Tag Archives: zombie

Review, movies

Top British Horror TV-Series

Leave a comment
Advertisements

British TV has given us countless of ghostly figures running down the grand stairwells of the manors and castles in long dresses and dark hallways. It has also given us some of the most funny parodies on the horror genre as well. This is a compilation of some of the more horroresque British TV-Series.

Dracula (2013)

One of the many adaptations of the Dracula legacy, was a one season series from 2013. With Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors, Vikings), the story starts with the classical premise of when Dracula travels to London, originally for revenge for a centuries old grudge of those who wronged him. However, the plans get complicated and conflicted when he meets the woman that looks like the reincarnation of his dead wife.

Tired of the same old vampire formula? Try find a vampire movie with a twist here:

5 Vampire Movies Twisting the Genre

Five movies about #vampires that made their own twist on the vampire lore and its meaning. This is a list of five vampire movie, telling all very different parts about the human experience and the life and desires we have. #horror #paranormal

Keep reading
Advertisements

Penny Dreadful

This show from 2014 may be a joint production between Britain, USA and Ireland, but it is perhaps the most quintessential British of them all. Everything from the Victorian Gothic, to the stellar cast of brits carrying the show. In this show, the universe is drawn from the old horror stories sold for a penny in the Victorian era, combining them to a intertwining set of stories. In the midst of them is medium Vanessa Ives that battles the supernatural entities in London with the American gunslinger, Ethan Chandler and the scientist Victor Frankenstein. I confused about the different stories used in the Penny Dreadful series, have a look at this:

Read more about the background of the Penny Dreadful series here:

Advertisements

Haunting of Bly Manor

The sort of sequel to “Haunting on Hill House”, is set in England this time. Based on the story, “The Turn of the Screw”, it follows an American nanny trying to escape her past as she is set to care for two orphans living at Bly Manor. Together with the chef, groundskeeper and housekeeper they have to unlock the mysteries of the house, both what happened to the former nanny, the children’s parents as well as an old curse and haunting in the house that won’t let go.

Advertisements

Requiem

This part psychological horror as well as an supernatural thriller is set in a small Welsh village. A cello star’s mother suddenly takes her own life without a reason in London. Unable to grapple with her death, the daughter digs into her mother’s past and finds a link to a little girl that disappeared in the small village in the 90s. The daughter travels to Wales to find the truth and who she really is. But there is not only a dark past waiting for her there, but dark forces as well.

Advertisements

Truth Seekers

Comedy Horror geniuses Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) is back with a new series. It centers around a part-time paranormal investigators with homemade equipment to track down ghosts and the supernatural to share it online to go viral. But the deeper they dig, the closer they get to a huge and apocalyptic conspiracy.

If Horror Comedy is your jam, check out:

5 Funny Zombie Movies

Yes, in these times, zombie movies are all the rage as well as pandemic movies. And they sort of belong together, don’t they? But we also need to laugh, so here are five funny zombie movies, to fill the zombie cravings of the times, but also that can make the trying days a bit more…

Keep reading
Advertisements

The Living and the Dead

This BBC drama is like a marriage like Poldark and Turn of The Screw. Or if Howard’s End and Jane Eyre had a ghostly child. The premise is that of a young couple inherits a farm and wants to start a new life together on the countryside. But the farm they inherited turns out to be of a haunted kind. And their presence in the isolated place they live in triggers paranormal happenings that starts to put a strain on their marriage as well as their minds.

Advertisements

Apparitions

Martin Shaw (The Chief) leads this drama series as a catholic priest. After an encounter he is drawn into the world of exorcism and a battle between good and evil.

Advertisements

Being Human

This series originally aired on BBC back in 2008, but still holds up. It follows a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost that tries to live together as flatmates and get along as they keep getting mixed up in supernatural events. It was a hit when it aired until 2013, and even got itself an American remake.

Advertisements

The Turn of the Screw (2009)

As a fairly faithful adaptation to its source material from Henry James, the mini series follows a naive and sexually repressed young governess played by Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey). She is haunted by the ghosts of previous occupants of a mansion. She keeps battling between what is and isn’t real as the readers of the story has done since its publication.

Read more about the classics of gothic horror here:

Advertisements

Dead Set

From the minds of Charlie Brooker, most known for the hit series “Black Mirror”. Set at the set of a fictional version of Big Brother, there is a zombie outbreak. However, the house-mates keeps being unaware of the happenings of what goes on outside of the Big Brother House until someone comes to warn them. As the house is fan-proof, and therefore zombie-proof, it serves as an excellent hideout to stay in during the zombie apocalypse.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

References

Review, movies

Top Korean Horror TV-Series

4 Comments
Advertisements

The last few years, K-dramas has certainly taken over much of the media the world consume today and that goes for the Korean horror TV-Series as well.

Although it is largely remembered from the overly romantic dramas with umbrellas in the rain and watching over people with a cold like they are on their deathbed, some more darker series has caught on. In fact one of the more famous k-drama must certainly be the zombie driven historical drama Kingdom that entered as Koreans first entry to the Netflix family. And since then, the gems keeps on coming. Here are ten of the more darker k-dramas out there.

Revenant |악귀 (2023)

This slow burn ghost story is based on Korean folklore. It follows a professor in folklore (Oh Jung-se) who can see ghosts that teams up with a young woman (Kim Tae-ri) after her father dies in what seems to be a suicide. But strange things starts to happen to her and it turns out she is possessed by a vengeful ghosts, and that the string of mysterious suicides that happens around them is something much more horrifying.

Strangers From Hell | 타인은 지옥이다 (2019)

With a top stellar cast of Im Shi Wan (Run On) and Lee Dong Wook (Goblin), this had to be an iconic duo. The series is a trippy Korean horror TV-Series quest for a poor writer to distinguish between what is and isn’t real as well to figure out his true friends he can trust is. When he moves into a cheap hostel, Eden Gosiwon, he has to deal with the truly creepy residents he has to share kitchen and bathroom with. But although he hates it, he endures it to he has enough money saved up to move to something better in Soul. But then he starts fearing for his life when strange occurrences keeps happening around him.

Advertisements

All Of Us Are Dead | 지금 우리 학교는 (2022)

This is another zombie series for Netflix that rose to the top streaming, even more so than the hit series, Squid Games. It is an adaptation of the popular webtoon of the same name and are now one of the biggest Korean horror TV-Series. A seemingly normal day at school that ends in an international disaster as a rabid zombie outbreak starts from the schools science lab. The student quickly learn that they are all on their own and must escape so not turn to one of the living dead. This is a gory series that doesn’t shy away from blood, violence and deeply flawed human beings with a twist on the zombie lore.

NB! Confirmed for more seasons!

Advertisements

Hotel Del Luna | 호텔 델루나 (2019)

A series that managed to balance the campy romantic side of classic k-dramas with the gory horror of ghost is Hotel Del Luna and not purely a Korean horror TV-Series. Although the plot is not that terrifying, some of the characters and ghosts in the hotel definitely are. Super Idol K-Pop star IU stars as the greedy CEO, Man Wol, for a hotel that only caters to the dead to help them cross the bridge to the afterlife. Chan Sung is forced to manage the hotel as his father sort of sold him of to Man Wol as a child. And together they have to manage the hotel together as well as solve the mystery as to why Chan Sung keeps reminding Man Wol of her ex that betrayed her many years ago.

Advertisements

Sell Your Haunted House | 대박부동산 (2021)

If nothing else, this is a great business idea. Ji Ah runs the company, Deabak Realty, specialising in selling haunted houses. A handy thing as she got her exorcism abilities from her mother (who btw haunts her daughter). She needs an assistant and meets the conman In Beom. He specializes in selling stuff that apparently exorcises ghosts, although it’s mostly junk. But together they team up to sell houses, exorcise vengeful spirits and deal with their pasts filled with sorrow in this action packed Korean horror TV-Series. 

Advertisements

Bring It On, Ghost | 싸우자 귀신아 (2016)

The cuter entry on the list is Bring it on, Ghost. Although it contains its fair share of ghosts, gore and dead cats so it falls into the Korean horror TV-Series. The series certainly hit its audience, and there is already a Thai adaption of the series. A college boy works as an exorcist part time. On a job he faces a teenage ghost that he accidently kisses, making her regain some part of her memory she searches for in the afterlife. Together they try to piece together the mystery behind her death as well as the strange stuff happening around the college he attends.

Advertisements

Kingdom | 킹덤 (2019)

The mega series helped turn the tide for Korean horror TV-Series and certainly the interest in Korean zombies. A mysterious illness has befallen the king in a fictionalized version of Korea in the Joseon area. The illness of zombification is spreading throughout the kingdom and the crown prince travels out from the castle to solve the mystery behind his father’s ailment. Out there he finds a kingdom in disarray and hoards of zombies threatening the whole kingdom he was born to protect. With its two season wrapped story it looks like this is the whole of it, but with sidequel/prequel like movies like Kingdom: Ashin of the North, and the original cartoon with its specials, who is to say this is the end of the franchise?

Advertisements

Sweet Home | 스위트홈 (2020)

This monster flick is truly on testosterone with the most crazy characters and designs for monsters roams freely in this damp and shabby residential building. This Korean horror TV-Series is based on the famous korean webtoon. A strange virus that turns humans to monsters has taken over the world. In a residential building a reclusive teen lives in isolation. But as the dangers of the virus threathernes everyone around him, he must come out of his shell and help fight back for the human survival.

Advertisements

The Guest |  손 (2018)

A young shaman, Yoon Hwa Pyung, learns about the demon named “son”, (meaning guest) in this Korean horror TV-Series from 2018. The demon is a danger to everyone and leaves a trail of corpses. The young shaman meets up with a catholic guy and the daughter of a detective when their families are killed by a demon. Twenty years later they meet up again when the killings start once again. This time, to work together to bring down the demon.

Advertisements

Possessed | 빙의 (2019)

A classic detective meets a medium to hunt down criminals in this Korean horror TV-Series. They meet when the detective is working a case and he immediately takes an interest in her. With both of their abilities, they start to solve cases together. One of the more divisive shows as many watchers found the k-drama way to dark for their expectations and for some it was right up their alley. Decide for yourself.

Advertisements

Missing: The Other Side | 미씽: 그들이 있었다 (2020)

This is one of those rare cases were a k-drama actually gets a sequel with a second season confirmed. The first season started with a small village named Duon Village, that holds the spirits of missing and deceased people were they gather. A group of a fraud man, detective, a hacker and a mysterious man teams up to solve the mysteries behind the strange village and to find the missing people.

Advertisements

Night Watchman’s Journal | 야경꾼일지 (2014)

One cannot complete a k-drama list without a historical drama on the list from the Joseon period, that is the law! And here comes the Night Watchman’s Journal in as a ghostbuster story in hanbok in this Korean horror TV-Series. With the backdrop of the royal palace, a group of guys spends their time fighting demons and vengeful spirits as well as dealing with the living trying to usurp the king.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

References

Uncategorized

5 Horror Movies with Kick Ass Black Characters

Leave a comment
Advertisements

Can we say that Jordan Peele with his two movies, Get Out and Us, made his mark on horror cinema? Yes, I think we really can. His fine line of horror, social commentary and comedy is so well balanced it makes us wonder what the hell we were watching before. And it also have given a voice to black people through the genre as well as killing some tired tropes of black people dying pretty fast. So, here are some other horror movies that came before with some kick ass black protagonists in them.

Night of the living dead (1968)

With: Duane Jones

Director George A. Romero’s classic, Night of the living dead, turned cinema upside down. He was a pioneer in many ways. That includes iconifying the zombies, casting a black man as his starring role, and letting him be the bad ass survivor that he was. It seems stupid by calling that a pioneer, but that is the stupid world we live in. In any case, the role of Ben, played by Duane Jones is still some of the most kick-ass characters in one of the most kick-ass movies there is.

Synopsis: A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a bloodthirsty, flesh-eating breed of monsters who are ravaging the East Coast of the United States. Who knows what would have happened if the horror genre just continued to treat their black characters like this?

Advertisements

28 days later (2002)

With: Naomie Harris

Director Danny Boyle, claims he didn’t set out to make a zombie movie, but no matter what his intentions were, he ended up with reinventing the whole genre. On the DVD commentary, Boyle explains that, with the aim of preserving the suspension of disbelief, relatively unknown actors were cast in the film. Cillian Murphy had starred primarily in small independent films, while Naomie Harris had acted on British television as a child. It is perhaps weird to think of her as a relative unknown actress today, but hey, the movie is a couple of years old, and Naomie Harries looks and kick-ass as she did back then. As the kick ass Selena, she is the one character that got the comic book spin off and that the audience follows. (Heads up: Most of the zombie-characters that are actually great and memorable are black. Remember Ben, Selena and Michonne. Whatever that is a metaphor for, I think we will leave to the reader.)

Synopsis: Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Advertisements

I am legend (2007)

With: Will Smith

A lot of white actors were considered to play the lead role, including Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Ted Levine. It was after all what could be called: A confirmed white man. Whatever that mean, whatever, whatever. But it went to Will Smith when Francis Lawrence directed the movie, and gave way of putting many black characters in a blockbuster horror movie. As it should as Will Smith is sort of the only great thing about this movie. (Not to say I don’t like it, but…)

Synopsis: Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure in this post-apocalyptic action thriller.

Advertisements

Gothika (2003)

With: Halle Berry

Yes, they did try to give Halle Berry a razzie for this role. But it is still alive and kicking on various streaming sites, and it is Halle Berry, so it makes the list. Her role was of a kick-ass, well educated black woman that saves the day and herself (of a white man’s oppression if we read into it a bit.) It is worth watching the movie if only for that fact, even if the script is a bit… well, silly…

Synopsis: A depressed female psychiatrist wakes up as a patient in the asylum where she worked, with no memory of why she is there or what she has done.

Advertisements

Seven (1995)

With: Morgan Freeman

It might be more of a thriller than a horror actually, but it got Morgan Freeman in it, so hey! It is also so well received and made, it needs to be remembered. And I don’t think I need to tell anybody about how kick-ass Freeman is, it’s just the most unnecessary thing, we all know, he played GOD for heavens sake!

Synopsis: Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts

pop-culture, Ukategorisert

5 Funny Zombie Movies

1 Comment
Advertisements

Yes, in these times, zombie movies are all the rage as well as pandemic movies. And they sort of belong together, don’t they? But we also need to laugh, so here are five funny zombie movies, to fill the zombie cravings of the times, but also that can make the trying days a bit more funny than they in reality are.

Shaun of the dead (2004)

This movie has become somewhat of iconic. It’s directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote it with Simon Pegg. The film stars Pegg and Nick Frost as mates Shaun and Ed that leads very uneventful lives. The Londoners are caught in an apocalyptic zombie uprising and attempt to take refuge in a local pub with their loved ones. The film co-stars Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton.

The movie doesn’t get any more British than this, and the zombie apocalypse have never before been as polite as here. It is the first installment in Wright and Pegg’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World’s End (2013).

Advertisements

Dead Snow (Død snø) (2009)

If you feel in the more culty corner, of something more low budget and with subtitles, we recommend Dead Snow. This movie from 2009 is a Norwegian comedy horror film directed by Tommy Wirkola, starring Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen.

The film centers on a group of students surviving a zombie Nazi attack in the mountains of Norway. A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies. The premise of the film is similar to that of the draugr, a Scandinavian folkloric undead greedily protecting its (often stolen) treasures.

Advertisements

Warm bodies (2013)

American paranormal romantic zombie comedy film. (phu, say that five times out loud). It’s written and directed by Jonathan Levine and based on Isaac Marion‘s novel of the same name. The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, and John Malkovich.

After a highly unusual zombie saves a still-living girl from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

Advertisements

Zombieland (2009)

This is also turned into an instant classic and is a post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer in his theatrical debut. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin as survivors of a zombie apocalypse.

The film follows a geeky college kid making his way through the zombie apocalypse, meeting three strangers along the way and together taking an extended road trip across the Southwestern United States in an attempt to find a sanctuary free from zombies.

Advertisements

Pride and prejudice + zombies (2016)

Do we love Jane Austen? Yes! Do we love zombies? Yes! Do they fit together? Absolutely! This movie is based on Seth Grahame-Smith‘s 2009 novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

It parodies the 1813 novel by Jane Austen. Following the plot, but with a dash of zombies and were Elizabeth Bennett is trained in martial arts.

The film is directed by Burr Steers, who wrote the adapted screenplay, and stars Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, and Lena Headey.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts