Remy – The Serpent And The Rainbow
For all intents and purposes, The Serpent And The Rainbow should be the scariest zombie movie ever. Why? Because it is the only zombie movie you will ever see that is non-fiction. You heard right. It’s the true story of an anthropologist who went to Haiti to work closely with voodoo doctors and try to explain the rash of zombies who were showing up. Understand, here, zombies did not mean dead people who came back to life to eat people. No, these were dead people who were never actually dead, but drugged enough that doctors could not see any signs of life, and often announced them dead. They would then be buried, and later on, dug up by whoever gave them the drug. The drug, mixed with the time underground without air or light, often leaves them in a zombie like state, and the people are put to work in the fields, like mindless slaves. It is horrifying, and actually happens quite a bit.
Well, Bill Pullman decides he wants to find out what is going on, and ends up getting the attention of some very bad people. Cue him waking up in a coffin, buried underground. It’s a scene I will never forget, and ooops, I think I may have just ruined the best part for you – psych. No, the whole movie is totally dope. It’s on Netflix right now, and you need to watch it, stat!
Nato – Land Of The Dead
Alright, George A. Romero might have lost me with Diary Of The Dead and Survival Of The Dead, but Land Of The Dead still showed that the director hadn’t lost his genre touch, even if the socio-political commentary wasn’t as prevalent this time. Honestly, who cares though, because the grand scale and supreme zombie-fighting action was in top shape. From the giant mobile zombie base to first-class douchebags getting their bloody comeuppance, Romero assembled an eclectic cast of stars for yet another solid entry into his Dead franchise.
Remember this was almost ten years ago, but listen to some of these cast names. Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo, Simon Baker, Asia Argento – you’ve got a great mix of genre names and decent actors. Romero wasn’t done though. Were you paying attention to some of the zombies, and not only for the brutal brain-munching violence? No? Then you probably missed cameos by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, The Walking Dead‘s Greg Nicotero, Tom Savini, and other horror names. George A. Romero wasn’t only making an engaging zombie movie with Land Of The Dead, but he blew the dystopian mindset out of the water, and paid homage to the zombie genre as a whole along the way.
Just forget he made any movies after this one, and you’ll be just fine.
