Movies From Beyond: Flight Of The Living Dead & Black Xmas

People will remember this day like the moon landing, if it happened, they remember where they were when Elvis left the building and now they will remember the first time they read our new weekly ramblings delving into the world of the cult/ B-Movie/ Straight To DVD and forgotten gems. Too much? Yeah that kind of got away from us there.  

Anyway, we've watched a lot of really ‘so bad it’s good’ car-crash movies in our time so it's only fair we share some of thoughts with the readers of  what could be the best entertainment site in the whole of the freakin’ internet. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the first Movies From Beyond, starring Flight of The Living Dead and Black Xmas…  

So, what do you get if you cross the recent daddy of all B-movies Snakes On A Plane with the mother of all zombie flicks Dawn Of The Dead? The answer is the fantastically bloodsoaked tongue-in-cheek Flight Of The Living Dead: Outbreak On A Plane. The setup is so simple - scientists are transporting a re-animating biological weapon/ corpse on a commercial 747 - that alarm bells should already be ringing. Inevitably one of the undead is freed after a spot of turbulence. And not the shuffling kind of Night Of Living Dead zombie, either - more the running, jumping and blood-lusting killing machines we have come to expect from 28 Days Later. It is pretty much paint by numbers stuff but really good nonetheless (who wouldn’t want to see a nun having her legs ripped off?)

As you would expect there are no real stars, but watch out for Kevin J. O'Connor of Van Helsing and Erick Avari from the fantastic Heroes TV show. When this movie made its festival debut in Montreal it was actually titled Plane Dead, as evident in some of the special features, and whilst it got some good reviews from the festival circuit it never actually got a cinematic release. Well, the best films never do, do they?  

Christmas round ours is a time to trim the tree, open the seasonal chocolate calendars (didn’t they used to be advent calendars?) and watch festive movies, and what better than Black Xmas - a remake of the 1974 slasher-tastic gorefest of the same name. This little gem pits a fraternity house of giggly girls against Billy, a killer that was abused in the house in years gone by.

Black Xmas is a bit of a Final Destination reunion, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (3), Kristen Cloke (1), and Crystal Lowe (3), and there is something really funny about the way they are killed off one by one, especially with the killer's eyeball fetish leading to some fairly ‘icky’ moments, especially for anyone watching on HD-DVD - you'd hate to miss any of the ocular juice and blood. This is perfect to watch in the runup to the big day, as nothing says Merry Christmas like savage violence and forced incest. Enjoy!

[story by Simon Woodley]