A small group of us got together to end the holiday season with some movies before work on Monday.  The menu called for some Zombi 2 ( yes it’s spelled that way cause it’s Italian) and Monster Man.

I guess I should make the rating system clear for movies of this nature.  You have to remember that since these are movies that for the most part are going straight to dvd so when I say “it’s great” then it probably means it is a film that requires special friends/wife/girlfriend/partner to sit all the way through.  With that in mind…

Let us begin with Zombi 2 which was our first course.

This was the 25th year anniversary edition of this movie.  There was some hype built up for this and right from the start you could tell that it was a bad video to dvd transfer which can be a plus sometimes.  This zombie movie was an Italian movie directed by Lucio Fulci and from the start I thought we were going to watch what appeared to be a porn.  This movie could be considered a “cult” classic as it was made around the golden age of Zombie movies.  I will say that it was “ok” as I was hoping for more gore and some other fine moments of cinema.  I am sure in 1979 people were throwing up in their popcorn buckets but not so much in 2010.

Now if you are with a group that is good with doing live riffing of a movie then this movie does have it’s moments for sure.  Maybe the best of the whole movie was the shark fighting zombie scene….and yes the SHARK was fighting the zombie.  There is another scene with an eyeball which is not as great but in 1979 it was amazing.  This movie had some great laughs and good moments of live riffing.  I would recommend this for a Halloween party but as an early show to get the early people at your party warmed up.  Zombi 2 is also good riffing material if you have the crowd to do it.

Zombi 2 gets a 3 out of 5 tuxedo footballs

On to the second movie of the evening.  Monster Man would be the follow up and didn’t dissapoint….too much.

After watching the trailer I had high hopes for this flick.  Monster Man didn’t go as over the top as I was hoping but it did deliver in some areas.  It gave me a monster truck, rednecks, glory holes (yes that kind of glory hole) and some funny gore gags which all were a plus.

The film seemed like a rip off of some Kevin Smith type of characters on a road trip which isn’t explained right away.  This comes off as a very Sci-Fi channel or Chiller channel type of movie.  This movie will be good if adult beverages will be had for the viewing.  It could have used more Monster Truck in my opinion but make note of the construction of the truck.  If you have the dvd in hand take a second to check out the special features as the animated/storyboard trailer as it was pretty fun.

This is a good fun flick if you are into horror movies in general and there is a pretty damn funny sex scene with the female lead in the movie Aimee Brooks.

I won’t spoil what happens but geeks around the picture tube will have a good laugh.  This movie is directed by Michael Davis who was the man behind Shoot ‘Em Up.  Don’t expect the kind of production value or movie that Shoot ‘Em Up is but take that movie and subtract 35% and you find Monster Man.  For a Halloween party this could be the one or two spots before your main event showing.  I enjoyed Monster Man and it gets a 3 out of 5 tuxedo footballs