Zombie Cupcakes Select: Movie Bites

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Brains! Conquer!

Now that we’ve successfully brought 2009 over to the zombie side, here’s a little recap of the bloody gems the now old Mr Oh-nine entertained us with, in no particular order.

Thirst (Bakjwi):

First and foremost, Park Chan Wook’s new masterpiece. Thirst wins pretty much everything, with his absolute brilliance, cruelty, beauty, you name it, the list is almost endless. Almost as long as my epic wait for it through most of the year. Thankfully it was more than worth it! Park Chan-wook came back with this amazing picture and reminded us what vampires are really like (as in they don’t sparkle, people!! they just don’t!! no.no.no.), with their classic tragic sense of romance, internal struggle, irresistible sexuality, and a taste for Revenge. Full Review: here

Drag Me To Hell:

Sam Raimi.Gypsy curses. Exorcisms. Green gooey fun. Need i say more? When this movie came out, it was a little bit like christmas. Like horror movie jesus was born again to make us cry tears of bloody joy. Personally, i never gave up on Sam Raimi, but i know of a few people who did, and when Drag Me To Hell came out he just crushed everybody’s dirty mouth with his Mighty Fist. No, seriously. Every little movie geek like me who grew up with bread and Evil Dead, knew this day would come. Here’s my idea of how much this movie kicks ass. Full Review: coming soon

Martyrs:

Technically a 2008 movie, but the majority of us really discovered it in 2009, after its Dvd release. I like this movie so much it made me talk about it nonstop for months. It’s the journey of Anna Assoui down the terrifying spiral of abuse and torture. She suffers inexplicable pain. She’s a martyr, a fighter, a survivor, and pretty much my hero. Many labeled Martyrs as a “monster”, but here at zombie cupcakes, Monsters are good, and we love them plenty. Perfect 10. Full Review: here

Paranormal Activity:

There’s 2 very distinct school of thoughts for this movie; those who screamed amazing and those who screamed what the hell was that, also known as “i want my money back”. I  side with the amazing group. Maybe because I’m a believer. The movie is the modern Blair Witch Project. The story of a young couple haunted by a mysterious presence at night. Absolutely real and terrifying. I couldn’t sleep at night after i watched it, and i don’t care if you’re in the Poo-on-paranormal-activity party. Poo on you. I hope that demon comes for YOU next. Full Review: here

Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl:

Yoshihiro Nishimura teamed up with Naoyuki Tomomatsu of Stacy-Attack of the schoolgirl Zombies. These two need no introduction. They also don’t need a plot whatsoever, apparently. But we absolutely don’t care! Zombie schoolgirls, incredible gore, raining blood!! Fun for the whole family! This movie is the tale of two girls who like the same guy and bite to conquer his heart. But i digress. Did i mention unbelievable amounts of blood and gore? Featuring Eihi Shiina (from Audition) and Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On saga director), Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girls is not out on dvd (or on the net) yet, but it will be soon. In the meantime, try other Nishimura movies like Tokyo Gore Police, or Machine Girl.  Full Review: coming soon

What about you? What was your favorite this year?

Zombie Cupcakes out!

Thirst

Thirst – Bakjwi – 2009

From IMDB: Beloved and devoted priest from a small town volunteers for a medical experiment which fails and turns him into a vampire. Physical and psychological changes lead to his affair with a wife of his childhood friend who is repressed and tired of her mundane life. The one-time priest falls deeper in despair and depravity. As things turns for worse, he struggles to maintain whats left of his humanity.

Finally, what i’ve been talking about nonstop for months on here, my twitter, to my friends, and pretty much anybody who would listen, i got a chance to watch and own a copy of Thirst. What can i say.. where can i even start? I’ll try, even tho when it comes to Park Chan Wook my vocabulary seems shy of appropriate and beautiful enough terms.

Bakjwi (originally set to be titled “the bat”) is the story of a catholic priest, Sang-hyun (impeccably played by korean superstar Song Kang-ho of The Host and Sympathy for Mr Vengeance) who loves life and humanity so much that he decides to volunteer for a medical experiment, only to come out of it as a vampire – and the only survivor out of 50+ patients. As he’s dragged into the world of Sin and carried away by lust, thirst for human blood, and most of all confusion, we watch his faith crumble irremediably.

Of course, the reason behind this precipitous fall into the rabbit hole is a woman, Tae-ju (brand new actress Kim Ok-bin), who not only is one his childhood’s friends wife, but also a beautiful – and troubled – individual who had been waiting her whole life to run away.

Their encounter changes their lives forever, and brings the substance of the story at much more than “just” the typical vampire movie. Thirst is about pain, desire, the fall of dogmas, and most of all internal struggle. And Park Chan Wook is right there telling us this beautiful and grotesque story in that familiar way he got us all used to: stunning camera work, outstanding atmospheres, attention for details, and the perfect soundtrack. I’m sure the ending will blow most of you guys’ minds away for it is so gorgeous it almost physically hurts.

The actors are top-notch, and the movie delivers the perfect combination of brutal violence, gore, and drama but also lots of very funny black humor (my favorite!), suspense, and steamy sex scenes (fun fact: Thirst was the first Korean movie to feature full frontal male nudity). And of course, an endless amount of blood.

I have been looking around for a copy of this every day since the teaser trailer release back in March, so you can only imagine the kind of suspense i had been building up for myself. On top of that, besides many many positive reviews (not to mention the fact that Thirst won the Jury Prize at Cannes this year pretty much blowing the jury away) – i’ve also read all of those other reviews, the jealous and “i-have-to-critique-negatively-at-any-cost” type, that said it wasn’t Park Chan Wook’s best work, that the movie is too long and needs more editing, and yadda yadda. so i had mixed feelings about my super high-end expectations.

you know what? fuck those critics. the movie is PERFECT.

so perfect i can’t wait to watch it again, and again, and again…

THIRST

omg omg omg. this morning i woke up to a message from my very dear friend Nicola Vinciguerra.

it was a link to the new Park Chan Wook movie trailer!! you know you’ve been waiting for this:

The movie is called Thirst, and it’s about vampires. Specifically, it’s about a devoted catholic priest who is turned into vampire against his will as a medical experiment went wrong, and falls in love with a woman (i see tons of dogmas being approached here, and i’m loving it)

The main actor is Song Kang-ho of Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance!! i love how he’s always using the same people in all his movies.. it makes the atmosphere familiar, and challenging, and just awesome. this is gonna be good. Park already teased us a little with how amazing he can be when it comes to vampires when he released Cut..

the movie will be in theaters in Korea April 30th. I CAN’T WAIT!!!