Tag Archives: Shaun of the Dead

Best Zombie Films of recent times (10+1list)

20 January, 2017 Souranath Banerjee Leave a comment

Best Zombie Films of recent times

The earliest Zombie movie ever made was White Zombie way back in 1932.

Till then hundreds of horror films have been made on this particular concept – reanimation of a human corpse by witchcraft or other supernatural means who again loves eating other humans, turning them into ‘zombies’ as well!

Though entirely fictional but people seemed to be happy enough to watch these ‘bloody’ Zombie-movies and even get terrified by such a possibility in future!

Specially one director who is highly responsible for the popularity of the Zombie-genre is George A. Romero. His films Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) are some of the most recommended zombie-horror flicks ever!

A few other famous zombie movies I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Last Man on Earth (1964) and Zombie (1979).

And finally, let’s have a taste of some of the Best Zombie Films of recent times!

10. Planet Terror (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yij3I7G44o

A Grindhouse movie directed by Robert Rodriguez and this time he is big time into zombies!

An experimental bio-nerve gas accident that turns people into flesh-eating, mutating zombies, and then a group of people join forces to save the town from these terrifying creatures.

With a hint of comedy and enough gore, this is a tribute to the 70s exploitation films.

9. Maggie (2015)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ5Vz8qE8R8

Arnold Schwarzenegger decides to do a zombie movie, that too free of cost because he very much liked the script!

A slow emotional father-daughter drama that tries it’s best to focus on the sentimentalities about close relations turning into zombies.

Directed by Henry Hobson, it’s not your regular blood-gore zombie flick – something different to offer.

8. I Am Legend (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtKMEAXyPkg

Directed by Francis Lawrence, this is the latest remake of Richard Matheson’s novel by the same name- earlier ones being The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971)

A post-apocalyptic horror film where Will Smith is the last human survivor left in New York City and perhaps in the whole world; everyone else being transformed into mutant victims of a plague. Can he find a cure to this madness?

7. I Am a Hero (2015)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZu3sVK3JOE

A zombie outbreak happens and an ordinary man turns into a hero while fighting a battle of survival!

Based on Kengo Hanazawa’s massively popular manga by the same name, and directed by Shinsuke Sato, this Japanese zombie film doesn’t at all restrict itself from showing all that violence and bloodshed. Fast and gory, decent performances and pretty realistic effects!

6. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69OPw9nFHw

This one is the remake of George A. Romero‘s zombie classic by the same name. And it is bloody violent and much more realistic!

Zack Snyder‘s directorial debut, this gory film is set when a worldwide plague is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies all over the world and only a few survivors desperate to fight back take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.

5. 28 Days Later… (2002)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ynwAgQlDQ

An incurable virus has spread from the apes and now humanity is in the verge of extinction!

Only a few survivors remain and they try their best to survive ‘staying alive is as good as it gets’.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Danny Boyle, the film has the look and feel of a sci-fi, and of course one of the most stylish zombie films I have seen in the recent times.

A sequel that can also be taken under consideration 28 Weeks Later (2007) by director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

4. [Rec] (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGJ_jPKOj1c

An apartment building where something terribly went wrong. A television reporter and cameraman follow the emergency workers into that dark apartment building trying their best to solve the crisis.

Directed by Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza, this thrilling Spanish film is all blood and gore, shot in real locations and also chronologically filmed.

The second part of it [Rec] 2 (2009) and the US remake named Quarantine (2008) is also worth your time.

3. World War Z (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk

When Brad Pitt stars in some zombie movie you know it will be of epic scale and it was!

Directed by Marc Forster, this story revolves around a man who is up against time to stop the Zombie pandemic threatening to destroy humanity.

Brilliant effects and crowd simulation and it is the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt’s career!

2. The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGkB_oWTe0

A dystopian future definitely after the zombie apocalypse, an army training base where certain kids are tutored regularly. But these kids are not exactly normal – they are zombies with human brains!

Directed by Colm McCarthy, this unique film is particularly about a zombie kid named Melanie and how she chose her battle of survival tagging along a few humans by her side!

Train to Busan (2016)

Busanhaeng (original title)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyWuHv2-Abk

Directed by Sang-ho Yeon, this film is about a group of people travelling on a fast train from Seoul to Busan while they find out that the outside world is getting affected by a virus that turns people into zombies!

A kid and his father, a pregnant lady and her husband, a young couple and many more – all fighting for their lives in this horrific mess.

This South Korean zombie flick tops the list because of it’s super tight story line and brilliantly realistic visuals. Gory and believable!

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most crazy one. A must watch)

+1. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMitSKT-u_k

And to end the list is the best Zombie-Horror-Comedy ever made!

Directed by Edgar Wright, a brilliant comic take on the zombie apocalypse and of course the several tips and tricks on how to survive through it.

The hilarious combination of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is as always too funny – bloody tasty!

Other popular Zombie-Horror-Comedies are Zombieland (2009) and Juan of the Dead (2011).

Similar Interest: Best horror Comedies.

Poster courtesy: www.impawards.com, www.imdb.com.

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Best Use of Intelligent Editing in Recent Films (10+1list)

27 August, 2015 Souranath Banerjee Leave a comment

Best use of intelligent Editing in recent films.

written by Souranath Banerjee

Film editing is often referred to as the ‘invisible art’ because when a film is seamlessly edited, the viewer can hardly be aware of the editor’s work.

But as we all know an editor has the ultimate control to make or break a film. ‘A film gets made on the editing table’.

Earlier times film editing was considered to be only a part of the ‘post production’ process but the true art of editing is best utilized when many of the cuts are preplanned while shooting the film itself.

Many films display multiple quick cuts (fast cutting) while others jump time or space with skillfully matching cuts (match cuts); then some films have elaborate parallel edit sequences while in some movies the editors use a variety of transitions to set the desired mood.

And now, here is a list of some of the best use of intelligent Editing in recent films – best examples of both linear and nonlinear editing styles.

So, let the fun begin.

1. Upstream Color (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU

A film by writer/director/actor and also cinematographer/editor and also music composer Shane Carruth.

Overall a complex but superb movie but the best part of it is it’s flawless editing.

Every shot is cut so precisely that the whole film looks like some kind of a detailed choreography of beautiful images dancing across the screen!

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE-f1alkq9I

Again a complex film with a superb storyline (the visible touch of Charlie Kaufman) and absolutely brilliant editing.

Directed by Michel Gondry and edited by Valdís Óskarsdóttir, the film narrative repeatedly goes back and forth and it all makes sense (or the times when it does’t!) simply because of the powerful editing style.

Also worth checking out The Science of Sleep (2006) by the same director.

3. City of God (2002)

Original title: Cidade de Deus. Language: Brazilian Portuguese.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcUOO4Itgmw

Based on a true story, the film is directed by Fernando Meirelles and edited by Daniel Rezende (both nominated for the Oscars).

The opening sequence of this film is often considered as the best edited sequence ever – the one where the mob chases the chicken through the crowded streets of Rio de Janeiro.

Also worth checking out The Constant Gardener (2005) by the same director.

4. Any Given Sunday (1999)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7sKvaHDlA

Director Oliver Stone who won Oscars for Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) also made films which have a very unique editing style.

This film along with Natural Born Killers (1994) and U Turn (1997) – they are fast and edgy, each and every cut is synced with rapid camera movements and yet very much visually appealing!

5. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzk-lmU4KZ4

Darren Aronofsky‘s most creative film and a masterpiece in editing.

Edited by Jay Rabinowitz, the quick cuts of the closeup of an eye showing the effects of drug and the disturbing parallel edit sequence towards the end of the film are legendary in the world of artistic editing.

This film proves that deft editing can actually establish the mental state of a person.

6. Fallen Angels (1995)

Original title: Do lok tin si. Language: Cantonese.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZda7nWftQI

Famous for Chungking Express (1994), Happy Together (1997) and In the Mood for Love (2000), this film is one of the lesser known works of master director Kar Wai Wong but probably the best example of his incredible sense of editing.

Edited by William Chang and Ming Lam Wong, the film is a hypnotic journey of images cut to perfection.

7. Children of Men (2006)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VT2apoX90o

Nominated for the Oscars in the best editing category this film is a must in any editing list ever made.

Edited by director/editor Alfonso Cuarón and also by Alex Rodríguez, the tension and the intensity of this futuristic thriller is much more enhanced by competent editing techniques which are almost too perfect to notice individually.

One of the most gripping suspense thriller ever seen.

8. Hot Fuzz (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayTnvVpj9t4

Now this film uses a completely different aesthetics of editing but nevertheless very effective and often intentionally comic!

A comedy directed by Edgar Wright and edited by Chris Dickens is a film that contains the best example of time compression by swift editing (specially during the journey sequences).

If you liked Shaun of the Dead (2004) you would love this too.

9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Original title: Le scaphandre et le papillon. Language: French.

Film clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G69Zh7YIg8c

Directed by Julian Schnabel (won best director at Cannes Film Festival), this one is an inspiring yet difficult story to tell.

And according to me, the film’s success largely depends on it’s brilliant editing techniques.

Edited by Juliette Welfling, who was nominated for the Oscars in the Best Editing Category, this is one film you shouldn’t miss.

10. The Tree of Life (2011)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRYA1dxP_0

The brilliance of Terrence Malick is probably most evident in this film and yet the first thing that one notices is the seamless editing!

A series of vignettes held together, the camera moves and the images cut so effortlessly that some times one forgets that they are actually watching a film.

In spite of winning the Palme d’Or the film is often criticized for not having a distinctive storyline.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most unique and cool one. A must watch).

+1. Spun (2002)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWD1kVi0ME

An out of the world editing experience, as fast and quirky as the mental state of a drug addict.

This film is definitely to be seen without any parental guidance because of it’s disturbing imagery and freaky concept.

Edited by Johan Söderberg and director/editor Jonas Åkerlund, editing skill at a different level altogether.

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Tag Archives: Shaun of the Dead

Best Zombie Films of recent times (10+1list)

Best Use of Intelligent Editing in Recent Films (10+1list)

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