"Zombies! They freak me out, man!"

 Yesterday, I finally got to see a movie that I wanted to see instead of one Kasey wanted to see.  Grandma is the one who got stuck seeing SharkBoy and LavaGirl, while I saw Land of the Dead.  (I wanted to see Star Wars but that was starting too late.) 

  I went into the theater with sweaty palms, because the title of this entry actually applies to me as well as being a line uttered by Dennis Hopper's character.  There's just something about zombies that can get to me like no other entry in the horror genre.  Maybe it's the sense of impending doom inherent to a zombie movie, maybe the way your friends and family can suddenly transform and attack you, I don't know.  It's just unnerving to me.  

  Yes, I lost some sleep over Shaun of the Dead, which was a "romantic comedy...with zombies".  The first 15 minutes of the Dawn of the Dead remake haunt me to this day.  I never finished a Resident Evil game I borrowed from my brother because half way through I became terrified and figured a video game should not be doing that to me!  So why, oh why would I go see Land of the Dead? 

  It's because I am fully aware that being afraid of zombies is ridiculous.  The good news is- my plan working.  Facing your fears really does work!  I have seen both Resident Evil movies, 28 Days Later, and the original Dawn of the Dead without incident. 

  And now I can add Land of the Dead to that list, as it is not in the least bit scary.  I was actually a little disappointed in the style of the film.  George Romero, finally given a healthy budget, was seemingly seduced by the Hollywood style of chills and thrills.  First, the slow, lumbering zombies were "Jason-ized."   There are at least five instances where they pop up out of nowhere to attack.  They can also now catch their victims even though they are shuffling and their prey is running.  It was laughable.  Second, there are a couple of annoying jump moments.  You know, where the music gets harsh and something shocking is supposed to appear on screen.  A cheap trick that usually results in a "false scare" (i.e. It was only cat!)  Those moments are on display here- sadly too, as I expected more from a master of the genre- the inventor of the cinema zombie was we know it.   

  But I am far from one of those people who nitpick every little thing in a movie.  I honestly did enjoy it, even if it had its flaws.  It was much, much better than the PG-13 jump-fests that the more standardized Hollywood has been putting out lately.  (IMO, The Grudge and The Boogeyman shouldn't even qualify as horror.  You have to be rated R to qualify.)

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

  My favorite parts:  -Tom Savini's cameo as a zombified version of the character he played in the original Dawn.

  -The nearly-headless zombie who swung his head up from behind his back to nail somebody.

  - While it was pretty obvious who the people who were going to die were, the mortality rate of character's with names was surprisingly low.  I like when they keep you guessing.  Eh, who am I kidding?  They were probably setting up the sequel.

Grade: B

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  In other movie news, we watched Hostage the other night, starring Bruce Willis.  It didn't get much pub, (I had barely heard of it) but it was a decent little movie filled with action and suspense.  I thouroughly enjoyed it, even if at times it could not decide what kind of style it was going for.  That is, the opening credits look like a comic book movie, the set-up is shot and scored like a summer blockbuster shoot-em-up, and then at parts it settles down into a gritty independent style, until finally the climax goes from horror movie to standard action showdown.  Crazy description I know, but most of it works at the time.

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Okay, I came out with my crazy, irrational fear.  What are some of yours?  Or am I the only one who's crazy and irrational?  :-)

PS- Getting up at 4am because I couldn't sleep had nothing to do with the movie- I think my body thought it was time to go to work on Saturday.  A simple internal clock malfunction...