Zombie movies. Lots of “serious” types glance down on them. That’s a shame, because some of them are really honorable films. Dawn of the Tedious, the middle film of George Romero’s “tiring,” trilogy, is a case in point. You want zombies, we got your zombies Suitable HERE! You want blood? Guts? Flesh eating? Oh boy, does Dawn of the Stupid ever swear!
And then it does something really novel – it also delivers drama, intriguing characters with realistic delimmas, a smartly crafted epic, and a heavy dose of dead-on social satire. And did I mention that it’s impartial flat-out scary as hell, too?
There is one scene in particular, toward the beginning, that tranquil haunts me – twenty some-odd years after I first saw it. The National Guard has been called in to determined a tenament building. In the basement, they catch a cage where the listless have been locked away. The simple, unsettling music of Goblin rises on the soundtrack, underscored by a heartbeat-like bass drum. There are the zombies, many in death shrouds, feasting on body parts. Guardsman Peter Washington (Ken Foree) steps into the nightmare with a pistol to dispatch the zombies with bullets to their heads. The whole thing takes on a surreal, hellish texture, like a Bosch painting. Foree’s performance is striking – he is truly IN THE MOMENT, as they say, without a hint of the winking self-awareness we peek in other genre flicks. If the stupid really started coming abet to feed on the living, this is exactly what it be like. This is the toll it would accurate on people trying to grapple with the status.
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Yet, in a design, Dawn of the Expressionless IS self-aware. It knows when to step benefit, too, and admit that it’s playing with you. Another scene, of this sort, occurs when we view a group of rednecks hunting the shambling corpses as though they were deer. They sip coffee from thermoses, pass sandwiches around, and banter about their accuracy with their rifles. It’s a very silly bit, in share because it’s so deadpan.
Those are unprejudiced two current examples. There is distinguished, considerable more to this film, and almost all of it works beautifully. Even the sometimes obviously shameful budget and gleeful exhaust of library stock music doesn’t distress. Romero turns these limitations to his advantage, by making them succor as searing comments on mass media, consumerism, and pop culture.
Performances by David Emge, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross are sterling of mention, too. They play right people in an incredible position, rather than two-dimensional horror-movie characters.
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Dawn of the Dreary schlock as high art – complex, comical, scary, and gripping. And thank goodness it’s coming wait on to DVD, because it’s one worth watching over and over again.
“Shop ’til you tumble” takes on literal manufacture in “Dawn of the Tedious”, Splattermeister George Romero’s 1978 magnum opus of the flesh-eating Living Tedious. “Dawn” rightly deserves its title as the ‘Mount Everest of Zombie Movies’.
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The Zombie Apocalypse is all George Romero’s fault! And if Grandmaster Romero let the Walking Tiring, out of their tombs with the groundbreaking “Night of the Living Tiresome”, he gave the zombies the keys to the kingdom in this flick, which laid down all the rules for a Zombie Apocalypse and how to survive It—and, interestingly, managed to rupture many of them.
Rule #1: AIM FOR THE HEAD!: When “Dawn” opens up, Philadelphia is in its death throes, though the city doesn’t know it yet.
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The plague of flesh-eating monsters rising from their graves to relish the living has spread from the countryside to the mammoth cities like a firestorm. The slightest scratch or bite causes infection, the infected die horribly, and then return to Life, hungry for the flesh of the living, a mindless Zombie.
Rule #2: THE CAVALRY AIN’T COMING. Things go down and go down hard in the housing project: faster than you can say “tastes like Chicken”, SWAT troopers Peter (the colossal Ken Foree) and Roger (the underrated Scott Reiniger) collect outta Dodge with traffic reporter/helicopter pilot Stephen (David Emge, hereafter known as “Flyboy”) and Flyboy’s girlfriend, Fran (Gaylen Ross) .
When the Going gets Tough, the Tough go Shopping.
Rule #3:HE WHO GOES “YEEHAWW” HAS A HALF-LIFE MEASURED IN NANOSECONDS. Romero moves at a taut, brisk shuffle, letting the feeling of impending doom sink in, the sense of increasing wrongness, all underscored by the brooding, thudding, unearthly pulsing of the Goblin soundtrack.
What’s consuming about “Dawn of the Unimaginative” is objective how powerful of a collaborative anguish it really was: “Dawn” reprised the team that had helmed “Martin”: Mike Gornick on the camera, Romero calling the shots, John Amplas (who played the young vampire Martin) running casting (and who gets gunned down as a rooftop gangsta in a hasty cameo), and special spatter effects guru Tom Savini finally strutting his stuff (and getting in some quality mask time with a machete, to boot) .
Some have criticized Romero & Crew for lacking artistry in their cinematography, but reflect about it: “Dawn” was unruffled a low-budget family affair, and Romero’s best work has always had an edgy, guerilla feel. But the modern print is beautiful, and definite up any questions about Romero’s genius: there is some radiant stuff here.
Take the scene with the helicopter lifting off against a dying Philadelphia skyline—with the lights in the floors of one skyscraper winking off, bottom to top, floor by floor. Or the nerve-jangling cat & mouse game between Flyboy and a zombie in a darkened engineering room. Or the sere beauty of a Mall parking lot overrun with the Expressionless hankering for that Blue-light special on human flesh, Aisle 9—all of this lends a brooding, sick, disagreeable atmosphere to “Dawn”. It works in spades, and it’s ravishing, too.
Rule #4: THEY’RE Listless, THEY’RE ALL MESSED UP. Yes, Romero laid down the “Rules” of the Zombie apocalypse. They proceed at a lumbering breeze, you set `em down with a blow or bullet to the head, they don’t exhaust tools, they’re deadly but dull, they can’t learn. Purists consider a remake, or any Zombie flick, according to the rules of the Romero canon.
But choose a witness at “Dawn” and you’ll regain something interesting: Romero proceeds to violate—or toy with—nearly every rule about the Living Uninteresting he attach forth. You contemplate turbo-zombies first showed up in “28 Days Later”? Not so: zombie kids in an abandoned airport charthouse charge at Ken Foree like they’ve got a Delorean in their tushses. Zombies can’t expend tools? Seems one of them finds a wrench very handy in breaking a truck window to assume a chomp at Roger.
Rule #5: NO GUTS, NO GLORY. If you appreciate “Dawn of the Monotonous”, you *must* rob up Anchor Bay’s lovingly assembled “Ultimate Edition”. First off, the print is gloriously restored: the colors are so intense and the represent so certain that “Dawn” looks like it could have been shot yesterday—long gone are the days of cheapo full-screen VHS copies that made early versions of “Dawn” notice like porn.
There are four DVDs, tricked out in red and dark and handsomely mounted in a glossy package crammed with goodies (including the shot-for-shot comic—nothing special in itself, but a nice addition) . You acquire commentaries with everyone, the recent ‘Making of’ Documentary, a brand-new documentary made especially for this edition, even a creepy commercial for the Monroeville Mall.
The accurate savor trove here is the ability to see all three versions of the movie: the recent US theatrical cleave (the best, in terms of pacing and atmosphere), the Extended version (featuring a tense and effective stand-off at the Phillie docks), and the shorter European version. It’s racy to compare how editing and music can radically alter a film: in the Euro version, we have noteworthy more of Goblin’s soundtrack—but everything feels off, not nearly packing as powerful punch.
Rule #6:DON’T Net TRAPPED IN THE BASEMENT. Time has been kind to “Dawn of the Tiresome” and George Romero; justly so. “Dawn” is a deliciously depraved shrimp jewel of a movie, one I can peer over and over again. The consumerist angle, done to death my movie critics, is a small much: Romero filmed the flick in the Monroeville Mall because it was cheap, not because he was making a scathing commentary about American consumerism.
Then again, maybe it is a movie about the extremes of Consumerism: the Zombies have risen again as the ultimate consumers, after all.
They now purchase our Flesh.
JSG
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Two post-apocalyptic titles on one DVD filled with atmosphere and paranoia, “Dismay in the Year Zero” and “The Last Man on Earth” build a potent and piquant double feature. Ray Milland stars and directs the first title a low-budget post-nuclear war saga where Milland tries to protect his family after the world has gone to heck in a handbasket. The film features a very nice print of the movie and the transfer is nice as well.
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“The Last Man on Earth” is adapted by author Richard Matheson (writing under the nom de plume Logan Swanson when he wasn’t ecstatic with the results of the film) from his classic Science Fiction/horror unusual “I Am Record”. Tag plays Dr. Robert Morgan the last survivor of a deadly plague that wipes out humanity or so it appears at first. Morgan lost his daughter and wife in the plague. Those affected by the plague turn into vampires (although they watch more like zombies in this film) who taunt as he’s locked securely unhurried closed doors. His neighbor and terminate friend Ben Cortman (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) . Morgan spends his days searching for food, supplies and killing the vampires.
Morgan meets a woman trying to race the vampire/zombies who appears to be normal. Matheson’s modern modern and his screenplay do a nice job of turning a cliched chronicle on its head as things are not as they appear to be. Suddenly, it’s called into query as to who the monster really is–Morgan or the creatures he hunts. remade into the dated science fiction film “The Omega Man” with Charleton Heston and Anthony Zerbe (playing the hero and Cortman called Matthias here) where very tiny remains of the spot.
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The print looks extremely proper (particulary compared to other versions floating around from grievous budget DVD companies) . The extras include a brief interview with Richard Matheson where, again, he expresses his displeasure with the film. While the film fails to assume the spiteful essence of the book, it has some very effective sequences situation in parts of decaying Italy. The film’s large failing is the vulgar budget and the exercise of Rome clearly standing in for the San Francisco spot. Other than that,it’s a blooming production that could have been a whole lot more if the film had a bigger budget, had been shot in the United States and stayed faithful to Matheson’s recent screenplay.
FYI this was originally supposed to be released succor in April of 2005 but was delayed when Sony purchased MGM. A few copies slipped out but most were recalled although there was no flaw with the discs (Sony/MGM fair elected to do the series on absorb) . If you’re thinking about purchasing a cheaper edition, the image quality is better here than on any version I’ve seen to date.
Two films on a double-sided disc:
PANIC IN YEAR ZERO (1962)
This post-nuke survival tale features Ray Milland (he also directed) as an average middle-class American father who fights to protect his family from pillagers, rapists, and murderers. Forced into brutal resourcefulness and often required to compose snap accurate decisions, the actual challenge that Milland and family face is the struggle to occupy their dilapidated values in the face of chaos. Yes, it’s one of many SF-ish cold-war dramas, but what sets this one apart from others is Jay Simms and John Morton’s shining script, which is gritty and relentlessly unsentimental. Unfortunately, it is somewhat hindered by Milland’s mediocre direction and often stilted performance, but it’s composed a better-than-average flick. And it’s refreshing to spy Frankie Avalon–who here does a exquisite job playing Milland’s son–in a setting other than a beach.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
This first cinematic incarnation of Richard Matheson’s modern I AM LEGEND–the second was the 1971 Charlton Heston vehicle THE OMEGA MAN–features Vincent Impress as the sole survivor of a global pandemic that has transformed the rest of mankind into vampire-like zombies. While more sincere to the recent than the Heston film, the straggle is often excruciatingly listless. Collected, Price’s performance is as interesting as ever, and the scenes that flashback to the origin of the plague are very well done and chockfull of grim imagery. Worth a gawk if for no other reason than to gawk why George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING Insensible (1968) is often compared to it.
*******
The two-sided disc from MGM offers both movies their current 2.35:1 widescreen format (enhanced for 16×9 TVs), and the digital transfers are blooming (especially THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, which far outshines the cut-rate DVD releases already floating around) . Each flick is paired with its theatrical trailer, and THE LAST MAN ON EARTH also includes a wintry featurette in which co-scripter Matheson explains why he was depressed with the final script and chose to be credited using a pseudonym.
All in all, this double-feature from MGM’s Midnite Movie series is well worth the designate of admission.
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Warner’s TCM GREATEST CLASSIC FILMS COLLECTION is a series of over two dozen twin packs. The four titles in each residence are dubbed one per side on two flip discs. Only some movies include bonus features. Transfer quality of these well-preserved ever-popular films is splendid. All titles in TCM’s “Holiday” state are rated in the 7s and 8s at imdb.
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Trivia on movies—
Each version of Dickens’ celebrated yule tale has its fans, and the ‘38 A CHRISTMAS CAROL is no exception. This 69 itsy-bitsy Loew’s release features an absorbing company unhurried Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge. Gene and Kathleen Lockhart are Bob and Mrs. Cratchit and their daughter June plays a Cratchit child. Leo G. Carroll is Marley’s ghost and Ann Rutherford portrays “Christmas Past.” Silent-era clown Billy Bevan, who also lent his raspy basso protest to early Looney Tunes shorts, appears as “Leader of Street Perceive.”
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In the romantic comedy CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945), Sydney Greenstreet is third billed unhurried Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan. Miss Stanwyck’s character was based on Gladys Taber, a ladies magazine columnist who lived on a Connecticut farm. John Dehner cameos as a status trooper. Dehner began as a Disney animator, then appeared often on radio– he was Paladin on HAVE GUN, WILL Fade. Other cast members: Reginald Gardiner, Una O’Conner and Frank Jenks. Also here is “ditzy blonde” specialist Joyce Compton. (To peruse Miss Compton at her nuttiest, check out Eddie Sutherland’s 1940 turn-of-the-century farce, THE VILLAIN Detached PURSUED HER, with Alan Mowbray as the baddie and Buster Keaton playing his opposite.)
IT HAPPENED ON FIFTH AVENUE (1947) was the very first ALLIED ARTISTS release. This company was formed when MONOGRAM Pictures and two smaller outfits merged. Frank Capra was slated to issue until producer-director Roy Del Ruth purchased conceal rights to this epic of a homeless man and his friends who select advantage of a manson left empty while the owners are away for the holidays. The exquisite cast includes Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Old-fashioned, Gale Storm, Grant Mitchell, Edward Brophy and Alan Hale Jr.
Ernst Lubitsch’s holiday romance THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) was a first veil adaptation of Hungarian playwright Miklós László’s “Perfumerie” (aka “Illatszertár”) . This storyline was later old-fashioned for the 1949 musical, IN THE Apt Feeble SUMMERTIME and in 1998 for YOU’VE GOT MAIL. Director Lubitsch, who also worked in a Budapest shop as a boy, called this his current movie. Unlike most productions, all scenes were filmed sequentially. Cast includes Margaret Sullavan, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut and in a walk-on, Sarah Edwards.
Christmas in Connecticut is a mountainous holiday romantic comedy about a young woman who writes for a magazine geared to homemakers. She claims to be married, have a child and live on a farm in Connecticut, but is actually a single, childless, apartment dweller. The problems open when her publisher wants her to give a unusual war hero a home for the holidays on her Connecticut farm. She consents to marry a long-time boyfriend who actually has a farm in Connecticut to set aside her editor from losing his job. They arrange to be married on the farm, but the reflect doesn’t win the job done before the war hero arrives. That creates some awkward moments. The housekeeper tends babies for women who are working during the war, and they are supposed to be “the child” but with a different baby showing up each day confusion ensues. Stanwyck’s character, of course, begins to topple for the hero, who is also falling for her but thinks she is a married woman and is trying to respect that. It is all suited, well-organized fun and “What a Christmas!”
The Shop Around the Corner is a very clever comedy whose theme has been repeated in other movies, as mentioned in Annie’s review. Clara is falling for the man with whom she corresponds on purely knowing subjects. She has never met him. At the same time she gets a job in a leather goods shop and cannot bag along with her boss (Jimmy Stewart) . You can figure it out from there. Appetizing fun. Either one of these two movies is worth the imprint of this package.
It Happened on 5th Avenue is a superb film. The owner of a 5th Avenue mansion is wintering elsewhere and a hobo helps himself to the house. He invites in others who need a site to halt in the housing crunch following WWII. Without their knowledge, one of their fellow tenants is actually the owner, who hides his identity to inspect what is going on in his home.
Everyone knows the legend of A Christmas Carol, so I won’t account for on this one. This is a amazing situation of holiday movies at a impress that can’t be beat. If you don’t like dark and white movies this may not satisfy you, but the stories are ample and my family really enjoys them. The only complaint I have is that they are double-sided disks and I assume single sided.
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