The Otherworldly Zombies

Let me first state this so that I don’t end up turning this into a review: I didn’t enjoy Shock Waves that way I wanted to because I’ve only heard of the movie and had never seen it until now. Zombie SS troops seemed like a great formula but I guess I was turned off by the pacing of the movie. I think it was too slow even at the times where it should have been frantic. That being said, I think it presents the zombies quite well and I’m sure that if I saw this as a kid, I’d be freaked out on a psychological scale. There is a certain mood that Shock Waves establishes, but I think the mood is bland and at times not even present… instead, I believe the way the zombies act establishes the mood (at least the scenes involving the zombies). It’s somewhat hard to explain because it requires a visual moving image but I’ll do my best to describe it.

The main reason why these SS zombies add to the “mood” of the film is because they seem so quiet, so subtle, so smooth and gentle that it only enhances a mood that is too subtle to notice. Every time you see one of them on screen they’re never warned by shrill music or a sudden burst of energetic music, which seems to be something that modern zombie films accomplish. The 70’s was a little different because when a zombie showed up, they’d usually play the main theme of the movie but Shock Waves is different. For example: a person is walking through the river, very slowly, and a zombie rises from the water behind him. The music stays soft and seldom, then the zombie grabs the person and pulls them under the water, and the music goes from soft to almost harmonious. Since the mood is trying to create a false sense of relaxation, I guess it’s only fitting for the killing to be slow and nonchalant (but very painful). Yes, drowning is a very slow and psychologically painful death.

To go briefly off tangent, I find the way the zombies drag their victims into the water to be pretty chilling. These zombies don’t eat their victims; instead, they grab their mouths and heads and submerse them into the depths of the river or ocean. To me it was a more unnerving to see somebody disappear into the water and never see him or her come back up, as if they were being dragged into Hell.

I guess what really gives me that uneasy sensation that’s beyond the mood would be the way the zombies act or how they appear. I already briefly touched base on how they slowly rise from the water behind somebody but a lot of times they just appear across from you. As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but compare the zombie troop to an army of Michael Meyers’ or a battalion of killers. Because they don’t act like zombies and because they don’t eat their victims, they have more in common with Meyers than anything. Here, in Shock Waves, the zombies movie slowly but somehow manage to pop out of nowhere to kill their victims, they stand from afar to observe who they are about to attack and they never moan or speak. If it weren’t for the explanation, I would have never known they were zombies.

It’s creepy because these zombies actually look menacing and it be because of their attire but I think it might also have to do with their faces. Not only are they emotionless but also those pitch-back goggles give them this otherworldly presence when they are shown. It’s also an interesting choice to show the zombies in the foreground most of the time; to see these menacing beings walking, single file, from afar makes then almost seem like a bizarre illusion. I guess that would be the only mood that the film but I sort of branched off into discussing how the zombies are scary, at least for personally. There is a certain chill factor the film has but I think it might get masked over by how slow the movie is, or perhaps it might add to it. Still, it’s a very interesting approach to make the zombies seem less brain-dead and more coordinative.

Note: I guess I use the word 'otherworldly' because in some way, these zombies look like aliens with humanistic qualities.

Redneck Absurdity: A Pictorial Journey

Very rarely do I ever find a movie that is so bad that not only is it good, but also highly enjoyable, highly entertaining and forces you to take an LSD trip into dimension that you never knew existed. So, naturally I had to look into the 80’s and I stumbled upon a Troma Release movie named Redneck Zombies and apparently it has a huge cult following. It’s considered schlock at its best but I’d go further to say that it’s absurdity and insanity at its best. To properly describe that level of wackiness wouldn’t do it justice because some things you’d have to see to believe but I figure I can do some justice as to how ridiculous this film can be.

First, you gotta love how they portray hillbillies or Southern folk in this movie. It’s absolutely ridiculous, over-the-top and stereotypical… but it’s funny as hell. Every country person is either fat, dumb or missing teeth and what’s better is that one of the country bumpkins might be gay, so now you have a dumb hick who likes to wear his shirts bunched up into a knot. Surprisingly, he seems like the more intelligent one of the crowd.

Also, for some reason there is a scene that has really oily, greasy breasts getting fondled. I can’t remember but I think this was part of a porno that somebody was watching but either way, when the movie cuts directly do this you’re sort of left in awe. It’s disgustingly laughable.

If I had a dollar for every video filter that they use, I’d have enough money to eat a five-star restaurant. However, there is an upside to using programmed video filters, it makes the movie seem really dated and really corny… which, I’m sure, is what the director was going for. The scene where all the country hicks are drinking the contaminated waste (thinking it was alcohol) is so trippy that you actually feel like you’re on LSD. So, in a way, the filters are very affective.

There’s also a random scene with a woman with missing teeth, an orange plaid dress holding a baby pig in one hand and a skillet in the other. Why is she holding these things? Does it really matter?

Oh, and I love the people that end up buying the toxic waste because they are so random and they’re obviously doing something wrong but nobody really acknowledges it. For example, one woman seems to be washing her baby in a laundry machine.

In another house, the guy who buys the contaminated alcohol is a butcher with blood smeared all over his smock and his son or partner is sitting on the couch with a hostage. All he does is sits there on the couch smiling, giggling and licker her while she pleads for help yet nobody does anything. I guess it’s really common in that neck of the woods.

And we can’t forget the 2001: Space Odyssey-like dimension that we enter half way into the movie. It’s like a rainbow nightmare and only serves one purpose, to whack us out of our heads and maybe show that one character is going crazy.

Who is this character that is having this colorful hallucination? Why, somebody who has been exposed to powerful hallucinogens and thinks that the dead body in front of him is some kind of treasure chest. Harhar! Yeah, he ends up pulling out the guy’s organs thinking they’re regular objects but doesn’t realize that he’s disemboweling him.

And obviously care nobody cares about it. They just look at him like he’s crazy.

Oh and it all leads up to one gory, disgusting, blood-soaked finale that reminds me of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So, if there is anything you should take from this post it’s to find and watch this movie. It’s hysterical for all the wrongfully right reasons and it certainly is one of the strangest zombie movie’s I’ve seen since The Video Dead. If a movie like this came out today, and if it was shot on video like this one, it would never make it and people would slam it instantly. Fortunately, you could get away with this in the 80’s and thank God Troma was around to showcase it. It’s bloody fun for the whole family and worth a watch but you must leave your brain at the door.

The Video Nasty: The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue

Quest for the Video Nasty (Main Page)

“Material depicting the violent mutilation, torture, death and cannibalism of those involved has been found to have tendency to deprave and corrupt. Such scenes that are explicit and/or lingering can indicate to the viewer approval or encouragement of the behavior involved thereby normalizing the depraving or corrupting behaviors.”

The purpose of these video nasty posts is to not only discuss what the film is about but also to state my initially reaction to the film is, and why it was classified as a ‘Video Nasty.’ I had looked over the ‘Nasty’ guidelines and decided to break down the film into each of the five components. For my Video Nasty quest, this is the structure for how I will post the video nasties to Paradise of Horror.

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (or as I know it by The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue) follows the story of two young British people who inadvertently become the suspects of a murder. The police chief of the town is so convinced that the two are the murderers that he denies anything that doesn’t support his pre-convinced mind, however it turns out that he is wrong. The people that were responsible for the murder are the walking dead who allegedly were re-animated after an experimental sound testing went wrong. Now the two youths (a young woman and a free-spirited hippie) must find a way to stop the living dead from taking over the town but also find a way to clear their name from the murder.

The first time I saw this it was in a class screening for a zombie course I took but I fell asleep about 10 minutes into it, which was a shame because I really wanted to watch it. After viewing it in it’s entirety I’ve come to enjoy it, even though it can be pretty slow paced and generally uneventful… it still keeps you on wondering what will happen next. I feel as though it’s more of a mystery thriller rather than horror, only because the climax is where you have the gore fest. The characters are unlikable but strangely you feel for their cause and you want them to win but what about the gore? Well, let’s look at the video nasty criteria.

- Who is the perpetrator and what is their reaction?

The perpetrators in this film are the zombies, since they have been raised after ultra-sonic sounds jump-started their dead brains. They are seem to be angry that they have been disturbed so they go on a brutal and bloody rampage throughout the countryside killing all the people in their way. They are mindless so there is some level of sympathy for them.

- Who is the victim and what is their reaction?

There are many victims throughout the film but the main victims seem to be Edna and George since they are the ones that are wrongfully accused and pursued by the undead. They’re reactions seem to be frightened, confused, stressed and terrified out of their mind. Being in this situation made Edna a typical damsel in distress whereas George became more driven, no-nonsense and always ends up saving Edna’s ass.

- How is the violence inflicted and in what circumstances?

The violence is inflicted by the only possible way in a zombie film, groups of zombies devouring the flesh of the living. They dig into the victim’s stomach pulling out their organs and consuming them, they squeeze their heads, they surprise attack their victims only to ear their skin and in one case a zombie strangles a man to death. Aside from the cannibalism, there are scenes depicting zombies being burnt to death and shot at in effort to survive their attacks.

- How explicit, prolonged and realistic are the scenes?

The graphic scenes of blood and gore are pretty explicit since it does show the zombies eating organs, doused in blood, casually. There are several times where the zombie are pulling apart their victim’s stomachs in which streams of blood flow out from their hands. However, the entire film is not a bloodbath because overall it was rare to see anything graphic until the very end of the film. Though they seemed pretty realistic, a lot of the ‘pulling apart’ scenes were cut before the entire scene turned into a total bloodbath. Showing the zombies eating the organs was covered extensively.

- Is the violence justifiable in the context of the film?

Though the cannibalism may seem sporadic, it adds to the horror of the film and it wouldn’t be a zombie film without it so it would be justifiable. At times it felt like the director just wanted to gross out the audience but who wouldn’t want to try that? Then that always raises the question, “why make a zombie film?” The answer is because it was more than just a splatter flick, but rather social commentary. The film wasn’t chuck-full of gore and vivisection… it used the scenes wisely.

So is this film a ‘video nasty’ by the violence alone? I don’t think it should have been considering that the violence and gore was seldom save for the film’s climax. I’m sure there are much worse films out there that depicted gore and bloodshed, in fact, half way into the film I had to make sure that this was a ‘video nasty’ because up to that point I only saw a zombie get hit with a rock. I could see where one might consider it too graphic (ex: showing the zombies take delight in eating somebody’s liver) but it was a 2-minute scene. Overall, it was a fun and entertaining watch with some really bad acting/voice dubs but not 100% deserving of the ‘video nasty’ title.

The City of Confusion

After trying to obtain the movie for a long time I finally was able to sit down and watch Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead or as some may know it as The Gates of Hell. Both of these titles are accurate as to what the movie is about but… I still found myself scratching my head at the end of the film. Yes, it’s rather sad that it took me such a long time to find this and throughout the entire movie I was trying to figure out what was going on. The plot, in it’s watered down form is this: a priest dies, the gates of hell are opened, a bunch of people need to close them before All Saint’s Day before the world ends. That’s really all that I could gather. In between there are maggot storms, priests making people’s intestines come out through their mouths, people getting drilled in the cheek, dead porno addicted men and whole mess of other stuff. Visually this film is arresting and it’s pretty gory but since I need to turn my brain on 110% to watch this, I think the movie warrants another watch. I believe that Fulci deals largely with experimental and that’s why I don’t seem to understand it. Either way… you win Fulci… this round, that is.

Side note: I find it really funny that the soundtrack to this sounds exactly the same as Zombi 2.

The Ünderbheit of Zombies

Let me first just say that I loved Dead Snow and thought of Nazi zombies was very refreshing but for me… the one thing that stood out was the zombie Nazi general and his likeness to a particular cartoon character. I couldn’t help but notice that he bared an uncanny resemblance to Baron Underbheit of The Venture Bros. Consider that they are both German, they both of those pale beefy looking heads and they are both very sinister, well Underbheit isn’t that sinister. But the thing that makes them so similar is that they both have very prominent jaws with exposed white teeth from their jawbone. When General Herzog appeared I quickly thought, “Oh my God, it’s Baron Underbhei—oh wait, it’s just Herzog.” Somebody please tell me that I am not crazy into seeing this.

Partytime: The Fall of the Living Dead

I want to come right out and say that I enjoyed Return of the Living Dead: Part II but not nearly as much as the original. The original had something that this one lacked, and I guess it would fit more with the original than with it’s sequel considering the plot. The original movie was a satire on a new culture that was beginning to peak in the 80s, a culture of people that were ‘rebels,’ a culture that was based off of the popular musical genre of metal, a culture where chains, baggy black jeans, piercings, dyed hair and Doc Martens were the norm. Yes, the original not only parodied this culture but it had one of the greatest horror movie soundtracks.

The original had songs from The Cramps, 45 Grave, T.S.O.L., SSQ, The Damned and a few more. Hell, the main score was written by SSQ. To the casual movie watcher these bands are probably too obscure and in turn they probably never heard of them. I’ll admit that I never heard of them either and I only know them from the movie but they are all part of the indie punk scene that was forming around the mid to late 80s. Specifically, the scene in which the zombies break out of their graves to the hard rock track of "Partytime" by 45 Grave. After being shown a multitude of scenes of these punks defiling a grave, in an ironic twist of events the dead come back to life to seek revenge on them. It’s as though the creators of this film were saying that the punks of this generation are nothing but a bunch of brain-dead zombies. Given that the film blends 50s ideology and 80s punk movements, it’s funny how the score/music sort of compliments the decade that it was made in. It’s something that I really enjoyed from this movie.

Again, I’m not bashing the sequel but I felt as though the film could have furthered the satire but instead we get a ‘zombie rise’ scene set to a typical 80s synth score. However, this was one of the biggest problems that I had with the film and although it didn’t ruin it for me… I think it would have made the movie better. The zombies weren’t rebelling against the rebels and or they weren’t given much character. I don’t want to get into a discussion about the zombies per say but rather the absence of a hard rock soundtrack. It seems like something that is minor but it’s what made the original so good. It was still made in the 80s, back when young moviegoers wanted more pazazz with their zombies, so seeing the dead rise out of the ground set to a even louder hard rock tune would have made it all the more entertaining. Even if you take out the fact that the hard rock was intentional to serve a purpose, for most horror fans rock and roll is their choice of music. Blending the two together make for a great movie.

The absence of a rock soundtrack doesn’t make the movie bad or unwatchable but it gives the film brownie points, so to speak. I am fine with hearing a electronic synth score but I feel as though it’s not truly a Return of the Living Dead movie without some hard rock in the background. Still, though, it’s a great film that pays respect to the original and has some extra gags in it that I really enjoyed.

Mocking Halloween: Night of the Living Dead

I know what you are thinking, how dare I make fun of this movie considering its status as being one of the greatest horror movies of all time and seen as one of the most successful indie films too. That won’t stop me because after watching it again, there was something about it that disturbed me… no, not the zombies eating but something else. Let me first start off by saying that I am always a fan of the slow lumbering zombie rather than the 28 Days Later running zombie. I’ve always stated Night of the Living Dead as an example of a good slow moving zombie movie… but that has been compromised.

It may seem like a trivial thing and I’m not quite sure why anybody hasn’t noticed this but when the cemetery zombie attacks Barbara, she runs towards her car… and the zombie RUNS after her. Yes! There is a running zombie in a Romero movie. The zombie then picks up a rock and tries to smash open her window, while acting like a spaz. I was sort of surprised to see this and I guess it would have been fine if the rest of the zombies didn’t act like lumbering drones. So my question is, why was the cemetery zombie the only one to run and use a blunt object to attack with while the rest of the zombies walks slow and grab?

The other thing that I noticed was Barbara herself. I’ve already elaborated on this before (Click here) but it’s sort of misleading. I wanted to see Barbara as this strong woman who tries to pull herself together and help Ben and the rest fight off the zombies but she doesn’t. Throughout most of the movie she looks like she is high and tripping balls. Perhaps that’s the way it was meant but… it would have been nice to see her act a little better.

My Favorite Lugosi

Bela Lugosi will always be famous for his monumental and revolutionary role as Count Dracula in the 1932 film of the same name. I have seen a good majority of Lugosi’s other films (yes, even his Ed Wood films) and I have enjoyed most of them. However, one film that I have not seen until recently was entitled White Zombie and I have to admit that Lugosi’s character was by far my personal favorite. There are many factors as to why that is but the main reason is because of his presence that he has over the rest of the characters. In White Zombie Murder sort of appears right out of the shadows with a maddening expression on his face whereas Dracula he suddenly rises out of his coffin. They are both effective but I think Murder is more frightening considering he is emerging from the darkness itself.

Right off the bat I knew that Murder was a person who was a lot darker, sinister and probably the closest to a mad scientist that I’ve seen. He is a voodoo master who commands an army of zombies to do his work for him much like how a mad scientist creates robots or brainwashed minions to do his bidding. It was a step in a darker direction than Dracula since Drack only had Renfield and his three brides. Murder is also a lot darker looking and seems grungier and dirtier. He has those thick busy eyebrows and those sinister eyes that we saw in Dracula only here they seem to be more contemplative and diabolical. You can tell he still retains a bit of Dracula in him, which is why I love the character. Also, it seems as though Murder is a little more sexually deviant than Dracula because he possesses a white woman to be a zombie for (what is implied) for sexual pleasure. Sure, Dracula does want to spread his seed around but he is a little proper and charismatic rather than primal like Murder.

I know that it seems a little weird that I would be favoriting this character after just seeing the movie in which he was in but… as I stated, I’ve seen a good chunk of Lugosi’s other work and I think this is one of his darker roles. If someone were to remake this movie today, I can’t imagine how dark they would choose to make it but it was Lugosi and his mannerisms and eyes that made the character that much more frightening. In a way I am glad I saw this in my later years because if I saw this when I was a kid, I’d probably be haunted by those eyes. Those diabolical eyes.

The Sounds of Zombie Slave Labor

I find it strange that I am such a big lover of zombies and yet I just saw White Zombie about a week ago. I remember wanting to see it ever since it was mentioned in a horror film book but our library never got it. As time progressed I forgot about it and even after I got my Netflix account, I never got around to watching it. That was until I took a zombie/vampire class and we watched it. I have to admit… it was a very well put together piece but there was one scene that stuck with me throughout the entire film. The scene in which we see an army of zombies being exploited and used for slave labor; turning and grinding all the gears and cogs without a single expression on their faces.

Personally, the reason why this scene works so well is because of the attention to small details and the absence of a soundtrack. Considering this film was made during the early stages of ‘talkies,’ not many movies uses a score let alone a strong soundtrack of sound effects. Here, you can hear the wooden gears grind and turn as the zombies are pushing them. You can hear all the sounds of the factory floor and it’s haunting and almost disturbing to hear. I remember one of the zombies falls into whatever it is they are turning and for a brief few seconds the zombies pushing the wheel slow down as if the bones and body parts got caught in the machine. Hell, the mere thought of being resurrected from your eternal resting place only be forced into labor is something that most people would fear given the time this came out in.

It was such a brief scene but the impact that it had on me would always stick with me. It’s these sorts of scenes that you’d never be able to find in modern day horror movies unless a director does homage. These types of scenes made vintage horror movies so frightening and it goes to show you that a soundtrack doesn’t always mean a scarier film. In today’s moviegoing world, a scene such as this one would cause mass boredom and poor reviews but it does make me feel good that there was a time in which it would have been acceptable.

Paradise Profiles: Hollywood Is Dead

It’s funny how things work. I was such a fan of Matt Busch’s zombified movie posters that I always wanted to hunt him down and ask him if I could send him a few questions to answer. I enjoyed his Star Wars posters and his Indiana Jones posters and even mentioned him in a previous blog post without ever knowing who he is. Then, wouldn’t you know it; he contacts me personally and asks if I could mention him on my blog. I laughed and said, I’ll do something better… I’ll interview you about your work and mention all your pages after the interview is done. It’s funny how things all work out in the end.

Who is your biggest influence in either film or art?

There are so many, I really try to draw influence from every inspiring thing I see, hear, or feel. A simple answer could be Steven Spielberg for film and Drew Struzan for art, but I get inspired equally by musicians, comedians... Hell, I get inspired by trees and mountains.

What made you want to become an illustrator?

I think the "illustrator" thing came from necessity more than anything else. For a long time, I wanted to be a rock star, but I had a hard time finding a group of cats that were as driven as I was. In a band, you're only as strong as the weakest member. The same thing is true of working on movies and comics. With being a sole illustrator, nothing could interfere with my passion and drive.

What makes hand-drawn posters so special, in your opinion?

I think there's a humanistic quality that really makes it unique. A lot of current posters seem weak and churned out. They all look the same, and have no 'life' to them. That's not to say that a photo or digital art can't be breath-taking, it most certainly can. But current movie posters have totally lost quality in design and craftsmanship.

Do you think Hollywood has become dead in terms of the quality of their films?

I wouldn't say it's become "dead", though a lot of it seems to be stale these days. Probably for much of the same reasons. It's big business churning out product, as opposed to artists making cutting edge films.

Why do you think we are so drawn to zombies?

My opinion on the matter is that we as an audience like to be scared, yet we like to be in the safe zone. We enjoy seeing gore in movies when in the back of our heads, we know it's all fake. It's funny, because some people barely winch at someone being beheaded in a movie, yet if someone cuts their finger in real life, those same people will pass out at the sight of real blood. So I think zombies are the perfect mix of gore while still being in the safe zone.

Do you think there is a connection, be it symbolic or coicidental, between your zombified movie posters and how you saw L.A. after you moved?

Not really. I was shocked experiencing the real Hollywood after dreaming about it in my youth. But Hollywood has been good to me. And what I'm doing with the zombified posters is really more out of respect and for fun than for making a statement or purposely slaughtering these icons.

Why zombies?

Again, zombies are the safe zone. Even kids love zombies.

Is there a deeper meaning to these zombified posters?

Generally not, though many times when putting together a montage, I'm trying to feature what's going on story-wise with the HID poster. Most of these classic posters did such a good job of depicting the mood and story in the single image, so I try to continue that. For example, you can see the growth and decay of characters in through the ZOMBIE WARS saga of posters. In the RAIDERS of the Lost Ark parody that I did, I showed the way that the zombie infection began, which is carried out through the next two posters.

Aside from the Star Wars poster series, is there a reason why you picked the rest of the posters?

It's a mixed bag, some because I love the original poster and wanted to study it, and some because I came up with a funny parody. And some because I felt like if I didn't do it, someone else would.

What is the hardest part in creating these posters?

Probably just the time put into them. And since many of these classic posters have incredible detail and excessive content put into the montages, they can take quite a while. On the flip side, I just completed the poster parody for GHOSTBUSTERS and did the whole thing in like an hour flat.

Out of the ones you've done, which is your biggest accomplishment?

I think the parody for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK seems to get the most response. The original is such a beautiful, romantic poster, and I pretty much ruined it. Everyone seems to enjoy blood vomit, for some reason.

Have you ever imagined what each movie would be if it did have zombies?

Yes, a lot of that thought process goes into the posters in the initial idea phase. The "why" and "how" should be answered in the poster. I do have some short parody videos that will be released showing the original trilogy for ZOMBIE WARS... Stay tunes to Hollywood-is-Dead.com.

Do you think that some people might view these as disrespect to the original films?

Of course, but from the response I've seen, that fraction has been a sliver of a percentile. Even people that aren't into zombies seem to chuckle and 'get it.'

Who has been your audience so far?

It's really been across the board. Older folks who grew up with these iconic posters as I did seem to enjoy them, yet the younger crowd is zombie-obsessed, so they really appreciate them, too. I think the vast range is helped by the fact that I'm doing posters from the 60's up to current. Nothing is safe from my blood-soaked brush.

What do you do to relax?

Believe it or not, this *is* what I do to relax. This has been one of the most rewarding projects I've ever worked on. I really enjoy studying the great cinematic masters, so to see that an audience really appreciates what I'm doing has been extremely gratifying.

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