J*A*S*M

Shocking! The best Romero in the last 10 years. The scenes taken out context from the trailer must have been a disappointment for some people. As a whole, though, Survival of the Dead feels like a western with very sophisticated social criticism that is also intentionally (!) funny several times. Something I didn’t expect for a second… PS: The only thing that bothered were a couple of very bad digital effects (even if I may be willing to believe that they are “intentionally” bad).

I was expecting something much better, and I have a problem giving it even only three stars. The idea of bullied students who one day put on masks, seize their aggressors and take bloody revenge on them didn’t sound bad at all. The beginning promise to be exactly what I wanted and hoped for, but it’s the characters that kill the film. They don’t behave rationally, or what’s worse, even irrationally – they basically don’t behave at all, as if the events around didn’t concern them! Total apathy and ignorance. And on top of that, people come miraculously back to life! Really, the first time I thought I hadn’t been paying attention. The second time, that I had counted the survivors wrong, but when it happened a third time, I was sure, there were dead characters showing up in later scenes. I had some hopes for a twist that would reveal a non-chronological narration, but alas! It’s just an awful filmmaking mistake. Edit: I’m bringing it down to two…

A parody of zombie horror and also a reflection on the modern world. It’s not very deep, it pokes only superficially at the themes that are the most at hand: terrorism, homosexuality, religion, but ZMD doesn’t feel stupid, or at least I didn’t get the impression that the creators were pulling things our of their asses. It’s not what I would call a quality film, but it isn’t awfully bad, either.

The Descent: Part 2 is pretty strong in certain scenes, but not that great as a whole. I was satisfied at the beginning, the feeling of claustrophobia (well known from the first part) was there, the cave monsters didn’t take too long to show up, and I’d lie if I said I didn’t feel scared a couple of times. But there are a couple of moments in the script that are unforgivable and the behaviour of the characters almost killed me. That nut case of a sheriff can’t exist in the real world because he wouldn’t pass the psychological tests (assuming the Yanks have something like that, too). I didn’t like the ending, I didn’t like the reveal at the beginning of the third act, and I didn’t like the link to the first part (I could have been done without Sarah and it wouldn’t have been so weird). If I didn’t know Marshall’s gem, I’d have a positive feeling, but I do! 6/10

The unlikeable Arian in the main role got on my nerves from the very first scene, otherwise, I’m satisfied. The atmosphere is superb, the showcase of weird characters and the scary building are a great combination that relentlessly attacks the viewer with increasing success (at the beginning, Malpertuis: The Legend of Doom House wasn’t that much fun, but it got better with every minute), and by the end it strikes with an interesting twist. I almost feel like reading the book version.

A decent average film without anything that could be highlighted as extraordinarily good, nor anything that could be said is extraordinarily bad, with the exception of the arguable plot, that is. Yeah, and Sarah Michelle is nice to look at. 65%

A harmless, silly B-movie whose biggest weakness is the entire first half, where a bunch of annoying teenagers are hanging out completely unsupervised. But then those characters become gradually possessed by demons, good make-up makes an appearance and the fun is guaranteed. You only need to survive the start. PS: The remake could be better in theory (there’s a lot of room for improvement), but likely it won’t.

A remarkably atmospheric film with a beginning that brings a chill to your spine. And then you wait all those three minutes for it to go somewhere, but it never goes further than the starting line. Hopefully, they’ll go all the way to goal in the planned feature version.

Bugger! It’s time for me to once and for all develop the Pavlovian response “I see the SyFy logo” → “I turn off the film”.

Basically, there are two types of old-school horror: One is when an incompetent amateur fan or forgotten icon stands behind or in front of the camera, resulting in a film that can be watchable only for the few enthusiasts who appreciate anything that irradiates a mystical “love for the genre” (and the so-called "tribute to old films" is a fabricated and misleading excuse for poor quality). Blood Night, fortunately, belongs to the other and less numerous type, the work of gifted creators who not only watch films of the genre, but also understand them. Those people are able to refer to, imitate, pay homage and even paraphrase without making their products unintentionally funny. Blood Night is a skilfully made B-movie without any pretensions, that in 90 minutes entertains the viewer, who knows what they are into and what they can expect. This film was a pleasant surprise (especially considering I didn’t know anything about it beforehand) and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.