Here is something very cool: a review of the Star Wars zombie book Death Troopers by my friend Misfitboy. I appreciate that he took the time to write this up! Enjoy.

A LONG, LONG, TIME AGO… IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY . . . George A. Romero and George Lucas intertwined like a bastardized Siamese twin. (Well, not really but if they did) the result would be STAR WARS – DEATH TROOPERS.

First off, I am a fan of the original Star Wars films but I have to admit, I was not a big enough fan to read all the books that followed the first 3 films. I first heard about this book on the Midnight Podcast and to be honest it didn’t really peak my interest much (big mistake on my part.) I read some reviews and a lot of people were saying “Oh, it’s not Star Wars, it’s too violent and gory for this type of book. Now that peaked my interest. So I was fortunate to stumble across the audio book. I was NOT disappointed! Zombies and Star Wars? I’m on board!

No Luke Skywalker or jedis in this book — as a matter of fact the only original characters in this book are Han Solo and his faithful sidekick Chewbacca. There are references to Darth Vader from time to time but that’s about it. My thoughts on that: “Who cares?” This book is a classic horror novel that peaks your interest around chapter 8, grips your ears and does not let go until the end! Anyway, the story.

2 teenage brothers, a female doctor, 2 smugglers and a sadistic imperial guard are on board the “Purge,” a prison vessel carrying the scum of the galaxy. It has thruster problems and is in need of desperate repairs. Out in space not far away is an abandoned star destroyer. A group is formed to board the vessel for much-needed parts for immediate repairs. There is no sign of life on board. While searching the vessel one soldier sees something on board but never gets the chance to tell anyone about it. Eventually on their return to the Purge it becomes clear that there was something on board, a deadly virus that the empire had been working on for some time that wiped out the entire crew of the destroyer. On their return to the purge, some of the men start coughing and become ill. Within hours the virus spreads throughout the ship infecting all species on board. Now, there is a slow build of characters at the beginning but that’s to be expected. Only a few are immune to the virus, and soon guards and prisoners start dying off quickly. The 2 teenage brothers are in a cell and are released by a guard who feels sorry for them due to their age. He dies shortly after. Dead bodies litter the ship, and it’s described in gruesome fashion at times. Eventually the bodies disappear. But not for long. The brothers make it to solitary confinement where they meet Han and Chewie. At this point death is just the beginning. The dead soldiers and prisoners come back to life hungry for flesh. And the battle for survival begins.

Now I don’t want to give too much away and ruin such a well-written story. But I will say the zombies in the book are like the ones in Land of the Dead. Eventually they start to learn, as in using weapons, climbing, etc. Don’t let this turn you off in any way! It really works for the book. Now my only problem with it is the end is a little weak, but when the dead eat people, it is described if full gory detail.

I really enjoyed this book. If you can find the audio book, it’s packed with great sound effects, ships soaring through space, blasters, etc. I would recommend the audio book with high ratings. It helps to picture a film inside your head and almost makes you feel like you’re on board with the survivors! So if I were to rate this from 1 to 10 I would have to give it a high 8. Thanks to Corey goes out (as always) for letting me ramble about one more little gem I came across. This is misfit boy and I’m out!

Someone recommended the movie Big Man Japan (2007) to me out of the blue. I’d never heard of it, but I was told that I would probably enjoy it. Yesterday I gave it a watch, and it was far from what I expected.

The film follows a “common” Japanese man. A film crew is conducting a series of interviews as he goes about his normal daily activities. He’s struggling to make rent, separated from his wife, and only gets to see his daughter once a month. He’s somber and contemplative.

Oh yeah — he also tends to grow into a 50-foot mutated version of himself to fight off enormous invading monsters, protecting his fellow citizens from the monster threat.

The film catches the “King of Pain,” as he is nicknamed, on a sort of downward spiral. He comes from a long line of this kind of fighters — his father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc., were all giant monster fighters. In the past decades, they were highly respected, achieving fame and fortune as protectors. However, he has come to be shunned by the Japanese, and can’t seem to do anything right. It’s obvious that he’s depressed, and the desire to continue fighting is lost by the end, in which he slips into a weird delirium fueled by alcohol and disillusionment.

This movie is mostly done in the style of a reality/documentary film, but the fighting scenes are all cinematic. Apparently, his fights are televised, and the sponsors are paying the Big Man’s salary. Of course, all the monsters (including the giant King of Pain himself) are all done using CG — not with rubber suits, like I expected. Well, until the end, anyhow.

The CG worked for me. This may be surprising to you, being that I’m generally turned off by CG. The reason is that it wasn’t trying to pass computer-generated animation as real. The filmmakers didn’t attempt to combine live shots with CG. It gave a real fantasy quality to the fighting scenes.

Even more importantly is that this is a spoof. It’s making fun of traditional giant monster movies, exploring the element of the common man dealing with giant monsters. It’s yet another reason why the CG works — it’s not serious at all, despite the fact that there are some serious moments in the film (depression, divorce, etc.).

The monsters are highly original. The screeching, elastic monster with a combover. The monster whose single giant eye is attached via a very long umbilical cord. The passive monster who does nothing except block traffic and emit strange smells. I loved them all!

Some short-attention-span viewers of Big Man Japan will be driven crazy by the pacing. It’s slow and thoughtful, characteristic of a lot of Asian films. Moments are drawn out in a poetic way, leaving the viewer to dwell on the implications of the scene. The viewer is encouraged to drawn his/her own conclusions — it’s not all spelled out for you. The story of the Big Man is pieced together throughout the entire film, which is another point that may frustrate some. Things that seem confusing or unclear are often resolved later in the film. The key word here is patience, and a lot of people may not have it.

It’s rated PG-13, which is pretty stiff. I would let extremely young children watch this, as there is no foul language, nudity, or violence. Maybe a couple small trickles of blood, and a good bit of fighting. I guess the only problem that very young children would have in viewing this is that it’s subtitled.

I really liked Big Man Japan. What a great film. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it goes deeper than a lot of other movies. It’s saying something about modern societies that love nothing more than to praise and lift up heroes and celebrities, only to delight in dragging them back down to the depths of loathing and scandal.

If you get the chance, pick this one up. I give it an 8/10.

This afternoon I decided to watch a movie I haven’t seen since college: Over the Edge (1979). And I forgot how much I love this film.

It’s about junior high school-age youth whose parents have moved them into a planned community (subdivision) in the middle of nowhere. With nothing to do, and with their parents obsessed with their careers and attracting buyers to the community, the kids are left with nothing to do. Their only entertainment is a private recreation center. When the bored kids drink, take drugs, and engage in crime, the parents and police neglectfully point their fingers at the youth. They’re just a bunch of bad kids, right?

That kid on the left is Matt Dillon. Seriously.

In their quest for making money in their new planned community, the parents and law enforcement are leaving nothing for the youth to become involved in. Naturally, they’re going to do destructive things if they’re bored and neglected. And the kids revolt, locking their parents and police in the school during a what-are-we-going-to-do-about-these-bad-kids meeting. Destruction ensues.

If you get a chance, watch this movie. Brilliance.

In the past couple weeks, I’ve been watching everything but zombie movies — with one exception. Most of these are ones I’m planning on reviewing at some point for various podcasts.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007)
I probably wouldn’t have given this one a chance if it weren’t for the bubbly exciting review given by my friends on the Horror Etc. podcast.

White Zombie (1932)
I’ve seen this one many times. It’s the only zombie movie I’ve watched lately, and it’s one of the best.

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)
Well, I watched most of this. However, the antics of confused, irate podcasters interrupted my viewing of this fine film. But I’m pretty sure I got the gist of what this one has to offer. To be fair, I’ll probably give it another shot.

Phantasm (1979)
Love this movie. Quite possibly the best plot ever. People call this a zombie movie, but I disagree — despite the fact that zombies are in it. Just because zombies appear in the movie, it doesn’t mean that it’s a zombie movie.

Drag Me To Hell (2009)
I finally saw this one. To be honest, I saw the TV trailers before it came out, and although I was excited that it was Sam Raimi, I wasn’t excited about what I saw. To me, it was just a lot of CG. However, I followed the rave reviews I’ve heard about it, and just bought the DVD. I’m glad I did.

Let the Right One In (2008)
One of my favorite vampire movies ever. I bought this DVD at the same time I bought Drag Me To Hell, at the recommendation of KruegerDude.

Them! (1954)
It was on Netflix Instant Watch, so I watched it. I love movies about giant creatures from this era, and these giant ants are classic.