Beating an Un-Dead Horse

Ideas are fickle things. When I started as a clerk at the Drive-In, I was full to the brim with ideas of what I could write about. Fate, however, often has other plans. I've had my own bout of writer's block recently, even for my own blog that is separate from the Drive-In. It lasted quite a while, with everything I wrote sounding stupid to me within a few sentences. Now, however, with school once again getting my creative juices flowing, my ideas have come back from the dead. And, as my creative side feels like a zombie that's recently reanimated, it's only appropriate that my first article back should be about zombies. Specifically, about the over-saturation of the carnivorous un-dead horde in the world today.

Knife To The Eye, I Love That Bit

It's a great time to be a fan of horror comics. While things are still hit-or-miss at the movie theater, those of us who read the funnies are being treated to some of the most entertaining, disgusting, and inventive creepfests since before the Code cracked down on the genre back in the 1950s. Mike Mignola has been expanding his Hellboy universe, Batman is getting back to his Gothic roots, and all kinds of new characters and stories are invading the comic shops. When Marvel makes Spider-Man a flesh-hungry monster who's eaten his Aunt May, it's difficult to wonder how things can get much better. Of course, those mentioned above are well-established heroes with respectable fanbases either receiving a fresh bloody twist or just getting deeper into their weird world. Where's the truly original stuff?

The Pros And Cons of Horror-Comedy

In the past decade, most horror films released were... legitimately terrible. Gore-hungry filmgoers usually had the unsavory choice of either seeing a poor remake -excuse me, "re-imagining"- of a classic, or an American redo of a film that was far better in its native tongue. There was also a glut of vampire romances which I do not need to name here, suffice it to say that I'm looking forward to the next Garlic Years period. The one ray of light in this sea of sewage was a handful of horror-comedies, notably Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, I Sell the Dead, and, to a lesser extent, Dead Snow. (I've just realized that all the films mentioned feature zombies. Cannibalism guarantees big laughs, kids.)

As I've said before, horror and comedy go down real smooth. They both rely on well-timed shocks and outrageous predicaments, so it's not hard to see how they flow into each other. But is mixing funny and frightening the best thing for the genre? Let's draw up the list.

Review: Dead Snow

The great thing about horror movies is, whether the flick is good or bad, you can still have a good time. Even truly terrible pieces of work make for a fun evening. Hell, Mystery Science Theater 3000 proved that for over a decade. And since Netflix gave us the beautiful gift of Instant Watch (a godsend for horror fans if ever there was one), mountains of laughably bad films are just a click away. But what about when a movie is just... OK? Is there still fun to be had? In the case of Tommy Wirkola's Dead Snow, the answer is a definite maybe.