Sometime I like a little comedy with my horror. Sometimes it's by accident (see Winterbeast for an example) and sometimes, as in this case, it's on purpose. Joe Dante, of Gremlins and The Howling fame, gives us this horror comedy about a man dealing with his demanding girlfriend. Max (Anton Yelchin from Green Room and the most recent Star Trek film series) is a horror movie buff who works at a year round Halloween Spirit type store called Bloody Mary's. His girlfriend Evelyn (Ashley Green from the Twilight film series as well as Bombshells) is a self centered overbearing girlfriend. Evelyn doesn't like Max's job, apartment, brother, or hobby but otherwise she's aces.
Max decides he's going to break up with her but before he can she winds up dead. Once Max decides to move on with his life as he has recently fallen in love with Olivia (Alexandra Daddario from the Baywatch movie, San Andreas, and the Percy Jackson films). Olivia owns and works at the I Scream ice cream parlor where one of her specialties is a Fruit Brute smoothie. I'm not kidding! A smoothie made with the least favorite monster cereal, which it wasn't to me, as Fruit Brute was my second favorite behind Count Chokula. Just as things are taking off between Max and Olivia, Evelyn comes back from the dead as a very horny zombie who wants to pick up with Max where she left off.
My favorite part of this movie is the clips of old horror films edited in throughout the film. This culminates with a Halloween night showing of Night of the Living Dead at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Does the cemetery really do that? That can't really be a thing can it? If it is sign me up! This one is pretty decent three quarters of the time. The first half is a real good set up and execution of the main part of the plot. Three quarters of the way in it falls apart a bit but then it collects itself and gives a pretty satisfying ending. I appreciated how as Evelyn became more zombie-fied she looks worse and worse every scene. While it's nothing close to being as good as Dante's best work there is a glimmer of a really good film in there. Add in some nice nostalgic moments for old folks like me and I give this one three grumpy cops played by Dick Miller out of five.
Interesting side note: a few years after this movie was made Yelchin would die in a freak accident when he crushed to death by his own car against a fence. He's now buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Awwwwwwwww poor Antosha. You gonna make me cry!
ReplyDeleteOh, but I have a few (skeleton) bones to pick with your post:
1) How DARE you intimate WINTERBEAST is funny and anything other than a cinematic masterpiece!!!!!! You cad!!!!
2) I've never actually tasted Fruit Brute cereal but who are these people who intimate that it's the least popular monster cereal. I mean, they're not the boss of you . . . or me. And now I want to try it. And lapse into a diabetic coma. But seriously, everybody DOES know that BOO BERRY is the BEST monster cereal anyway.
3) Ashley Green from the WHAT film series?!?!?!?! You better watch your step with that or I'll haveta stop reading your blog. . . . .
. . . . .for at least a whole day!
4) You know, I'm relatively sure that showing horror movies around Halloween at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery is actually a thing. If not that cemetery, then another one like it but I'm pretty sure Hollywood Forever is the one that would most likely do something like dat.
I haven't tried Fruit Brute in a few years as I am a Count Chokula guy myself but since the Count tastes pretty much the same for 40 years or so I'll say Fruit Brute is still good. I don't like strawberry so that's why I never liked Frankenberrie and to be honest I've never tried Booberrie.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Hollywood Forever playing the horror films I would be tempted to get on a plane for six + hours to see movies in a cemetery.
Sounds like a pretty fun film. I will have to give it a watch.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun. If you watch it give us a report back I'd like to know others thoughts on it.
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