Scene from Night of the Living Dead

NOTE: Although the survey question is unclear, we assume that “word of mouth” from a zombie also includes actual zombie bites

Top Twenty (20) Movies of All Time:¹

1. 28 WEEKS LATER, 2007* (64%)
2. DAY OF THE DEAD, 1985* (57%)
3. DAWN OF THE DEAD, 1978* (57%)
4. RE-ANIMATOR, 1985* (57%)
5. BRAVE HEART, 1995* (50%)
6. DAWN OF THE DEAD (remake), 2004* (50%)
7. 28 DAYS LATER, 2002* (50%)
8. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, 1968* (43%)
9. PULP FICTION, 1994* (43%)
10. DEATH PROOF, 2007* (43%)
11. WE WERE SOLDIERS, 2002* (36%s)
12. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, 1985* (36%)
13. Any of the HARRY POTTER/HOBBIT/LORD OF THE RINGS, or movies with the word “PRINCESS” in the title, mostly made after 2000* (29%)
14. SHAUN OF THE DEAD, 2004* (21%)
15. SNAKES ON A PLANE. 2006* (21%s)
16. [ANOTHER MOVIE, not listed here] (21%)
17. MAD MAX, 1979* (14%)
18. THE GRADUATE, 1967 (7%)
19. FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, 2007* (7%)
20. SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, 1952 (7%)

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FOOTNOTE:

The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either. Even fans of the zombie genre will be sorry for wasting time on this movie.

• GENRE: Zombie Horror
• ACTORS: Dexter Fletcher, Dickon Tolson, Lana Kamenov, Anton Brejak, David Carradine¹, Tricia McMurtry, Jody Willis, Marisa Zaza, André Bharti, Leanne Dixon


Autumn, R (2009)

• RATING: R
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Some bad language. Extremely disturbing imagages and situations. Violence.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) A mysterious virus “kills” most of the population in a matter of seconds. The dead don’t stay down. The survivors cope.





• REVIEW: This is an example of a really, really bad zombie movie. The film looks like it was shot by 4 or 5 guys with a camcorder. One suspects this movie was shot with little or no knowledge of how to actually make a movie; and with no budget at all. The acting is just plain awful. The zombies look like corpses that were dipped in a barrel of used motor oil. The only dispute here is whether the ghouls are technically zombies. People bitten by a “traditional zombie” die and re-animate as zombies with an instant taste for human flesh. But in “Autumn,” people die from the “virus,” and after a day or so re-animate as walking dead. At first these “walkers” show no signs of aggression. But the ghouls/walkers progressively develop more violent tendencies. Oddly though, the film makers do create some pretty disturbing images. And this twist on the zombie theme might be interesting in more capable hands.
• RECOMMENDATION:² This is a zombie horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. Even if you are a fan of this genre, Autumn is a terrible movie on so many levels. I recommend watching the trailer instead. It is scarier, much shorter, and looks more professionally produced than the feature film. The movie gets one star based on the potentially interesting twist on the zombie theme.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★

FOOTNOTES:

RATING (Out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either. Please see my previous post on why zombie films are reviewed on a Christian website like K_Line Christian Online. HOWEVER, even as a fan of the zombie genre, my advice on this movie is, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!

Zombies of Mass Destruction

• GENRE: Hard to say. It’s an Anti-Christian rant with a zombie theme.
• ACTORS: Janette Armand, Doug Fahl, Cooper Hopkins, Bill Johns, Russell Hodgkinson, Ali Hamedani, Cornelia Moore, James Mesher, Linda Jensen, Victoria Drake
• RATING: R
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Bad language and questionable situations. Violence. Offensive to several groups, including a strong anti-Christian theme.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) The usual. There is no real plot to speak of in Zombies of Mass Destruction, although having a plot is generally not a prerequisite to a good zombie movie. Zombies get loose. The surviving humans cope. Most of them get bit and turn into zombies. A few get disemboweled in classic zombie fashion.
• REVIEW: I am a Christian who loves zombie movies. However, this film is not so much a zombie movie, as it is an Anti-Christian rant, with a zombie theme. Seriously, you can’t be too thin-skinned if you want to enjoy zombie movies. Many zombie movies depict characters questioning their faith, or have some less than flattering reference to the church. However, in the case of Zombies of Mass Destruction most of the movie is devoted to showing how bad and evil Christians are; and to demonstrate that neither Christians nor Christ Himself have any relevance or worth. To be fair, other groups are attacked as well. There is a school of thought which holds that if you are equally offensive to all groups, that no one should be offended. I don’t agree.
  .
  The production values, zombie gore, etc. are actually not bad. There are a few quality disembowelings–always the hallmark of a good zombie film. If the producers of this film cut out the offensive, anti-Christian and anti-Other-Group portions, the actual zombie film wouldn’t be too bad, except that you would be left with a short, rather than a feature length film. I read on another web site that Zombies of Mass Destruction is a “social commentary.” I agree. The commentary is basically this: “Christians are no good.”
• RECOMMENDATION:¹ This is a zombie horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, this film should really per categorized as an anti-Christian rant with a zombie theme. MY RECOMMENDATION: Don’t waste your time.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): (1/2 star, for production values, and actual zombie elements only)

FOOTNOTE:

The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either. Made in New Zealand.

Last of the Living

• GENRE: Zombie “Comedy”/Horror
• ACTORS: Morgan Williams, Ashleigh Southam, Robert Faith, Emily Paddon-Brown, Mark Hadlow
• RATING: UK-15¹
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Bad language. Violence. Zombie killings galore.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.²
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) Three certifiable knuckleheads and a scientist chick they pick up in a zombie infested church are racing against the clock (and a bad zombie bite) to save the world.
• REVIEW: Calling this film a “B” Movie would be giving it the benefit of the doubt by a letter grade or two. Generally zombie movies try to be scary, with a bit of humor; or funny, with a bit of zombie mayhem. This movie isn’t really that scary. Neither is it very funny. The zombie style isn’t consistent either. Some of them look like regular humans, but for a bit of eye makeup. Another zombie looks like he’s wearing a rotten pig head mask. Some zombies are fast, some are slow. Some are good with objects; others are grunting piles of flesh. But after a bit of reflection, I realize maybe my problem is that I don’t appreciate good old fashioned New Zealand zombie comedy/horror when I see it. In fact, I can see a bit of the same style of humor as in another New Zealand zombie movie–Black Sheep (2006) UR. In summary, I’ll admit I’ve seen a lot, lot worse zombie movies. Last of the Living is watchable–for fans of the genre–in all categories: acting, plot³, production values, etc.
• RECOMMENDATION:⁴ This is a zombie “comedy”/horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, if you are a fan of this genre–I give Last of the Living a lukewarm recommendation.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★

FOOTNOTES:

Try it yourself. Type "Christian Movie Review Night of the Living Dead" (no quotation marks) into Google search. Apparently many other Christian movie reviewers have overlooked this film.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either.

Night of the Living Dead

• GENRE: Zombie Horror
• ACTORS: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Adam Knox
• DIRECTOR: George A. Romero
• RATING: Unrated
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Extreme violence. Zombie mayhem and gore.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) A group of dissimilar people end up in a remote farmhouse fighting the zombie horde. Can they survive the zombie onslaught–and themselves?
• REVIEW: Some people¹ will tell you that Night of the Living Dead is the most important movie in the most impotant sub-genre (zombie) of the most important movie genre (horror). This film would be laughable if released today. But in 1968, it was completely groundbreaking. It has really defined the genre for the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of zombie movies which followed. This film defined the zombie as we know it–a slow, lumbering² killing machine. Move too slow, get bit, and you too can join the zombie way of life (or death, or undead). Anyway, back to this movie: if you can get past it being in black and white, and the overacting, it remains a pretty scary movie. I’ve seen Night of the Living Dead so many times that I don’t jump any more. But for the first time viewer, the suspense, the horror, and the over the top gore are sure to thrill.
• RECOMMENDATION:³ This is a zombie horror movie–though admittedly somewhat tame by comparison to current zombie movies. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, if you are a fan of this genre–you have to respect this groundbreaking work of art for the great movie that it is.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★★

Note: Click on the screen after the video loads if you need to go to the YouTube website for a bigger picture.

The movie reviewed here is definately NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either.

• GENRE: Zombie Horror
• ACTORS: David Chisum, Sarah Laine, Richard Tyson, Erick Avari, Derek Webster, Kristen Kerr, Kevin J. O’Connor, Laura Cayouette, Dale Midkiff



• RATING: NR (but I would guess it would be an “R” or higher if it had been rated)
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Bad language and questionable situations. Violence. Zombie mayhem and gore.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) Zombies get loose on a plane, and things go from bad to worse.
• REVIEW: This is not your typical zombie B-Movie. I don’t know the budget, but this flick has the look and feel of a major motion picture. This movie is basically snakes on a plane–but substitute zombies for snakes. Major zombie mayhem and gore. The acting is OK, but not much is required (say a few words, scream, get bit by a zombie, turn into a zombie, and bite someone else). The zombies look good. Good action. The plot is original, though not much is required in a zombie movie. Sure, you have to ignore some plot devices that cross the line into just plain asinine–exploding devices on board an airplane, and the whole ending of the movie, for example. Still, I’ve seen lots of zombie movies–the good, the bad, and the awful. Flight of the Living Dead is definitely one of the best the genre has to offer
• RECOMMENDATION:¹ This is a zombie horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, if you are a fan of this genre–this movie is highly recommended!
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★