Spook Out! Day 31 ~ Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Amazon Says...

"Through comic mayhem from the White House to the heartland, four slayers face off against new kinds of evolved zombies and new human survivors."

I Say...
And how!!!!!

Horror Type...
Zombies, Horror Comedy, Post-Apocalyptic

Main Players...
Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee (Gnarly Elvis Lover)

Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus (Puppy Dog Rule-Maker)

Emma Stone as Wichita (Bad-Note-Leaver)

Abigail Breslin as Little Rock (Restless Teen)

I liked...

***SO FRIGGING MUCH***

• the shoot-em-up opening credits, that really set the tone for the rest of the movie
• the laughs, the gags, the bits, the throwaways, the visual jokes--man, this mfr was even funnier than the first Z-land flick, but also,
• the zombie scares, which are played straight and, in some scenes, legit scary
• the new zombie classifications
• how relationships, both romantic and familial, are explored and developed
• the doppelgängers! (so to speak)
• the specTACular zombie battle in the third act, DANG!

The Meh...
The only "meh" for me is that I don't know if we're getting another movie in this franchise. PLEASE OH PLEASE LET THERE BE ANOTHER ONE!!!!!

Would I recommend it...?

HECK to the YEAH! Lah-lah-lah-LOVE THIS MOOOVEEEEEEE! For me, it's the perfect combination of action, romance, comedy, and horror, with exactly the right amount of violence and gore to give it some Halloween bite (pun intended!). Not sure if sensitives will mind the aforementioned violence and gore--IMO, it's not gratuitous (for the kind of movie this is) and while it has scary moments, they're not terrifying, just...pleasantly chilling. (That's a thing, right? Pleasantly chilling?) (Well, it is for me...)

Miscellany...

• I've gotta shout out Zoey Deutch (Madison), Rosario Dawson (Nevada), and Luke Wilson (Albuquerque) for their work here--bravi, y'all!
• Watch the end credits all the way through. Trust me on this.

Ratings...

My Grade: A

Rotten Tomatoes Scores: Tomatometer=68%, Audience Score=88%

Details, Schmeetails...

I Watched Zombieland: Double Tap on Amazon (the Rotten Tomatoes page linked above provides links to other streaming platforms)

Check it out on IMDb

Learn more about it on Wikipedia (Contains Spoilers)

This concludes Day 31

(and indeed, the blogfest!)

of

Thanks to all who joined me

on this year's journey,

and please do come back next year...

IF YOU DARE

Spook Out! Day 1 ~ 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Crackle* Says...

"After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter with two men, who claim the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack."

I Say...
This^ misses a critical element that makes for an effective tease in other summaries I've read--that the man who takes her there may be as much of a threat as whatever's happening aboveground.

Horror Type...
Psychological Thriller, Post-Apocalyptic, Creature Feature

Main Players...

John Goodman as Howard (Bunker Host)

Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Michelle (Resourceful Heroine)

John Gallagher Jr. as Emmett (Goofball...?)

I liked...

• the phenomenal cast, very much indeed
• the tight plot, in which everything means something and will come into play
• how I repeatedly found myself holding my breath and on the edge of my seat
• how it made me work to decide for myself whether the antagonist was actually a villain or just super socially awkward (I'm not gonna spoil this for ya--you're going to have to watch for yourself to find out)
• how, bit-by-bit, the story teaches the heroine everything she needs to know to survive
• how the heroine's life passion literally helps save her life
• the surprise pops of dark humor that made me legit LOL
• that kick-in-the-pants ending!

The Meh...
We learn there's more to Howard than he lets on but I'd've liked more definitive answers regarding his past.

Would I recommend it...?

YES! I loved this movie, Goodman, Winstead, and Gallagher (who played the cowardly prick-weasel from Netflix's Hush!) deserve ALL THE AWARDS. This isn't so much a jump-scare type of horror movie, more a menacing slow-burn that combusts at the very end, to spectacular effect. I feel like even folks who aren't into horror movies can enjoy 10 Cloverfield Lane without fear of losing sleep.

Miscellany...

It seems that the ending has polarized viewers, who complain that it came out of nowhere and ruined the film for them. I have to agree that it almost feels like we got one movie for the first, say, hour-and-a-half, and a completely different flick in the last ten-fifteen minutes or so. However, to me, those final, harrowing, action-packed moments totally make sense and absolutely fit with what came before (again, no spoilers, but do pay attention to all the squirrelly theories the fellas toss out).

Ratings...

My Grade: A

Rotten Tomatoes Scores: Tomatometer=90%, Audience Score=79%

Details, Schmeetails...

I Watched 10 Cloverfield Lane on Crackle* (the Rotten Tomatoes page linked above provides links to other streaming platforms)

Check it out on IMDb

Learn more about it on Wikipedia (Contains Spoilers)

This concludes Day 1 of

Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow...

IF YOU DARE

*Crackle is a free streaming platform I'm just finding out about. As you may have guessed, it's free bc commercials--during this 1 hour 43 minute movie, I counted 7 commercial breaks, the first few lasting nearly 3 minutes, though spaced generously apart. As the film progressed, commercial break lengths went down to about 2 minutes but came along more frequently. I didn't mind it bc FREE (and also, plenty of "cable" TV channels do this.) (I'm looking at you, FX--and YOU ain't free! Why do I have to love your programming so much??? Ugh...)