars as January 6th (My birthday by the way) 2012 you are going to be able to pickup Stag Night of the Dead on DVD! (Beating out the US release date of “sometime later in the year”.)

Being that it’s my birthday I think one of you should send a copy overseas to me as that’d be a great birthday present, yea? ….. yea?… Guys? Helloooo?

Well it was worth a try.

For those who haven’t seen it or who don’t know much about it you can read our Stag Night of the Dead Review where we basically say how much of a win for zombie lovers everywhere this film is… now you’ll finally be able to see it for yourselves!

REVIEW: Buddy Bebop vs. The Living Dead (2009)

I love the 50’s. I love the 50’s culture, the way people acted and the idea of teenage rebellion that’s considered nothing as opposed today. What I love even more is when a movie combines the 50’s culture with the zombie subgenre, which is probably why I love Fido so much. I saw a movie that’s sort of like Fido’s mentally unstable brother who was locked in the attic for the better half of his life, and that movie is called Buddy Bebop vs. The Living Dead. Set in 1958, the movie is about a small town that becomes overrun with zombies after a failed government experiment is unleashed… what’s new? Now it’s up to a Buddy Holly-esque musician, a greaser and his geeky friend to survive while making sure nothing harmful comes to them or their girlfriends. However, the geeky friend’s father is lone survivor of the scientists who first created the experiment and the Vice President has recruited somebody to stop the undead… somebody famous… somebody who’s known as The King.

The movie is nice to look mainly because it employs the same special effect technique we’ve seen in Sin City where most of the movie is black and white but certain objects are in color. Although, in this movie there is no real reason as to why certain things (and times everything except for the people) are in color. I thought it would be doing something similar to Pleasantville (another 50’s style gem) but I guess the director thought it looked cool, which it does at times. Considering this was a period piece of sorts, I have to commend the art direction for trying to make the movie as 50’s as possible. They use an old fashioned diner, the hairstyles, old cars and even a radio announcer that’s very reminiscent of Edward R. Murrow. Despite these efforts, I feel the movie has the same aesthetic problem that Dirty Dancing has. Because of the budget, there are several times where the movie doesn’t even seem like it takes place in the 50’s but rather the present day, which is a result of costuming. This doesn’t really break the movie; it’s something that noticed.

If there was anything that could break the movie it would be a few things, namely… there wasn’t enough Buddy Bebop. I like this character; he’s the spitting image of Buddy Holly and goes as far as to make puns with Holly’s songs. After the zombies invade the town, there seems to be a huge emphasis on the greaser and his friend and hardly any on Bebop. Part of me was hoping that the movie would be sort of like Dance of the Dead where Bebop must save everybody in the roller rink from the zombies outside. Also, there are some scenes and situations that have really no purpose at all. At times I felt like the only reason it was in there was to make the movie more perverted. I’m talking about the pervert who licks girl’s shoes and then forces himself on to a young man, and the fat roller rink owner who decides to have anal sex in the bathroom. None of it needs to be in there. It’s just unnecessary fluff that’s expendable.

There were two parts of the movie that I really enjoyed and one of them is when Buddy Bebop confronts The King (better known as Elvis, or an Elvis-esque character this world has to offer). See, a zombie has bitten Bebop and so has The King, but The King just handed the antibiotic serum to Bebop, now they must fight each other and the zombies around them to see who gets the serum. Not only is there cartoon music playing but also it’s such a great analogy for two kings of rock ‘n roll finally duking it out to see who’s the ultimate. Elvis is known as The King of Rock ‘n Roll but Buddy “Bebop” Holly was known as the forbearers of rock ‘n roll. It felt like a real life version of a Hannah Barbara cartoon and I enjoyed every minute of it. Also, I really liked Elvis’ horrible puns, puns that are a staple in this movie. Example: Shit is like snowflakes, baby, neither two are alike.

The movie is gory, showing broken legs, knocked out teeth, skin peeling and even a zombie eating a dead bloody baby. As for the zombies themselves, they sort of remind me of Romero zombies mixed with traditional Haitian zombies; white pale skin with dark eyes sockets covered in splattered blood with the occasional half-torn faces. It was nice. Aside from Elvis “The King” Presley, look for a particularly amusing cameo by Richard Nixon. Overall, it wasn’t a bad movie, it was quite enjoyable at times but I wish the movie took a different path and omitted some scenes. The aesthetics and the special effects are gorgeous but it doesn’t seem to help the plot.

Official website

Available on Amazon

Stitched Trailer Brings Us Zommies

Zommies. There. I’ve said it. NO! NOT ZOMBIE MOMMIES! – Zombie Mummies! At least that’s what it LOOKS like comes back to life in this short 15 minute film. From the trailer I actually wish this was a full length feature as it looks as if it could be pretty amazing.

The tagline is “High country, eastern Afghanistan. The graves open. The dead rise. The war goes on.”

While neither the film not the tagline nor the official plot say what the film’s undead actually consist of it’s clearly the dead coming back to life. They LOOK like mummies but sure seem to act like zombies. This could be a false report on what they are but here is hoping that they are some kind of zombie/mummy hybrid that means this post is fitting (that and really I wanted to just show the trailer off.)

Somewhere in the Mountains of Afghanistan…
Three little figures stagger across the desolate landscape. Their Blackhawk burning in the rocks and the rest of the crew gone with it, the trio must survive both the terrible conditions and the hostile attentions of the locals. But there are worse foes than Taliban fighters in this ancient land, as an old and terrible force arises to serve a twenty-first century evil.

You can follow the film’s progress on Stitched’s Official Website.

Trailer: Gancore Gud

I for one absolutely love Thai food, a Thai zombie film though about a hip-hop group fighting off the living dead? Why do I have the feeling it won’t translate all that well? While I’m sure we can all ignore a bad plot (we’re zombie fanatics, there are more bad indie zombie films then anything else under the sun and we still love them) can we ignore bad gore? Fortunately we won’t have to! The special effects on both the zombies and those they are feasting on look top notch and I believe will be enjoyable to watch for those scenes alone.

A hip-hop group called Gan Core Club is stuck on a remote island. They find their paradise turning into a horror of epic proportions when they encounter bloody islanders who kill people, and Zombies that rising from the sea and prowling on the island.

[via: Horror Movies.]

Wataha Trailer

Wataha is a Polish zombie film that’s currently being made and as always the Euro imports need to get subbed or dubbed faster and imported asap!

In the near future the world as we know it is on the decline, dominated by the so-called “transformed”. Four survivors of an army squadron under the leadership of the “Colonel” (Jacek Dewódzki) cross Europe from West to East in search of a place safe from the plague. In the middle of a big forest that stretches for miles, their transport breaks down. Deciding to wait it out the night, they take refuge in an old abandoned hotel where a family is hiding. Unbeknownst to the Colonel, his men have a plan, which they intend to implement that very night.

If you speak Polish (or use Chrome and can translate the page) then you can follow the film’s progress on Facebook

[via: Dread Central.]

Emma Is Not Proudly Prejudiced Against The Undead

Last week we told you that Emma Stone will star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This week we’re telling you what we heard is wrong. According to Deadline, Emma was offered the roll but she decided not to take it even before it got to negotiations.

Emma, we love you BECAUSE of you being in a zombie film. You need to do more horror and this was the perfect bad ass meets class roll for you. Our loss.

So this is yet ANOTHER snag in the production of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the best selling novel seems to have issues being turned into a film at every step of the way and I’m getting worried on how it’ll actually end up being once it finally hits the big screen.

Highway 91 Final Trailer

Sonny Fernandez, director of Highway 91, was kind enough to give us the heads up that the latest (and final) trailer for this fun looking film is out in time to celebrate it’s DVD release! We should have a review up shortly for it! (Actually I’m not sure why we don’t have one ready yet, time to whip the reviewer!)

The zombie apocalypse has happened. The living dead have taken over the world. Amidst the devasted ruins a group of survivors are trying to reach a rumored sanctuary, a place to rebuild, a city along the ruins of Highway 91, all they have to do is make it there alive. Religious nuts, serial killers and insane scavengers await them as they journey into the depths of hell and back, all in search for a place zombie free, but they’ll that sometimes- the darkest monsters ae those that lurk in their own hearts.

Available at Amazon

Zombie Tag

It’s rare that a film comes out with zombies these days that we haven’t covered or at least knew about. Not only is this one falling into both of those categories (it did slide by from being an indie) but it has a concept that could be a lot of fun. We’ll try to track down a review copy to give you an actual description of the film but for now the one it comes with is:

Dillon Hill enlists his group of childhood friends to play ‘Zombie Tag’ one last night before they go off to college and their separate ways. To make the evening special he hires a few zombies to give his friends a scare. Problems arise when the group is caught up in a plot to recover evidence against a crooked politician that Dillon’s father has hidden on their property. Dillon stages a zombie attack to fend off the bad guys while they protect each other and the evidence until help arrives.

Available at Amazon

War Of The Dead Trailers

We were let in on the fact that there are 2 War of the Dead trailers out recently by Quiet Earth.

So what’s the film about?

March 1942. Captain Martin Stone (Andrew Tiernan – 300, The Pianist) leads an American unit on a mission to destroy an enemy bunker; joining forces with an elite platoon of Finnish soldiers; Cpt. Niemi (Jouko Ahola – Kingdom of Heaven) and Ltnt. Laasko (Mikko Leppilampi). The troops are torn apart by the same enemy soldiers they had killed a few minutes earlier in an ambush. The living dead? Evil forces? Or SS experiments gone wrong?

You can follow the film’s status on the War of the Dead Facebook Group.

Zombie Hood June 2010 Update

Another month comes and goes and we receive even more information on the progression of the filming for Zombie Hood! The June update has a lot of information on whats been going on over the past month and as always the film looks promising, we can’t wait to see the final product!

What a month! May has easily been our most hectic month yet with three consecutive weekend shoots. The Bill and Melanie scene shot in a cold, extremely windy alleyway in the early hours was by far the most testing shoot for some members of the crew. But no pain, no gain as they say as the scene plays so well and at least it makes us all appreciate the interior shoots that much more. We have now shot scenes with all of our lead characters and the footage looks phenomenal. The acting ability on this production is far beyond anything we could have hoped for and it’s been great to see our actors deliver whole conversations before the zombies pop up and the usual carnage ensues. And not to worry we’re still keeping our blood quota high, on our pub scene it tasted like chocolate and the ‘gore canon’ even came into use. The Sam and Dermott shoot also saw the introduction of our fictitious ‘Dead Pale Ale’ so keep a look out for that in the film.

As always we had a last minute location change so we must give a massive thank you to Twisted Playground for accommodating us at such short notice. The footage is great and the cramped conditions just made our crew bond that little bit faster.

June is already beginning to pick up pace as auditions have been held for the cut scenes and we managed to cast all the roles on the day. Again we thank everyone who turned up, the acting quality was beyond our expectations and it has been a very, very hard process to cast the roles. We wish we had enough parts for everyone, but we hope to see the unsuccessful applicants as prominent zombies in the future. In fact most people seemed to more excited about the prospect of being a zombie than the role they were auditioning for so hopefully we’ve left no one disappointed.

Hopefully June will see us keep this momentum going and we will get at least one scene in the can before the month is out. Of course as always we will be spending any free weekends location hunting, scheduling, storyboarding and finding new ways to kill zombies!