Joe Dante’s horror credentials consist of Piranha, Gremlins and the Howling. This resume makes him more of an “also-ran” than a “master” of horror but I didn’t hold it against him. What I did hold against him was his irritating, preachy critique of the Bush administration disguised as a one hour horror episode.
In the promising opening sequence, an army van pulls up to a man and woman on the side of the road. Zombies stumble out of the van and hobble towards them while the woman open fires with a shotgun. The man takes out a gun of his own and shoots her in the back of the head.
It all started four weeks ago. The man happens to be White House spokesman David Murch and while woman is a political pundit named Jane. The two are bickering on a Bill O’Reilly type show about the War on Terror. When a caller asks what her son died for, Murch responds with a touching explanation of commitment to the greater good of our country. He adds that he wishes more than anything else that her son was alive so that he could tell her how important his sacrifice really was. The president is so impressed with this sound bite that he uses it in his primetime speech.
Somehow the speech prompts the dead to awaken. One by one, the deceased American soldiers rise from their caskets and take their cause to the streets. Their objective? *Sigh* To vote…
While I agree with the stance Homecoming takes, I have zero tolerance for proselytizing in the month of October. And boy does Dante ever beat you over the head with his message. Additionally, two unnecessary subplots are slapped on to meet the one hour time requirement.
You know, Joe Dante also directed the Stupids.
2 comments:
Yeah, Dante is hardly a horror "master". Where's Romero's entry? Roth's? King's? This one sounds like a stinker. I'm with you, I don't want any politics in my horror (except I'm on board is we ever get to see House of Re-Animator where he becomes president!).
Homecoming was actually the only episode I watched that wasn't terrific.
I'd be front & center for Re-Animator in the White House too though I'd also be very skeptical. Remember, the Brady Bunch in the White House seemed like a great idea at the time too...
Yeah, where is Romero dammit? And Cronenberg? Danny Boyle should be in there too based on Shallow Grave & 28 Days Later.
By the way JPX, Lucio Fulci died in 1996..
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