Movies
Book Review: ‘Zombie High Yearbook ’64’
Now available at book stores everywhere from Sterling is award-winning author and Chicago native (I like him already) Jeff Busch’s “Zombie High Yearbook ’64”, a book that literally blew Ryan Daley’s mind. Before posting this review, I quickly hit up Amazon and ordered myself a copy.
Printed in blood-spattered black and white, this tribute to high school yearbooks of old is hilarious in its attention to period detail even as it celebrates the 1960s “afterlifestyle.” The civil rights upheavals of the early ’60s saw the dawn of a new, all-inclusive attitude for the nation’s youth, whether living or life-challenged. Jeff Busch captures this dynamic moment in an all-American zombie high school, when a generation of young revenants looked forward to a brighter tomorrow, filled with college, career, and family. And brains-lots and lots of brains….
As zombie-themed pop culture has slowly cannibalized the new decade, it has become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between blatant zombie cash-ins and the real zombie deal. Somewhere between the eerily legitimate World War Z and the glacially-paced hucksterism of AMC’s The Walking Dead lies Jeff Busch’s uncannily realistic Zombie High Yearbook `64, a flagrant zombie cash-in that still oozes so much damned creativity, it’s an essential addition to the coffee table of any true Zombie Lover.
Artist Jeff Busch has copy-set the book in a haunting black-and-white, and having seen my father’s high school yearbooks from the same era, I can attest that Zombie High Yearbook `64 looks exactly like the real thing. Busch has devoted sections of the yearbook to every aspect of zombie high school in the 60s, from “Clubs and Organizations”, to “Student Personalities”, even a macabre “Athletics” section, each staggered with loads of candid zombie photos. Many pages, like “Social Events: Enchantment Under the Earth” or “Support Staff: Disposal Detail” are spattered with clever, hand-written zombie captions. (One of my favorite pages is titled “Samhain Festival”, and features photos of several undead students gathered around a bonfire, with the sloppily-written caption reading “Oops! Too close,” as the bottom photo reveals that a few of the zombies have been inadvertently set ablaze.)
Although I thoroughly enjoyed Busch’s book, I was still left with a couple of questions. First, considering the subject matter, why did he choose to set the book in black-and-white rather than glorious, gruesome color? Second, if you insist on setting your zombie yearbook in the mid-60s, why not 1968, the year Night of the Living Dead was released?…..But with a book this cool, who am I to question Busch’s creative instincts? Much of his black-and-white imagery is unquestionably beautiful.
In any case, I flaunted Zombie High Yearbook `64 at a recent poker night, and everybody in attendance seriously dug it. Two friends immediately ordered it online. Simply put, if you’re someone who loves this sort of shit (and you know who you are), it’s the sort of insanely clever tome you NEED to own. Admirably genuine and profoundly amusing, it’s a masterful piece of zombie gimmickry. As zombie Principal Irwin DeBold states at the close of his sentiments, “Si vos reprehendo is edo caput capitis primoris!*”
*”If you catch them, eat the brain first.”
4.5/5 Skulls
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At the Abigail premiere, Dan Stevens listed Norway among his four favorite vampire movies. “I just saw a great movie recently that I’d never heard of,” he told Letterboxd. “A Greek film called Norway, about a vampire who basically exists in the underground disco scene in ’80s Athens, and he can’t stop dancing ’cause he’s worried his heart will stop. And it’s lovely. It’s great.”
You won’t find a better endorsement than that, but allow me to elaborate. Imagine Only Lovers Left Alive meets What We Do in the Shadows by way of Yorgos Lanthimos. The quirky 2014 effort follows a vampire vagabond (Vangelis Mourikis) navigating Greek’s sordid nightlife circa 1984 as he dances to stay alive. Not as campy as it sounds, its idiosyncrasies land more in the art-house realm. Stylized visuals, colorful bloodshed, pulsating dance music, and an absurd third-act reveal help the existentialism go down in a mere 74 minutes.
With the recent solar eclipse renewing public interest in the astrological event, Bloody Birthday is ripe for rediscovery. Three children born during an eclipse – Curtis Taylor (Billy Jayne, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose), Debbie Brody (Elizabeth Hoy), and Steven Seton (Andrew Freeman) – begin committing murders on their 10th birthday. Brother and sister duo Joyce (Lori Lethin, Return to Horror High) and Timmy Russell (K.C. Martel, The Amityville Horror) are the only ones privy to their heinous acts.
Bloody Birthday opened in 1981 mere weeks before the release of another attempt to claim the birthday slot on the slasher calendar, Happy Birthday to Me. Director Ed Hunt (The Brain) combines creepy kid tropes that date back to The Bad Seed with slasher conventions recently established by Halloween and Friday the 13th – with a little bit of the former’s suspense and plenty of the latter’s gratuity. The unconventional set up helps it to stand out among a subgenre plagued by banality.
Starting in the late ’70s and throughout the ’80s, Italy built an enterprise out of shameless rip-offs of hit American movies. While not a blatant mockbuster like Cruel Jaws or Beyond the Door, 1989’s Alien from the Abyss (also known as Alien from the Deep) was inspired by – as you may have guessed from its title – Alien, Aliens, and The Abyss.
After a pair of Greenpeace activists attempt to expose an evil corporation that’s dumping contaminated waste into an active volcano, the environment takes a backseat to survival when an extraterrestrial monster attacks. Character actor Charles Napier (The Silence of the Lambs) co-stars as a callous colonel overseeing the illicit activities.
Director Antonio Margheriti (Yor: The Hunter from the Future, Cannibal Apocalypse) and writer Tito Carpi (Tentacles, Last Cannibal World) take far too long to get to the alien, but once it shows up, it’s non-stop excitement. The creature is largely represented by a Gigeresque pincer claw that reaches into the frame, giving the picture a ’50s creature feature charm, but nothing can prepare you for its full reveal in the finale.
Set against the backdrop of displaced Syrian and Palestinian refugees, What Is Buried Must Remain is a timely found footage hybrid from Lebanon. It centers on a trio of young filmmakers as they make a documentary in a decrepit mansion alleged to be haunted on the outskirts of a refugee camp. Inside, they find the spirits of those who died there, both benevolent and malicious.
It plays like Blair Witch meets The Shining through a cultural lens not often seen in the genre. The first half is presented as found footage (with above-average cinematography) before abruptly weaving in more traditional film coverage. While the tropes are familiar, the film possesses a unique ethos by addressing the Middle East’s plights of the past and the present alike.
Cathy’s Curse is, to borrow a phrase from its titular creepy kid, an “extra rare piece of shit.” The Exorcist, The Omen, and Carrie spawned countless low-budget knock-offs, but none are as uniquely inept as this 1977 Canuxploitation outing. Falling squarely in the so-bad-it’s-good camp, it’s far more entertaining than The Exorcist: Believer.
To try to make sense of the plot would be futile, but in a nutshell, a young girl named Candy (Randi Allen, in her only acting role) becomes possessed by the vengeful, foul-mouthed spirit of her aunt, destroying the lives of anyone who crosses her path. What ensues is a madcap mélange of possession, telekinesis, teleportation, animal attacks, abandoned plot points, and unhinged filmmaking that must be seen to be believed.
Visit the SCREAMBOX Hidden Gems archives for more recommendations.
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