ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009)

Posted on January 2, 2011 at 3:33 am by B.C.
The peaceful town of Port Gamble is thrown into turmoil when a zombie virus strikes. When it is discovered that the source of the outbreak is a group of Middle Eastern terrorists it doesn’t take long for the townspeople to find some easy targets to place the blame on.

Frida (Janette Armand) is a second generation Iranian immigrant who would like nothing more than to be recognised as being an American. Instead she is frequently referred to as an Iraqi by the ignorant locals who have known her all of her life. When the virus hits the town Frida finds refuge with her neighbours, the Millers, but paranoia soon creeps in and creates more danger inside than out.
Tom (Doug Fahl) has been away from Port Gamble for many years, making a life for himself in the city, free from the town’s homophobic atmosphere. Tonight he is on a mission though; he is going to his mother’s house with his boyfriend Lance (Cooper Hopkins) and plans on ‘coming out’ to her over dinner. Unfortunately the zombie virus complicates the issue, leaving Tom and Lance no choice but to flee into the relative safety of the local church. It’s only a matter of time before members of the congregation begin to suspect that the two men are not as they seem.
One of the posters for Zombies of Mass Destruction calls it ‘A Political Zomedy’ and this is an accurate enough statement; there are plenty of zombies throughout, a good dashing of comedy (not all of it finding a mark) and lots of political statements too. The script raises some complex issues about small town attitudes towards those perceived as being different; from the plight of Middle Eastern immigrants thoughtlessly labeled as terrorists to the prejudice experienced by gay couples from various religious groups, ZMD has a crack at each issue in turn.
At its heart though ZMD is a solid zombie movie, with all of the action and gore you’d expect from the genre. The dual story-lines make it different enough to stand out from similar movies; it’s not often that you see a couple of gay guys and a Middle Eastern college girl team up to kick zombie ass!
Well worth a watch, 3 out of 5.

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009)

Colin (2008)

Posted on December 26, 2010 at 2:12 am by B.C.
Colin (Alastair Kirton) has been bitten by a zombie; follow him as he joins the ranks of the undead, exploring what this new existence has to offer.

Colin is an insightful look at a day in the ‘life’ of a freshly turned zombie, as he (it?) journeys through the streets of London. Not surprisingly there is little dialogue throughout the movie, making it all the more remarkable that you begin to feel empathy for Colin as the story unfolds; a story which has much more depth than you might first imagine.
There are glimpses of other stories throughout Colin, serving to hint at the breakdown of society, and some flashback scenes, to let the viewer see what happened to Colin immediately preceding his fatal bite. Both of these devices nicely break up our hero’s shambling progress and lend him a pinch more humanity than he actually possesses.
Rumoured to have cost only £45 to make, Colin is the ultimate low budget horror movie, but don’t let the budget put you off watching it; there are worse horror movies than Colin that cost an awful lot more money to produce, and the unique perspective and strong script more than makes up for the shaky camera work and occasional dark lighting.
Colin was written, produced and directed by the same guy, Marc Price; it would be fascinating to see what sort of film he could produce given a more generous budget and the freedom to use it.
A worthwhile watch, especially for zombie film fans.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Colin (2008)

Irreversible (2002)

Posted on December 21, 2010 at 9:42 pm by B.C.

Set in Paris, over one night, Irreversible explores the events surrounding the brutal rape of Alex (Monica Bellucci) and how it affects her boyfriend Marcus (Vincent Cassel) and Pierre (Albert Dupontel), her ex-lover.

Written and directed by Gaspar Noe, the co-writer and director of the 2009 thriller, Enter the Void, Irreversible is an unflinching study of the destructive power of time.
You can read the full review here.
Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Irreversible (2002)

City of Rott (2006)

Posted on December 18, 2010 at 6:48 pm by B.C.
The zombie apocalypse has arrived, brought about by parasitic worms living in the water supply; they enter the body, taking it over, and then force the reanimated corpse to relentlessly pursue fresh meat. Enter Fred, a lonely old man, who is gradually losing his mind but is determined to find a new pair of shoes.

He is armed only with his walker, which speaks to him, as he journeys through Rott City, battling the hordes of zombies that now roam its streets.

City of Rott is the creation of just one man, Frank Sudol; he wrote the script, directed it, produced it, composed the original soundtrack, edited and starred as all of the characters. That is impressive. City of Rott is the first of a trilogy of animated movies by Sudol, with Dead Fury (2008), an animated take on The Evil Dead series of films, being the second, and Shock Invasion (2010), an action science fiction about the alien invasion as the last. Currently Shock Invasion is only available as a digital download.

Aside from the animation of City of Rott being flash-based and a little basic, it has a lot to offer fans of the zombie horror genre: There is plenty of violence and gore, along with tons of zombies; Fred is a master of the walker as a close combat weapon; the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously and there are many amusing references to zombie lore throughout; the plot twists and turns to keep you on your toes and the parasitic worm angle has originality. All things considered City of Rott is more than the sum of its parts.

Suffice to say it’s not suitable for a younger audience.
3.5 out of 5.        

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on City of Rott (2006)

7 Days (Les 7 jours du talion) (2010)

Posted on December 18, 2010 at 12:36 am by B.C.

Surgeon Bruno Hamel (Claude Legault) leads a normal middle-class life in a normal middle-class neighborhood. He loves his wife, Sylvie (Fanny Mallette), and the couple lavish attention on their only child, eight year old Jasmine (Rose-Marie Coallier). Their ideal life is torn apart when Jasmine goes missing,on the way to visit a nearby friend, and is later found raped and murdered. Bruno descends into darkness, wracked by feelings of guilt and unable to escape images of his daughter’s torment. When the prime suspect is caught and about to be brought to trial, Bruno devises a deadly plan in which he abducts the murderer, tortures him for 7 days and executes him. Will Bruno follow through on his plan; if so will he ever be the same again?

7 Days is full of memorable moments, many of which are for the wrong reasons. Consider before viewing this movie that you can’t un-see something that you have just watched. The scene in which Jasmine’s body is found, dumped on some wasteland, is extremely difficult to watch; the viewer is not spared any details and can fully empathise with Bruno as his world tumbles down – heartbreaking. During the torture of his daughter’s murderer Bruno uses his surgical skills at one point in a particularly inventive way; the result s are both fascinating and disgusting.

7 Days is a thriller and a horror, playing both genres effectively. The script is well written, the camerawork moody, and the characters are complex and real, with some excellent supporting roles; Herve Mercure (Remy Girard), the detective responsible for bringing Bruno in, is complex and deserves a special mention. The horror, when it comes, is graphic and manifests itself in brutally realistic torture scenes.

Think of 7 Days as a modern day revenge tragedy; often brutal, at times horrendous, sometimes frustrating but definitely watchable.

4 out of 5.

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 7 Days (Les 7 jours du talion) (2010)

Devil (2010)

Posted on December 13, 2010 at 11:42 pm by B.C.
Five strangers get stuck in a lift, four of them have shady pasts and one of them is the devil. It is left to Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) to untangle the web of deceit in order to save their lives and possibly their souls.

Devil is a supernatural thriller from the imagination of M. Night Shyamalan. It’s the first of The Night Chronicles, a trilogy of stories all of which are based on Shyamalan’s ideas but not written or directed by him; his role is a collaborative one. The next movie in the series is called Reincarnate but it is uncertain whether production has commenced or when it is scheduled for release.
So what is the big twist in Devil, or is there one at all? It would be unfair to spoil the movie so suffice to say the twist is there but the impact is not. The fact that it’s Shymalans trademark may be a factor; the anticipation works to lessen the impact when the plot turn does come. This is no Sixth Sense (1999) though, where everything that went before must be re-evaluated in light of the new information. Even Signs (2002) had more of a twist than that of Devil.
The following stood out as particularly annoying: The use of the Mexican security guard’s Catholic beliefs and consequent deep knowledge of how the Devil behaves in these precise situations (passed down via an oral tradition from his Mother apparently) was a clumsy device at best. The ending of Devil also lacked bite; just at the point at which a paradigm shift would be ideal it delivers a dose of saccharine and ends on a preachy note. 
Is Devil scary? Not by a long stretch of the imagination. It is interesting enough to keep you entertained for a while if you don’t demand too much of it. Devil is also well acted throughout, no complaints there, but if you like your horror with attitude it’s probably best avoided.
 
2.5 out of 5.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Devil (2010)

Cat Shit One – Episode One (2010)

Posted on December 8, 2010 at 10:04 pm by B.C.

Two American special ops soldiers, Packy and Botasky, have zeroed in on the compound in which American P.O.W.s are being held by Middle Eastern forces. When things turn nasty, and with backup still miles away, they are forced to make a move, unaware enemy reinforcements are almost upon them. What follows is some top class action unlike anything you’ve seen before.


Cat Shit One is a computer generated anime based on the manga series Apocalypse Meow, but unlike the manga, in which the action takes place in Vietnam, the setting for Cat Shit One has been changed to Iraq. This modernisation makes the series more relevant to today, which increases its potential fan base, but also adds some controversy.

All of the characters in Cat Shit One are animals. What’s that all about you ask? Well, there’s a different animal for each nationality: Americans are rabbits, the Japanese word for rabbit being usagi or USA G.I. (clever); characters of Middle Eastern origin are depicted as camels, goats or sheep (controversial); the British are rats (from the S.A.S. Desert Rats of W.W.II) and so on. 

An uncomfortable feeling arises when people of different nationalities are portrayed as being from separate species; it smacks of biological racism, but coming from a homogeneous country like Japan it is not surprising. By the end or the episode you may be surprised at having forgotten that the characters are animals at all. The reason for this is a combination of factors: the animation of is exceptional quality; the show is well scripted; the main characters, Packy and Botasky are likable; and the action really is that good.

Unfortunately only one episode of Cat Shit One has been released to date, but if episode two is of the same standard as this it will be worth looking at too. Although it’s short, at only 22 minutes run time including intro and credits, it’s definitely worth tracking; these rabbits kick ass!

4 out of 5.

You may also want to check out the original manga series the link to which is provided below.


Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Cat Shit One – Episode One (2010)

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Posted on December 5, 2010 at 12:41 am by B.C.

It’s the 23rd century and Commander J. J. Adams, along with the crew of United Planets Cruiser C-57D, is on a mission to discover the fate of a group of colonists on Altair IV, a planet many light years away from earth.

Upon arrival they are greeted by a hostile Dr. Morbius who warns them not to land. Adams and crew insist and proceed to touchdown close to the only sign of civilisation visible on the planet’s surface. They find that the doctor and his daughter, Altaira, are the only survivors from the original group of colonists; the others were killed by a mysterious force to which Morbius and Altaira are immune. It doesn’t take long for the murderous presence to awaken once again.

Sad news this week as movie legend Leslie Neilson passes away. Best known for his comedic roles in movies such as Airplane! (1980), the Naked Gun Trilogy and TV show Police Squad, Mr Neilson had a lengthy career with a list of credits spanning the last 60 years. He also appeared in Repossessed (1990), a fun spoof of The Exorcist (1973), and in Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006). At the beginning of his career many of Leslie Neilsons’ roles were more serious, and of those one of his most memorable characters is Commander J. J. Adams from Forbidden Planet.
I first watched Forbidden Planet way back in the 80’s, late on a Friday or Saturday night and probably on Channel 4 (usually the place to see all the interesting stuff back then). The movie was thirty years old by then and it was still a great science-fiction flick; it’s still a great one now.

The many imaginative props featured in Forbidden Planet are at this stage pieces of movie making history: The smooth saucer design of the C-57D and its strange retro interior; the shambling, whirring presence of Robbie the Robot, one of the first representations of an intelligent robot seen on screen. the amusing communications device that extends from the Commanders’ belt on a wire, not unlike those extending key chains you see today. The movie drips retro cool and you can’t help wondering at the future vision of those who imagined it in the 1950’s. Try to imagine the Krell for a moment thinking about the evidence provided (you’ll have to watch it if you don’t know what I’m referring to). Can you come up with anything that isn’t strangely Lovecraftian?

Although there are some action scenes Forbidden Planet is not an action movie. Its plot is intelligent and thought provoking, there are some laughs along the way and a dash of romance too; something to interest everyone in the family. Of course there are some mistakes but nothing that intrudes on your enjoyment. If you haven’t seen Forbidden Planet then do yourself a favour and watch it.

4 out of 5.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Forbidden Planet (1956)

Cutting Moments (1997)

Posted on December 2, 2010 at 8:14 pm by B.C.

This review is for the short film Cutting Moments which is included in a compilation DVD of the same name; there are five independent pieces in all and each will be reviewed separately. If the other four shorts are as hard to watch as this one a little rest between watching each of them may be required.

Cutting Moments is an atmospheric short that succeeds in showing the final stages of a suburban family’s destruction from within. Dad, Patrick, is a creepy guy, especially when around his son, Joey, and it’s clear that Sarah, the mum, has seen saner moments. None of this prepares you for the story’s conclusion.

What is most interesting about this short film is that the subject matter could have been lifted from any family drama right up to the gruesome ending. Incidentally, if you pause this short during the last ten minutes, to answer your door or to pick up the phone for instance, you may not want to continue. It’s quite gruesome.

The credits state that the special effects supervisor for Cutting Moments was Tom Savini, but it’s not surprising considering some of the scenes. For those of you who don’t know who Tom Savini is, he’s the man responsible for the effects on the original 1978 Dawn of the Dead (as well as playing the role of one of the head bikers), he directed the 1990 remake to Night of the Living Dead and played the character Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn. His career is massive but what you’ve got to know is, Tom Savini is a legend. Top marks to the director for getting him on board.

For showing something you don’t see every day: 4 out of 5.


Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Cutting Moments (1997)

30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)

Posted on December 1, 2010 at 7:35 pm by B.C.

Stella, still haunted by the events which took place in Barrow a year ago, and frustrated that nobody will believe her account of what happened, tries to force the vampires of Los Angeles to show themselves. Her plan works but a vampire wannabe detective covers up the evidence forcing Stella to team up with a small group of vampire hunters to exact her revenge.

Taken as a standalone vampire movie 30 Days of Night: Dark Days is watchable enough but many of the elements that made 30 Days of Night stand out from the crowd are missing here. The most obvious problem with this movie is the decision to set it in Los Angeles; the snowed in, eternal darkness of Barrow was one of the most essential parts of the original. And the vampires here are, in truth, a bit lame, lacking the ferocity of those in 30 Days of Night; maybe they’ve gone soft living in the city too long.

Not quite made for TV as the special effects are of a high standard but a deserved straight to DVD.

2.5 out of 5.


–>

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)