Top 10 Zombie Movies

C = Comedy-Horror
G = Extra Gory
S = Genuinely Scary
FX = Awesome Special Effects

1. Dawn of the Dead (original) G
2. 28 Days later
3. Shaun of the Dead C
4. Return of the Living Dead C
5. Zombieland C
6. [REC] S
7. Night of the Living Dead (90's Savini remake) FX
8. La Horde G
9. Braindead/Dead Alive CG
10. Dawn of the Dead (remake)

Special mentions: Night of the Living Dead (original), Dead Snow, Planet Terror and The Crazies (original).


Best Death Scene

Day of the Dead

Although not listed on the overall top 10, it's got the best death scene!

Top 10 "Weird" Movies

1. Eraserhead



What list of weird films would be complete without Mr Lynch? The king of weird films and master of surreal cinema. They say if you ask 100 people what Eraserhead is actually about you’ll get 100 different answers. For me, it’s a nightmare and the anxieties of everyday life contorting it. One of my all time favourite films, Eraserhead is a work of art that you experience. It gets under your skin, it’s like nothing else you’ll ever see. And the benchmark for all other 'strange' films. A unique Horror movie.

2. Visitor Q



You know with a Takashi Miike film it’s not going to be your every day ‘normal’ flick, and this is probably his most extreme film. Breaking pretty much every taboo, it crams in so much fetish imagery it’s too much for most. It’s about as completely batshit crazy as it gets.


3. Tetsuo



Industrial body-horror from genius Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto about man fusing with machine. Hyper-kinetic assault on the senses! On a technical merit it's worth watching just for the stunning editing alone. Very unique, disturbing and weird.

4. Begotten



The plot synopsis pretty much says it all; ‘God disembowels himself with a straight razor. The spirit-like Mother Earth emerges, venturing into a bleak, barren landscape. Twitching and cowering, the Son Of Earth is set upon by faceless cannibals’. I found this a pretty hard watch, and it’s full of unsettling, grainy imagery.

5. Inland Empire



Probably Lynch’s 'hardest' film, think Mulholland Drive X 10! With Laura Dern on great form.

6. Gozu

Miike again, I could have probably listed 10 of his films and had a decent weird films list. Gozu reminded me of Miike doing a comedy version of a David Lynch film. In a good way.


7. Gummo



It’s surreal, yet it’s very real. Shows how weird real life can be.


8. Meet the Feebles



Way before Peter Jackson got knee-deep in orc and elve shit he was making some pretty mental films, this might be his craziest.


9. Save the Green Planet



Manages to be simultaneously funny and heart wrenching, not to mention completely bonkers!


10. Naked Lunch



Cronenberg’s gone a bit straight-laced lately with his crime thrillers (History of Violence, Eastern Promises), not that they’re bad films, I really like them! But he used to make pretty demented schlock, this is probably his weirdest. You could substitute it for another of his weird movies 'Videodrome'.

13 Assassins

I don't go to the cinema very often these days (in my job I get to see films for free on the Bluray/DVD release), but with some films I can't miss out on the opportunity of seeing them on the big screen!

I'm a big fan of Asian epics, martial arts and samurai films are one of my biggest passions! And I love shock director Takashi Miike, although with all the critical acclaim and buzz around '13 Assassins' it was hard to believe it was the controversial director at the helm. It seemed a bit too 'classy' for Miike, with no disrespect meant by that, I think he's proud of the 'trash-cinema' he's been behind over the years and I would be too...



I had to see it at the cinema, it wasn't every day you got to see a Japanese Samurai movie on the big screen in the UK! I went to see it with the missus during the first week and sadly it was almost empty, a bonus really, because we got the big screen all to ourselves!

It's a slow burner; after a harrowing and brutal intro, reminding you it was in fact a full-blown Miike film, the first half shapes the story and characters and builds the tension. Despite following several characters, I felt something for all of the main cast and it does a good job fleshing everything out. I did find it dragged a little at times, although that could have been because I wasn't in the comfort of my own home. It's good old-fashioned filmmaking at its finest, it takes its time to tell a good story and the pay-off is exceptional! The last half of the film is one big battle royale to the death!



The 45 minute battle sequence is one of the most spectacularly amazing pieces of cinema I have ever seen. The choreography spellbinds you with its brutality and rawness! Jaw-dropping stuff! And the cinematography deserves special mention. There's some truly masterful camera work at play here, Miike has several moments of pure genius!

I would have preferred a few more scuffles in the first half, but the last half of the film more than makes up for that!

8.5/10