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Reviews
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
The Real Mall of America
It's hard to be both creepy and hilarious. The true mastery of this chilling story is that it intelligently holds back so much of the gore and horror that it could so easy splash gratuitously on the audience. Romero is after some deeper social commentary in the hell that was 70's America. Since a normal person becomes a flesh sucking ghoul within hours of dying, I knew the pregnant woman was setting us up for a sickly abortion scene. I cringed at how the story would turn around some hideous fetal crab eating its way out of the womb, as any schlocky director today would give us. Instead, this horror never happens, and it is a Hitchcockian moment -- the story has enough to say and play with, without slasher crap.
The ingenious tension of the Dead trilogy is the banality of the evil. These zombies don't have superhuman powers; hell, they can't even run. The move slowly, and crab like, but relentlessly. They can be dealt with by a pro -- unfortunately, the pros often get so careless and cocky at their abilities to fend off the dead, that it's often fatal hubris. And that's the best commentary on life you can get.
Hiding out in a shopping mall as the world descends into chaos is simply brilliant. And they way our four heroes live is logical and understandable. Romero gives the audience credit, with the events of before and after making sense. The film does not skip any steps. You root for the wheelbarrels of goods; you ask yourself what exactly you would grab when your world is a delicate pearl in a dying oyster. The story works on different levels the same way the mall literally works on different levels. Also, the TV commentary dribbling into infighting is a little appreciated part of the movie.
Romero plays with us like kittens. He has all the creative arrows to sling at us, and we never know what is next. Watching the Cholo biker get eaten by zombies simply because he felt it was more important to get his blood pressure checked at the last minute than flee the surging ghoulish hordes has kept me laughing for 20 years. Thank you George.
The Naked Prey (1965)
In the Top 10
What a rare and glorious film. The Africans, the Whites, the Arabs -- all thrashing about a primitive world blindly lurching for profit, vengeance, pride, and redemption. The animal scenes are bit canned, but the hardy authenticity of tribal southern Africa is marvellous. You can tell these are not extras from Culver City. It's a movie not afraid of blood and savagery. You root for the cunning and feel the fear on both sides. And the ending does make sense to those who know that men appreciate even an enemy who has fought bravely.
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
The Best Movie Ever Made
Seeing this film as a child in the darkness of mid-70's America, it was an epiphany. As glorious and rich and unashamedly martial as Kipling himself. The rich red blood of the British Empire, warts and all flood out of this amazing story. From the gurkhas to Alexander, history oozes from the pores, and the humor makes no apologies. Layer after layer, this is a grand and beautiful film shed of any PC drippings. It will warm a real man's soul like an 18 year old single malt. This film has become so ingrained in the marrow, I can't help but reference it watching the current allied offensive against the Afghan Taliban -- I've seen this story before.