Bruiser, There's Always Vanilla, The Crazies...

[Anthony C]

If any of you have seen these Romero directed films, how were they? Is Romero's work appreciated even when it is outside the zombie genre?

[capncnut]

You should find many opinions/comments about all three movies with a little bit of searching, brother.

[Kaos]

Moved to Media Section.

[MinionZombie]

Whelp, I'll wax lyrical about them again with pleasure... There's Always Vanilla - still to see it, will do eventually. I've heard it's not his best, but it sounds interesting because it's completely non-horror and is all about the world of advertising, so should in essence be 'from GAR's mind' so-to-speak, as he used to make commercials. The Crazies - I rather like this film, it's very low budget, but it's got the vibe of GAR's earlier work, such as in his editing. I really enjoyed it, it's a bit rough around the edges, but I think it's one of the easiest films for Romero fans - who haven't viewed outside his zombie flicks - to watch. Bruiser - his first flick in Canada. Not at all horror as it appeared to be advertised as, more a revenge thriller. I quite enjoyed it. It's not massively ballsy by any stretch of the imagination, but I watched it for the third time recently and I still think it ultimately works. Not one of his best, but not a pile of gash either.

[jdog]

i enjoy all 3 films but there's always vanilla is imo his weakest film. its compleatly different from all his other films thats for sure.

[Minerva_Zombi]

All three are some of my favorite Romero films. Theres always Vanilla is really interesting to me. Theres just something about it. The Crazies is a great movie. Prolly my third fav behind The dead films and Martinm. And Bruiser is really kick ass for the following reason, THE MISFITS! lol. But it is a really good movie. I dig it alot.

[Mike70]

i haven't seen vanilla but the other two are certainly worth a look. especially bruiser, it is a bit of a different film for romero and i like it quite a bit. the crazies is interesting and you should check it out, if you are a romero completist.

[bassman]

I loved The Crazies, never seen There's Always Vanilla, and I've only seen bits of Bruiser, but it seemed pretty cool. Speaking of Bruiser, I saw it attached as a special 2-movie package with Saw at Walmart the other day. Thought that was kinda strange...

[SymphonicX]

There's always Vanilla is a decent little movie, more of a chick flick really but it plays out like a well directed drama with some great narratives... the Crazies, long debated - not a huge fan of it but it has its moments, some good shock stuff in there but overall feels like 90 minutes of people screaming at each other... Bruiser: would have been a great movie had it not been for the awful marketing and terrible accent of Jason Flemyng...the oriental girl can't act to save her life and somehow the point of the film feels lost..the final scenes are terrible and pointless...the movie only plays out half good, the rest of it pretty much sucks...but it was a nice idea...

[Moon Knight]

The Crazies definatley has the GAR vibe but the production values hurt it more than anything. I still like this film tho. The gags are so bad thier funny.

[Monrozombi]

There's Always Vanilla is really his lost film. George recalls almost nothing about the film which is surprising. Its not great by any means, it runs almost like an experimental film for him. Considering he got a lot of press from NOTLD and tried a romantic film and it more or less failed. Its worth a look to see some early non-zombie Romero. Crazies is a great film mired with low production value. I havent watched it in some time and really should revisit it soon. Of all of his early work this has a different feel to the film and I think it has something to do with the editing of the film. Heavy on the social commentary and probably Romeros' biggest use of the military in his film. Bruiser, ah Bruiser, I must be one of maybe 5 people who really like the film around these parts. From initially seeing Bruiser at a screen in 2000 I was hooked. I'm not sure exactly what attracts me to this film. I don't know if its the performance of Peter Stormare, the sfx of the mask or that Tom Atkins is in it! It's worth a look to see something different from Romero. Like someone said above, its not horror but a revenge thriller. Given Romero's less then stellar track record of writing dialouge this film has some pretty good snipets here and there.

[MontagMOI]

I must admit i was disappointed with Bruiser but The Crazies is a fave of mine and also the first Romero film i saw (Oh those old Saturday Night Horror Double Bills on BBC2 - happy days)