ZombiePAGES.com

Source: http://www.luminomagazine.com/

Will Smith has a pretty good track record against sci-fi bad guys- you name it, he’s beat it. Robots? Check. A giant mechanical spider? Done that. Government spies? No problem. Aliens? On three separate occasions!

So, it is somewhat interesting that in his new post-apocalyptic film “I Am Legend” Smith spends a great deal of time fighting… nothing. No ghosts, androids, or spacemen- for a while there its just Will and his dog hunting deer in a nearly vacant New York City.

Smith plays Robert Neville, seemingly the only human to withstand a deadly virus. He spends his days like anyone else- grab something to eat, check out a DVD at the rental place, come home and wash the dog… with the exception that he’s the only human being in the city. Outside of the occasional lion encounter, he’s living a relatively normal life. But then, what’s with the gigantic shutters? And why does his watch beep every night at sundown? And what are those crazy noises during the night?

It turns out that Robert is not as alone as first advertised. Also inhabiting the city are an endless supply of grunting, drooling zombie vampires. They are the other “survivors” of the virus- those who were not killed by the disease, but not immune like Robert. In his previous life he was an army scientist- now he works to try and find a cure, sometimes capturing one of the zombies to use as a test subject. At times, all hope seems lost- the zombies keep coming, the tests aren’t working… things are looking grim, until a chance encounter with fellow survivors Anna (Alice Braga) and a boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan) shows Robert that there may be hope for humanity after all.

Compared to Smith’s other genre work, “I Am Legend” holds up well- it’s an entertaining picture, and has the requisite shocks and shrieks of a futuristic monster movie. That’s not to say that everything about the film makes sense- I’m still trying to figure out what Smith douses his front steps with every night. Additionally, the zombie vampires (zompires?) all look and act more like CGI creations than living, breathing monsters. As for the supporting cast, Alice Braga does a nice job as Anna counter pointing Robert’s jaded attitude. Ethan seems to exist solely to roadblock any potential romance between Anna and Robert.

However, this film sinks or swims based on Will Smith and his performance, and he does a really good job balancing the different aspects of Robert, that he’s all but given up on the human race that he’s doggedly trying to save. Smith also does a fantastic job layering in the paranoia that has settled into Robert’s life due to the horrors he’s witnessed, and the years spent in virtual isolation- one scene at the video store is particularly heartbreaking. “I Am Legend” is proof that Will Smith can take on anything, even just himself.

Source: http://wisb.blogspot.com/

1. Arm yourself. The first thing you always do is arm yourself. Never walk anywhere, drive anywhere, or even fall down anywhere without a weapon. If you can’t find a gun in your immediate vicinity, get a large, heavy, blunt object (a sturdy golf club works, or even a towel hanger–bats, clubs, and the like work too). This is the precursor to everything else. You cannot survive zombies if you can’t defend yourself. Take all your nails, hammers, screwdrivers, screws, and any other relevant hardware, including rope. If you don’t have these things, steal them from next door. If they don’t have them, then you’re screwed. Sorry, you can’t even barricade yourself in your home without nails and a hammer. My advice is to hide and take a lot of sleeping pills so you don’t wake up. The zombies will get you eventually. Or, well, plan better next time.

2. The biggest rule of all: regardless of the type of zombies you are dealing with, if you have to fight, hit them in the head. Always. Period. If you have a gun, DO NOT shoot them in the chest or the leg and think they will stop. No, go for the head. It saves bullets and energy.

3. Get in your car and take your family and any living neighbors with you. This is crucial. If you want to survive, you need reliable people with you.

4. If anyone you encounter is bitten, shoot them. This sounds cruel, but the infection travels through bites, exposure to infected blood, saliva, and yes, even other fluids–it’s an STD too. If you absolutely must take someone who is infected with you, keep a close eye on them and the second they die, or seem to have died, shoot them or hit them in the head. The first rule of surviving this is realizing that people who have become zombies are no longer the people you once knew. Your zombie mother is not your mother. It’s an evil demon using your mother as a carrier for its sickness.

5. Once in your car and with those you trust who aren’t infected, drive and do not stop. Again, this sounds cruel, but one huge mistake you can do in your survival is stopping for people you don’t know. They could be infected, or stopping could ruin your ability to do the next steps.

6. Go to a gun store or anywhere you think there will be guns. Gun stores are best because they carry a wide range of weapons and ammo. Take everything you can. Everyone should have a rifle, a sidearm, an extra sidearm, and then another sidearm, and ammo for all of them. Shotguns are good, high powered rifles are good, but basically anything that has the potential to break through a human skull works. Automatic weapons are best, if you can find them. You need more ammo than you do guns, so make sure you take more ammo than seems necessary.

7. Leave the gun store and don’t linger. If zombies are about, you can’t risk sitting around shooting them. Get in your car and move. There is no time for revenge here.

8. Find a supermarket. Steps 6 and 7 can be skipped if you have one of those super stores that has everything (i.e. Walmart).

9. Take over the supermarket. Sweep the entire place, lock all the doors, clear out anyone inside that is infected or a zombie, and take it over.

10. Barricade all the windows, doors, etc. If you think you had done a good job, you haven’t. Supermarkets have a lot of shelfs, metal, etc. All this should be used to get all those windows barricaded and the same goes for doors. Do it more than you think is necessary.

11. Provisions. The hardest part. You’ve got yourself a supermarket. Congrats. But you’re not over the hump yet. Zombie infestations can last days, weeks, months, even years. You have to be prepared. First things first. Eat only produce and foods that require refrigeration first. Leave all the canned goods alone. You’ll need those canned goods. This is the time to have your last really good meals because, well, there’s a lot of food in there, and if the power goes out, well all that produce and meat goes bad. Enjoy it while you can. This might be the last bit of fresh food you’ll have for a while.

While you’re enjoying this, find the second in the supermarket where there are seeds. A lot of supermarkets have potting soil and the like. Get all this and hoist up some stuff to help you plant things. Start planting anything and everything you can on the roof that is edible. Plant all of it and don’t screw up. Your life depends on it.

Next, water. There is bound to be a lot of bottled stuff in a super market, but you can’t rely on that as a valid source, and fresh water is always better anyway. Find all the buckets, etc. and put them up on the roof where there is room. These will be used to catch rain water. They’ll be beneficial in the long run to provide fresh water to you when you need it.

Congrats, if you’ve done all the above, you’re set! You can now survive. Just ration out the canned food and make sure everyone get only what they need and you’re good to go.

12. The last thing is this: be prepared for other people to figure out where you are. Be prepared to face the harsh decision to turn people away, or to kill people who are infected. If someone shows up and you decide to bring them in, check them thoroughly. That means a full naked check. They might not appreciate this gesture, but if one of them has been bitten you will be glad for the small bout of rude behavior. People who are infected should be given these options:


a) Turn around an never show up here again.

b) No choice at all. Shoot them. Your survival depends on keeping the infection out.

Source: http://www.moviesonline.ca/

Not long ago MacReady gave you the full synopsis for Diary of the Dead 2 and told you it would start shooting in March. Now comes word from an un-named insider who tells us that George Romero despite some early comments about not directing the film WILL be directing it. We cant confirm this information just yet but the source has been solid on past ’scoops’. So we trust her!

The cast still has to be announced. But be warned, the synopsis might contain spoilers for all (and i guess thats most of you) who haven’t had a chance to see “Diary of the Dead” at a festival yet. You don’t care? No problem, read the synopsis below the image.

The “Diary” continues. Our heroes, trapped in the mansion where we left them, battle waves of ravenous zombies, barely escaping alive. In search of a safe place to settle, they commandeer an abandoned ferry and sail to a deserted island, only to find that it is already populated by a civilization of the dead.

Told in the same first-person style that distinguished “George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead”, the next episode of the saga is a violent siege set in the middle of nowhere, a desperate struggle for survival, and peace, between two tribes: the living and the living dead.

Source: http://thevaultofhorror.blogspot.com/

More good news for zombie fans–of which, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know I’m one. From across the Atlantic comes word of a Spanish film called [Rec], which some are calling “a cross between Dawn of the Dead and The Blair Witch Project”.

Filmed in documentary style using digital video, the movie unfolds from the point of view of a news crew tagging along with a firefighter company that responds to a bizarre disturbance at an apartment building. The next thing they know, they’re locked inside under quarantine with the living dead.

Written and directed by Jaume Balagueró, the film is being hailed for its unrelenting sense of realism. Reportedly (and I know these anecdotes are often drummed up for publicity), when it first screened last August at the Venice Film Festival, half the unsuspecting audience cleared out in terror within the first 15 minutes.

[Rec] officially opened in Spain last month, and is scheduled to open in France in February and the UK in March. No word yet on whether there will be a full U.S. release. Ain’t It Cool News posted this rather intriguing trailer earlier today:

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/

If one were to choose the best candidate for last man on Earth, Will Smith would probably be the best man for the job.

A gifted physical actor with charisma to burn, he’s one of the very few actors who can star essentially solo in a feature-length film and keep us riveted.

So, on the strength of his performance and an intriguing apocalyptic story, the first half of I Am Legend is fascinating and fun to watch.

But a little more than halfway in, Legend, based on the book by Richard Matheson (which also spawned 1971’s Omega Man and 1964’s TheLast Man on Earth), deteriorates into a schlocky zombie horror flick and loses its steam.

Smith plays Robert Neville, a scientist still working to reverse the incurable man-made virus that wiped out the population. Because he is immune to the virus, he becomes the last man standing in New York. Seeing such a vibrant city become a ghost town is almost worth the price of admission.

After the outbreak, Neville is left with only the company of his beloved German shepherd and sad memories of his wife and child. But, even in this seemingly deserted metropolis, he’s not truly alone. Undead mutant creatures are lurking nearby. Though he outwits them for a while, they eventually come to torment Neville and try to devour him.

But because of the been-there, done-that quality of zombie movies and the poor quality of the computer-generated imagery, his faceoffs with them are not scary or suspenseful. The rampaging zombies don’t look at all convincing. Instead, they look like escapees from a second-rate video game.

Smith’s physical transformation is awe-inspiring. He got in peak shape and lost 20 pounds for the role. And in the midst of the grim reality of his isolation, he makes desperate efforts to tap into his humanity. His strong comic sense is well used here. The close relationship with his dog is altogether believable and touching.

Smith is one of the few actors who can seem personable while muttering to himself or talking to his dog.

But his powerful performance is not enough to save the movie — initially a potent meditation on loneliness and an absorbing doomsday action movie — from taking a wrong turn and never getting back on track.

Source: http://www.moviesonline.ca/

In the early part of the 21st Century, an unknown virus began spreading among the populous. Within weeks it had engulfed the entire planet, from the smallest rural communities to the greatest cities. Upon the death of its host, the virus would reanimate the corpse until it was no longer able to support itself. Soon, the planet was infested with a new threat - the undead.

Source: http://www.videosift.com/

Here are two trailers back to back - or should I say brain to brain. The full titles are “Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis” and “Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave.”

Source: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/

Producer George A. Romero and his new series, “Deadtime Stories,” wrapped up shooting at Seton Hill University on Thursday.

Romero, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, is best known for directing “Night of the Living Dead,” which, like most of his movies, was filmed in and around the Pittsburgh area.

Romero’s “Deadtime” series will air on the Sci-Fi Channel early next year. Dozens of student

at Seton Hill was cast as extras in the series.