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37 out of 57 people found the following review useful: How the rest of the world views the present US administration, 21 July 2006 Author: Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
(My first comment was deleted by IMDb based on an abuse report filed by another user. This is a toned-down version removing the name of a certain political figure.) The satire is not as subtle as it could have been. The female Republican shill character is too much of a cynical, whorish skank - even though she is almost civilized by comparison to her real-life model - and the main character never elicits sympathy. The whole premise of war veterans coming back to life is "borrowed" from Abel Gance's premonitory 1938 anti-war masterpiece "J'Accuse", which was both horrific and heart-felt... Despite a few attempts at "humanizing" the war-vet zombies, they still come off like props to the story. I dislike the whole slasher/gore/schlock tradition and Joe Dante's films especially...Still, this film's heart is in the right place and it is a grade-A document on how the rest of the world perceives America under its current administration and, as such, it shows the kind of courage that is too rarely exhibited in the American film industry. Films like this should be produced every day for prime time television until Americans finally "get it" and shake themselves free of this nightmare... This film makes clear how electing (and re-electing) a certain political figure whom I cannot name for fear of censorship can truly be perceived as a crime against nature and humanity.
38 out of 60 people found the following review useful: Political? Yes, but thoughtful, thought provoking, and well done, 16 March 2006 Author: kabalas-1 from United States
I disagree 100% with the reviewer who gave this short movie an "F" grade. Is this a zombie movie with an obvious political slant to it? Yes. But in the current political climate (movie was released in 2005) this particular political opinion and the discussion that it hopes to start by merely mentioning these issues has been horrifyingly missing from our national dialogue. I agree that it's a sad day when a low budget zombie film has to bring these issues into the national dialogue. But thank God that Joe Dante had the courage to do it. Now, if you're not interested at all in social/political issues there's no need to worry. This is a great little zombie movie that is entertaining and original. I loved it and would give it an "A"
29 out of 51 people found the following review useful: Awesome, 19 June 2006 Author: Lex Fulgore (Naturezrevenge) from Canada
This one had us laughing our asses off and thinking as well. An unexpected dose of satire, wit and political commentary wrapped up into a clever and poignant piece that will be doubly enjoyed by zombie fans and anti Bush people. A few touching moments are also to be found as are a high level of self aware campiness and intelligent parody. Not a horror per se, but a fun piece nonetheless and good fodder for the typical horror junkie wanting to partake in some lighter fare. This is a real popcorn piece and may be desirable to those who loved "They Live" or any old zombie picture for that matter. The zombies are not particularly scary, but the new twist had us thoroughly enjoying this one and as long as the tongue remains planted firmly in the cheek it's one to watch. Recommended!
16 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Thoughtful? Thought provoking? No. Trite and annoying., 3 October 2006 Author: (mantic-1) from United States
I disagree 100% with the reviewer who disagreed 100% with the reviewer who gave this short movie an "F" grade. Cashing in heavily on political propaganda only obscures Joe Dante's lack of ability to pull another Howling out of his bag of tricks. The Masters of Horror series was a phenomenal collection of truly horrifying tales, save for this episode.Despite gaining acclaim from those who wish to promote it's political slant, "Homecoming" is the least effective episode of MOH season one. Unlike the rest of the series, Dante's entry is a parody of the genre, falling short of both horror and humor in it's ham-fisted delivery of a hackneyed political point.Dante can really only be blamed for pulling this stinker off the shelf, as it wasn't his creation. The zombie sub-genre is very popular this decade, and among the crop of predictable George Romero tributes and vacuous fantasies are a number of works designed to push political or (ir)religeous messages. Such works are not written by or intended for true horror fans. Maybe Dante really isn't a a Master of Horror, either. What has he been up to since The Howling, after all?If you want a lame anti-war zombie flick with a few pop culture references passed off as humor, Homecoming may be just your thing. If you are a horror fan looking for something Masterful, pick up... most any other episode of the series. My personal favorite was Dario Argento's "Jenifer," based loosely on a classic comic short by the team of Bruce Jones and Berni Wrightson -- truly creepy.
14 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Tried to be funny, but failed, 24 October 2006 Author: mbenedict26-2 from United States
Some people thought this was funny because they loved the political issues discussed in this piece. I, however, am so tired of the state of the two party system in our country that I can't stomach propaganda from either side. I was hoping for a horror show, but got "cute" zombies and partisan bull crap. I watch my horror films to be scared. This didn't even attempt to be scary. Also, this doesn't have the wit of Romero in his political/cultural satire laced in his movies...this was a blatant, no-imagination story that was hard for me to stomach (for the wrong reasons). On the bright side, if you hate Bush...you'll love this (I'm not condoning hate or Bush with this statement)
15 out of 25 people found the following review useful: So much for subtly..., 31 March 2007 Author: Eternal1976 (acastellino@hotmail.com) from Columbus, OH
There are places for political commentary in film, but "Masters of Horror" is not one of them. I get enough of this stuff from Newsweek and every other editorial in the newspaper. Now I've got to watch this in horror movies? C'mon! All I wanted was a good zombie schlock film, not another "Bush is bad!" rant. If Joe Dante wants to express his politics, let him go on Air America. And if you must insist on making a "message" film, be a little more sly about it. This had all the insinuation of being slapped in the face with a dead fish.By the way Joe, do you really want the left-wing voting block to be associated with brain-dead zombies? Might want to think about that before making another political horror movie (God help us).
23 out of 41 people found the following review useful: Decent Horror, Great Political Satire, 18 May 2006 Author: Gavin Schmitt (gavin6942@yahoo.com) from Kaukauna, Wisconsin
They parody Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, George W. Bush, and Cindy Sheehan. They use such phrases as "Bring It On", "Mission Accomplished", etc... They give homage to such luminaries as Jacques Tourneur, George A. Romero, Jean Yarbrough and Delbert Tenney.And there's zombies.While the horror aspect is minor (no gore or psychological stuff or anything like that), the political satire is brilliant if you have a slightly left-wing bias. The way they present the Iraq War and the Ohio voting machine scam in here is precious.What to say? It's short, it's funny and it has zombies. Think I covered my bases. Not sure if it will have the long-lasting appeal of Joe Dante's other work (The Howling and Gremlins) but for now it really made me feel good to be an American.
23 out of 42 people found the following review useful: Worst of the series..., 7 July 2006 Author: rickert from Oregon, USA
I was looking forward to Dante's contribution to this excellent horror anthology series from Showtime, but this was easily the worst of the bunch. It's really too bad. Part of this may be due to the poor, if odd, choice of source materials. Why Joe didn't just write an original, I have no idea. Instead, we get this soapbox episode where the "message" overwhelms the script, the characters, the staging, everything, and by the end I was just wondering whether it could get any worse, and I won't spoil it...but it ended up getting worse. What a stinker by such a talented creative team. Skip this one and buy the John Carpenter one instead. It manages to balance all of the elements: horror, humor, character, vision, and it's fun. Homecoming is about as fun as having a bear take a dump on you while you sleep.
15 out of 27 people found the following review useful: The worst kind of satire, 19 July 2006 Author: whoisfletch from United States
The last sentence of this review is a major spoiler.I have enjoyed Joe Dante's work since Piranha. He's done a great deal of different genre parodies that were both funny and honest.But this is pure crap. This is the kind of satire - in line with Thank You For Smoking - that is so literal and direct that it leaves nothing a) to be laughed at and b) to leave the audience to think about.It's a shame, because the plot and the material is so rich, timely and ripe for intelligent commentary.By the way, there is absolutely no reason for the main character to shoot the Ann Coulter character at the end of the film. It's just flat out ridiculous.
7 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Dante's Political Horror Hits Home, 15 November 2006 Author: davidus_montoyacus from United States
This isn't your typical zombie movie, and that's what I appreciated about it. This is a film adaptation of the story "Death and Suffrage" which tells the story of a man who spends his time spinning lies for a president much like our own.The dead come back to vote. They want their voices heard and our protagonist vows that those voices will be heard. "If I could have one wish..." he says.This movie is political satire at its best. It also has characters with emotional depth and an analyzation of the darker side of humanity.There is a story by Poppy Z. Brite that comes to mind as I am thinking about this movie. In the story, Poppy says that it is not the dead that we fear, lumbering forward, but the thought that they may show us what is beyond the grave and perhaps tell us what we do not want to hear.Either you love this movie or you hate it. Amongst my friends, its reception has been adored. Some horror fans seem to ache for more blood and guts and less of a personal story line. I, however, highly recommend this entry into the Masters of Horror collection.
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