Z Nation Season 4

And we are back with more episodes of mayhem and destruction. Gunfire and melee damage, vehicle chases and utter mania. Yes another season of chaos ensues those interested but I must put the following warning out yet again. There will be spoilers. For those still unable or not aware of Seasons 1 through 3, this will be major reveals. For those staying on, the last two years got a bit crazy. This is Z Nation Season 4.

Remember indoor plumbing?  Ah, memories.

Okay first batch of spoilers, guest stars include Michael Ferryman of The Hills Have Eyes 1,2 and the remake. Also fitting in this alumni the one and only Henry Rollins of Black Flag, Henry Rollins Band, Johnny Mnemonic and Bad Boys II.

We last left everyone, a saucer from Zona (Yes, I mean a flying saucer or anti-gravity based vehicle not relying on fossil fuels) was trying to abduct Murphy's daughter, Lucy (Tara Holt of Californication, The Lookalike, Marauders, Darkness Rising and Z Nation) who was aging at an accelerated rate. From a month old to a teenager in less than a year. Addy and Lucy are on the road, helping humans and fending off zombies. 10K, Doc and Red (Natalie Jongjaroenlarp of April '86, Z Nation and Criminal Minds) are joined with a convoy to Newmerica, a refuge in the Canadian border as it is too chilly for zombies. But now then they'll be in Canada. So um, is that better?

Warren has been in a coma for 2 years after being shot with a bullet covered in Murphy's blood. And she's blonde... eh it works. Zona is this utopia island with no zombies and elitist white folk. Yeah, that's always a good thing when the upper 1% are still in charge.

The vaccine from Murphy's blood has...had side effects and the inhabitants of Zona have had a change of heart....and minds. Yeah they've gone completely batshit crazy, along with their own paramilitary, vehicles, ammo and supplies. One would almost conclude that Murphy's blood didn't help these people one wit.

Okay ma'am, one more Black Flag song and then perimeter sweep.

With the last Remanent of the US military and government, a settlement is being equipped to regroup, restock and retake the country back from the zeds, Enders and hopefully the Zona nutter butters. Warren is packing a Ruger .45 and a shield she made out of a Route 66 sign. Those shield bashes alone makes me vouch for first female Captain America. Really want to see what she could do with Cap's old shield.

Murphy is being a dick as per usual, Doc is ever the flaky hippy only with hammers and a decent shot now. 10K seems to be back to himself again and he and Red are, well pretty tight.

Warren however is not just a protector but has gone predator. Stronger, faster and more a force of nature, with a connection with Lucy on a psychic level and sense the zombies, blends (human zombie hybrid) and Mad Zs. With Newmerica being North, Warren is headed East. Oh, wait a moment, I forgot our other residing factor, the zombies.

Oh Canadaaaaaa OMG!!!

Which seem to be more durable, stronger and a straight-up double tap to the coconut is not no longer viable. As many of you now, viral strains vary and mutate and the Z virus is no exception to that rule. Confused?   Standard Zs still traipsing about but an Ender (feral human) goes zombie, they tend to make this near impervious zed.   Referred as Mad Zs and brother they are skibbling along on a near Godmode.   Gonna take the equivalency of a boomstick to the coconut to blow that head clean off. So unless you are traipsing through the woods with a modified 50 round Saiga full auto shotgun or a Spas 20, you be boned.  Maybe a decent claymore or tsurugi (Japanese sword, katana is named for the blade itself like a razor blade so katana/gatana or sori) and some good upper body strength.

Not forgetting some nuclear fallout, weather conditions altering because of such, freak tornadoes and hell, probably giant, radioactive bird poop from the sky.  8 years in the apocalypse has taught this band anything, nothing is absolute.

Feel free for any suggestions of later film, TV or video game reviews, folks. I'm out.

Stop staring down my dress.  Sheesh.  Pigs.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline

Yeah, I noticed I cannot get away from the title or subtitle Bloodline as well. So back again and I have gotten a fair amount of requests for my peepers to peruse this putrid pick.  Oh it can't be that bad.  Only the second remake of the same name for the 1985 Day of the Dead.  The previous occurred in 2008, had a vegan vampire, wasted Ving Rhames and lots of tedious moments of derp. Will the 2018 remake in story line prove better?   Let's look.   This is Day of the Dead: Bloodline

AHHH! NO HICKIES!!!

Med Student Zoe (Sophie Skelton of Doctors, Foyle's War, Casualty, Blackbird, Outlander and 211) has been invited to a kegger at her school in Whittendale University (No hell mouth, I checked.) with her friends. Yes, party and screw in a horror movie. That's never a bad idea. While grabbing more beer from the morgue; One of Zoe's higher ups tells her the favorite donor has arrived. Oh lovely, raper's blood has the highest concentration of antibodies so young soon to be doctor must deal with him. Yup no need to spare any security to watch this guy. Guess you need to swear out a written complaint against a guy before taken seriously.

Creeper blood donor, Rapey McGuffin Max (Jonathan Schaech of That Thing You Do!, If You Only Knew, The Foresaken, Road House 2, Prom Night, Quarantine, Laid to Rest, Blue Bloods and Legends of Tomorrow) tries to get fleshy with Zoe but corpus coitus interruptus or plot device zombie bites his throat.  Zoe beats cheeks to go warn everyone at the party, only to find the party's over and zombies have invaded.   She flees out through the window.  Actually opening it and not crashing through it to open radial and femoral arteries.  Kudos!

The horde of the undead get a nifty term as they are Rotters.   That's nice.   Not only have these people lost any semblance of who they were now you are just calling them names.  Was walkers too on the nose?

Five year later, we have the whole underground bunker storyline, finding a cure this time for zombification and more jump scares than needed. You can comfortably pass a bowling ball out your anus the amount of jump scares needed for most of these flicks. Sorry, sorry. Old habits. Must remain objective.

Some enchanted eeeeevening!!

Hiding out at a bunker up the ridge of High Rock Emergency Bunker and honestly this is just giving an intro before the bizarre living arrangements.  Ran by Lieutenant Salazar (Jeff Gum of The Smell of Success, Breakout Kings, Bleak, Turn Around Jake and Vincent N Roxxy) who isn't Captain Rhodes by a long shot.  Seriously, you can reason with this dude.  Rhodes would just execute people on the spot so you had to tread on eggshells with that cat.

Zoe and Elyse (Shari Watson of The Wash, Ali, A Day in the Life, Dirty South, 211 and Security) barely have enough medical training for all the ouchies they must attend to, plus viral outbreaks are still a thing in zombie world and require plot device, Uh I mean vaccine for one of the kids of the bunker.  Pneumonia can kill people and Salazar is just of the mindset of, "Isolate the girl."  The bunker is a closed containment.   Unless meds are found, they would have to abandon base and leave those sick to DIE.  Sending a small, armed team in LOUD ASS hummers.   El Caminos equipped with clown horns, blaring Slayer and firing off shotguns might be a tad more subtle.

Just from a bio-hazard standing, they really need to clear some of those dead they have already capped.  Rotten bodies less than 50 yards from your crops?? That can't be good.

With a field trip back to Whittendale University, the team must find the meds and find something along the way.   Creeper Max as a zed, yet not.  Hmm, he still retains some memory as a person...a creeper person but a person nonetheless.

Convinced in creating a cure from Max's blood, Zoe puts the whole compound in danger with the mere hope of a better tomorrow.

A few points about this movie and yes I feel my mom's quote is rather valid. " Yes, zombie movies need more rapes so says the producer assholes. "  I find myself agreeing every time.   Aside from the crux of it necessary for a rape revenge story, it is tedious to see in every apocalypse film, dark sci-fi and planet ender.  Just raises the lack of conscious in film.   Look, you already have a swarming entity making a joint effort to turn you into people buffet, must we have a typical scumbag response to "the rules no longer apply," as well?

The practical gore gags injunction with the CGI blood and practical bladders is well balanced. Excellent handheld steady cams, good fixed camera angles and decent suspense music pouring in, setting the tone.  

 With a budget of 8 million and shot in Bulgaria, this is the essence of Day of the Dead without Salazar really slipping into Rhodes' territory.  You don't see a fraction of the military vs civvies from the original.   Guess they couldn't find a dude as cold as Joe Pilato's portrayal or they wanted to humanize the military.   God forbid, right?

That being said, this is filled with the current zombie tropes of fast paced zombies, humans constantly arguing GIVING AWAY their positions so no noise discipline and not enough muzzle discipline or for that matter, melee weapons instead of gunplay.

It can also be argued that Zoe's looking to save humanity means leaping out of her comfort zone, dealing with what is left of Max is actually decent story telling. It just wasn't executed to the levels it could have been. Better than the 2008 version but yes, it has its flaws.

Segregation is still rude, folks.

Z Nation Season 3

Avast ye blog readers! I be Jake of the Rotten Reelz Reviews. Here I be tellin' ye a tale of...

Okay I have to just stop that now. It's gotten silly. So what's goin' on, folks? Well to be warned, this blog entry will contain spoilers from last season of Z Nation. Anyone not up on it and doesn't want their Seasons 1 and 2 ruined, then turn away. For the rest of you, on we go. When we last left our heroes, they had just passed Murphy off to the CDC lab aboard what looks to be a Los Angeles class submarine but I think it was closer to Virgina class.

 Be that as it may, the whole scenario went pear shaped with an explosion and Murphy nibbled some of the crew making them blended zombies and took 10k with him as well. This is Z Nation Season 3.

Looks like Midwest zombies to me.

We have a bit of a flashback as we get more info about the alleged zombie-free island known as Zona. Apparently these rich fat cats, captains of industry and some politicians left the USZ (United States of Zombie) to fend for themselves while they hid in luxury and comfort. Along with their ill-gotten gains, they have abducted an handful the last scientists that could benefit humanity for their own end.

Warren and crew end up captured by Republic of China commandos searching for Murphy to make serum from his blood. The lot throw in with the commandos in the hopes they can figure out what to do next. As if Blasters, Nukes, Plant Zombies, Speed Zombies weren't hell enough, a breed of humans known as Enders roaming about. 

 Make no mistake, folks. These cats are full on Reavers. Completely devoid of mercy, rational thought and possibly cannibalistic. Deep in sunny Southern California. Say aren't those my stomping grounds?

You did not just crop dust me. Oh, hell no.

10k appears to be in Murphy's clutches and he is trying to bring about a new world order of blended zombie humans which he can mentally control. Yes Murphy is officially a zombie master. Lording over a region of Spokane. His old stomping grounds made his new kingdom.

Can Warren and gang fight their way through the hordes and get Murphy back to the mission?

Well the SFX makeup still is just as good as any of Nicotero's crew in The Walking Dead. The stories are still captivating balancing the right amount of comedy with tragedy and dammit if we have need of exposition, it better be for a good reason.  Nice to be in a zompocalypse show not going on and on about what it was like in the day.

Plenty of guest stars to be found and surprises to be had. Stay tuned!

Ahh!!!  Commie Zombie!!!  A Combie!

Z Nation Season 2

Howdy-doolie-doo readers! I'm back again! Call off the search parties!!! Available single women continue to swoon and all is well in the world. Boy, I'm really glad I don't have that inflated of an ego. Okay, nonsense out of the way. Today I thought we should go back to some TV viewing and that is we will be looking into the wayward struggling survivors of the Zompocalypse. With roving bands of marauders, looters, bounty hunters and of course a ton of zeds, our heroes continue on trying to get their package to safety. This is Z Nation Season 2.

Boys, boys, boys. Stop fighting. You're both pretty.

Well a lot has happened to our crew. Losing friends and family on this road trip through Hell, our team led by Lt. Warren (Kellita Smith of The Bernie Mac Show, King's Ransom, Feel the Noise, Conspiracy X, The First Family and Z Nation) carrying the burden of command and dragging the ragtag group nonstop from madcap adventure to the next, have lost track of their potential cure to the zombie plague, Murphy(Keith Allan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Enterprise, Air Collision, Social Nightmare, Zombie Night and Rise of the Zombies) as he has been exhibiting powers such as zombie control. Yup the dead heads are listening to him and he isn't even Jerry Garcia. See what I did there? Huh? Huh?

Because of this colossal pig screw of events, Specialist Simon or Citizen Z (DJ Qualls of Road Trip, Cherry Falls, The New Guy, Comic Book Villains, Last Day of Summer, Supernatural, Perception and Z Nation) has been out of contact with the group and has no choice but to issue a bounty on Murphy to anyone that can capture him alive. Offering ridiculous rewards like a radio DJ for a concert. Free back stage passes and T-Shirts!!!

Factory recall on latest Easy Cheese cans didn't help this guy.

Kooky chemist Doc (Russell Hodgkinson of Big Fish, We Go Way Back, ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction, Mystery Case Files: The 13^th Skull, Grimm, 21 & Over, A Bit of Bad Luck and 7 Minutes), Melee Mistress Addy (Anatasia Baranova of 7^th Heaven, Veronica Mars, Rise: Blood Hunter, The Darkness II, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z and Z Nation) and sniper extraordinaire 10 K (Nat Zang of Z Nation and AfterBuzz TV's Z Nation After Show) are in hot pursuit of Murph in the hopes that all their struggles and sacrifices are not in vain.

Murph has decided he doesn't want to be the savior of humanity and would rather watch the world burn with the best seat in the house. After all, the zombies aren't looking to eat his flesh, it's good to be king. Cassandra (Pisay Pao of Simply Fobulous, Your Lucky Day, Door to Door, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Z Nation) has had a little bit of a makeover as she's gone a bit peculiar, among other things.

Look alive.  Just saw Zombie Bruce Willis.

I know I harped on about this from Season 1 but I will repeat; with shows like The Walking Dead, The Strain, iZombie and Fear the Walking Dead taking such a serious view of this, it lacks anything fun to be had.   Life is Drama and Comedy so shouldn't your film and TV matter be both as well?   This time around more rad zombies, a strain of weed grown from zombie compost.  Is that Zompost?   Fallout occurs via nuclear reactor and this season is feeling it in every direction for 500 miles.   With radiation victims and newer, deadlier zombies; our team are in quite the pickle.

It simply has fun with our characters putting them in harm's way, having a laugh and bringing a core group together with surprising story lines, good character development, spot-on practical effects and some needed CGI.

I may enjoy me some Michonne but I'd follow Warren to the gates of Hell.  A swift knee in Satan's happy sack and she owns his ass. This series is only going to get better and frankly with less budget than The Walking Dead, they still produce an array of laughs, chills and spills.   Got to say I love how seasoned these characters already are to melee weapons and firearms without Green Beret training to every other branch.   Hell, most of them wouldn't qualify for S.W.A.T. Training but they are a force to be reckoned with.

Oh those star-cross loves...are not happening here.

Dead Kansas

And we're back ladies and gents to another blog. So as you know I just got through Green Lantern and the surprising good time that is Syndicate Smasher. At the request of the director of today's film I think we can give it the once over. Got to tell you, I am a bit overwhelmed at the love this humble blog is getting but we steady the course and keep pushing the silly and informative.

Today's movie hails from director Aaron K. Carter (Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill) just breaking into the field with some writing and acting as well. Let's see if he can cut the mustard in Romero territory with his own zombie flick. This is Dead Kansas.

Our potluck dinners just don't do well. Huh hun?

We open with a POV shot as a father and daughter duo deals with one of these shamblin' stiffs known later as Rottens. Hey! That's my area. Moving on, a small prayer and a boomstick later we cut right to credits so we are in for a decent pace already.

We touch base with a paramilitary gathering of guys straight of Dawn of the Dead. We've got APCs, bikers, cats lifting weights and just killing time before a dangerous foray into zombie infested regions. Well looks like we got a Governor or Neegan like character Jebiediah (Michael Camp of Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill) telling his pantheon of men that they are in a position to get everything they need. All they need to do is kidnap a girl and hand her over to the money bags fat cat and they'll have food, supplies and as much ammo as they can carry.

So the guys mount up and prepare to raise a little hell. Emma (Erin Miracle of Perceptio, Dead Kansas and Sweet Caroline) is a teenage girl stuck on a farm during a zombie apocalypse. Hey, we've all been there. Farm chores, popping zombies in the coconut, burying and burning the bodies. That folks, is what we call a rut. Her father Glenn (Aaron Guerrero of Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill) is attempting to bestow skills and ideas to her and explain just how dangerous it is beyond their house but Emma's bored and has no one to talk to except her dad. Also Dad, she might possibly be interested in boys. 

Just sayin' the beard makes you look like the dude from Wishmaster.

Just his tone says, I'm the mentor character for you, little lady as Jebediah and his posse arrive toting enough firepower for a good skirmish. Glenn's having none of this and smokes a couple of this posse to get his point across when a "rotten" attacks Jeb's baby brother, Zeke (Kevin C. Beardsley of Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill)

This is the part I am pointing out. Rather than a ton of improvised makeup, we got a POV quick jump cut attack. Yeah! That's astonishing! No boiling hot extras in makeup that is dribbling off of their heads, just a POV camera shot and cut to aftermath of attack. Why haven't we seen something like this before? Aside from POV shakey cam via Sam Raimi's deadite attacks via Evil Dead, you'd think people would have jumped on this idea AGES AGO..

Forced to the fruit cellar because of a tornado, my brain suddenly conjures Z Nation's Zomnado scene in first season. I almost expect to see a rotten gotten down in the cellar with them. Would have been a fun gag. The twister blows over and Glenn goes topside to see how things panned out. Apparently there were more than a few rottens up there as we hear a far amount of gun fire and Glenn looks to be removing a bitten limb. Ho boy. Get the ax.

More POV camera attacks and still have to give credit to a brilliant idea, the twosome head to Shambles due to the house getting slapped around.

Meanwhile, Jeb's having himself a serious moment of amping up the boys to hunt the duo down, pop Glenn and make off with the girl.

Shambles appears to be a farming community with decent enough guarded gates made up from carny folk. Of them is Squeak (the late Ben Woolf of Unlucky Charms, Dead Kansas, American Horror Story and Tales of Halloween) seems to be in charge and his giant known as... well Giant actually (the late Irwin Keyes of The Warriors, House of 1000 Corpses, Intolerable Cruelty, Dark Place, Dream Slashers and Horror High) grabs Glenn as we head back to a small carnival layout with brick walls, steel doors and narrow corridors so you could see how folk might bottleneck and get stuck behind one another.

With the amount of blood loss, Emma fears for her dad and asks the giant if there is anyone can help. Reluctant to tell her for all the danger in the area, he speaks of an older gent name of Doctor Emerson (Darryl Dick of Dead Kansas) and how he might be able to help if he is still alive.

With the aid and guidance of Skinny (Joe McQueen of Zombie Ed, Dead Kansas, Fight or Die and An Hour to Kill) they make their trek of five miles in record time to speak to the only doctor in the area.

Ambushed on the road by Jeb and his boys, it is looking more and more grim for Emma. Skinny and the caretaker must find Emma as she could be even more important they either of them ever imagined.

Okay, this is a micro budget first time attempt at a movie. There are a lot of elements going for it.  We have some fairly impressive performances from folks that clearly have not been in front of a camera before as well as, the name actors they managed to scoop up. This is primarily a cast of unknowns and they get a chance to shine. Juliette Danielle of The Room, 'Til Morning, The Trouble with Barry and Development Hell was part of the flashback sequence.

Yes we could argue no zombies and blood caked against the wall equals not a zombie movie but trust me, as a guy who saw Platoon of the Dead, this film has story, some decent music attached to it and the plot moves along at a decent pace. Frankly, if this is the outcome of what can be made on this tiny budget, I really want to see what can be captured with a larger one.

For an introductory into the making of film, Aaron K. Carter has the potential to really get some films going. I'd suggest more stabilizers for the hand held work. You can build a unipod on the cheap with a PVC pipe, PVC covers and a wing nut and screw and those things balance so well. Also 3M gaffer's tape for a good grip in the middle of the pipe.

For the initial try at bat, not too shabby. 

Later episodes of Captain Kangaroo I just didn't get.

Incognito Cinema Warriors XP

Hey folks I am back again. Today's theme is a little something different. You would call this an internet/DVD phenomenon given how these guys and gals directly changed movie riffing for a new generation. Movie Riffing? Making fun of a preexisting source material in the same fashion as Joel Hodgson's Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mike Nelson's Riff Trax and Hodgson's Cinematic Titanic.

Damn. Topsy really wants those Junior Mints.

What started as nothing more than a one and done as head writer/director/actor/graphic artist/metalhead Rikk Wolf puts it, became an underground success from DVD releases to YouTube standing.   Incognito Cinema Warriors XP is based with music/video game/movie/literate/snarky comments thrust out at the screen at film that look better on teeth. Hell some of the movies they watch, film on a dead man's eyes would be more entertaining and less off-putting.

Woody Strode: American Gigolo.

So imagine MST3K but not a guy trapped in space. Oh no, that would be kind. So instead the Zombie Apocalypse overtakes the states, possibly the world. Commander Rick Wolf (Rikk Wolf of ICWXP) lead a team of commandos C.O.R.P.S. (Commando Of Re-animant Processing and Suppression) whose entire team was overrun by zombies forcing Wolf to take shelter in the Cine-a-Sorrow theater, a run down and presumbly abandoned movie theater.  Looks like a refuge out of the 1950s but with a Sci-Fi theme in the sense of automaton robots holding independent thought and given menial tasks by their creator, Dr. Blackwood.  Blackwood offers the safety of reinforced steel shutters and a completely sealed theater (that may or may not have been illegal human experimentation, a fire code and a terrifying notion).   In return, Rikk will be subjected to some of the worse films in cinema.   Blackwood wants to see how long or with what film Rikk ends up gacking himself with a concealed butter knife.

Joining Rikk in the battle of these horrific gobs of moving picture tripe, are Topsy Bot 5000 (Nick Evans of ICWXP), concession stand robot, dispenser of drinks and popcorn...and his arms don't work and Johnny Cylon (Zach Legler of ICWXP), the resident usher bot, making sure old ladies get through the aisles fine, teens aren't screwing in the back rows and that the candy/gum resin isn't making the floor sticky.

The bots haven't had to do any jobs of any sort given the theater shut down decades ago and their reasoning for being, the purpose they were created for has been taken from them. A metaphysical dichotomy is assured for their CPUs.  Blackwood long forgot about the bots and demands they too suffer through these flicks along with Rick.

So this week we look in horror at a low budget TV quality internet/straight-to-DVD series that has been cracking folks up for years and YOU were just not hip enough to know about it.  Hey, hey it's okay. Dry those tears and get on the bandwagon now. It doesn't matter if you are less cool than nerd devil Michael Bay or so unhip your pants fall around your knees, you're a rebel and here is your cause.

For more information on the cast and crew of this humble but fierce series, go to icwxp.com, catch them on Facebook and YouTube under AgonyWolf Media.

Cylon: Destroyer of Candy Forts.