My first thought within the opening fifteen minutes of Dorota Kobiela’s and Hugh Welchman’s Loving Vincent was that a film this visually sumptuous deserves a better script. Or maybe that was my second thought. The film opens with a title card informing us of just how many artists it took to hand-paint the cells of […]
1. Night of the Living Dead (1968; dir. George Romero) – Predictable choice maybe, but this isn’t just the granddaddy of ’em all; it’s the best, and I love it every time I watch it. Peter Bogdanovich tells a story of Orson Welles talking about The Third Man and daring him to name one great […]
2. Zombi 2 (1979; dir. Lucio Fulci) – At this point on the list, entries two and three are pretty much inter-changeable and their placement was more to break up the Romero entries than anything. Both Zombi 2 and Dawn of the Dead, thought wildly different, hold such a cherished place in my esteem it’s […]
3. Dawn Of The Dead (1978; dir. George Romero) – I know a lot of people might put Romero’s original Dawn of the Dead as number 1 on their list with good reasons, most of which I’d likely agree with. Romero took the magic formula he’d discovered with Night and upped the ante, broadened the […]
4. Zombieland (2009; dir. Ruben Fleischer) – With Diary of the Dead, Romero tried to provide a metafictive commentary on the zombie movie in addition to his usual commentary on the state of society, but it off more like metafictive complaining. George didn’t like the fast-moving zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake and […]
5. Day of the Dead (1985; dir. George Romero) – One word, one syllable: Bub. Though not held in the same esteem as Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, Day has Bub. It might not seem like a lot, but fans of Romero’s work understand. Bub, the zombie Dr. Logan is […]
6. Planet Terror (2007; dir. Robert Rodriguez) – Not enough people saw Grindhouse when it was in theaters. I’ll admit it: I didn’t see it. I remember hearing about it, but I didn’t rush to the Bridge to check it out. And yet, I think that’s because I didn’t really understand what it was. Yeah, yeah, […]
7. Land of the Dead (2005; dir. George Romero) – You know those indie rock guys who love a band when they’re all obscure and lo-fi and then turn on that same band when they get enough money to go into the studio and up their production value and gain in popularity? I hate those […]
8. Evil Dead II (1987; dir. Sam Raimi) – If Charlie Chaplin had ever decided to make a horror movie (and I’m excluding Monsieur Verdoux), it would probably have been a lot like Evil Dead II. Of course, this is part of a trilogy, and while the first Evil Dead has the unique charm of […]
9. Dead Alive (1992; dir. Peter Jackson; original title: Braindead) – Part of the appeal of Zombie movies is often their ability to mix horror and humor, so that you’re both laughing and cringing simultaneously, though if you’re ever seen Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive, you’ll probably find that despite a number of laughs, you’re mostly […]