Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Featuring: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden. Director: Eli Craig.

We've seen the story a million times. Naive college kids head out to the country and run into a house full of psycho-hillbilly maniacs. It's been done to death, literally. After a while, every overdone movie sub-genre becomes due for a send-up.

Tucker & Dale are just a couple of hard working good 'ol boys who bought a fixer-upper vacation home out in the woods. An array of miscommunications and misunderstandings leads a group of college students to think Tucker & Dale are out to get them. The college kids end up attacking Tucker & Dale and all sorts of horror-related comedy ensues.

Most spoofs put out these days are over the top and just add shock value to the movies they are taking over for. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil isn't that sort of movie at all. It doesn't go for the shock gags (for the most part), but instead plays off the ridiculousness of the fear many northerners have of southerners way out in the country. This movie was a really fun 90 minutes and I'd recommend it to anyone who is a horror movie fan. It's a lot funnier than you think it's going to be.

Click here to add this to your Netflix queue.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? It was recommended by the blog NETFLIX STREAMING.

Is it artsy? No way.

What stood out the most to you? The way it flipped around the typical killer hillbilly movies.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Ready for some good laughs with likable leads.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 4 Stars.

Tweet

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)

Featuring: Phil Caracas. Director: Lee Demarbre.

Warning: This movie is only supposed to be available for streaming until Dec. 1st. Act fast!

Imagine a bunch of your stoner friends from high school coming up with an idea for a movie called Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. Now picture those stoners finding a bunch of shitty movie-making equipment and then somehow showing enough initiative to not only make their crazy movie... but put their hearts and souls into it. If you can imagine that movie... then you have an idea of what kind of movie Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is.

Obviously, they're not going to make an incredible movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. However, the chances are good there would be some really dumb shit that would make you laugh even though you know you shouldn't. This movie can't match the insane genius of a movie like Black Dynamite, but it does feel like it was done by a pot-smoking savant. 

My advice when it comes to this movie? Imbibe with friends, laugh at stupid lines like "the power of Christ impales you", enjoy the surprisingly creative but awful fight scenes, and have a ridiculously good time watching a ridiculously bad movie MST3K style.

Click here to add this to your Netflix queue.

According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 12/1/11. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? I think the title alone is enough to warrant having this in my queue.

Is it artsy? Think of the artsyist thing you can think of, multiply it by ten, and think of it's opposite. That is how unartsy this movie is..

What stood out the most to you? To be honest, this movie is so batshit crazy that I can't really even pick out a single moment.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Stoned, with friends.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 4 Stars.

Tweet

Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

Featuring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello. Director: Charles Lamont.

I must be feeling nostalgic lately because as with yesterday's reminisces on classic monster movies, today I'm reviewing another type of movie that makes me think of being a kid. That kind of movie would be any movie featuring the classic comedy team of Abbott and Costello. When I was a kid, the only people in black and white that I found funny were The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello. In fact, they still crack me up to this day.

As you could probably guess from the title, in this one the two buddies end up in Egypt with mummys walking about and scaring the pants off of our half-brained heroes. As with all Abbott and Costello flicks there is great comedic timing and some kick ass one-liners. Unfortunately, for me anyway, it wasn't as packed with laughs as some of the other movies they made. It might have been because I was on the tail end of an all day movie marathon when I watched it, but it just didn't seem to have the same comedic brilliance many of their other films did.

Don't get me wrong, there were still moments that made me laugh, there just weren't as many. A few times during the movie I wished I was watching Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein instead. If you're an Abbott and Costello fan you'll still enjoy this movie, but if you're just looking to dive into their catalog now I'd recommend starting with one of their other films.

Click here to add this movie to your Netflix queue.

According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 1/1/13. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Abbott and Costello are one of the greatest comedic teams in film history.

Is it artsy? Nope, it's old time vaudeville style laughs.

What stood out the most to you? The chemistry between Abbott and Costello (as is to be expected).

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Ready to laugh.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars. 

Tweet

Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009)

Featuring: Janette Armand, Doug Fahl, Cooper Hopkins
Director:  Kevin Hamedani

Warning: This movie is only streaming until March 23rd so act fast!

I, and it seems everyone else in the world these days, love zombies. There are probably about 30 zombie movies in my queue that I've yet to watch, but I will, despite how awful most of them look. Most zombie movies that have come out lately have been rather low-budget affairs that look to cash in on America's love affair with zombies. This movie is no exception, but really that isn't a bad thing. Headshots and bad special effects just take me to a warm and fuzzy place.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say this is a good zombie movie, it is probably the best of the bad. With a bigger budget they probably could have afforded some actors that weren't as stiff as their zombie counterparts. The only actors that were any good were the Iranian girl and the two gay guys. So what makes this better than your standard b-movie zombie fare? The script was really pretty damn good. The movie is set during the strangeness that was the Bush years (as you could probably tell from the title) and for the most part it makes for pretty good satire. And as we all know, zombie movies that comment on society are always the best kind.

If you like zombie movies you should definitely give this one a look. It has just the right mix of satire, humor and strange violence to hit the spot for your average zombie lover. It's really a shame this one didn't get a bit better financing because the potential was there for it to be one of the better zombie movies I've seen. As it stands, it's a good bad movie that kept me entertained for an hour and a half.

To add this movie to your Netflix queue click here. 

According to instantwatcher.com this movie will be available for streaming on Netflix until 3/23/11.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? See the word 'zombie' in the title? Yep, that's the reason.

Is it artsy? No, I still never seen an artsy zombie movie.

What stood out the most to you? How creepy the combination of Republicans and zombies can be.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for some laughs and zombie killing goodness.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars. 

Tweet

Tokyo Zombie (2005)

I, like everyone else in my generation, absolutely love zombie movies. If it has the word zombie you better believe I'm queuing it up. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad and sometimes they are so bad they're good. For better or worse there has been a saturation of the zombie movie sub-genre in the last ten years and unfortunately they can get a little repetitive. Tokyo Zombie, my fellow zombie lovers, is unique enough to avoid the cliched plot that most follow and stand out from the pack.

The Japanese always seem to throw a bit of a crazy spin on anything they touch and zombies are no exception. This movie is more of a buddy comedy than a horror flick. It follows a couple of jujitsu loving slackers without a ton of common sense that have to fight their way through the zombie apocalypse. There were enough funny, crazy and just plain perverted moments to keep my attention throughout the movie, even if did slow down a bit just before the finale. The two friends have a unique relationship and entertaining chemistry that I really enjoyed.

This movie falls into the same category as new zombie comedies (or zombedies as I like to call them) like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, even if it may not reach the quality of those fine flicks. I do need to warn you that this movie is dubbed instead of subtitled. I usually dislike that, but it didn't really bother me for a silly zombie flick. If you like to have a few laughs while you watch zombies get killed you should give this weird flick a try.

To add this movie to your Netflix queue click here.

According to instantwatcher.com this movie will stream on Netflix until 7/13/11.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Because there are zombies.

Is it artsy? No.

Most memorable moment? The pulsating face towards the end.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for some good, clean zombie killing fun.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars.

Tweet