Horrorfest: November 1st Edition

DEAD RINGERS
(1988)

After watching this, I'm a bit confused as to why this is sometimes put on "Scariest Movies" lists. I get that its Cronenberg and has elements of psychological thriller, but mostly its a straight drama. Perhaps its the Ick factor? Maybe I need a gynecologist. Or a vagina. Dunno. I'm not knocking the film for any of this and it certainly has its fair share of creepy elements - best of all Jeremy Irons' terrific performance. Watching this I realized he's an actor I'm not overly familiar with, only in name. Also, Genevieve Bujold is spot on as the actress with the awesome name of Claire Niveau. GRADE: B+


THE WALKING DEAD - Ep. 1.1 "Days Gone Bye"

YAH! A ZOMBIE SERIES! Oh, how long I've waited for a zombie series and bless AMC for bringing us one in all its gory glory. I've felt for a long time that a zombie series would work - where would the survivors go? would the zombies eventually die off (again)? how would they hide from the zombies? what about supplies and power sources? are the zombies the biggest danger or will the living turn on itself? FUN STUFF! As a huge fan of Romero's original trilogy and latter day zombie fare like 28 Days Later, this had me salivating from the get go. Much as I may love the zombies, the human stories of the films - often very dark and not making man look good - are what has always struck me about these films and stayed with me. While The Walking Dead hasn't shown the dark side of the living just yet, the characters it introduced last night are instantly likeable and should have no trouble sustaining a few seasons. In particular, I loved Lennie James (not listed on IMDB for some reason?) and his character's hesitation over shooting his zombie wife. Andrew Lincoln makes a classic "western" hero, a perfect change from the tortured lone survivor. His scene at the open with Jon Bernthal (terrific here, a surprise given how awful he was on the middling Eastwick) boasted fantastic writing. All in all, this was one of the best pilots I've seen in years. Like all great pilots, it has counting the days till the next episode. I find myself sad that there will only be six episodes making up the first season. GRADE: A