[Book Review] “Dead City” by Joe McKinney

Dead City by Joe McKinneyDead City opens with odd reports of survivors attacking rescue workers after five powerful hurricanes have pounded the Gulf of Mexico and left the surrounding cities absolutely devastated. Just out of reach of harm’s way, San Antonio, Texas has become a popular safe zone for emergency shelters and evacuees from the destroyed cities. This is where our story begins. Following local police officer Eddie Hudson, Dead City wastes very little time establishing anything aside from a very basic setting and quick introduction of the main character (just enough to let you know that he’s a cop with a wife and new baby son), and instead throws readers into the opening scenes of the zombie apocalypse right away.

Early on in the book I was very unsure of how much I would enjoy it because of how quickly the author puts everything into motion. I don’t mean that it happens too early in the book, but he chose for the first event to pop up suddenly, but had the destruction spread too quickly to be considered logical.

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[Movie Review] Zombie Town (2006)

I’m not very good at running a website.

Why? I’ve had Zombie Town in my Netflix instant queue since well before Halloween, along with a handful of other zombie movies — all of which I planned on reviewing before the October 31st. Obviously, that didn’t happen. However, I did manage to view and review Gangs of the Dead before my self-imposed deadline, meaning I’m not completely awful at running a website.

Zombie Town is not a very good zombie movie. It attempts to accomplish feats such as scaring you, making you laugh, and forming a bond between the viewer and the film’s characters; all of which are necessary for a successful zombie movie, none of which the movie accomplishes. Zombie Town did manage to impress me with buckets of gore, some cheesy one-liners, and a Romeronian portrayal of the living dead, meaning it isn’t completely awful.

I also expect at least three people to read this, meaning I’m awful at getting my hopes up, just like I am at running a website.

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[Movie Review] Survival of the Dead (2010)

George A. Romero is and will always be the Godfather of the Dead. He basically single handedly invented and popularized the modern zombie through films like Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead, and while there have been countless takes on the zombie genre ever since Romero found massive success, no one has even come close to creating a film as entertaining or memorable as Romero’s earlier works.

Time and time again Romero has proven himself the king of the zombie film, constantly providing undead lovers like myself with the most entertaining, gory and thought-provoking zombie movies there are. In 2009, he released Diary of the Dead, a film that was definitely my least favorite of Romero’s works. It was a good film, but sadly it strayed too far from what made his earlier works, including 2005’s Land of the Dead, so fantastic. It was like when a band comes out with an “experimental” album. So when I saw early trailers for Survival, boasting a glorious return to form for the visionary director, I got very excited.

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[Movie Review] George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968)

George A. Romero is pegged as the Godfather of the modern Zombie, and for damn good reason. He is the only director who can consistently create zombie movies of high quality, and no film maker has ever been able to out rank, match, or even come close to competing with Romero.

His first film, Night of the Living Dead, was made in 1968 on a black and white camera with a severely limited budget. When the film was released, it shocked its audiences and showed them an unbelievable gorefest the likes of which had never been seen before.

Today the film is highly regarded as a classic horror movie, one of the best and easily one of the most influential. Widely considered the most important zombie film ever made, outranked only by its immediate sequel Dawn of the Dead, this is essential viewing material for any Zombie fan.

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[Movies] David O. Russell in talks to direct Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

It’s true, the folks over at ScreenCrave report that David. O. Russell, the the director of I Heart Huckabees and the upcoming boxing film The Fighter, has his eyes set on directing the upcoming zombie/comedy film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. What this means for the movie is uncertain, but if Natalie Portman is on board, then it will most likely be worth seeing.

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10 Albums Essential for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

Smart people are constantly and without rest preparing for the imminent Zombie Apocalypse. Countless battle and escape strategies are discussed and pondered over just as many scenarios, yet no one can ever seem to agree on the proper way to survive an attack from the undead.

Just as varied in opinions and as essential to survival, though much less discussed, is the music you would take with you to your safehold. In the heat of your grandmother trying to get her decomposing jaws around your juicy jugular you aren’t going to have the luxury of sorting through your CD’s for the music you want to take with you.

That’s why Troy from edjunkie.com and us here at Everyview highly suggest everyone with at least one functioning brain cell compose a list of 10 albums essential to survival and keep them somewhere immediately accessible. Check out our lists, put some thought into your own, and be sure to prepare yourself for an undead invasion. Continue reading

[Book Review] “World War Z” by Max Brooks

worldwarz-bookZombies are pretty sweet right? For decade after decade zombie films have held the attention of people everywhere, especially in the good ol’ U S of A. It’s safe to say that Americans have a pretty hardcore obsession with the idea of a zombie apocalypse, and there’s no shortage of killer zombie films or games out there. But what about the 1% of Americans that still read books for entertainment? Are there any awesome zombie books? You’d better believe it.

I love zombie movies. They’re gory, brutal, and on occasion very disturbing. Before I had read “World War Z” I had a really hard time believing that the genre could make the leap from the big screen to printed paper. I seriously could not have been more mislead.

Max Brooks has set up “World War Z” as an expansion on his first zombie book “The Zombie Survival Guide.” The basic idea is that a disease known as “Solanum” has begun reanimating human beings as flesh starved zombies. Sounds pretty familiar, am I right? The familiar concept quickly spirals into an utterly perfect story following the human struggle to outmatch the “zombies.” Continue reading

[Game Review] I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT (Xbox 360 Indie Game)

i-maed-a-gam3-w1th-z0mb1es1-box-artSystem: Xbox 360
Developer: Ska Studios
Publisher: Ska Studios
Genre: Arcade/Shooter

I don’t usually get into indie games, which are usually just prettier versions of games I could play for free on the internet, but something about zombies makes me do things I wouldn’t normally do. The title alone is enough to catch my attention, but the solid five-star community rating sold me. Oh, the $1 price tag didn’t hurt either.

There isn’t a ton to say about I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT, as it’s certainly a simple game. The action is fast, the music is hilarious, and the concept is totally solid. That being said, it’s totally worth the 80 MS points. Continue reading