Movie Spotlight: Zombeavers

Zombeavers is a 2014 horror comedy movie starring Rachel Melvin, Hutch Dano, Cortney Palm, Lexi Athins, Bill Burr, Jake Weary, and Peter Gilroy. A group of college students are attacked by zombie beavers while spending the weekend at a cabin in the woods. (Nothing good can come from staying at a cabin in the woods...haven't these people seen The Evil Dead? Or Friday the 13th? Or The Cabin in the Woods?)

Horror comedy is one of my favorite genres, so I'm glad I watched this movie (thanks, Netflix!). The cast was great, and I loved the ending. Zombeavers is bloody, funny, and ridiculous (in a good way), and it'll make you stay away from dams for the rest of your life. I love animals, but those beavers were real assholes. ; )

My rating: 7.5/10

Movie Spotlight: Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies

Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies is a 2012 movie starring Bill Oberst Jr., Jason Vail, Chip Lane, Jason Hughley, Christopher Marrone, Baby Norman, and Don McGraw. When I saw this movie listed on the Directv guide, I just had to watch it...I liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and how am I not gonna watch a movie called Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies? The movie begins with little Abe Lincoln beheading his zombie mother, then skips ahead to Lincoln (Bill Oberst Jr.) as President...a President who must kick zombie Confederate ass in order to save his country.

You might think that a movie about Abe Lincoln fighting zombies would be terrible, but this one wasn't bad and kept me entertained. Bill Oberst Jr. was great as badass, zombie-killing Lincoln, and Baby Norman was impressive as Lincoln's former girlfriend/current prostitute Mary Owens. If I'm being completely honest, I enjoyed this movie more than I would ever enjoy a serious movie about Abraham Lincoln (or any other Presidents). ; )

My rating: 6/10

Movie Spotlight: Freaks of Nature

Freaks of Nature is a 2015 movie starring Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis, Josh Fadem, Joan Cusack, Bob Odenkirk, Keegan-Michael Key, Ed Westwick, Patton Oswalt, Vanessa Hudgens, and Denis Leary. Dilford is a peaceful town where humans, vampires, and zombies get along just fine...until the alien apocalypse happens. Now the humans, vampires, and zombies are fighting each other, and human Dag (Nicholas Braun), vampire Petra (Mackenzie Davis), and zombie Ned (Josh Fadem) must work together to rid their town of the aliens and help Dilford return to the way it used to be.

I watched Freaks of Nature for Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswalt, and Denis Leary, and even though they weren't in the movie as much as I would've liked, I still enjoyed it. Freaks of Nature is a fun movie with a big surprise near the end, and I like that it isn't just a vampire movie, zombie movie, or alien movie...it's ALL THREE!

My rating: 7.5/10

Movie Spotlight: Zombie Shark

Zombie Shark is a 2015 Syfy channel movie starring Cassie Steele, Ross Brity, Roger J. Timber, Sloane Coe, Becky Andrews, Ladson Deyne, Leslie Castay, Laura Cayouette, and Jason London. Four friends must spend their vacation fighting off "zombie" sharks after a virus-infected shark escapes from the island's research center.

Since I reviewed Ghost Shark for the blog (http://paranormalcrystal.blogspot.com/2013/10/movie-spotlight-ghost-shark.html), of course I had to review Zombie Shark too. As with Ghost Shark, the deaths in Zombie Shark were hilarious, but not quite as creative as the ones in Ghost Shark. The acting in Zombie Shark was generally better than the acting in most of the other Syfy original movies I've seen, and Roger J. Timber stole the show as Lester, the desk clerk who feels comfortable telling resort guests that a burrito gave him "the squirts." I would've liked to see more of him in the movie and would definitely watch a Zombie Shark spin-off all about Lester (Get on it, Syfy!). Though I wouldn't call Zombie Shark a great movie, I did enjoy it and really liked the ending. : )

My rating: 6/10

Movie Spotlight: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a 2015 movie starring Tye Sheridan, David Koechner (yay!), Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, and Sarah Dumont. When zombies invade their town, scouts Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), and Augie (Joey Morgan) join forces with cocktail waitress Denise (Sarah Dumont) to fight the zombies and save their town.

I really liked Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse...all of the actors did a great job, it was really entertaining, and it was funnier than I thought it would be. I generally don't enjoy zombie movies as much as other types of horror or paranormal movies (ghosts, demons, aliens, etc.), but this one was better than most of the zombie movies I've watched. : )

My rating: 7.5/10

Horror Movie Month: Zombieland

Zombieland is a 2009 movie directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray. Two months after most of the American people have been turned into zombies, survivors "Columbus" (Jesse Eisenberg), "Tallahassee" (Woody Harrelson), "Wichita" (Emma Stone), and "Little Rock" (Abigail Breslin) join forces to try to find a non-zombiefied place to live.

A little about the non-zombies of Zombieland:

"Columbus": has IBS and tons of phobias
"Tallahassee": obsessed with Twinkies and great at violently killing zombies
"Wichita" and "Little Rock": sisters and con artists
Bill Murray: awesome

I'm usually not that into zombie movies, but Zombieland is funny and has a cameo by Bill Murray, so it's my favorite of the zombie movies I've seen. Though the movie is a comedy, some of the zombies are pretty scary-looking...especially the clown zombie (of course).

My rating: 8/10

Horror Movie Month: Dead-Alive

Dead-Alive (aka Braindead) is 1992 movie directed by Peter Jackson and starring Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, and Ian Watkin. On Skull Island in 1957, explorer Stewart McAlden (Bill Ralston) is bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey, so his team kills him and ships the monkey to New Zealand's Wellington Zoo. Later (we're not sure how much later), Lionel Cosgrove's (Timothy Balme) mother (Elizabeth Moody) is bitten by the monkey while spying on Lionel and his date (Diana Peñalver) at the zoo. Lionel then must take care of his zombie mother (who was bad enough when she was just a regular person) and keep her victims hidden in his house.

Dead-Alive is really disgusting and violent in parts, but it does have New Zealand accents, an ass-kicking priest, and a creepy zombie baby, so it's worth watching. The movie is pretty ridiculous, but in a good way, and though it's disgusting enough that I felt nauseous during most of it, I recommend it anyway. Just don't eat anything while you watch Dead-Alive...it probably won't stay down. ; )

My rating: 7.5/10


 (The movie is really expensive on Amazon, so if you want to see it, try checking your local library system...that's where I found it, so yours might have it too.)

New Paranormal Show: iZombie

On March 17th, the CW began airing iZombie, a new show from Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright; Rob created Veronica Mars and co-created Party Down, and Diane was a writer on Veronica Mars, so of course I had to check out their new project.  Liv Moore is an ordinary medical resident with a devoted fiancé; against her better judgment, she goes to a party, and the unthinkable happens: she wakes up in a body bag the next day and realizes that she has been turned into a zombie. (Worst. Party. Ever.) She breaks up with her fiancé and gets a job at the morgue, where she can eat brains without hurting anyone, but the brains affect her in a strange way...they cause her to see flashes of the former owner's life. 

 The Cast

Olivia "Liv" Moore: Rose McIver
Clive Babinaux:  Malcolm Goodwin
Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti: Rahul Kohli
Major Lilywhite: Robert Buckley
Blaine DeBeers: David Anders 
Peyton Charles: Aly Michalka
Eva Moore: Molly Hagen
Evan Moore: Nick Purcha
Lowell Casey: Bradley James 

I'm normally not that into zombies, but I thought iZombie was great and very different from the other zombie stuff I've seen.  All of the acting and writing was fantastic, and I'm definitely going to keep watching. Also, I was happy to see Daran Norris, a familiar face from Veronica Mars, show up in the pilot, and I hope to see some more Veronica Mars alums on the show. : )  iZombie airs on Tuesday nights at 9/8c, but if you missed the pilot, you can watch it here:

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/izombie

My rating: 8/10 

Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale

I loved Archie comics as a child, and I started reading them again when Archie Marries... was published in 2010.  I love The Married Life series that followed Archie Marries..., and when I heard that Archie would be entering the world of zombies, I was pretty excited.  I don't read many graphic novels, but my favorites are the Archie ones and the graphic novels that are based on Stephen King's The Stand, which are written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, so when I found out that the same author would be writing Afterlife with Archie, I was even more excited.  Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale begins with a desperate Jughead Jones begging Sabrina the Teenage Witch and her aunts to help his beloved dog, who has been hit by a car. They do what they can, but tell Jughead that Hot Dog is beyond saving; however, Sabrina feels so bad for Jughead that she agrees to try to bring Hot Dog back to life...and that's when it all goes to hell.

Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale was hard to put down, and I can't wait to read Afterlife with Archie: Betty R.I.P., which comes out in February (that's so far away!).  This graphic novel is very entertaining, but it is also dark, heartbreaking, and devastating; this is not the Riverdale we grew up with.  I loved Afterlife with Archie, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the story and more of Francesco Francavilla's wonderful, creepy illustrations that perfectly capture the feelings of fear and despair the residents of Riverdale are experiencing.

My rating: 10/10

http://afterlifewitharchie.com/

Movie Spotlight: Poultrygeist

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is 2006 movie starring Jason Yachanin, Kate Graham, Allyson Sereboff, Robin Watkins, Joshua Olatunde, Rose Ghavami, Caleb Emerson, Ron Jeremy, and Lloyd Kaufman (who also wrote, directed, and produced the movie) , and it starts off with a bang (literally).  I saw the Poultrygeist trailer on the Cannibal! The Musical (my favorite movie ever) DVD a few years ago and thought it looked like something I might like...and it's on Netflix, so I thought I should finally watch it and write a blog post about it.  The movie takes place at a New Jersey fried chicken restaurant called American Chicken Bunker; the restaurant was built on top of an Indian burial ground and  is being attacked by zombies who have been possessed by chickens.  And it's a musical!

Poultygeist is bloody, funny, and ridiculous (in a good way)...I really enjoyed this movie, and the music was pretty good too!  If you have a good sense of humor, and don't mind blood and nudity, give Poultrygeist a shot!

My rating: 7/10