NOTLD Live!

It's official! I mentioned this in the "rumour" department a few weeks ago, but the event is official! "Night of The Living Dead" LIVE is a go at the Mayfair! Happening March 26th and 27th, the event features a 35mm version of the print present with live dialog, sound and music. It's features music and sound design by the ever talented Mike Dube, the man behind the music of most of Lee Demarbe's films. Tickets are $20.00 in advance. Sadly, George himself won't be attending as we had earlier heard, however he HAS recorded a special greeting for the good fans of Ottawa who attend.

The Crazies – Old and New

The classic Crazies was a film making a very fearful point about the ability of the military to go in and destroy a town of their own without explaining to the people what was going on and the obvious revolt that would cause in small town USA. Of course there’s also a deadly engineered bio-weapon thrown in and a few good kills.

The new Crazies was a film about a town that became homicidal due to an engineered bio-weapon and is quarantined by the government. The military that is sent in is to be avoided, but there is more terror brought on by the crazed townsfolk. The main characters are kept from the original and the fact that it is a man made virus remains, but there is little of the old movie’s political statement that stays.

I liked both films for what they were. The new movie has some kick-ass fight scenes and some good jokes. It is a little cliché and has a few pop scares that are revealed long before through the score; but if you suspend your disbelief and scientific mind for the film it is a fun ride. The classic has no pop scares and is not as cliché. It surprisingly has more gore than the new film and contains some hilarious seventies special effects. It is an interesting look into the military operation and the suspension of citizen rights in a state of martial law.

Both films are good and worth watching. That being said, if I had to pick between the two movies, I would choose the new film. It leans more towards the horror side and has some pretty bad ass characters.

So, go see either film. Don’t expect to be scared if you see the old one and don’t expect the movie of the year from the new one and you shouldn’t be disappointed. Enjoy!

- Mary-Anne

Another chance to go Crazy!

First off, a big thanks to those who braved the ugly weather last night, and came out to see the preview of the new "The Crazies". Feel free to comment on your thoughts, good, bad and indifferent of it!

Missed out on tickets? Well that's ok. Tonight we have the ORIGINAL George A. Romero version at the Mayfair! We'll be having a meetup at the Barley Mow (1060 Bank, just down the street) at 10:30PM and the movie starts at 11:55. Admission is $9.00 for non-members and $5.00 for members. So help support local cinema and buy a membership!

Hope to see a good crowd tonight...

Jill Edmondson live

Jill Edmondson, author and Ottawa native, will be reading and signing copies of her book, "Blood and Groom" this Sunday at 2PM at the Chapters in Gloucester. This is the first book in the Sasha Jackson mysteries and features murder, mayhem and... weddings. I've often wondered how most weddings DON'T end in murder, but that's just me.

Check out her blog here...

Ottawa Horror Movie Night VI

It's official!

Ottawa Horror Movie Night VI, is Friday, Feb 26th at the Mayfair. We're having a meetup at The Barley Mow just down the street at 1060 Bank St. at 10:30. The movie is of course the original 1973 "The Crazies", so if you missed out on passes to the remake, here's a chance to see the original. Admission is $9.00 for non-members, and $5.00 for members. Membership is only $10.00 for the year, so if you're planning to see more than 2 films, it pays for itself! The movie starts at 11:55pm.

See you there!

And the Winners are...

WOW! Two hours and they're gone! Congrats to our winners of the 8 double passes:

Jamie Calder
Tom Leroux
Mike Horrigan
Greg Murphy
Lydia Peever
Mark Pollesel
Josh Stafford
Darren Boyd

I'll be contacting everyone shortly to arrange to get the passes to you!

Wanna get Crazies?

As you may know, Ottawa Horror's next Movie Night is George A. Romero's "The Crazies" at the Mayfair. You may also know that there's a "reinvention" of it planning to hit theatres soon.

Now, Alliance Films is offering you - Ottawa Horror Fans - a chance to see it in advance! We have 8 double passes courtesy of Alliance Films, to see a special preview of "The Crazies" Thursday Feb. 25th at 9PM at the Empire 7 Cinemas. We'll be giving those away to the first eight people who email me at sonsey@ottawahorror.com with the answer to the following trivia question:

Who plays the male lead in the 2010 version of "The Crazies"?

"The Crazies" opens everywhere Friday Feb. 26th. Enjoy the trailer below. Thanks to Natalie and Alliance Films for working with us on this one!

Don't touch that dial!

Hi all,

Just a quick update to stay tuned! We've got some VERY exciting news coming up in the next day or so! You don't want to miss this!

"By the pricking of my thumbs...."

...something wicked this way comes! OK, I'm not a big fan of stoking the rumour mill, but THIS is too good to just let go. An anonymous source has told me two interesting things... First, the Mayfair is planning a "Night of The Living Dead" -Live, show coming up in March - The movie plays along with live actors, live music and live sound fx performed, well.... live... or undead if you prefer... That in itself is cool enough, but... my little birdie informs me that George himself... that's right Mr. Romero IN THE FLESH, may in fact be paying a visit to town to attend! File this under completely unconfirmed, but I have to say I trust my source on it. I'll post more details as I find them out!

And the Winner is...

With a clear 75% of the vote the winner is George Romero's "The Crazies"!  This means our next movie night will be Feb 26th at 11:55PM! We hope to see you all there! Stay tuned, we're hoping to have a couple of goodies in store for this one...