Grindhouse film night

Remember the post where I was talking about the grindhouse film night I planned to have? Well I had it last night, only inviting some friends because I didn’t think that most of my other mates would’ve got what I was trying to do, but my friends who came had a great time, as well as I did. So anyway, I kept the film night about as grindhouse-like as possible by showing the following in order:

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The Last House on the Left trailer

Zombie Flesh Eaters trailer (stopped at 1:32)

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Then we started watching George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (reviewed below). After we saw that, we saw the following:

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Prom Night trailer

Terror at the Opera trailer

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The Following Film is Restricted

Then we wrapped the night all up with watching one of Tobe Hooper’s classics, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (reviewed below).

 

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

In Night of the Living Dead, we saw the world being taken over by zombies. Now comes the sequel Dawn of the Dead where we see the zombie situation getting even worse. This time, a boyfriend and girlfriend and two members from the National Guard try to fly away from the zombie invaded city they live in and fly to a shopping mall via a helicopter, which has almost ran out of fuel. When they arrive in the mall they must survive there and also barricade themselves from the zombies. They also begin to start new lives.

This is considered by many to be the greatest zombie film of all-time. I can definately see why. The remake by Zack Snyder is good but it definately does not beat this one.

Romero is a genius with coming up with the idea of a zombie film set in a shopping mall and the scenery we are shown (mostly in the mall, yet also in other scenes) does give the viewer an eerie feeling, and he also ups the tension with the help of the music (some of which isn’t too great).

Tom Savini also does a great job with the gruesome make-up effects, as usual.

However, Romero doesn’t make this just a zombie movie in general, he also deepens the characters, mostly in the middle of the film in the scenes when the four are living together at the mall. And to be honest, some of those scenes are quite moving.

Sure, the way the zombies move and interact is quite funny (unintentionaly) and some of the music is very cheesy but this movie is overrall - a must-see.

5 bikers getting ripped apart out of 5

 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

A group of five friends go on a trip down south to visit one of their grandfather’s graves. When running low on gas they have to wait for a while until more gas arrives, only to be terrorised by a cannibalistic family.

This is not a true story, even though the guy in the start says so (refer to my Wolf Creek review). But from the very start of the movie we hear the guy’s voice, I found the film creepy already, even though I’ve seen the movie before.

The music to this movie has a range from industrial music to screeching and creeking sound effects.

Although none of the characters are very likeable (except Leatherface), the actors do a terrific job and do help make the film disturbing. Marilyn Burns also does a good job when it comes to acting even though there are at least one, two or three moments when you can tell she’s ‘acting’.

The lack of lighting also surprisingly makes this film even more scary.

This movie should be considered as one of the very examples of low-budget horror. It is very scary and it is also one helluva ride.

5 meathooks out of 5