In I Eat Your Skin, a publisher scoops up his prized playboy writer, Tom Harris, and takes him to Voodoo Island in hopes of jump-starting his next big seller. After seeing a zombie attack a woman on the island, Tom takes a greater interest in the goings on with the natives and a particular interest in Dr. Biladeau’s daughter, Jeannie. It seems that the natives believe the death of Jeannie will bring about prosperity on the island and Tom and Jeannie need to convince Dr. Biladeau to leave the island with them, but they soon find out how deep Dr. Biladeau is involved with the strange activity on the island.It’s tough for me to watch movies like I Eat Your Skin, being made in the era where women were portrayed as being of little use beyond being well manicured life support systems for their willing vaginas. The only women in this film are Tom Harris’ fawning, pawing and adoring fans hanging on every word that he recites from his cheesy romance novels, his publisher’s wife who he constantly flirts with in the presence of his publisher, Jeannie Biladeau who, doesn’t want to but, must fall for Tom Harris and his ever shirtless advances and then there’s the middle-aged black maid. It seems that the idea that a woman could be a anything but something to protect from danger, your trophy, your eye-candy, your fuck-hole, rather than someone to help you protect something or someone else from danger is beyond people of this era. For me this era in film is a black-eye that I’m rather appalled at having existed. This kind of crap usually casts an “I hate this movie” kind of shadow over the whole viewing. That said…I put this movie on at the bar where I was working and the patrons had a real hoot making fun of it and doing their own versions of Mystery Science Theater 3000 type commentary. The strikingly plastic visuals shown in I Eat Your Skin make easy sport for even the dullest of wit.
The zombies in I Eat Your Skin are pretty goofy looking, hardly scary. They seem to have started the make-up process with large, half-an-eggshell looking appliances over the eyes that give them a rather lo-fi bug look. Then they added some sort of texture to their faces, that gave the feel of dried mud, that extended past their necks and smoothed out on their exposed chests. They topped each zombie off with a sleeveless plaid shirt, worn open, with Bermuda shorts. The whole process is detailed at least twice in the movie during step-by-step dissolve transformation scenes that don’t exactly match up right. The funniest effect and probably the high-point of the film, was the use of a small plastic model of an island that they blew up. An island! Not a boat or a building or a train or a car, a whole damn island! It caps the film off quite nicely.
I Eat Your Skin is campy, goofy, 1960’s fodder for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 minded audience. It’s definitely good beer-drinkin’ party watchin’, but as a serious film it is severely lacking.
Right now over at Threadless.com you can vote for my Barrel of Zombies! t-shirt design and help me get it printed. That would be awesome. With enough votes, comments, and I’d buy it as a tee!’s, it could possibly be picked to be printed and available for the masses to wear. Perfect for the impending zombie apocalypse. Thanks for reading my little bit of self-promotion!
If you missed our story on last year’s event, here’s a link to our coverage.
Where do we draw the line on what is and what is not a zombie movie? We just can’t decide on our own, so every Monday we’ll post a new movie to be debated by, you, our readers and ask the question: Zombie Movie Or Not? Every Sunday we’ll post our findings and possibly strike that movie off our Zombie Movie List. The week should give you enough time to rent the movie if need be or you desire.
What every reader must keep in mind is that there are two basic types of zombie that every zombie movie based off of - the Voodoo Zombie and the Romero Zombie. The Voodoo Zombie, while not always raised by Voodoo necessarily, is basically a person, either undead or entranced, that is controlled by a person or entity for the purpose of completing tasks, often killing. Romero Zombies are basically mindless, flesh-eating undead whose bite will turn victims into zombies. Now, not all movies adhere to all of these rules, but if the basics are there, you got a zombie movie.
This weeks debate is over Mutant (1984) Directed by Jon “Bud” Cardos.
IS: They want to eat your flesh and their infection spreads just like zombies.
IS NOT: They’re just toxic waste induced mutants who can die any way a normal person can.
Now it’s up to you, reader. What do you think? Mutant: Zombie Movie Or Not?
The debate for Phantasm: Zombie Movie Or Not?, received 11 comments and 11 non-repeating votes. With 1 vote for and 10 votes against being a Zombie Movie, as far as this site is concerned, Phantasm is NOT a Zombie Movie.
Stay tuned for next week’s debate: Mutant: Zombie Movie Or Not?
The ZRC recently had the chance to ask Berserker Comics, publisher of the upcoming zombie comic The Dead: Kingdom of Flies (available this month), a few questions about making comics, working with great comic creators, and of course…their favorite zombie movie.
ZRC: Why zombies? Or really, WHY NOT?
Berserker Comics: We love the genre, It’s that simple.
ZRC: Where do you draw the inspiration for the zombies in The
Dead?
Berserker Comics: Being big zombie fans we have had lots of reference to work with. Our inspiration has come from our combined knowledge of zombie movies and stories. We
have tried to make a story for zombie fans by zombie fans.
ZRC: What would you do if zombies smashed into your studio?
Berserker Comics: Take down my trusty sword and start choppin!!
ZRC: What’s it like working with such an amazing group of creators?
Berserker Comics: Its a great experience to work with such professional people. We couldn’t ask
for a better team.
and lastly…
ZRC: What’s your favorite zombie movie?
Berserker Comics: The original Day of the Dead.
Sometimes it’s hard to find another zombie into the same types of stuff you’re into. We’ve all been there, but now’s there’s hope. Do you need the special type of person to love you for what you are (including your missing jaw and rotting flesh)? Then please visit ZombieHarmony. Good luck you crazy kids…
p.s. The link from the ZombieHarmony page will take you to a real dating site, so be warned!
Here’s the info:
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Time: 12:00pm - 2:30pm
Location: Vancouver Art Gallery
City/Town: Vancouver, BCThe Route:
Official route - walk time approx. 45 mins:The Gathering will begin at noon on Saturday at the Vancouver Art Gallery steps, (fountain side). The Walk will begin at around 1pm.
Mortuary is the story of a single mother moving herself, her teenage son and young daughter to a small Californis town to live in an old mortuary and make a business out of it. Upon arrival find see that the mortuary is in severe disrepair as it has been without occupants for several years. The mother (Denise Crosby) decides to make the best of it much to the chagrin of her teenage son, Jonathan (Dan Byrd), who meets the local bully in the first place he goes to find some food and a job, the local diner. He soon makes friends with a waitress there who tells him all of the creepy stories about his new house. She says that abusive parents, the Fowlers, kept their disfigured son, Bobby, prisoner in what turns out to be Jonathan’s room. Legend has it that Bobby killed his parents and lived in a tomb in the cemetery that is Jonathan’s backyard. Meanwhile, the mother begins getting business, which leads to a little blood on the floor, normal for a mortuary, except this blood attracts a rather ferocious fungus that creaps in from the drains. The local bully truns up missing after an altercation with Jonathan, but appears days later looking rather under the weather and coughing up black blood. Soon after, the dead arise and all hell breaks loose at the mortuary.
Mortuary is a fairly decent movie, far from the genius of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and probably not up to par with Tobe Hooper’s earlier works, but I had no problem sitting and watching until the end to find out what happened. The acting was good, the pacing worked to keep me interested and all the basic elements of a decent Hollywood movie were up to par.
The special effects make-up on the zombies was top shelf. The zombies looked great. But, some of the CGI effects looked like they were made in 1995 rather than 2005. You’d think, with a director like Tobe Hooper, there’d be some quality CGI, but it’s fairly dicey. Some of it works, unitl the creeping fungus was done by other means (i.e. Stop-Motion Animation?), but certain gags just come off as cartoony due to the poor CGI.
On the whole Mortuary is your run of the mill horror flick that’s mildly related to the zombie genre. I wouldn’t rush out to rent it, but I wouldn’t say don’t bother. You could do worse with 94 minutes on a Thursday night, but on Friday I’d hit the town if you’re so inclined. If you come across Mortuary, give it a watch and don’t expect the best, then you won’t be disappointed.
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