#15- Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)We loved the first Resident Evil, thought R.E.: Apocalypse sucked, liked R.E.: Extinction, and now here we are faced with the fourth installment in the mostly-good Zombie series. R.E.: Afterlife is better than the trailers and ridiculous 3D hype led us to believe; it's still a tad cheesy, but in the end it gave us the dose of Zombie goodness that we desperately needed. The guy with the hammer was my favorite part.
Alice is back and kicking all kinds of ass in this one, although most of it is sans-powers, as she has been turned back to a mere Human by Wesker. We get to find out what happened to all of Alice's friends from the end of the last movie, and discover the mystery behind "Arcadia." Whatever the story, you know it doesn't go well for anyone, right?
A lot of cool action, some cheesy action, plenty of awesome Zombie action, some good "Who in the fuck is the guy with the massive hammer?" action, a few lame plot devices and cheesy lines of dialogue (not to mention melodramatic acting), all add up to one thing... This is a cool popcorn horror flick. Love it for what it is, or just flat out skip it. It's for fun, and it wont hold up all that well under close scrutiny.
And honestly guys, can we knock it off with the fucking 3D BS already? Some of it's kinda neat, but for the most part it's distracting, feels forced, and comes off as campy... not really solid ingredients for most good Horror films.
If you already love the R.E. series, there's no reason you shouldn't love Afterlife as well. Ignore the useless 3D aspect of the movie, and just enjoy the wire-fu Zombie ass-kicking and explosions,. Really, what else could you possibly want from these movies?
B
#16- Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)Originally a Made for TV movie, and now available at long last on DVD, Dark Night of the Scarecrow is proof that a Horror movie doesn't have to be bloody or overtly violent to be effective. This movie definitely feels like an old school movie of the week, and by that I mean the structure is network friendly, it feels safe, and for the most part, it doesn't deviate from the standard TV formula of the early 80's. What it does do though, and surprisingly well, is suck you in to the story while managing to thoroughly creep you the hell out.
"A retarded man is unjustly accused of attacking a young girl. Disguised as a scarecrow, he hides in a cornfield, only to be hunted down and shot. Later, after it is revealed he saved the girl from a vicious dog attack, members of the search posse are killed by a mysterious scarecrow. "
Poor retarded Bubba got himself shot by them retard-hatin' townies... but he gets his revenge. Oh yes, he gets his revenge! I don't know. It just felt right. If there's one knock on this movie, it's that you don't get to see a lot of the scarecrow's justice until late in the third act, but that's a minor transgression. It would have been cool to see more of the avenging field jockey on screen is all...
And for the record there's a rumor about this movie that seems to pop up every so often, and I feel the need to squash it once and for all; It's "the chasing game" not "the Jason game." Seriously, I've heard from a good handful of peeps over the years that this movie was somehow tied to the F13th series, when the little girl tells Bubba "Let's play the Jason game." Wishful thinking folks, but it was fun to imagine...
This is a classic spooky movie if I've ever seen one, and while it may feel a bit dated and tame by today's standards, this is a movie that every self respecting Horror fan needs to at least see, if not have in their personal collection. Get a hold of this movie, get a snack, turn off the lights, and remember that this is exactly what October should feel like; creepy.
A
That's 16/100 movies watched so far, so we had better get back to it... now what's next...
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