Money shots and horror movies
Note: This post contains spoilers for the movie DAWN OF THE DEAD.
So last night I was on the couch with my sister, and we were wallowing in the sweet, sweet bombardment of cheesy horror movies that this time of year brings to TV. BLOODSUCKERS on SciFi channel? Terrible, but oh god what fun it is. Then I saw that DAWN OF THE DEAD was on, and I was like: YAY! because I lurve zombie films, but due to certain circumstances, hadn’t seen it when it came out. (This is a remake of the late 1970′s one by George Romero, based on his screenplay but with a different director, and the characters are all in a shopping mall.)
Aside: God, I really want to write zombies into a romance. Er, as the bad guys. I’m so going to, someday.
Anyway, lots of people are killed, there’s a zombie baby (I was a wimp and had to look away — ever since having a baby I’ve been oogy about things like that) the zombies run really fast (I like that) though there’s the same zombie mythology (you’re bitten, you turn into one; you have to shoot them in the head — I was disappointed that they didn’t seem to care about eating brains, though…just biting. They have to eat brains!)
Okay, okay, here comes the spoilery part:
At the end of the movie, the characters take these buses to a marina, with plans to sail to an island where, maybe, there aren’t any zombies. (Like the end of MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, only with zombies instead of killer semi-trucks, heh.) And there’s a sad little part where the good guy is bitten and he doesn’t get on a boat, but commits suicide on the dock instead. Aw (because a few of the characters were actually better drawn than your typical stock horror characters). And then the girl who had to leave him behind and three other people sail off into the sunset.
I should have turned off the movie then.
See, I don’t have to have happy endings. I like them, but they aren’t necessary. Ambiguous endings are great. Non-endings are great. Multiple endings — like you get so often on DVDs now (ie: 28 DAYS LATER) — are great, too. Or movies where the main characters die, but there’s a reason and something positive happens because of the sacrifice.
And if the movie had ended with them sailing off, that would have been fine. You don’t know that they’ll make it, but there’s a small, tiny, itty bitty hope. Something to make the whole two hours I spent watching the movie worth it. I like zombies — but what I like even more is seeing people, maybe, get out of it. Persevering. (Oddly enough, this is also why I like the sequel-baiting scene at the end of horror movies, where the dead bad guy opens his eyes or twitches, or the camera pans over to an egg about to hatch with baby Godzilla or whatever, because it means the good guys didn’t completely win, either).
Another aside: Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is the exception to this. In that, everyone dies but the ending had a point, and it made a hell of a statement. That didn’t happen with DAWN OF THE DEAD. Even the possible statement about consumerism and zombie-like behavior in a mall wasn’t taken as far as it could have.
Instead, during the credits, we see a montage of scenes where the food on the boat goes bad, tempers flare, gas runs empty — still all good. I can deal with this, because maybe maybe they’ll arrive somewhere, and they’ll get off, and there will still be a bit of ambiguity.
No.
They get off the boat and are killed by a billion zombies.
WTF? Why did I just bother with that movie? It’s like going to a hotel on the beach and ordering a porn to watch with the hubby and then choosing Teenage Sluts 15 or whatever, and then after paying $12.99 for it, you just get scenes where there’s penetration but no orgasm. Oh, and the actors are ugly and the moan-track really bad. WTF?
There has to be a payoff. Sometimes, yeah, characters are so unlikeable that the payoff (for me, at least) is their gruesome brain-eating death. In DAWN OF THE DEAD, for example, I was really rooting for the death of the TSTL chick who drives a truck across a parking lot filled with zombies to save a dog that isn’t in danger. So, you know, you’d think I’d be glad that she’s one of the people killed at the end.
But I wasn’t.
Luckily, however, ARMY OF DARKNESS was on right afterward. Nothing cleans the disgusted horror palate better than a bit of Ash.
I’m a horrible wimp when it comes to horror and gore but I do sometimes like to watch those kind of doomsday movies. I’m sure I saw 28 days and I liked that it had different endings on the DVD. I also like the one that keeps getting sequelled – there is a problem in some underground facility and a team is brought in to go down and find out what happened only everybody is a zombie now. Has that kick-ass actress as the heroine. I didn’t like the second one (or was it the third) but I hear there is yet another one being made. Happy me
I think I can deal with things I can’t believe would happen – okay, I don’t believe in ghosts but that’s because I haven’t seen one so watching any movie with ghosts sets me on edge. Can’t watch the Grudge or anything like that. I have this movie Stay on the DVR and I’m thinking of watching it but it might just be too creepy. I’ll let you know.
Oh, and I hate movies where everybody dies in the end. I saw enough of those growing up with my father. UGH
Cindy
RESIDENT EVIL! I think I’m one of the few who enjoyed the second one — mostly, yeah, because of the actress (Milla Jovovich, or however you spell it). She rocks. And because it reminded me of the video game (which I didn’t play, but watched my sister play for hours and hours, bossing at her and yelling at her to do certain things. Those were good times).
I don’t mind gore and violence and have a pretty high tolerance, but I’m not a huge fan of the recent onslaught of movies like SAW, WOLF CREEK, etc, where the grisly factor goes way up — but the payoff or whatever isn’t there. Or if it is, it’s supposed to reside in the grisly itself (and whatever emotion it evokes in the viewer) rather than an internal storyline/character payoff (which ends up being inequal to my gross-out factor).
I think I prefer to be creeped out (with violence and suspense, it doesn’t matter how they do it) rather than revolted (with violence without a payoff).
Sela Carsen published what she calls a para-rom-com-zom-nov with Samhain Publishing. Or paranormal romantic comedie zombie novella, which wasn’t bad.
I agree, I hated that ending. A little bit of ambiguity would have made it SO much better!
Oh, and there are bad guy zombies in Melanie Jackson’s Divine Fire. I didn’t really like those parts, but not really because they were bad, but because they were such an abrupt switch from the beginning.
When I was a kid my dad worked as a projectionist in NYC. He always came home with all sorts of movie give-away stuff. I had the coolest t-shirt from one of the “…The Dead” movies (I don’t remember which one). It was black and on the front was the movie poster but on the back it said “When there’s no more room in hell The Dead will walk the earth.”
When you want a good B-movie cheesy time, no one can beat Bruce Campbell. Just no one. (grin)
Meljean — you know way too much about payoffs in porn movies. (double-edge-grin)
Dr. Phil
I have watched Waaaay too many zombie movies at this point.
Dear Butcher and I once worked with Taso Stavrakis, who was a good friend to Tom Savini and George Romero. He’s appeared in at least two zombie flicks, Pirates (as a stunt guy), and gets invited to lots of convevtions to answer questions from loyal Romero fans.
So, of course, we’ve watched all the “Living Dead” stuff and 28 Days Later.
I Heart Taso, but honestly, I’m kind of done with the whole idea. Romero’s first had a great message about latent distrust and racism. The newer ones, especially this version, don’t seem to do anything other than kill off people.
Just sayin’.
Ash looks a lot more buff than I remember him being in Army of Darkness.
Don’t you just love all those cheesy 80s posters that make the guys look like they’re on steroids
I love horror movies but I too don’t like the new slasher type films- I thnk Hostel was the worst – I actually felt really ill watching it.
But I would like to suggest you should check out the the brit zombie film Shaun of the Dead- which Romero loved. Its a great zombie movie and very funny too.
And about Dawn of the Daed I think they nicked the fast running zombies from 28 days later – another brit movie. The first half I think was the best, the sight of an empty London save for a few survivors was really eerie. But it kinds of tapers off at the end but I prefered it to Dawn of the Dead remake.
I went to the drive-in and saw Dawn of the dead with my uncle curly I think my blonde sister was there too. Which ever movie took place in the mall. Those are some of the best memories of my uncle, and Dawn or Day or Night of the Dead will always be remembered fondly because of it.
Jen — that movie you saw was the original of the remake I saw the other night.
Hasna — yeah, the new types just squick me out. Because there’s no story, really, and seem pointless. I totally don’t mind violence…but I feel like there has to be a point behind it. I don’t get the new ultra-violent stuff. And I love that scene from the empty London in 28 days later — it was incredible.
racy li — :joker: He does look much more buff!
Suisan — yes! that’s it exactly. I left the Romeros feeling like there was a purpose, and the statement was important. I don’t see that as much anymore.
Dr. Phil — *whistles* Me?
Tara Marie — Oh, man — I want a shirt like that. Hmmm…will have to look online.
Rosario — I think I have that somewhere! Where the hero’s Byron? I don’t think I finished it…I’ll have to try again.
May — ooh, I will have to look that one up, too. It’s the right time for it.