The Laughing Dead

Well, that’s some interesting cultural appropriation.

Goofy buffet of gore, possession, zombies, monsters, specters, ancient deities, and basketball. Doesn’t quite achieve all that it could’ve and the tone is in the yuks and yucks vein of 80s horror comedies, including a foul mouthed kid. Still, it’s fun. It’s a Buechler!

Also, learning from the BTS doc that everyone in the movie is a sci-fi writer. Like there’s only a few actors in it. It was for sure worth getting the disk to see the transportation coordinator, hear the connection to Charlie Band, and get a sense of the scrappy fun that went into making this movie.

Well, that’s some interesting cultural appropriation.

Goofy buffet of gore, possession, zombies, monsters, specters, ancient deities, and basketball. Doesn’t quite achieve all that it could’ve and the tone is in the yuks and yucks vein of 80s horror comedies, including a foul mouthed kid. Still, it’s fun. It’s a Buechler!

Also, learning from the BTS doc that everyone in the movie is a sci-fi writer. Like there’s only a few actors in it. It was for sure worth getting the disk to see the transportation coordinator, hear the connection to Charlie Band, and get a sense of the scrappy fun that went into making this movie.

Watched the Vinegar Syndrome 4k remaster
You know how a person who overly fetishes particular elements of Japanese media and entertainment is called a weeaboo? This movie deserves recognition as the first major reversal of that. Director SP Somtow is a Thai/American citizen, but this movie shows a deep fascination with Mexican and Aztec culture. Normally I'd be interested by cross cultural filmmaking, but like the white guy who goes to Akihabara in a kimono and samurai top knot, this film fetishes the history and culture in a way that is entirely not self aware. After our menagerie of white tourists are picked up and taken to Mexico, not a single Latin person seems to be featured on camera. Even our "Aztec" characters seem to be bad tans on white and Japanese actors, leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

The remaster itself is pretty crisp, adding a nice level of color and visual fidelity to the film, for those more interested in the restoration quality.

Watched the Vinegar Syndrome 4k remaster
You know how a person who overly fetishes particular elements of Japanese media and entertainment is called a weeaboo? This movie deserves recognition as the first major reversal of that. Director SP Somtow is a Thai/American citizen, but this movie shows a deep fascination with Mexican and Aztec culture. Normally I'd be interested by cross cultural filmmaking, but like the white guy who goes to Akihabara in a kimono and samurai top knot, this film fetishes the history and culture in a way that is entirely not self aware. After our menagerie of white tourists are picked up and taken to Mexico, not a single Latin person seems to be featured on camera. Even our "Aztec" characters seem to be bad tans on white and Japanese actors, leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

The remaster itself is pretty crisp, adding a nice level of color and visual fidelity to the film, for those more interested in the restoration quality.