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Jason and Shawn versus Mischief Night and Birth of the Living Dead

Mischief Night

Jason: This is a solid little scary movie that uses all the cliches and camera tricks John Carpenter honed to perfection with his Halloween, and to good effect. The filmmakers also bring a few new tricks to the table that I don't want to spoil. Yes, the characters make the same stupid mistakes most do in flicks like this. But the majority of Mischief Night is well enough made and delivers the goods that I didn't care. And the payoff is most satisfying too. Credit must be given to Noell Coet. She owns this movie, at least for the most part. And the fact her character is blind elevates the material to a new level. This is a Good for me. It's one of those diamonds in the rough we dig so much here in The Basement.

Shawn: Oh my gawd, I can not handle this horror movie stupidity. I can't. Stop making movies where everyone has to split up, leave someone somewhere, or do the stupidest shit known to man. Flip side, if aliens come to invade, after receiving our TV signals, they'll think we all act like that and we'd kick their asses. Or at least I would. Maybe I'm pretentious now.. Just maybe. This movie, for me, wasn't scary, suspenseful or whatever. It was plain dumb. I'm glad Jay called it, "the brother of the guy from Sliders" died in the first 5 minutes. Worst actor ever. Rest of the cast was OK. Cool chainsaw gore. Neat masks. Ugly movie.

Birth of the Living Dead

Jason: Few can argue the merit of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. It's one of the scariest, grittiest and most realistic horror movies ever made. And, over time, it's been heralded as one of the most influential and socially aware flicks of its era. This documentary is about all that. For one, George A. Romero seems like one cool cat. The interviews with him are the movie. As a film nerd, I loved hearing about how he got his start in the business -- Mr. Rogers and beer commercials, for the win -- and how the movie was made and distributed. If you dig movies and movie making like me, all this material is gold. I won't spoil it for you by going into the gory detail. For movie and horror fans, and fans of Night of the Living Dead, this is a must watch. It's a Good documentary, and one I intend to enjoy again. And it's short, which never hurts either. Haha!

Shawn: I thought it was going to be the baby zombie invasion. Haha. But then I realized it was a documentary/Romerofest. Yes, nothing is cooler than listening to the godfather of zombies, tell us all about where his twisted mind goes. Awesome. My only gripe with this documentary is it played to some serious life issues, on racism, sexism...etc...then digressed a little more than I was anticipating. I think, for its time, it was a bold move. Plus naked chick. Coool. So let me digress about it. We are all humans, motherfuckers. And never will our differences be so united as when we have to band together to survive one of these zombie apocalypses or alien threats..etc. Get over the colors and embrace the goddamn diversity. Probably my favorite documentary ever. George A Romero has a seat saved on The Basement show whenever he wants. Legend. Pure legend.It's a documentary, won't be watched again, so Bad. But without the legend, it would have been shit. Haha.

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