just watch it!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Better Late Then Never

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

When I saw the preview of this, okay it's just another zombie movie. Zombie soldiers are coming out of the grave to wreak havoc, yawn! How wrong I was.Although Joe Dante makes no reference to any war or people we know he's not kidding anybody. Clive Barker said to him "Ann Coulter will be after you in a heartbeat."The story is about a presidential adviser who is on a cable talk show along side a right wing political commentator/satirist "Jane Clever" dressed in a skirt, boots and too much make up. (Really Joe, who is this character modeled after? Not Glenn Beck.)When a grieving mother asks the question "Why did my son have to die?", the adviser feels a bit of human emotion for a second and says "If I could have one wish it would be that your son to come back" and then he catches himself and adds "so he can tell you how important this struggle really is." Well, he gets his wish and them some. The soldiers come back, not to eat brains and rip people apart, nope! They come back to vote, and gain public sympathy along the way.I see many other people didn't like this one for whatever reason but I did. It made me think how we have been lied to about war many times and the idea the government really don't care about people, and say and do whatever it takes to follow their own agenda. Oliver Stone had 'JFK', John Carpenter had 'They Live', Joe Dante has this. Love it or hate it I do admire film directors who not afraid to shake things up and make people question what they are being told.

I have liked every Joe Dante movie that I've seen so far, and "Masters of Horror: Homecoming" doesn't disappoint. Set in the weeks leading up to the 2004 election, the episode depicts David Murch, a speech-writer (Jon Tenney) for the president. He is in a relationship with right-wing pundit Jane Cleaver (Thea Gill), an obvious parody of Ann Coulter. Asked by a woman why her son got sent to fight and die in an unnecessary war, and he tells her that he wishes that the soldiers killed in Iraq could come back to life. The president uses that line in his speech. Sure enough, the soldiers killed in Iraq come back to life so that they can vote in the election! It's as if the war, no longer the elephant in the room, is coming into people's lives directly! Although a total comedy, the brings up every issue that was around in the 2004 election. Joe Dante makes another great one! The only cast member whom I recognized was Dante regular Robert Picardo, who plays a parody of Karl Rove. Strangely absent was character actor Dick Miller, whom Dante has previously cast in every movie. But anyway, a real treat!

Had this been marketed as a satire of the US right, I would have given it a 10/10. However since it was marketed a horror and was included in a Season One DVD set hat included great scares like "Imprint" and "Jenifer", I was quite disappointed. No horror, no scares, no suspense, unexpected twists or chills...IOW nothing that makes for a great and memorable horror.OTOH, the political satire was hilarious, especially the send up of Ann Coulter and George W's illegal war in Iraq. Unfortunately, I and most fans who bought or rented the Season One DVD set expected something totally different.

Synopsis: During the presidential election, a political correspondent wishes the deceased soldiers of the recent war could rise and give their support to the incumbent candidate. He gets his wish when these dead veterans return from the grave and look towards Washington. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when the dead express their lack of gratitude to the selfish government and its politicians in their own Undead (but still American) way.Review: While not a fan of the show myself, this episode was repeatedly recommended to me due to my love of zombies and my enjoyment of political satire. It didn't hurt that the typically entertaining Joe Dante (Piranha, Gremlins) was in the director's seat, either. Regardless of who directed, however, I knew that it was still a television episode and not a full film. Coming in at under an hour's runtime, I wasn't expecting the deepest, most thought-provoking social satire, but still looked forward to a good zombie flick. Ironically, it was reversed. For me, the film spent far too much time on the political commentary and all that goes with it and ignored what could've been a very fun, very interesting zombie flick. I'm 100% for satire & commentary in horror (no Romero fan could be against it, really); but when the satire puts the horror elements to the back burner, it loses its edge as a horror film and becomes a commentary film. Now, this isn't to say the episode isn't worth the (short) time. Technically speaking, the film's pretty good. The script is easy to get into and works well with Dante's direction, although much of the dialogue is wasted on some low-end, soap opera-style acting. Beyond that, there are some fantastic scenes (like the creepy first coffin scene) and the final few minutes are fantastic (especially the closing monologue). But, that's about it. Overall, it's very watchable and rather likable, but I'd have to say it's far too tame for the majority of horror fans. On the other hand, if it's a dark comedy bordering on drama similar to Fido that you're looking for, this isn't a bad way to go.Final Verdict: 6/10. Could've been much better, perhaps as a feature with higher production values, but still worth a watch.-AP3-