Halloween is this weekend, which means plenty of horror movies. So here's our 5 picks for 2009, straying a bit from the usual, we hopefully have a few surprises in store (and at least one that's very much not a surprise).
5. Night of the Creeps
Fred Dekker's Night of the Creeps finally made it to DVD this week, so why not celebrate by watching the 80's classic that successfully blends aliens and zombies. What may seem like the plot of Slither, Night of the Creeps is about some space slugs that turn people into zombies. It has everything: zombie dogs, comedy, and a cigarette-chomping performance from John Carpenter mainstay Tom Atkins in what has to be the role of his lifetime. Go ahead, "thrill" yourself!
4. Dead Set
Not so much a movie as a mini-series, Dead Set premiered last year on British television, playing in five increments leading up to Halloween. Charlie Brooker's phenomal entry to the world of zombie cinema takes place near the studio where Big Brother is hot on a night where a cast member is voted out of the house. When a zombie outbreak occurs, the only people who don't know is the Big Brother cast.
While the running zombies will likely draw comparisons to Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, Dead Set is more akin to George Romero's early zombie films, with its message about the public's obsession with reality TV and media that is far more affective than Romero's Diary of the Dead.
There's only one problem with Dead Set - it's not available in the U.S. so you'll have to beg, borrow, or download Dead Set and watch it by any means necessary. You won't regret it.
3. Zombieland
Okay, this is a rather obvious choice, but let's face it, it's Halloween weekend and you can see Zombieland IN THE THEATER. Take advantage of it. Ruben Fleischer's zombie debut is a really fun movie for any viewer, either the hardcore zombie fan or even someone that never watches zombie or horror films if they have a choice. Zombieland lives up to the hype.
More than likely you've seen it already, but if you haven't... get to it already.
2. Dead Snow
If there's any sub-genre of zombie movies that deserves more exploring, it's the Nazi zombie genre. Tommy Wirkola's Dead Snow is a zombie movie for horror fans: scary, gory, and never takes itself too seriously.
Dead Snow is not only a terrifc zombie movie, it's also easily the best of the Nazi zombie genre.
Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat isn't just an anthology of all things horror, it's a celebration of Halloween itself and should be required viewing for any horror fan every single October. Dougherty not only reinvigorates the horror anthology film, but almost every sub-genre of horror out there from slashers, serial killers, zombies, werewolves, Trick 'r Treat has it all.
If there's any movie you shouldn't miss this weekend, it's Trick 'r Treat, especially since it ended it's two year dry spell and finally made it onto DVD.
