August 2018 film review part 2

BRIGSBY BEAR (2018) D- Dave McCary
A young man (Kyle Mooney, who devised the film as well as starring in it) is abducted in childhood and kept isolated from society. His ‘father’ (an excellent Mark Hamill) entertains him by creating a TV show starring a fluffy-toy superhero called ‘Brigsby Bear’. Our abductee is entranced by these amateur offerings, which carry lots of moral messages like being honest, always doing the right thing and good ultimately triumphing over evil. Then he is finally released from his cozy prison and encounters the real world for the first time. But, perhaps understandably, the young man remains obsessed by the Brigsby character to the point where the authorities are seriously worried he has been permanently warped by his incarceration.
             Eventually he decides he can only fulfill himself by making a movie of Brigsby Bear himself, by using the props seized from his abductors, and reluctantly, the authorities let him have his way...

This movie is terrific. Beautifully realised on screen, this is a deeply moving and beautiful tale which is in my experience unique - and that isn’t easy today. Highest recommendation.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ((1968) D- George A. Romero
A young woman is visiting a cemetery with her brother when they are attacked by a strange, flesh-eating ghoul. The boy is killed, and she flees, finding an abandoned farmhouse nearby in which to hide. There she finds another man also escaping from the zombies outside who would kill and eat them. In one terrible night they, and a few other ‘norms’, attempt to fight off the attack from a growing band of flesh-eating monsters.

Romero’s famous cult schlock-horror is now seen as a classic of the cinema, and if we rate it by the number of spin-offs and copycat films that followed, it certainly qualifies. Shot in grainy black and white, it captures the menace and horror of a zombie attack perfectly, using a number of devices that are guaranteed to keep us riveted: the dead that won’t die, the hands coming through the walls, the danger that lurks within, it’s all there. The ultimate horror film.