Nothing is lazier than writing a Lazy Sunday about past movie reviews.  It takes no creative effort on my part, and my back catalog of movie reviews is so vast at this point, it provides fodder for months.  Months, I say!

Erhem… anyway, these films marked my introduction to Shudder, the horror streaming service, which subsequently impacted about 99% of my film viewing.  I dove pretty hard into all that Shudder had to offer:

• “Monday Morning Movie Review: The City of the Dead (1960)” – This post marked my first movie review since subscribing to Shudder, the horror streaming service.  City of the Dead is a classic of black-and-white horror film from the early 1960s.  As a fan of Hammer films, I really enjoyed this moody, atmospheric flick.  It also features Christopher Lee, a veteran of Hammer flicks, and best known for his repeated roles as Dracula.  In The City of the Dead, Lee portrays a professor studying witchcraft, who convinces his promising young student Nan Barlow to spend her vacation learning in remote Whitewood, Massachusetts.  Against the warnings of her brother and her fiancé, Nan makes the difficult journey to Whitewood, picking up a mysterious hitchhiker along the way—and putting herself into perilous danger.
• “Monday Morning Movie Review: Creepshow (1982)” – I remember seeing Creepshow at some point as a kid, and the plots of several of the vignettes stuck with me.  For example, the whole plot of “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill“—which stars Stephen King in his first film role—has always stuck with me (indeed, I have an idea for a short story with a similar premise tentatively entitled “Yeast Man”):  the idiot farmer slowly succumbing to the weird alien plant.  Ted Danson’s submerged head in “Something to Tide You Over” is another memorable image, as is the flood of roaches entering the impossibly sanitized apartment in “They’re Creeping Up on You!”  Those three lodged themselves in my young mind, which added a nice bit of nostalgia to viewing Creepshow again as an adult.
• “Delayed Monday Morning Movie Review: Day of the Dead (1985)” – One of these days I’ll actually get to watch 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, the supposedly “fun” Romero Dead movie.  But Day of the Dead did in a pinch, even if it’s far more cynical about human nature than Dawn.  The film takes place at a point in the zombie apocalypse at which virtually no humans are left alive (or not undead).  A tiny military unit begrudgingly protects an even tinier team of scientists, the latter of which are attempting to resolve or reverse the zombification of their fellow Americans through scientific means.  There’s a strong theme of desperation and hopelessness in the film, but not nihilism:  the film suggests that humanity brought the zombie plague upon itself by playing God and pushing the limits of human knowledge to hubristic extremes.

Well, that’s it for this Sunday’s post.  I’m emerging from the woods at some point today, assuming Bigfoot didn’t get me.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

• Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
• Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
• Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
• Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
• Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
• Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
• Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
• Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
• Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
• Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
• Lazy Sunday XII – Space
• Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
• Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
• Lazy Sunday XV – Work
• Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
• Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
• Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
• Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
• Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
• Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
• Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
• Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
• Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
• Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
• Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
• Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
• Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
• Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
• Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
• Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
• Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series
• Lazy Sunday XXXV – Corporate Grind
• Lazy Sunday XXXVI – Best of the Reblogs, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XXXVII – Best of the Reblogs, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XXXVIII – Best of the Reblogs, Part III
• Lazy Sunday XXXIX – A Very Dokken Christmas Series
• Lazy Sunday XL – Christmas Carols
• Lazy Sunday XLI – Food
• Lazy Sunday XLII – 2019’s Top Five Posts
• Lazy Sunday XLIII – Music, Part II: More Music
• Lazy Sunday XLIV – SubscribeStar Saturday Posts, Part II: The Search for More Money
• Lazy Sunday XLV – Techno-Weirdos II
• Lazy Sunday XLVI – Man Time
• Lazy Sunday XLVII – Winning
• Lazy Sunday XLVIII – Culture
• Lazy Sunday XLIX – Family
• Lazy Sunday L – The Best of Lazy Sunday
• Lazy Sunday LI – Just for Fun
• Lazy Sunday LII – Democratic Candidates, Part I
• Lazy Sunday LIII – Democratic Candidates, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LIV – Coronavirus
• Lazy Sunday LV – Animals
• Lazy Sunday LVI – Movies
• Lazy Sunday LVII – Christianity, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap
• Lazy Sunday LIX – The God Pill Series
• Lazy Sunday LX – Music, Part II: Gigging
• Lazy Sunday LXI – The Tuck
• Lazy Sunday LXII – The South
• Lazy Sunday LXIII – Holidays
• Lazy Sunday LXIV – Grab Bag
• Lazy Sunday LXV – Rioting
• Lazy Sunday LXVI – Video Games
• Lazy Sunday LXVII – Phone it in Fridays, Part I
• Lazy Sunday LXVIII – Phone it in Fridays, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXIX – Phone it in Fridays, Part III
• Lazy Sunday LXX – Phone it in Friday, Part IV
• Lazy Sunday LXXI – Road Trips
• Lazy Sunday LXXII – Forgotten Posts, Volume I
• Lazy Sunday LXXIII – Forgotten Posts, Volume II
• Lazy Sunday LXXIV – Forgotten Posts, Volume III
• Lazy Sunday LXXV – Forgotten Posts, Volume IV
• Lazy Sunday LXXVI – Forgotten Posts, Volume V
• Lazy Sunday LXXVII – Rural America
• Lazy Sunday LXXVIII – Space, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – SCOTUS
• Lazy Sunday LXXX – Big Ideas
• Lazy Sunday LXXXI – Education, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXXXII – Universal Studios
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIII – The Mountains
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIV – Halloween Hijinks
• Lazy Sunday LXXXV – Elections
• Lazy Sunday LXXXVI – Questions, Part I
• Lazy Sunday LXXXVII – Questions, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXXXVIII – Questions, Part III
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – 100 Week Review
• Lazy Sunday XC – Questions, Part IV
• Lazy Sunday XCI – Questions, Part V
• Lazy Sunday XCII – Christmas
• Lazy Sunday XCIII – 2020’s Top Five Posts
• Lazy Sunday XCIV – My Favorite Things
• Lazy Sunday XCV – The Best of Lazy Sunday
• Lazy Sunday XCVI – More Movies: Movie Reviews, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XCVII – More Movies II: Movie Reviews, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XCVIII – More Movies III: Movie Reviews, Part III
• Lazy Sunday XCIX – Romantic Music
• Lazy Sunday C – Valentine’s Day
• Lazy Sunday CI – Obituaries, Part I
• Lazy Sunday CII – Obituaries, Part II
• Lazy Sunday CIII – Begging
• Lazy Sunday CIV – Time
• Lazy Sunday CV – Grab Bag II
• Lazy Sunday CVI – Adventures
• Lazy Sunday CVII – Easter
• Lazy Sunday CVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2021 Recap
• Lazy Sunday CIX – Pillow Talk
• Lazy Sunday CX – Inspector Gerard Reviews
• Lazy Sunday CXI – Bric-a-Brac II
• Lazy Sunday CXII – Responsibility
• Lazy Sunday CXIII – Short Stories
• Lazy Sunday CXIV – More Movies IV: Movie Reviews, Part IV
• Lazy Sunday CXV – Memorable Mondays
• Lazy Sunday CXVI – Delays
• Lazy Sunday CXVII – More Movies V – Movie Reviews, Part V
• Lazy Sunday CXVIII – More Movies VI – Movie Reviews, Part VI
• Lazy Sunday CXIX – Summer Camps
• Lazy Sunday CXX – Animals, Part II
• Lazy Sunday CXXI – MAGAWeek2021 Posts
• Lazy Sunday CXXII – MAGAWeek2020 Posts
• Lazy Sunday CXXIII – Murphy
• Lazy Sunday CXXIV – Bible Posts
• Lazy Sunday CXXV – More Movies VII – Movie Reviews, Part VII
• Lazy Sunday CXXVI – Joy, Part I
• Lazy Sunday CXXVII – Joy, Part II – Music
• Lazy Sunday CXXVIII – Civilization
• Lazy Sunday CXXIX – Friends, Part I
• Lazy Sunday CXXX – Friends, Part II
• Lazy Sunday CXXXI – Friends, Part III
• Lazy Sunday CXXXII – Milestones
• Lazy Sunday CXXXIII – Inspector Gerard
• Lazy Sunday CXXXIV – Friends, Part IV
• Lazy Sunday CXXXV – More Movies VIII – Movie Reviews, Part VIII
• Lazy Sunday CXXXVI – More Movies IX – Movie Reviews, Part IX
• Lazy Sunday CXXXVII – More Halloween Hijinks
• Lazy Sunday CXXXVIII – Friends, Part V