American Zombie

American Zombie

Ahh, Zombie movies; overdone and unoriginal, picking up the latest and greatest zombie gore fest often isn't a very satisfying choice. But since movies like Night of the Living Dead have hit the screens, zombie movies have become a staple of American cinematography. American Zombie puts a new spin on this thriving genre, showcasing zombies in mockumentary form. Being a lover of documentaries myself, I was very interested in how a filmmaker would combine zombies with the respected genre of documentary. American Zombie is a well-paced flick, chocked full of humor, mystery, and at times, bone-chilling creepiness.

Plot:

Welcome to America, where an uneasy truce between the populations of the living and the not-so-living exists. Zombies stroll the streets of America, but not in the usual blood-crazed masses that have pervaded the screens of zombie flicks for decades. Instead we find a minority group, akin to modern minorities like homosexuals or ethnic groups. Zombies are the victims of a terrible virus, but yet can think and support themselves like any other human being. But persecution and misunderstandings have forced zombies to live a harsh and unfair life. A young and aspiring filmmaker with an acute interest in zombies and their ways sets out to uncover the personal lives of zombies with one burning question at the bottom of his interrogations: Do zombies eat human flesh?

Why You Passed It Up:

It's another zombie flick for goodness sake, and one that is devoid of the usual blood spatter and death. That's like cheap non-alcoholic beer: there's too much of it already, and it doesn't even have key ingredient that gives incentive for consumption. American Zombie may not contain the usual shoot-em-up action sequences, but instead aims for a  more psychological thrill. During the hour and a half or so duration, American Zombie needles and pricks softly, playing off of what you already know about zombies. Your watching for the classic zombie, and I assure you its there, but first you must delve into the psyche of zombies while the suspense builds up ever so slowly.

Fever Rating (100-105): 104.2

Sizzling off the tin roof, American Zombie can't be passed up by the zombie-flick fan. This unique take on zombies projects a misunderstood creature, who is only trying to fit in. The varying different zombie characters that are being interviewed seem almost completely normal; they have dreams, jobs, aspirations, and even amorous desires. But they're zombies, and that fact alone casts them in a dark light. As a result, campaigns are launched by zombies to rid this negative stereotype. But are they sincere? Are zombies really harmless? Filmmaker John Solomon doesn't think so, and is obsessed with finding evidence that zombies are secretly eating humans. As the documentary progresses, the different zombies begin to not feel entirely as normal as they did at first, and one starts to wonder if Solomon is on to something. Finally, Solomon learns of a Zombie Convention out in the desert, and talks his way into attending. What is uncovered there will shake humanity, and draw up the lines between living and unliving forever. Be careful as you watch--remember, this isn't real.

Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

The name of this flick alone is enough to scroll on by to other more aptly named movie titles, but hold up for just a second and hear me out! A strange love-child genre between slasher and comedy, Tucker and Dale is lumped into a cheesy category of movies that shrivel and wilt under cheap jokes and unoriginal story telling. But unlike other flicks of this category, Tucker and Dale makes use of cleverness to play off of a worn down cliché, offering a deep and—dare I say it?—heartwarming story.

Plot: Let’s start with the cliché. A group of college kids hit the roads for a weekend camping trip in the woods. Far from cellular service and society, deep in a mysterious forest, we can already guess that something is going to go horribly wrong. Enter Tucker and Dale, two redneck hill-billies  also looking for a relaxing weekend out under the sun. The creepy pair strike fear in the eyes of the students, and a fateful meeting between the groups sets into motion a grisly chain of events. But this is where Tucker and Dale spins off on its own tangent, flipping the tables on the audience, and attacking the core philosophy that has marked every slasher film ever made. Without giving too much away, in short, not all is as it seems as bodies fly into wood-chippers, are run through stakes, or are chain-sawed into halves.

Why You Passed It Up: You’ve seen it before: the eerie forest, the crazed mountain folk, naïve girls in cleavage shirts, and gore, gore, gore. If you’re into the slasher genre, you enjoy all of these things, but this one just didn’t sound high quality enough to grab your attention. And the name of the movie? A toddler could dream up a better title than that. Even if you were looking for a good laugh, slasher movies are never that funny, even if humorous intentions were involved. Today though, I present to you a movie you never should have passed up, an action-packed comedy that revamps the lost-in-the-woods theme.

Fever Rating (100-105): 104

At a burning 104, Tucker and Dale tops the list of the movies no one watches. Overcoming a cheesy title, an overdone plot, and a low budget, Tucker and Dale offers a story of redemption and the problems of physical judgment. Miscommunication is the structure of Tucker and Dale, with both sides failing to healthily meet in the middle and here the other side out. In a unique twist, we find the ‘deranged’ hicks to be the misunderstood protagonists, who are only trying to help. Hysterical character development coupled with grim deaths mixes into a flavorful film, carrying it’s message of never judging a book by its cover in a lighthearted and yet gruesome manner. For an evening’s enjoyment that will leave you satisfied and chuckling until the end, scroll back to what you’ve been passing up: Give ol’ Tucker and Dale a chance.

Rubber

RUBBER:

A had seen this movie listed on Netflix’s recently watched category for several months, and every time I scrolled past it, it caught my attention in a bizarre way. I never took it seriously of course, but an odd curiosity always held my mind’s attention at least for a fraction of a second. One day I finally gave in to this insane curiosity and read the bio. If I was skeptical before, the description of the movie insured my doubts: this movie was the most ridiculous idea that I had ever heard of. But I watched it, and was treated with a movie experience that I have never had before.

Plot:

The plot of Rubber is simple. A tire wakes up from its ‘slumber’ and kills everything that stands in the way of its goal with its psychokinetic powers while a group of human viewers watch through binoculars. The tire begins the movie innocently rolling and turning through the desert, until it comes across a plastic bottle. Unable to crush it under its weight, the tire loses its temper--not for the last time--and blows it to pieces. From there on out, the destruction crescendos to rodents, birds, and finally humans. While the destruction carries on, several customers have apparently paid a sheriff to watch the tire like a theatre audience would. They stand miles off and gaze through their binoculars, catching every detail of the tire’s adventure. The sheriff and his partner then systematically attempt to murder the members of the audience by food poison in hopes to cut the film short. When one old man confined to a wheelchair refuses to eat, the show must continue, but the tire’s murdering spree is quickly racking up points, forcing the sheriff and his men to try to put a stop to the chaos.

Why You Passed It Up:

You, like me, saw this movie listed and immediately dumped it into the steaming pile of Netflix streaming trash. The movie’s premise sounded completely moronic and a complete waste of an hour and a half of your time. You are justified in this thinking, many obscure movies on Netflix end up being nothing more than a regrettable one to two hours, but in this rare instance you have been passing up on an original piece of cinematic gold.

Fever Rating (100-105): 103.5

Rubber earned a solid 103.5 degrees on my personal rating scale, and here’s why:

The entire story behind this movie is ridiculous, stupid, and pointless. But in the movies first five minutes, you learn that these adjectives are the very theses of the movie. An opening monologue from the sheriff to the audience informs them that life is full of “No reasons.” In summary, the sheriff claims that life, movies, books, and stories are full of events, big or small, that happen for absolute no reason. The mystique of art is marred by nitpicking and over-analyzation by critics and viewers searching for meaning in minute ambiguities. Rubber challenges us to put the flashlight down, lay the codebook aside, and accept that some things happen simply because. Why is the tire killing? Because.


The opening sequences personify a baby learning to walk as the tire takes its first revolutions over the wispy sand, immediately garnering an odd, but sincere, human quality. The journey of the tire grows more and more sentimental as you discover the tires sense of humor, adventure, and even sexuality. It's a coming of age tale that every adolescent experiences, and incredibly the director of Rubber captured those emotions exceedingly well. I found myself shaking my head trying to snap myself back into reality when at times I actually sympathized with this piece of auto-mechanic crap. Rubber draws the viewer in through the tire's life story in a unique manner that has never been accomplished on film, and that my friends is reason enough to give this movie a chance. Even if you find yourself hating every second of the film, you'll appreciate the originality, a quality that has sadly disappeared from Hollywood movies in the 21st Century.