The sequel to George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead shows that the zombie epidemic has gotten much worse and society is on its knees. Two television workers plan to escape with two SWAT team members in the TV station traffic helicopter in search of…whatever they can find that’s better than their current situation. …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 7- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Martin is a young man who we see travelling by train to Braddock in Pittsburgh to live with his elderly cousin, Tata Cuda who seems convinced that Martin is the latest in a long line of vampires (‘the family curse’). The film centres around whether Martin is actually a vampire or if he is just …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 6- Martin (1977)
An old man in a white suit decides to experience life to its fullest by visiting an amusement park. He soon wishes he hadn’t. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull when I saw this film in a Romero filmography I was perusing recently. A lost Romero film? I’m there! The Amusement Park has …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 5- The Amusement Park (1975)
A biological weapon starts to turn the inhabitants of Evan’s City, Pennsylvania into homicidal maniacs. But don’t worry, the military are on the case… As you may have guessed, this isn’t an early 70’s romcom but is instead another film in which Romero gives us a glimpse into what it would look like if the …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 4- The Crazies (1973)
Joan Mitchell is unsatisfied with her suburban, domestic Pittsburgh life with her hard working businessman husband and hippie daughter. Maybe witchcraft will revitalise her life. Whilst this sounds like a horror film because of its dalliances with the occult, it’s really a very interesting character study and feminist critique of the day. In fact, I …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 3- Season of the Witch (1972)
Aka ‘The George A Romero film that isn’t horror’, was purportedly lost for many decades, something the director was pleased about as he hated it. But, then it was rediscovered and released firstly by Something Weird Video and more recently on Blu Ray by Arrow Video. And the truth is, it isn’t as dreadful as …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 2- There’s Always Vanilla (1971)
Whilst Elvis was made by Carpenter for TV in 1979, it was actually later granted a UK cinema release the next year. With the running being nearly three hours long, that made for many aching buttocks in cinemas up and down the country. But, fortunately, Elvis is anything but a chore. Yes, some of Carpenter’s …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 6- Elvis (1980)
‘After moving in a new apartment, Leigh Michaels receives mysterious phone calls and gifts. She approaches the police but unsatisfied with their investigation, she decides to tackle the matter herself.’ I remember watching this on TV and it scaring the crap out of me. On rewatching it, it still had the same effect. This was …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 4- Someone’s Watching Me! (1978)
I remember the first time I saw Halloween on VHS in the late 80’s here in the UK. It was in pan-and-scan, and hence not the perfect format to watch a film that used the frame so brilliantly. But I’d learn that as the film would be released in widescreen on VHS, then DVD, then …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 3- Halloween (1978)
It's 1990. I'm tuning into the excellent Moviedrome series of films on BBC2 with each cult film in the series being introduced by director Alex Cox. The film being shown that night was John Carpenter's second feature film Assault on Precinct 13, his reworking of Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo and my mind was blown. I …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 2- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Meathook Cinema 