Excellent Dawn Discussion Podcast

[Neil]

Agreed. He sounded like he's lost his enthusiasm for the podcast. I'm certain a load more time could have been dedicated to it, ala Night and Dawn... And did I miss mention of the original script, the lost funding, and the film we therefore ended up with?

[kidgloves]

I'm certain a load more time could have been dedicated to it, ala Night and Dawn... And did I miss mention of the original script, the lost funding, and the film we therefore ended up with? He did mention it when referencing Land of the Dead but only a sentence

[JDP]

I've not listened to this podcast yet, but I'm with you - the Day of the Dead score is one of the best scores of the 1980s, even of all time. It has so much identity to it, it doesn't fade into the background at all, and yet feels totally appropriate to the film. I listen to it frequently. The style of the musicians who provided the soundtrack is very distinctive. I remember when I watched Tales from the Darkside episodes for the first time back in the day, you could easily tell when an episode's music was composed by the same musicians as Day. The style is unmistakable.

[Moon Knight]

Day's soundtrack is very excellent. Classic. Quite timeless. Only part I hate is near the end of the movie when Rhodes is getting chased down the corridor, some electric guitar licks come out of nowhere. I was always happy the guitar didn't last long as rock music is such a pet peeve of mine when it comes to movie scores for Horror flicks; with the only exception being RotLD.

[kidgloves]

The latest podcast is about The Omega Man/I am Legend. Most here will love the analysis. Enjoy - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...-the-omega-man

[Neil]

The latest podcast is about The Omega Man/I am Legend. Most here will love the analysis. Enjoy - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...-the-omega-man I LOVE that film... Thanks for the heads-up!

[Neil]

Well, that reminded me why I enjoyed The Omega Man so much as a kid! Must rewatch it now... It also reminded me I even did a small homage to it in my fiction contribution "The Midas Touch" - http://fiction.homepageofthedead.com...eadfiction=89H This news reporter's dialogue for example:- The reporter sat squarely at his desk reading a sheet of paper. Meaningless text scrolled at the bottom of the screen. The man’s eyes looked tired. He took a deep breath and put the sheet down. "Reports are now coming in from all parts of the country and nowhere seems safe from their ever increasing numbers. Already hospitals are collapsing under the immense strain and the Civil Defence Forces can seem to do nothing to halt this nightmare. My fellow citizens, the question is now simply one of survival. Is this the end? We have all heard or been told of our judgement, dooms day, the end of the world... Well here it is, right here, right now! What can w-" The child was brought back to reality by his younger sister complaining of the cold. BTW - Here's the video they mention (zoom to 4m10s):-

[kidgloves]

Night 90 remake Direct mp3 link - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...iving-dead.mp3 Full link - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...he-living-dead

[MinionZombie]

Just listened to the Omega Man one yesterday. Lots of good and interesting points of discussion made there, although it would be good if they could greatly improve the audio for the guy who does the most talking (I assume he was Skyping in?) because it sounds too processed/crushed/tinny while the other voices (who don't get enough of a look-in) have good audio quality. It made for an uncomfortable listen - has anyone else found that? Or is it just me? Another thing that irritates me a bit is their tendency to go off on regular (but brief) tangents that have no real bearing on the main thing being discussed. I'll give this one a listen shortly.

[shootemindehead]

No, it's not just you. The skype call is fine, but the fake out is a bit annoying. They try to make it seem like a studio effort. In any case, it doesn't bother me after a while. It's just a bit eh at the beginning. They're ok, these podcasts, but I got a little irritated by the Night 90 one TBH. There's a lot of guff about Patricia Tallman's Barbara being tough and sassy and all that tripe, while simultaneously dumping on Judith O'Dea's Barbara. While I like Tallman's go, I also like O'Dea's turn as well. Plus, I think O'Dea had the much harder job. Turning on the mentally wrecked, near catatonic act for the duration of a movie shoot would be enormously draining. I also find her Babs to be a realistic portrayal of how some people would react to the experience she's just had. Tallman's Babs has a much easier ride. That kind of Sigorney Weaveresque role is easy.

[MinionZombie]

I see what you mean about the two versions of Barbara. Romero was right to totally change her character up for the remake, reflecting social change, but also as an opportunity to do something different with the tale. In Night 90 she's the voice of the reasonable, pragmatic middle ground as all around her lose their heads and bicker. The one character I absolutely cannot stand in Night 90, though, is Judy Rose ... a shrieking ball of oblivious snot one minute ("You shot Mr McGruder!") and then a wannabe Rambo the next, only to flip flop back and forth constantly until we're mercifully relieved of that character's presence. O'Dea and Tallman both nailed their respective versions of Barbara and I like both portrayals, although all things considered the original wins out (of course it does!) ... and it's a damn shame we'll never get an uncut version of Night 90 (I'd imagine the original film elements of trimmed footage don't exist now). ... Speaking of horror movie podcasts, Mick Garris has started one up: http://podcastone.com/post-mortem-with-mick-garris He did a series of video interviews a while back under the "Post Mortem" brand, but these podcasts are brand new interviews. Interviewees so far have included Rob Zombie, Joe Dante, and John Landis. A new episode every two weeks. Just got going, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

[Neil]

O'Dea and Tallman both nailed their respective versions of Barbara and I like both portrayals, although all things considered the original wins out (of course it does!) ... and it's a damn shame we'll never get an uncut version of Night 90 (I'd imagine the original film elements of trimmed footage don't exist now). There's Savini's rough directors cut with an alternative sound track too if I recall... The extra footage in that isn't that much if I recall. It's literally short 1-2 second "end of violence" shots if I recall...

[shootemindehead]

As far as I know, Savini deliberately went easy on the gore so not to upset the MPAA. Even so he upset the MPAA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The 90's was one of the absolute worst times to be a horror fan. Everything was cut, either at theatrical level or later on video. I've gone on about this shit in length on this site, so I'll not rehash it here. I remember being delighted when I heard that Savini was going to helm a colour remake of 'Night of the Living Dead' and then when I saw it, I was unsure how to feel. It was as tame as a pussycat, had bontempi music and some of the characters were..."off". But, I was happy to actually get to see a zombi film in the cinema and over the years the picture has really grown on me and I think the only cuts were a head shot and a few extra squibs here and there. On Judy - or Judy Rose as she is here - sure, she is a shrill and supremely irritating character, but I've actually known people like her. So in that respect she's, at least, a realistic character. That goes for Judith O'Dea's Barbara too, who I absolutely hated when I was a kid. But, as an adult (who's seen more things shall we say), I've come to see her as quite indicative of many, many, people who would break down during a crisis they cannot understand. Patricia Tallman's Barbara (who essentially goes from strangely prudish to Rambo over the course of the film), I'm not sure would exist anywhere outside of a movie.

[MinionZombie]

Listened to the podcast this afternoon. Some good points raised - they're quite right about how many of the other characters suffer when compared to their original counterparts. Cooper in the original is a bit of an asshole, but he has a good point or two to make - he's just terrible at getting them across, whereas Cooper in the remake is a waaaay over-the-top as a pretty one-note dickhead. Likewise, Ben is so overly emotional in the remake that it's a bit of a shame when Ben in the original was much more rounded - he was capable of flipping out with rage as well as thinking things through calmly. I see absolutely no connection with Evil Dead, though. What? Because of a shot of the moon and the effects? Really? Beyond a vague element with the 'sunken eyes', the odd pair being white, there's no connection at all. I don't recall Savini or anyone involved referencing Evil Dead. Their aim was to go for a 'realistic' look to the corpses - e.g. the eyes, the ears, the suit cut up the back etc - which is very effective. The theory about Barbara in '90 having been a victim of some kind of sexual assault is an intriguing one, but I'm not sure it has much grounding to be honest. One piece of evidence the guy uses was - as he said himself - an ad lib by Bill Moseley (so therefore not in the script). And considering how blunt Romero & Co are with some of the film's prevailing themes (the "they're us and we're them" line is thunderously on-the-nose), I don't really buy that as an intended bit of backstory to Barbara 1990. It could be, who knows, and it is an interesting one, but I'm not particularly convinced it was intended - it seems way too subtle compared to the rest of the movie. What does everyone else think about that theory?

[shootemindehead]

I think your man pulled that one out of his arse really. Never in a million years would I have thought that barbara was a rape victim. The "whatever I lost..." line is an intriguing one though, but it's hardly something that one could draw from to form a conclusion. I just thought that it was a signifier that she was Rambo now and not Edna Birch anymore.