New: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Netflix)
Now, I’ve never been much of a zombie guy, but, for my money, one of the best varieties is the “infected” of the 28 Days Later franchise. This extension of last year’s excellent three-quel (28 YEARS LATER), Bone Temple zeroes in on the Jimmy gang and Dr. Kelson’s possible breakthrough with the Rage Virus. Directed by Nia DiCoasta, it’s one hell of a ride. Stream it on Netflix.
GORE-O-METER 🩸🩸🩸 out of 5
Classic: John Carpenter’s The Fog (Shudder)
Are the ghosts in The Fog also a kind of zombie? They sure look it, and this 1980 slow-burn classic also plays like a zombie siege picture, with the townspeople of Antonio Bay scrambling to avoid a deadly onshore flow that carries retribution and icy cold death! Snuggle up and let it wash over you. Stream now on Shudder.
GORE-O-METER 🩸🩸 out of 5
“How Is This Free?”: C.H.U.D. (Tubi)
Now it’s time to take our zombie invasion into the big city. Sure, these Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers aren’t strictly zombies, but they do a great job acting like them as they surface to take the sweatiest version of Manhattan for their own man-buffet. Watch it now on Tubi.
GORE-O-METER 🩸 out of 5
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FRESH BLOOD
Wrap It Up - I’ll Take It!
The final trailer for EVIL DEAD RISE director Lee Cronin’s newest film, THE MUMMY, has been uncovered. In this original take on Egyptian burial rituals, a small family discovers that the daughter they thought had disappeared eight years ago has been found… buried inside an ancient sarcophagus! This thing looks brutal in the very best way possible, and I want to be there opening night!
Posting Mortem
The original FACES OF DEATH was a VHS cheapy filled with some disturbing news footage, faux documentary snippets, and staged sequences meant to get parents riled up enough to ban it. Legendary, IFC and Shudder have collaborated to reinvent FOD for the streaming age with a story about a content farm moderator who discovers that the 4k bloodshed she’s finding on the platform she works for may, in fact, be happening IRL. This one stars Barbie Ferreira and Charlie XCX.
The Autopsy
Spring has sprung! ‘Tis the season of renewal and resurrection, so maybe 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE will get the rebirth it deserves on Netflix. Because when it came out in January, it was dead on arrival. Why? Maybe it was too close to the big splash of 28 YEARS LATER? After all, Danny Boyle’s third film in the series had only just premiered the previous July and then hit Netflix mere months before THE BONE TEMPLE was set for the big screen? Were audiences confused, or perhaps fan enthusiasm ran out of steam despite how well Boyle’s film did?
It’s a bummer that director Nia DiCosta’s follow-up didn’t make as large an impression as Boyle’s return to the franchise nearly 30 years later, but I would argue THE BONE TEMPLE is an even better film. 28 YEARS LATER set the table for a cataclysmic clash between the rogue ruffians of the Jimmy Gang and Ralph Fiennes’ half-mad Dr. Kelson. But it’s the final confrontations between them in the fourth film that are truly epic. Fiennes, in particular, gives one of the most delightfully unhinged performances of the year so far, showing us a man who may be on the brink of a breakthrough, trying to find a cure for the Infected, and being pushed past the point of sanity after years of isolation and hard-fought survival.
The good news is that now so many more people will get the chance to catch up with DiCosta’s work. She just can’t help but make whatever project she’s filming look and feel special. She always finds a way to connect the emotions to her kinetic action style. If you haven’t given her previous work a try, I can’t recommend her indie drama LITTLE WOODS and her CANDYMAN continuation enough. So spread the good news and watch 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE today, and let me know what you think.
Die Laughing
Just one meme that made us laugh this week…
Killer Conversation
Let’s all get to know each other a little better…
Last week, I asked what horror genres made you feel all warm and cozy inside, and the battle became a tie between “Ghosts and Ghouls” and “The Cult of the Occult.” We’ll definitely have to dig into those subgenres more to find some hidden gems. My wheels are already turning…
This week, we served up some different kinds of resurrected flesh eaters. But if you were to make yourself a zombified Easter buffet, which franchise would you serve as your main dish?
Make sure to check back in next week to see if your pick “won” top honors!
Fun In (and with) The Flesh
Have you told your friends yet about SCREAM SHARE? It would mean the (under)world to me if you would pass on the word to a friend! Click the link below and share it with someone who needs more screams in their life.
Pod People
This week on the Kill By Kill podcast, we wrap up ReMarch by discussing the inexplicable 1998 “replica” of PSYCHO!! On hand to help us make sense of the nonsensical is stand-up comedian and horror lover Kristen Cills!! We’re asking the big questions, like why did Gus Van Sant blow his post-Good Will Hunting blank check on this project? Is Psycho a better movie when you can almost see Viggo Mortensen’s pubes? Why is half the cast dressed like it’s 1960, and the rest look like they walked off of a Blur music video? What is the Small Soldiers Behind-The-Scenes Experience? With the pantheon of interesting actors making films at the time, why was Vince Vaughn the first choice for Norman Bates? Is there anything that does work about this film, and why?! All this, plus the buried secrets on Patrick’s ancient DVD, wet flapping meat sounds, and a soon-to-be-classic version of Choose Your Own Deathventure!! Check in, relax… and take a shower after you listen to this in-depth episode!!
