Quick recap: The undead have arrived and they are everywhere, just waiting to sink their teeth into some tender flesh. What better way to survive than holed up in a mid-70s shopping mall?

ok, so this is a mid-80’s shopping mall. But still. NOSTALGIA!

Fun (?) Fact: Tom Savini, who did all of the make-up and special effects for the film, worked with only a crew of 8. He and his crew applied makeup to about 200-300 extras every weekend during production.

My thoughts: I am SO over the zombie craze that has been going on the past few years. Zombie movies, zombie books, zombie shows, zombie 5K-WHY is that even a thing? I personally tend to find most zombies terrifying, but the proliferation of them in all forms of media has made them nothing more than an annoyance. I inwardly groaned as I put in the DVD for Dawn of the Dead, but realized about a third of the way through that this was exactly what I needed to appreciate the monster that is the zombie. It was breath of fresh air- or, about as fresh as you can get with dead people.

Watching the first part and seeing zombies getting their heads blown off did not interest me at first and the scenes of them tearing into people’s shoulders and arms was gory, but not scary. It wasn’t until the shopping mall that I could finally be creeped out. What I love about this portrayal of the zombie is that they are relentless. They aren’t overly aggressive, meaning they won’t jump on you from out of nowhere and bite you, but they do not give up. After everyone had been at the mall for a few months, there were STILL zombies pawing at the door, trying to come in. And anytime one of the characters got too close, the zombie wouldn’t speed up but instead just keep moving forward until he was ultimately successful. Watching the Mall Zombies shuffle around was humorous at times, especially when they were on the escalator, but by the end of the film, with Stephen having turned, it became truly frightening.

That’s some excellent zombie-ing, right there.

Now, as for the central point of the film-that a shopping mall is the best place to survive, I can see both sides of the issue. First of all, the malls of today are in no way equipped for long term living. Corporations have taken out all the gun shops and the only food you can find nowadays at a mall is Sbarro pizza and sometimes Cinnabon, if you are lucky. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t last long. Sure, I’d have my Old Navy Pullover to comfort me, but it isn’t good protection against a zombie. If I had to choose a modern day place, I’d go for something like the Amazon warehouse because I’m pretty sure that place would have everything you needed. My first instinct was to say Wal-Mart, but it is only one story and there aren’t that many good hiding places.

The theme of the movie that consumers are basically zombies is still spot on. Many times during the film, Peter mentions that the zombies come to the mall because they remember it and they feel like they need to be there and that is still true. Watch the news about Black Friday this year and when the picture of the shoppers clawing at the door appears, try to imagine everyone with a bluish tint and blood everywhere. It’s totally the same as a zombie!

I get it now. Best pop culture reference ever.

Final review: 5/5. This is a true zombie movie and what everyone else tries to be.

nightmares? Totally. I didn’t think the zombies were all that terrifying until about 3 in the morning when I swear I could hear shuffling upstairs.

Up next: just one more movie left for Horrorfest!

Quick recap: A man gets bitten by a werewolf that he defends himself from and in turn, becomes a werewolf. Except not really, because this version of a werwolf has Lon Cheney looking like a hairy hipster. After going on a killing spree, as all werewolves are wont to do, he is bludgeoned to death by his father.

googling ‘hipster werewolf’ took me down a Furry rabbit hole I wasn’t prepared for

Fun (?) Fact: The Wolf Man’s hair is made from yak and took hours to put it on and take it off

My thoughts:  As I have mentioned before, werewolves are not very scary to me and this one was even less so. Although I don’t really know what I was expecting since the movie is called Wolf Man. The attack scenes were especially not scary. It just seemed like some really hairy guy had had enough of society’s rules on grooming and wanted to let everyone know who was really in charge.

new game! Hipster or Wolf Man? Either way, the music you listen to is lame.

I enjoyed this film more when I thought about the context of its time. I don’t subscribe to the idea that people back then were more easily scared because I don’t see how ANYONE would’ve had nightmares from this guy. But I can imagine some kid watching a matinee of Wolf Man, maybe a double feature, and getting kind of creeped out. There were enough elements that most 7 year olds would be scared by- a mysterious gypsy, lots of fog, and then the scenes were the werewolves are beaten to death. This movie takes itself seriously.

hipster or Wolf man? Just imagine a PBR or some super local craft beer in this guy’s hand

One part of the film that creeped me out was not the Wolf Man, but Larry Talbot’s attempts to flirt with Gwen. I don’t know about you, but if a guy came up to me and said that he liked my earrings because he had been spying on me with a telescope, I wouldn’t go walking around town with him late at night. Not judging here, of course. I had read the synopsis of the movie beforehand that mentioned the transformation of a werewolf was a metaphor for a sexual transformation. If so, Wolf Man is into some kinky stuff. Once again, not judging.

Last round of Hipster or Wolf Man!

Final review: 2/5. My favorite part of the movie is that it is only 70 minutes long. I think it would be a lot of fun to show Wolf Man at a kids halloween party, but no adult should see it and expect to be frightened.

Nightmares: no nightmares, but my dreams had plenty of fog in them

Up next: more Horrorfest!