To celebrate the September 2nd release of InSight, starring Yellow Brigade 1st Lieutenant Sean Patrick Flanery, we’re giving the Zombie Survival Crew faithful another opportunity to win something from our prize vault.
We want you to create your own crime scenes. They can be as simple as a chalk outline, or more complicated with some blood and guts. We encourage you to be creative. Oh and one more important bit, your ticket stub is the key piece of evidence, be sure to include it in your crime scene photo! Can’t get to a theatre playing the film? Then include something bearing the title of the film.
From Braeburn Entertainment:
InSight follows Kaitlyn (Natalie Zea), an ER nurse who while tending to a young stabbing victim, Allison, is accidentally electrocuted by the defibrillator that was being used to save the woman’s life. Almost immediately she starts to experience the victim’s memories. Kaitlyn turns to family, friends, and the police, but no one takes her seriously, so she takes it upon herself to solve the crime – as the terrifying visions threaten her sanity. Ultimately, Kaitlyn teams up with detective Peter Rafferty (Sean Patrick Flanery) and waves her way through the victim’s past in an attempt to discover the brutal truth about the murder and herself.
Here’s what you have to do to win:
Create your own crime scene and snap a picture. Include a piece of “evidence” with the film name or your ticket stub in the picture.
Crewmembers that include their ticket stub in their crime scene will receive two (2) entries into the contest.
Email your crime scene photos to: command [at] zombiesurvivalcrew [dot] com by 9-19-2011. (subject: InSight Contest)
Prize:
One random entrant will be chosen to receive ZSC swag signed by Sean Patrick Flanery.
The first five (5) entries received will win an official ZSC keychain.
Rules and Regulations:
One entry per person.
Entries must be sent to command [at] zombiesurvivalcrew [dot] com and entries received via Twitter, Facebook, or website comments will be disqualified.
Entries must be submitted by 11:59 PM Pacific on 9192011.
Images containing nudity, obscene gestures, or illegal activity will be disqualified.
When submitting entries, you give the Zombie Survival Crew permission to post you image on zombiesurvivalcrew.com and it’s associated social media outlets.
Winners will be notified via the email address given with the entry photo.
To get you ready for September 2nd, here’s the InSight trailer:
I seem to have stumbled into a cesspit of teen horror flicks. However, while wading through the muck one film caught my eye: Boy Eats Girl (2005). It held just enough “different” elements from the other movies on the list to catch my interest. And, lets be honest, it’s hard to keep a zombie’s attention what with ravenous hunger pains driving us to keep moving.
The first major difference to set Boy Eats Girl away from most teen horror movies is the fact that it was filmed in Ireland. It isn’t often I even hear of a film coming out of the country, let alone one capable of biting and holding on. The second difference to set the film apart? Voodoo. The use of Voodoo in zombie movies went out of vogue a long time ago. Most filmmakers resort to biological warfare or a “Romero” take to zombie creation, and while these are still entertaining, zombie flicks originated with voodoo. It’s nice to see filmmakers digging back to the origin of a genre.
We meet our band of slightly heroic teenagers doing ordinary teenage things, most notably preparing for the end of school disco and coping with the idea of forming new relationships under the watchful eye of some rather strict parents. Think of it like Romeo & Juliet. Actually, the build up to the zombie bits are straight up influenced by the Bard with an equally tragic end for one of the characters. Distraught over her son’s choice, his mother uses a Voodoo text to bring him back to life. Only the book had been damaged. Her spell, partially completed, didn’t resurrect him, but brought him back as a zombie. Whoops!
Parents, magic is never the answer when learning how to cope with the loss of your child. Please observe safe magical practices. (The more you know…)
After this point the Voodoo portion of things is murky and the spell is passed on via the main character biting a classmate, who just happens to be a right jerk and deserved what he got. There are a few characters in this film that will make you to cheer when their fate is decided. This is in part to the script. Though I did find a few flaws with the way things were written. At one point it felt like they forgot the magic element and decided to go the gory, Saw route.
Despite that, don’t think the gore wasn’t entertaining. If anything, stick through to the end to see the most horrific use of a tractor this zombie has ever witnessed.
I’m going to give Boy Eats Girl 3 ½ bites out of five. If some of the characters had been utilized better (what was up with the priest guy?), it’d be a solid 4, maybe even a 4 ½. Watch this flick for a fun, teen zombie movie and to get a dose of blood and guts. Don’t watch expecting any in-depth look into how humanity works during the Zombiepocalypse. Some movies are just for the fun of it.
First, before anyone calls foul, I’m an educated zombie. Reading a few subtitles is not beyond my skill set. Don’t act all surprised. I manage to write these reviews, right? Good. Now… on to La Horde (The Horde).
The first few seconds of this film are striking. I’m not saying this to garner favor with our French counterparts. We’re dragged instantly into a world of extreme violence. That scene set a dark, disturbing tone and made it impossible to glance away from the screen. Forget trying to snack during The Horde. My finger sandwiches spoiled because I just couldn’t look away.
The movie puts us smack dab in the midst of a group of corrupt cops hell-bent on revenge. Their anger over the abduction of one of theirs carries the plot despite a noticeable lack of undead action for roughly the first twenty minutes as the cops track down the group of gangsters responsible. Our first taste of real blood and guts is startling, graphic, very real and not at the hands of a zombie. Few movies utilize the ungodly death rattle the dying make. It was music to my ears, or at least the one still attached.
A note on the zombies in The Horde; they are not Romero’s vision of shambling, decomposing corpses. These are freshly dead, revived only seconds after passing. Watch the resurrections, it is clear that an outside source is pulling the strings when we get the first good look at the transformation process. Even I was a tad creeped out. Undead marionettes with huge hungers and quick reflexes… I’m not a spring chicken. They’d beat me in a race for food.
Can zombies starve to death? I shudder to think so.
The characters in this film aren’t likable. At no point did I find myself pulled towards a particular person hoping they’d make it out alive. The cops are a family, but a highly dysfunctional one and the pair of brothers within the group of gangsters are ten times worse. Nevertheless, watching them band together in order to survive is still compelling in a very basic way. The need to escape a deadly situation is all consuming. Before my death I felt that driving need to make it out alive. After, well, it became all about the chase.
I will say, The Horde is a very bloody film. The language would make undead sailors blush. And there are a couple scenes that are really tense and flat-out wrong. My inner lust for gore was sated with this film. That’s saying a lot right there. I also picked up a new favorite kill, as demonstrated by the lone female in the band of survivors. She put that zombie on ice. (Bad pun, yes I know.)
My verdict? If you enjoy the grittier side of zombie flicks, pick up this movie. It feels real. The characters aren’t inaccessible because of some strange moral high ground. They were plucked out of a harsh gang-fueled reality and shoved into a situation where, for an unknown reason, the dead have been brought back and yet the most shocking violence is human against human. The living are worse than the undead. They are conscious of their decision to harm others and still do it. La Horde may not be suitable for everyone, but those it is aimed towards will love it.
Suffice it to say, Spooky Empire’s May-Hem was chalk-full of strangeness for your ZSC commanders. Juliette covered some of it in her debriefing after the event. However while scouring her files for something we came across this, footage of actor Bill Hinzman.
.
.
That name not ring a bell? Then you haven’t been doing your research. Mr. Hinzman was the first zombie on screen in Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. So… why was Juliette talking to a potentially compromised person? We aren’t sure, but he was nice enough to film this clip for us.
Command considers Bill Hinzman a friendly and we thank him for not munching on our fearless leader.
There, I said it. This was not my opinion a couple weeks ago. As a matter of fact, I’d been looking forward to laughing at the Ringling Bros. clowns while waiting to meet with my informant within the circus family. My continued survival requires information. But, seeing as the UGA tracked my travels from Dallas and back in May, I’ve been forced to find outside contacts to bring me information from across the country.
This exposure to new, potentially unreliable sources is what got me in a heap of trouble. And on my birthday of all days!
My contact, an unnamed performer who has been missing since that day, sent me a ticket to the circus along with instructions on where to meet him afterwards. He’d found something while traveling through Colorado he swore was essential for the ZSC to know. However, this something was so sensitive he didn’t trust the phone or Internet to pass it along. His messages, coded of course, made me wary, but I agreed to meet with him face-to-face for the first time. Yeah, yeah… meeting a strange man you’ve only ever talked to via email, not my brightest moment. He’d only ever given me good information, though. I had to take a calculated risk.
Half way through the show I realized that my contact wasn’t performing. No one matching the description he’d emailed made an appearance in any of the three rings on the convention center floor.
By the end of the show, I wanted nothing more than to figure out why he wasn’t out there. I’d adopted him as part of my team and I don’t leave team members behind. So, despite the warning in the back of my head, I made my way to the meet spot. The massive crowd masked my movement and, I hoped, confused anyone trailing me.
It was a trap. The meeting location, tucked between two semi trucks, had been compromised. Instead of my contact, a group of clowns milled around. Some carried lengths of rope. One toyed with a knife, flipping it in the air over and over. When I went to back away from where I’d been spying, someone caught me from behind. They had the element of surprise and far superior numbers. There was no way I’d fight. Not if I wanted to live.
See? Sometimes your commander uses her brain.
They tied me up and shoved me inside one of the trailers hiding us from public view. If you’ve never been locked inside a trailer, it is really dark. Sure, there’s plenty of space and air, but that doesn’t mean a dang thing when you’re bound. Nor does all that air help when the darkness is dense. I may as well have been in a coffin. And that was the point. My captors were trying to rattle me. It only worked for a moment before I kicked myself for being weak.
The next day the circus rolled out of town… with me tagging along. Wasn’t like I had much of a choice. No one came into the trailer aside from those who’d captured me. One of them rode with me to the next city. Occasionally he would try to interrogate me and I feigned deafness from the sound of asphalt racing by under the truck’s tires. From the gist of the conversation, they thought I was responsible for my informant’s disappearance.
Things went from bad to worse when we got to the next city.
Since subtle attempts at interrogation didn’t work, my captors got really inventive with their techniques. Won’t go into what all happened, you all saw the damage in my PSA. But know this: I. Did. Not. Break. The secrets I’ve collected for the ZSC are safe. All I told them was the truth; I don’t know where their comrade went off to. If he is dead, he died with the information he’d gathered for me. The guilt of knowing this eats at me, even now after being dumped in the middle of the desert and forced to find my way back home. If he is alive and set me up to be kidnapped, may the gods help him…
Don’t worry about me. Just need to lick my wounds, then I’m back in action.
We know you’ve all been itching for news about The Walking Dead since the season 1 finale last December. There have been tidbits coming from the set, messages snuck out by cast and crew from around the time they began filming season 2 in Georgia last month. However, there has never been so much divulged until this week when The Walking Dead took over San Diego Comic-Con.
Cast and crew alike gathered together to face a horde of TWD fans and discuss the upcoming season. And while we couldn’t get a ZSC agent in, the folks at TWD live-tweeted the panel discussion (@WalkingDead_AMC). There was a lot of talk about the rough journey all of the characters would go on; most notably creator Robert Kirkman voicing how he hopes the show continues on to delve into the dark places he’s taken Rick.
“The comic book series has been going for so long, I’ve been able to do all these horrible things to Rick. I think the plan is to get there, but we’re not going to rush.”
What did we learn from the Comic-Con panel? Frank Darabont and Robert Kirkman are in the process of discussing the potential addition of comic characters Tyrese, Micchone, and The Governor. (Both admitted to really wanting Ed O’Neill involved some how.)
Season 2 of The Walking Dead picks up right where season 1 left off. “It literally begins with them driving away from the CDC. There’s none of this six months later BS,” says Darabont.
And the biggest news of the day is a CONFIRMED date for the premiere of season 2. The Walking Dead shambles back onto our TV screens on October 16th, two weeks earlier than the previous rumor being passed around. If you heard strange noises from Command during the TWD panel, don’t worry. Zombies haven’t invaded; we all are simply really excited to see our fellow commanders on screen again.
Below is the season 2 trailer that was played after the panel ended. You will see commanders IronE Singleton and Norman Reedus in action. Keep your eyes on the background as well as the action. They’ve put a few clues in about what the future holds for our favorite band of Zombiepocalypse survivors.
While in Dallas, we completed a few Super Secret, can’t-tell-anyone, not-even-your-mother missions. And, wouldn’t you know it, we’ve finally be given permission to release one of the major pieces of business conducted that weekend.
Wondering how a brigade of ZSC members wearing bright orange shirts can become virtual ghosts? What motivates them to keep going when the undead are on their heels? And what exactly goes in their go bags?
Teens battle angst. Teens become all over-dramatic about silly things, like who kisses whom and who is going to prom. Oh and then a nuclear power plant pollutes the town and they are forced to band together and become badass zombie slayers. Dance of the Dead (2008) is your typical teen flick, tuned up to 11.
I remember my prom like it was yesterday. Everyone was envious of me. I had the captain of the cheer squad by my side. Screaming. Dinner that night was real romantic. We could have been soul mates… for a whole ten minutes before I ate my way into her chest cavity. Who says true romance is dead?
What caught my attention about Dance of the Dead is that right away we get zombie action. Sure, it isn’t much, but gives us a taste of gore to tide undead fanatics through the lull where the cast of teenagers is established. The opening sequence also handed me my new worst nightmare, hedge clippers.
The hardest parts of the film to sit through were the segments where our not-so-popular heroes antagonize about the prom. Respite came from a couple music video-esque moments- where, I’ll admit, I did find myself bobbing my head. But not too hard, else my stitches would break. – And let’s not forget the completely stressed and insane teachers running the school. They’re as pissed as a starved zombie. How do any of them still have jobs?
We get dragged back into the undead action with a bang. Actually, it wasn’t so much of a bang as whatever noise a springboard makes. The dead didn’t just rise; they were launched out of their graves. It made me jealous. I spent an entire day clawing my way through wood, dirt, and grass. Modern zombies, psh! They’re spoiled rookies. No one eats faces now-a-days. Go for the gut, plenty of meat there. And for hell’s sake, if you’ve been taking yoga, do not show off your agility. We voted to keep that skill secret!
Back the subject of food, why couldn’t the heroes be jocks? Geeks are too lean, most of the time, and very hard to chew through. Besides that, they also watch far too many zombie movies. It gives them an unfair advantage. (Don’t point fingers; I know I watch too many zombie movies as well.) The zombies are walking into a trap with this group… or not.
A few lessons for fledgling zombie slayers- I shouldn’t be doing this, but the embarrassment is bordering painful with how easy a meal you all are. First, car lighters are not a viable weapon against anyone, let alone a zombie. Second, keep your gun loaded. Third, and this is the most important, listen to the woman brave enough to use her stiletto shoes as a weapon. Lastly, learn what your weapon is:
“Little lady, you’ll get the machete.”
“But I don’t know how to shoot a machete.” -I smell my next meal.
Overall Dance of the Dead is a fun little flick to get your zombie fix with. It puts a twist on the typical teen movie, one that genre fans have no problem sinking their teeth into. The campy parts are as important to the show as the serious blood and gore being flung during the fight sequences. This zombie gives it a thumbs up.
To celebrate the September 2nd release of InSight, starring Yellow Brigade 1st Lieutenant Sean Patrick Flanery, we’re giving the Zombie Survival Crew faithful another opportunity to win something from our prize vault.
I. Hate. Clowns.
Wondering how a brigade of ZSC members wearing bright orange shirts can become virtual ghosts? What motivates them to keep going when the undead are on their heels? And what exactly goes in their go bags?