By R.J. Wolf

AMC premiered it’s new series “The Walking Dead” on Halloween night drawing 5.3 Million viewers which is a triumph for horror fans. But the big numbers may only be attributed to the fact that the show premiered on Halloween when people that may not be to found of the genre tuned in only for the one night for a cheap scare. Only time will tell if the show will be a hit or miss.

Since I am a huge horror fan, The Walking Dead was something I was really looking forward to viewing for a long time. Especially after seeing who was involved in the project like Frank Darabont, Gale Anne Hurd, and Greg Nicotero. The only thing that I was really worried about was the fact that show might hold back on the violence that a normal zombie movie might have. Boy was I wrong.

Let me start by saying that the show did not skimp on anything. The did everything right from the make up effects to the story, everything was done the right way. Which is unusual for a show that is on a regular cable channel as they usually don’t have the budget to do everything right, but apparently they had a big budget for this show because everything looked amazing.

The Zombies for me was the stars of the show as the make up effects were simply amazing especially the scene with the Zombie that was in half lying on the ground. Those effects simply blew me  away. The Zombie violence was also amazing as we had shots to the head with guns and even bats. Although the blood was digital, it still had the impact that is expected of a Zombie movie.

The only thing that was wrong for me about the show was the lead characters reaction as to what was happening around him. To me he seemed to accept the zombies and the world situation too fast and didn’t really ask questions as to how it happened or as to why. Maybe they will touch on this in later episodes but I thought his character would be more curious the un-real situation he was in.

Other than that I thought the show was simply amazing for a television show for regular cable and I hope other cable stations will follow AMC’s lead. My fear is that horror fans will support the show only for a little while and then lose interest as they did with Masters of Horror. Only time will tell but for me I will keep supporting this show as long as they keep airing it.

If by some reason you missed the show, watch it. Especially if you are a horror fan.

Review by Josh Darling

“There are Maggots in my money shot”
                        --Max, from “Johnny Sunshine.”

        Well folks it was bound to happen, just like someone one day got
chocolate in peanut butter (or peanut butter in chocolate) somebody
finally got sadomasochism in the zombies and that persons name just
happens to Matt Yeager. But does centering your film on the zombie
snuff porn industry make it a good film? I want to say yes… bear
with me.

        The title character Johnny Sunshine (who I think is super hot) is
hot mostly because she likes to fuck guys while ripping out
their teeth on her snuff t.v. show, played quite well by Shey Bland.
Johnny who is a zombie slaying bounty hunter porn star (hell of a
job description) who fucks, kills, and tortures the living. She also
kills and tortures the undead as a form of entertainment after a zombie
apocalypse. I have to digress a moment on the topic of the zombie
apocalypse, if you’re reading this you probably know about the world
after the “Romero” adjustment; but I used that term “zombie
apocalypse” around my very white bread born again nephew and it blew
his mind for some reason. As a result, I now use the
phrase for absolutely no reason at all beyond getting the rest of
world acquainted with their future, their true future that is. I’ll
even use the phrase regardless of relevance or even if it doesn’t
make sense in the sentence, such as “Before I go to the store let me
put on my ‘zombie apocalypse’ just to prevent it from raining.”

        The plot isn’t all that sophisticated; Johnny gets set up by her
producer Max to kill her and her necrophile boyfriend so that he can
buy his citizenship to the walled cities. With this film it’s really the
trip more so then the getting there that makes it worth watching.

        That being said I’m going to be “Fair and Balanced” in my
review, as if I wasn’t Fox News. When I say “digital trash” I
mean the film was made on a budget and that budget is so
low that it wears it on its sleeve --there are repetitive uses of exterior
shot footage, the action scenes needed to edited tighter and the gore
and special effects shots should have been a bit more robust. Please
don’t misunderstand me, Johnny is a brutal and enjoyable film… 

        “Johnny Sunshine” is “Resident Evil” if “Resident Evil”
had balls and a fluffer, I say this mostly because “Resident Evil”
lacks a zombie rape scene and priceless dialogue like “There are
maggots in my money shot!” And is it rape if they are already dead,
or rather undead? I don’t know, I wonder if they discussed this idea
on the set of the porno “Re-Penetrator?” Somebody e-mail Joanna
Angel about this, thought that was consensual necrophilia as well.

        Now like I said “Johnny Sunshine” is brutal but at the same it
also takes a moment or two to communicate a positive social message
for instance there is a scene where Johnny puts a condom on a crow bar
before she fucks another girl with it, tickle, tickle. You don’t see
that kind of dedication in Hollywood films to communicate such as
important social messages as safe sex in Forrest Gump or
whatever schlock they churn out. 

        I hate to write things like “for its budget” because we
shouldn’t think in those terms; films should be either good or bad
and not based on the amount of money that was spent on making them.
But I like Johnny Sunshine, and I’m pretty sure it was made for no
budget and I know if this film had more money to spend they probably
would have made a better film, so I guess I’m a hypocrite when I say
“for its budget Johnny is a good film.” However with consideration
for the budget I think it’s fair to say that Shey Bland did a great
job in her performance and the score which I felt really hit a mood. I
wish there were both a sound track album and a score album for the
film. D.A. Robinson is an extremely deft composer and he really gave
the film a nice edge.

        While Johnny may look cheap in some scenes I will say there are some
shots in the film that are done with massive creativity as far as
setting up imagery –with no money. In spots the utilization of some
very basic lighting add to harshness of film as well as its few
sensitive moments. Director Matt Yeager ultimately can do a whole lot
with a very sick mind and an almost zero budget.

        Please don’t get me wrong Johnny has her flaws, both as a character
and as film, but I think some of them are endearing, both in the main
character and in the production of film. The story at times moves
slowly and takes the long route to tell a very basic story, Johnny is
a killer for hire that borders on being a sociopath in her emotional
range but I feel for her when she gets raped despite how jaded she
comes off prior to that scene. 

Johnny is cold, and dirty, but not like funny “ha ha” dirty but
like very bad things happening in the back room at the fetish ball
kind of dirty, speaking of which, Shey Bland wears enough fetish garb
through out the film to supply the Lords of Acid with costuming for
world a tour. It’s nice to see a film that is ultimately an
open dedication to mindless sex and violence, a power saw to the groin, a
crow bar to the cunt, girl on girl bondage and torture, a power drill
to the knee and a razor blade to the nose while one character is trying to
snort a rail of coke. I do however wish the special effects at times
where a bit sharper. Johnny is a cheap date of a film, but she’s also
a lot of fun too…

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By Donna Burgess

I’ve been on a “horror from across the pond” kick for about a year now and this weekend I took in director Nick Cohen’s The Reeds. This is a U.K. offering that features a bunch of unknown but effective actors, along with Geoff Bell as Mr. Croker (nice name choice, by the way).  This was one of the ‘09 After Dark HorrorFest Films, so I was confident I had made a good choice.  Most of the HorrorFest choices have been interesting, at the very least.

With the opening of The Reeds,  we meet six twenty-something’s who decide a trip through the Norfolk Broads might be a great way to spend the weekend.  But of course, because this is a horror movie, the mini-vacation in the sticks—or reeds—turns to shit real quick.  They board a nice rental cruiser called the Corsair Star and set sail, so to speak, along the reedy tidewaters in search of the main channels, run aground, get stuck and then the story gets moving.

If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past couple of years, it’s that American-made horror is garbage.  I find myself hoping everyone is killed in some wonderfully demented way within the first half-hour of the flick.  I really don’t want to waste my money or my Netflix slot on people I cannot root for, so foreign is the way to go, as far as I’m concerned.  With The Reeds, we have mature characters and yes, they may be a bit flat, but still, it’s better than trying to be politically correct and showcase a member of every race.  This ain’t Disney—there’s no Hispanic girl, Ghetto guy, blond jock-frat boy and Goth slut.  These are people.  With jobs!

The Reeds gives the viewer incredible cinematography—the tidewaters of Britain are concurrently beautiful and haunted.  The actors are understated and fairly likable—hey, if I didn’t find someone among the main characters to hate, nobody will. The soundtrack is cool—there was a great song in the scene where are the vacationers are driving to the marina, but I have yet to find out who the artist was.

Plus and most importantly, the flick has some truly frightening scenes.  If doppelgangers bother you, be on the lookout around forty-five minutes in.  The plot is a wonderful little puzzle—not too intricate, but done well enough to keep the viewer pushing on toward the end.  It was a nice surprise to have something more intelligent than a oafish murderer of young people and kids as the central point of the story.  There are a couple of recent movies that have fallen into the same category as The Reeds, most notably Triangle and The Echo.  Pay attention, though.  Some subtle information may come into play further into the flick.  It’s fun to play “I’ll bet that  . . .” or “I wonder if . . .”  an wait to see how your predictions  play out.  Highly recommended for anyone who craves a good, smart horror tale without a lot of jump-out scares.

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