Zombie Pin up Corinne

We all like zombies right? C'mon the Walking Dead is the most popular show on AMC, hell on cable, hell on TV, and it's kinda sorta about zombies...occasionally. Well almost as much as we like zombies, America loves hot chicks, so what better than zombie hotties, zombie pinups.

So if you are feeling like maybe you could use a little rigor mortis in your pants, check out this zombie pin up competition. And while you are there cast a vote for my friend Corinne

Interview with Mike Pine of Zombie Girl Diary

UPDATE The teaser trailer for Zombie Girl Diary is now online, you can see it here


It seems like originality is more the exception than the norm in Hollywood now.  Studios are content to crank out sub par remakes and teen romances disguised as horror. The true horror fan finds himself looking more and more to independent and low budget films to find anything that isn’t a retread or a Twilight rip off.

The latest low budget horror film to come to my attention is Zombie Girl Diary by writer director Mike Pine.  According to the movies official Facebook page, Zombie Girl Diary is the story of a mother and daughter fighting to survive during the zombie apocalypse.  Along the way they encounter other survivors and come together to attempt to survive in a world turned upside down.

Zombies are all the rage right now, in large part due to the success of The Walking Dead, so Zombie Girl Diary should have a large potential fan base.  However The Walking Dead has also set the zombie bar pretty high.  While not all horror fans are crazy about the show, it is better than a lot of what we see in theaters.

The cast of Zombie Girl Diary includes the beautiful Vanessa Rae Bent as Sara, Tessa Wagaman as Sara’s mother, model Eliza Jayne as the zombie tree girl, and just announced Jimmyo  Burril, of the Chainsaw Sally show, as Mark.

Word is spreading about Zombie Girl Diary and I can’t wait to see it.  This week I sat down (figuratively, honestly I have just always wanted to say that) with director Mike Pine for a quick interview.

Lord Dixie: So what about Zombie Girl Diary sets it apart from other films in the zombie genre?

Mike Pine: Well I am taking it in a way I really haven’t seen before where all the zombies have to follow the rules of nature. Like in winter they freeze and in the hotter months they decay faster and die.

LD:  So are these slow zombies, fast zombies or a combination?  I have heard the natural rules aka rigor mortis, rot, etc. used in arguments for both sides.

MP:  A little of both faster for the ones that just turned and slower for the ones that have been turned for a while.

LD:  Will the for the most part follow the "Romero rules" head shot to kill, eating flesh vs. just craving brains?

MP: Well yes head shot to kill, eating flesh, but it might not have to be from the living, and that’s where I will leave that.

LD:  Fair enough and you have me interested in that. Actually that’s something that always bugged me about zombies, but I will wait till I see the film and we can discuss it.

 So what movies influenced you and what is your favorite horror or zombie movie?

MP:  Well a lot of movies.  Of course all of the Romero films, Dawn of the Dead is one of my favorites, as well as the Phantasm films, and I could just go on and on.

LD:  So where are you at in production, and when can we expect to see Zombie Girl Diary?

MP:  We start filming next month and should be released later this year.

Hopefully I can catch up with Mike again once filming is underway and chat more about the film.   But for now be on the lookout for Zombie Girl Diary and help support independent horror.  It’s where it’s at!

Find out more at the official Facebook page.

The Dead (2011)

The Dead (2011)

In film today it seems the only thing more common than remakes, is the idea of putting a “new spin” on something. Hollywood isn’t content to follow the basic rules but has to reinvent and have a fresh take on a subject. While that isn’t always bad it does at times create cinematic atrocities like Twilight and House of the Dead. With the 2011 zombie move The Dead, doesn’t bother with a new spin. It is classic hand biting, bullet to the head Romero style zombie goodness. Those looking for a return to classic zombie fare should look no further than The Dead. In my opinion it’s the best Romero zombie film since Dawn of the Dead.

That’s right I am saying it’s more of a classic zombie film than several of the master’s latest works. Land and Survival both introduced elements of zombie evolution not present in Romero’s older works. While Diary and Day of the Dead were straight up Romero zombie films, The Dead is a better film than either of those. Visually it reminds me a lot of Day of the Dead with similar feasting, however it doesn’t linger on the “cannibalism” quite as long. Still, and I make take heat from Romero fans, the acting is far superior to anything in Day of the Dead. Day has reached cult status, and has a legion of fans but you have to admit the acting and some of the dialogue is pretty cheesy. There is no cheese, and very little if any humor in The Dead. This is zombie survival at its very best. It follows the Romero rules and it’s full on zombie apocalypse, on a very personal level.

Set in Africa, the story focuses on American Air force Engineer Brian Murphy who is on the last evacuation from war torn West Africa. Engine failure along with the death and reanimation of a passenger causes the plane to crash off the coast and Murphy is the sole survivor (there is one other possible survivor who runs off, just for any purist who might call me). Alone and surrounded by the undead he embarks on a desperate trek to get back to his family and safety.

Along the way he runs into Sergeant Daniel Dembele, whose village was overrun by the undead. Dembele is AWOL and looking for his son who escaped the village. They forge an uneasy alliance as they fight their way north toward sanctuary and through hordes of the undead. Will they find what they are looking for or find that sanctuary is just an illusion.

The Dead takes the very best of early Romero and makes it new and refreshing. Set in the beautiful but stark landscape of Africa. It’s the story of two men brought together by fate and the zombie menace. They are hardly friends to begin, in fact Dembele considers Murphy little more than an invader, with but they grow to respect each other. As they go north their trek becomes more futile and desperate, leading to an end that is both sad and poignant.

There is so much to like about this film. Romero fans will drool in joy at The Dead’s shambling hordes. Like the zombies in Dawn and Night of the Living Dead the horror comes not from the speed or strength of the zombies, but in the inevitability of them. They may be slow but they keep coming. They are legion, and everyone who does joins their ranks. They won’t chase you down, they don’t have too. That is the true horror of the zombie film. There is no escape. Wherever you go, you will find the dead.
Once again the only way to stop them is to shoot them in the head. No one ever says it in the film they just do it. That’s how it should be with zombies and The Dead stays true to the rule.
While the film might not be a gore fest, neither does it shy away from bloodshed. It keeps it bloody but in realistic amounts. The scenes of feeding zombies are the best and bloodiest since Day of the Dead in any zombie movie. Day had gorier, longer shots, but the scenes in The Dead were hardly tame. If anything they were more realistic, as the dead bit into hands, feet, and abdomens.

The protagonists end up fighting not only the zombies, but the environment, while also avoiding the local military, which forces them into more inhospitable environs. The politics never get heavy handed, we get hints of the resentment of Dembele toward the Americans, we see the poverty and waste of war but the filmmakers never preach to us. They just let us take it in and make our own decisions about what is happening in Africa.

What really makes it special is that we grow to care for both these characters. Neither one is in control of the situation. Both are pawns in their own way to forces way beyond them. Dembele is just a soldier, now AWOL to search for his son. Murphy is as he says “just an engineer, when things break I fix them.” These are throw away characters, not carbon copy stereotypes; these are people who could very well be any one of us. Just two lost men in a world gone mad, and when one of them loses their struggle we grieve for him.

In a film like The Dead a happy ending would be a betrayal. There is no betrayal here. The ending is as apocalyptic as they come. Neither of our heroes manage to accomplish their goal, though there is closure. A sad, realistic, inevitable closure, but anything else would have felt false. The Dead ends as it has to end, with the end. I don’t expect a sequel and honestly don’t hope to see one. That last scene said it all, it said enough.

RIP Bill Hinzman

Just a quick farewell to a man who gave me and so many others such wonderful nightmares.  The "first" zombie in a film that would redefine the genre, and redefine horror.  Rest in Peace Bill

Zombie Golf!

Nothing goes better with golf than zombies. Well at least not for golfing horror fans. While I'm not a gofer myself I can recognize a unique opportunity for the golf enthusiast. Now what could be better than a zombie golf fest? Or would that be a golfing zombie fest? Whichever you prefer, what makes it even better is that all the proceeds go to charity.


Scares That Care is a charity that raises money to support various charities for sick kids. It was founded by Independent filmmaker Joe Ripple as a way to bring horror fans, and those involved in the horror business together for a common cause. The common cause to support sick kid and their families. Hopefully one day we can make childhood illness just a horror story on the big screen. Just a myth. Until that day I urge you to support Scares That Care and if you love golf and you love zombies, or even if you just want to putter around, check out the Scares That Care Zombie Golf Tournament

Jesus was a zombie

Not trying to offend any sensitive folk. Just enjoy for the season

Horror Hottie Anna Falchi

Anna Falchi is best known to horror fans from the 1994 zombie  film Cemetery Man with Rupert Everett.  Know in Italy under the original and more poetic name of Delamortre Delamore, the voluptuous role of  She the love interest ( actually interests) of Everett the Cemetery's engineer.  Delamorte Delamore is a wonderful, yet abstract mind bending film, but what really bends your mind is the delectable Anna.  Check her out.

Pictures from The Walking Dead on AMC

Just a couple of pictures from the new Walking Dead series on AMC directed by Frank Darabont and based on the classic comic series

Coming soon from george Romero!