Zom-B Mission

Darren Shan’s Zom-B series has its habit of being interesting one book then close to boring the next.

And yet it seems like we may now be breaking that trend as the series gets closer to the end, which is still pretty much unclear. This book continues on with the interesting after the last one’s turns of surprising events.

3 months after the whole boat fighting incident, B is sent on a mission with a group of Angels to safely deliver a group of human survivors to a human settlement just outside of London. But things don’t go according to plan, which is to be expected in the zombie apocalypse.

These books are great for their easy readability. The flow of the story makes  the shocking moments that bit more unexpected. Let’s just say you should expect a surprise attack from a friend, killer dogs and birds and clever ways of getting over a rather tall wall.

The gore levels are very much the invention of Shan, with such fight scenes involving zombie fingers pushed through the skull. It is gratifying for a writer such as Darren Shan to finally write a series about zombies, as opposed to his two other series about vampires and demons, with the demon series very briefly depicting a zombie, with it being a rather memorable, gory moment. With this scene it did  leave people demanding more zombies from Shan.

And my favourite quotes from this book are:

• “‘Don’t give yourself all the credit,’ I tell him, standing and pointing to the hole in the left side of my chest. ‘I was a heartless bitch long before I came here.'”
• ‘I doubt if you cried even when you came out of the womb.’

Hopefully we can continue the streak of interesting in this series from here on out. This whole story has every potential to have a great build up and a brilliant ending. Bring it on Mr Shan.

An 8.2 out of 10.

 

 

 

Zom-B Gladiator

At the beginning of 2014 Darren Shan released the sixth book in his Zom-B series: Zom-B Gladiator.

After B returns to County Hall to help the Angels with their mission, she finds herself out on a scouting trip with a group of Angels, which quickly turns for the worst when she gets captured by a familiar face. She is taken to the HMS Belfast on the Thames where she is forced into gladiatorial style games by a group of rich, inhuman humans, who call themselves the Board. Can she survive this grizzly new turn of events?

With this series as a whole I have noticed how each book fluctuates from the previous one. One book will have lots of action and questions answered, or more raised, the next one will be the opposite. For me, the last book had little happening in the way of story. But this one makes up for it, with its usual bout of gore, craziness and some rather controversial suggestions made by certain characters.

Some particular moments to look out for are the practise fight in the tunnel that gets a bit screwed up; B getting captured; B’s first gladiator style fight aboard the HMS Belfast for the Board; and finally B’s rescue from the cruiser, as this is a bunch of ewws, ahhs and awws in equal quantities! (Don’t judge me :P)

And my favourite quotes from this book are:

• ‘What have you sacrificed lately?’   ‘My sense of compassion.’
• ‘…bears the scar of hope.’
• ‘…but coincidence is a far more complex beast than most people give it credit for.’
• ‘They find the peaceful unity in death that is so rare in life.’
• ‘After the blows to his wedding tackle, I think death comes as a relative blessing.’
• ‘…chunk by chunky chunk.’
• ‘See you later, alligator.’   ‘It’ll be sooner than you’d like, crocodile.’
• ‘…he only kept you around in case he ever needed an organ transplant.’
• ‘…into the sunset (well, it’s not long after midday, but he’s earned a bit of poetic licence)…’
• ‘He looks like the cat that not only got the cream but a mouse-flavoured stick to stir it with.’
• ‘I might even hug a few of you beautiful buggers while I’m at it.’

We’re now half way through this series and I still do not have a clue where this series is gonna go. Overall this book is one of the better ones in the series, and here’s hoping the next one follows by example.

An 8.1 out of 10.

Zom-B Baby

Darren Shan released Zom B Baby, the fifth one in his Zom B series, in September of 2013.

After Dr Oystein’s revelation, B has trouble coming to terms with it and ends up leaving the Angels and striking out into the ruined city of London alone. Struggling to fit in with the other zombies she soon encounters an old friend… and an old nightmare. And, as ever, chaos quickly ensues.

I felt, just like with the last instalment, there was little action in this one. I do understand that this is a 12 book series so Shan has to stretch the storyline over the course of 12 books, but perhaps he could have spiced things up with a little more zombie action, gore or some other strange event.

However, he did introduce some bizarre and twisted moments that make you go ‘Waaaaa’… or other similar strange noises. Also he sets the scene beautifully. I actually love when B is out in the remains of the city of London, because Shan has a real knack for capturing an apocalyptic feel just through describing the environment, yet simultaneously capturing the beauty of such a world.

What do you mean I’m not making sense? I’m making perfect sense, you’re just not keeping up!

I do love Shan’s creativity and unique ability to create bizarre or different ideas and moments in the story also. Some particular examples of this, for me, are when B and Rage are having a race to climb up the London Eye; the skateboarding zombies and the idea that the dead retain some of who they once were; the strange demon baby, straight out of B’s old nightmares… back when she could sleep and dream of course; the zombies getting into the warehouse… poor Timothy the painter (will say no more on the matter); and finally the parade of zombies carrying the demon baby in its cot out of the warehouse. Like I said: bizarre and different!

And my favourite quotes from the novel are:

• ‘The Good Samaritan had nothing on me.’
• ‘We’ve all had to grow up since we died.’
• ‘If you were sent by God to paint the city as you find it, that nasty bugger was sent by the Devil to paint it black.’
• ‘There have been so many different religions over the years, so many truths. How can one be right and all the others wrong?’

Overall, though the book lacked action, it did throw up some interest by raising a few questions. Hopefully Shan can continue to surprise us with his bizarre take on the zombie apocalypse in the next instalment in the series and also answer some of these pesky questions he has brought to the fore in this one! Plus a little more gore and action please?

An 8.0 out of 10.

The Walking Dead Season 3

2012 saw the third season of the now acclaimed TV show The Walking Dead grace our screens (or at least America’s)  quantities of guts, gore and drama.

After being on the road, going around in circles for the winter, Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) group comes across a prison, riddled with the undead. Believing they can build new lives for themselves here, Rick and the group begin to clear out the prison of its rotten inmates. But it soon becomes clear that the walkers are not the only threat, when a nearby town, run by The Governor (David Morrissey), rears its head. Fight the dead, fear the living!

This series nearly had me in tears on a number of occasions with the amazing acting and well thought out, heart-breaking storylines. I have said it before about this show and I will say it again: this is story-telling and acting at its very best.

If all the emotion and plot twists aren’t enough expect some amazing zombie make-up and special effects, and plenty of gore of course! Added to that we also have some impressive fight scenes this season, what with the introduction to the kitana-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira).

The only bad thing to say about this series is its ending. The first half of the season finale was action packed, but the second half left me feeling unsatisfied somewhat.

However, this season is probably the best so far…. if that is even possible!

This series is made up of the following episodes:

• Seed
• Sick
• Walk With Me
• Killer Within
• Say the Word
• Hounded
• When the Dead Come Knocking
• Made to Suffer
• The Suicide King
• Home
• I Ain’t No Judas
• Clear
• Arrow on the Doorpost
• Prey
• This Sorrowful Life
• Welcome to the Tombs

Of those listed above the best episodes for me are ‘Sick’, ‘Killer Within’, ‘Say the Word’, ‘Made to Suffer’, ‘The Suicide King’, ‘Home’, ‘Clear’, ‘Arrow on the Doorpost’, ‘This Sorrowful Life’ and ‘Welcome to the Tombs’.

And my favourite quotes from this season are:

• ‘Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans.’ – T-Dog (IronE Singleton) – Sick
• ‘My shit never stopped being together.’ – Michonne – Walk With Me
• ‘No amount of training can prepare you for the world today.’ – The Governor – Killer Within
• *kills possum* ‘Hello dinner.’ – Daryl (Norman Reedus) – Say the Word
• ‘All this time running from walkers… you forget what people do… have always done.’ – Maggie  (Lauren Cohen) – Made to Suffer
• ‘I must be the first brother to want to break into a prison.’ – Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman)   ‘That makes me the first white boy who doesn’t want to break out.’ – Axel (Lew Temple) – The Suicide King
• ‘He had a real money problem.’ – Axel   ‘What kind of problem?’ – Carol (Melissa McBride)   ‘He wouldn’t lend me any!’ – Axel – Home
• ‘We’re eating his food now?’ – Rick   ‘The mat said “welcome”.’ Michonne – Clear
• ‘You gotta play the hand you’re dealt. I only got one.’ – Merle (Michael Rooker) – This Sorrowful Life
• ‘In this life you either kill or you die. Or you die and you kill.’ – The Governor – Welcome to the Tombs

Yeah I know guys: only one quote from Daryl! Yes I’m feeling fine thank you :P.

Somehow this show has managed to get better, in storyline, acting, gore and overall drama. Get the tissues ready guys, this ones a tear-jerker :(.

This series gets a massive 9.5 out of 10 from me for being so amazing!

Resident Evil: Extinction

In 2007 the third instalment in the Resident Evil film series was released from director Russell Mulcahy, entitled Resident Evil: Extinction.

After the events of Raccoon City, Umbrella’s attempt at containing the virus goes horribly wrong and the virus quickly engulfs the rest of the world, not just affecting humans, but plants and animals as well. We follow a group of survivors 5 years after Raccoon City as they struggle to find a safe haven in this barren and dead world, a group who are later joined by Alice (Milla Jovovich) herself. It soon becomes apparent that Umbrella are after her and she must get into their facility under the heart of the Nevada desert.

I love the story with this one, probably equally as much as I do with the second film, if not more so. It brings new ideas to the table about zombies and the virus passing on to animals and plants and it also lets us delve deeper into a world gone mad, really highlighting the relationships between characters.

Of course, those relationships are down to the brilliant acting of the cast. In fact, it’s safe to say in this one you get attached to characters real easy, whether old or new, only for them to be ripped away in a cruel death. I’m mentioning nobody in particular here *coughs* Carlos (Oded Fehr) *coughs*.

The special effects should also be commended. They just get more impressive, from flocks of ravens catching fire, to hordes of zombies from above, to even the small things like crossbow bolts firing. Truly spectacular and breath-taking.

In particular you should look out for the following scenes/moments: Alice kicking Eddie (Rusty Joiner) so hard in the jaw that she kills him (ouch and wow); Alice teaching the group of red-necks not to mess with her by using their own zombie dogs against them; Alice’s impressive long-range headshot on Stevie the zombie… with a crossbow… I believe this is what we call a ‘show-off’; Dr Isaacs (Iain Glen) trying to domesticate a zombie… it works up until the point where the zombie can’t fit the right shape into the correct hole and loses its temper (oh dear); Alice, in her sleep, accidentally levitating her bike (with her strange powers), then waking up, which makes the bike drop and break (she will need a new one now *sigh*); the attack on the convoy from the infected crows, who later get saved when Alice comes in and uses her power to burn the flock of the infected crows in a spectacular display of special effects; chaos in Las Vegas… there’s lots of death, but also a ton load of cool stunts and clever fight scenes; the mutated Dr Isaacs ripping out Slater’s (Matthew Marsden) eyes with his new tentacles; Carlos’ sacrifice… nothing else needs to be said on this one *sobs* apart from great special effects again with the big explosion *sobs again*; and finally Alice versus the mutated Dr Isaacs… very clever fight scenes, again with the good stunts and also very tense.

And my favourite quotes from this film are:

• *About a zombie they have just run over* ‘That was a juicy one, huh?’ – Otto (Joe Hursley)
• ‘Simply demanding results will not guarantee them.’ – Dr Isaacs
• ‘Climb the Eiffel Tower with a high-powered rifle. A few years ago that would have caused a stir.’ – Chase (Linden Ashby)

Overall, this storyline is spectacular, the characters more lovable and therefore this makes this movie that bit more emotional.

So an 8.8 out of 10.

Zom-B Angels

So I have taken a brief break from the Skulduggery Pleasant series to read a book that has just come out this month (June 2013). I am of course referring to Darren Shan’s new book in the Zom-B series: Zom-B Angels.

The fourth book in the series sees B finding a new group in the heart of London in County Hall… a group of revitalizeds like herself. Here, she finally starts getting some answers to how the zombie plague may have started, why she revitalized and who and what the twisted creature who calls himself Mr Dowling really is. But the truth isn’t exactly what any of us thought.

This book is the book where Shan slows down and really shows off his style of writing. Where it lacks gore and action, it makes up for in descriptions and reflection in an apocalyptic world. And we finally start to get some answers. Maybe there are a few questions still unanswered by the time you have finished, but you can guarantee that the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit into place.

However, I really wish that there were more gory scenes and a bit of action, just to spice things up. There is no Mr Dowling in this one, but Shan could still have added some more gory moments here and there. Don’t get me wrong, I get the need to slow down and start explaining things, but still…

Anyway, criticism aside, it’s still a good story and very readable. Some particular moments to watch out for are when B is in the Groove Tube, the Angels prank on B and the twins and Jakob’s story of becoming a revitalized… not only is it gruesome, but it’s very sad and very moving. Then there is the test that B is put through in Waterloo Station, which involves a lot of zombies and cool stunts. And then finally you have Dr Oystein’s story… again it is rather depressing.

My favourite quotes from this book are:

• ‘…and shake hands with the politely-spoken zombie.’
• ‘I’ve visited the great pyramids, Petra, the temples of Angkor Wat. Your bunghole doesn’t rank high on my list of must-sees.’
• ‘Boys always want to think that they’re able to do anything. We usually let them enjoy their fantasies. They’re happier that way and do less whining.’
• ‘That’s how bad things get when you’re that close to death. A Scotch egg becomes something special.’
• ‘And it’s not because I don’t want to be a hypocrite and say a prayer to a God I barely believe in. It’s because I figure what’s the point in saying any prayers for this broken, bloodied city of the ungodly dead?’
• ‘Truth is stranger than fiction…’

Overall, though this book did lack it’s normal bout of violence and gore, it did give us a lot of answers to some pressing questions and really starts to look at this dead world in general.

So that’s why it gets an 8.0 out of 10.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

In 2004, director Alexander Witt brought us the second instalment in the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

The story in this movie follows on directly after the events in the first one, with Alice (Milla Jovovich) wondering out into the destroyed streets of Raccoon City. We soon find out that the T-Virus escaped and there is no containing its spread. Alice must team up with a band of survivors if she, and they, are to escape out of the city alive.

For me, the Raccoon City storyline of the Resident Evil franchise has always been my favourite part of the storyline. So this film had to get it right. And it pretty much did.

This film is certainly bigger than the first film, with a city filled with zombies, military and police involvement, explosions going off and a ton more crazy fight scenes and gore.

The story itself is intense, the acting, as ever, superb and the special effects are just astounding. And did I mention the fighting? I did? Well, it needs a second mention, it’s that impressive.

Some scenes/moments to particularly look out for are the chaos on the bridge as the people of Raccoon City try to get out, the Lickers in the Raccoon City church, the zombies literally rising from the grave with some kick-ass fighting ensuing, Nemesis (Matthew G. Taylor) taking out 13 S.T.A.R.S members ’cause he’s bad-ass that way, the little kid zombies tucking into their meal (yikes), the zombie dogs in the school kitchen, Alice running down the side of a building, Alice versus Nemesis in hand to hand combat and finally the nuclear bomb explosion and the devastation it causes. Some of those amazing special effects I mentioned earlier.

And my favourite quotes from this film are:

• *Runs down a zombie* ‘GTA, mother f***er! Oh, yeah! Ten points!’ – LJ (Mike Epps)
• ‘Why haven’t we taken off?’ – Cain (Thomas Kretschmann)   *LJ appears from cockpit rather than the pilot* ‘Because I usually drive a Cadillac.’ – LJ

Overall, this story is brilliant and the whole film is a step up from the first film. A job well done.

An 8.8 out of 10.

Resident Evil

Back to zombie films now guys, and we are now going to look at a classic series of zombie movies, the Resident Evil series. The first one, simply entitled Resident Evil, was first brought out in 2002 by director Paul W.S. Anderson.

When the T-Virus escapes in the underground Umbrella facility the building’s control computer, the Red Queen (Michaela Dicker), goes homicidal and kills everyone in the building. 5 hours later, a group is sent down into the facility to deactivate the Red Queen, including a  woman named Alice (Milla Jovovich) who has no memory of what came before this group invading her house. But they will soon encounter the people killed by the computer system… and they aren’t exactly dead anymore.

The story behind this series just gets more grand and epic with each movie. But it’s nice to see where it all started off (in the film adaptations of course). It was a very tense, atmospheric film, with some promises of horror and action. A really fast-paced story, one that if you miss even a second of it could result in you not getting how it all pieces together!

The acting too was superb, with the zombie make-up mostly pretty good for its time. The only thing I can criticise is that with some of the more severe zombie making, like missing noses for instance, it looks like the effect were created through CGI, which doesn’t really work.

That aside, there were many brilliant moments throughout this movie, including the actual attack of the crazed building… this includes deadly gas, over-acting sprinklers and deathly elevators; the scene in the corridor with the death lasers… just ow; our first look at a zombie (like I said, pretty impressive make-up for its time); the zombie carrying an axe, as this is showing us that it was one of the staff killed in the beginning; the elevator full of zombies… poor JD (Pasquale Aleardi) didn’t stand a chance… and it’s another showing of the staff who died in the beginning; the zombie dogs… one of which gets a kick in the face from Alice (nicely done ma’am); the crawl and walk across the pipe with a sea of zombies below… one of those tense scenes I mentioned earlier; and finally the Licker on the train… lots of devastation!

And my favourite quotes from this film are:

• ‘You’re all going to die down here.’ – Red Queen
• ‘Get her off me before I stab her ass!’ – Rain (Michelle Rodriguez)
• ‘You’re going to have to work for your meal!’ – Kaplan (Martin Crewes)
• ‘Back… the f*** off.’ – Spence (James Purefoy)

Overall, this was a brilliant start to a series. A really tense, slightly jumpy in places, film that has made zombie-lovers the world over ooh in delight.

An 8.5 out of 10.

28 Weeks Later

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo brought us the sequel to 28 Days Later 5 years later in 2007, entitled 28 Weeks Later.

This film is set roughly around 7 months (aka 28 weeks, and hence the name of the film) after the Rage virus first breaks out, so roughly 6 months after the events of the first film. The US Army has moved in to Britain to clean up and repopulate the tiny island. But when they find another survivor, who seems to be immune to the virus, chaos erupts as the virus gets loose once more.

Often people say that sequels are rubbish, but in this case this film seems to be better than the first in most people’s eyes. In my eyes they are both around the same! (I’m awkward, sorry :P)

This film actually turned out to be gorier than its predecessor, but just as tense with the many running scenes and moments in the dark. What was definitely better were the special effects, as there was more opportunities for them to shine. The acting was good, the story pretty awesome and all done with less swearing than the first film! And my god do I sound old!

Some of the best moments you should watch out for in this film include the attack on the house in the beginning… as this is one of those tense moments I spoke of earlier, the moment where the two kids find their mother in their old abandoned house and Don (Robert Carlyle) getting infected… as this involves the classic poking out of eyes and just general madness and Don hitting himself. It’s actually very scary and brilliantly acted on Robert’s part. Also look out for the scenes where the people are locked in the room for their own protection, and, ironically, the Infected Don finds them and chaos ensues anyway, the US army napalming the streets of District 1… this is one of the moments where those special effects shine with all the explosions, fire and general destruction… and also the scene where Flynn (Harold Perrineau) uses his helicopter as a weapon against the Infected and loads of gory mess is made. Yay! Also look out for the rather upsetting scene with the gas and Doyle (Jeremy Renner)… this is only upsetting because it’s the gorgeous Jeremy *coughs and blushes slightly, but then sheds a tear*. And for the most tense scene of the movie look no further than the scene in the underground train station… mayhem and darkness equals scariness!

And my favourite quotes from this movie are:

• ‘Everything smelled of piss.’ – Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton)
• ‘Did I hear that code red or am I losing my shit?’ – Doyle

I loved this film just as much as I did the first instalment. Their were lovable characters… in particular Doyle *coughs again*… and the story, though simple, was executed perfectly.

So an 8.6 out of 10. (An extra 0.1 than its predecessor just for Jeremy Renner ;))

Warm Bodies

In 2013 Jonathan Levine brought us a twist to the zombie genre in the form of Warm Bodies.

When the zombie known only as R (Nicholas Hoult) meets Julie (Teresa Palmer) on a hunt he feels a strange urge to protect her. Soon a friendship forms between them that will change the rest of the undead as well. But the ‘Bonies’ aren’t having it and soon there will be war!

Another pleasant surprise of a film, one would probably go into this movie with a dash, if not a lot, of scepticism…particularly when one has heard reviews comparing it with Twilight, it being cute or a teen flick.

These reviews all make valid points of course… not all completely true however. It was cute, but in a way that humorously took the mick out of zombies. It was romantic and funny and sweetly charming, in the most bizarrely gory way imaginable (am I making sense yet?)

Because the film was told from the perspective of a zombie you actually connect with him… which is not something done often in the zombie genre. And it really is done beautifully with such amazing acting.

And the story is very Romeo and Juliet meets zombie apocalypse. A very nice twist indeed.

In fact there were many good moments/scenes throughout including when the zombies invade the lab and R first meets Julie; Julie’s poor attempt at pretending to be dead (sounds more like Darth Vader!); R attempting to drive… he naturally ends up crashing; R’s best friend, M (Rob Corddry), helping to save R and Julie from the Bonies; R telling a goat to leave him alone (it was completely random); Julie and Nora (Analeigh Tipton) putting make-up on R (to help him blend in with the humans) whilst ‘Pretty Woman’ plays in the background (haha, poor R); and finally the zombies fighting with the Bonies… a match the death… quite literally!

And my favourite quotes from this film are:

• ‘I’m lost. I mean, I’m literally lost. I’ve never been in this part of the airport before.’ – R
• ‘You, my friend, are a hoarder.’ – Julie to R
• ‘They said, f*** yeah.’ – M to R (about the posse of zombies he has brought with him to help R)

Overall this was a rather amusing, romantic film, that takes the zombie genre to a whole new, clever level. Try it, you might actually like it!

An 8.1 out of 10 for a job well done.