tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2712784214207459962024-03-05T18:06:53.572+00:00Watching The DeadA blog with guts. Join me as I take a journey through the zombie genre with reviews and commentary on films and television that embrace the apocalyptic walking dead. My goal? Just to review every zombie movie ever made!WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-71145766146407375502017-10-02T11:29:00.001+01:002017-10-04T14:49:30.044+01:00Here Alone - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe9sFR5BrPLNJogSwSYopbHPAsJekFFYZDQTK6MVdoh5FJemd6l56_VqyNySX_F9MVk0JDsTyQ3Vue0P-Pwy_oIzeMSWvwrIBwHY5Sdij6bAXjjiGOtv1QHhpQl9ESlrUm8HGt4OVtVQ3/s1600/here_alone_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1062" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe9sFR5BrPLNJogSwSYopbHPAsJekFFYZDQTK6MVdoh5FJemd6l56_VqyNySX_F9MVk0JDsTyQ3Vue0P-Pwy_oIzeMSWvwrIBwHY5Sdij6bAXjjiGOtv1QHhpQl9ESlrUm8HGt4OVtVQ3/s200/here_alone_cover.jpg" width="141" /></a><b>2016 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2hFvmOR">2017 DVD R(2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Zombies have shown
themselves to be quite the versatile narrative tool. At one end of the spectrum
there's absurd farce and brainless splatter action, at the other, drama,
romance and even deep philosophical discourse. Zombies disturb the natural
order; they blur the demarcation of life and death, and that makes them
instantly and intrinsically perturbing yet curious. In response to the scares
and jumps there's always the need for disdain, ridicule and the need to reduce
the threat, and it's why zombies are as equally at home with comedy and farce as
they are in most gruesome and grizzly cinematic spectacular. But if we're willing to subdue the uncomfortable laughs, and turn away the horror to face the silence and darkness with sobriety, they can force us to confront what it is to be human
and alive, and they can provide the perfect metaphor for some serious reflection. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHv8M5zpSyKQuSWiTiDQR4uRXHqfYMASKxIx0emWcI8GothtoTAXQrdZnMty7Gvwk1NdsxCTIEXNcPhD02ucCqCfHc0vKeJnSag_DviRR-yO8mi-KWFBZhRmsxDN7NOJtvqpGwzKyUJ0w/s1600/here_alone_ann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="640" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHv8M5zpSyKQuSWiTiDQR4uRXHqfYMASKxIx0emWcI8GothtoTAXQrdZnMty7Gvwk1NdsxCTIEXNcPhD02ucCqCfHc0vKeJnSag_DviRR-yO8mi-KWFBZhRmsxDN7NOJtvqpGwzKyUJ0w/s200/here_alone_ann.jpg" width="200" /></a>Ambitious in its
simplicity, Here Alone; directed by Rod Blackhurst and written by David
Ebeltoft is one such attempt. It's a film that puts life, more-so, subsistence
and survival at any and all cost, front and centre, then pushes from this to explore morality, relationship and hope as basic human conditions. Yet it never insults, as
often films that take themselves too seriously do, by actually trying to answer
the questions it poses. People are human, and humans err. We're complex, broken
and driven by our own desires, wants and obsessions; and we will act
irrationally, wrongly and we will be faced to deal with the consequences. <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Here
Alone embraces the chaos of life, warts and all, and spins a survival story that presents a what-if world with brevity and honesty.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7dEgpncypwmgW9kEaVdKuLSn1OlUGfKcy38tvHCEjH9425Wm3fq-t_q_YlHvC8uLU0FCdW8Atdfo1ugQWG0yZRBFp9zjWwMBI83NP7eioPY1uF8W_oeabDpfNu1DKO-NLP7cfZJhNgB2/s1600/here_alone_ann_baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="550" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7dEgpncypwmgW9kEaVdKuLSn1OlUGfKcy38tvHCEjH9425Wm3fq-t_q_YlHvC8uLU0FCdW8Atdfo1ugQWG0yZRBFp9zjWwMBI83NP7eioPY1uF8W_oeabDpfNu1DKO-NLP7cfZJhNgB2/s200/here_alone_ann_baby.jpg" width="200" /></a>As the film begins
Ann (Lucy Walters) paints a sorry figure watching her scrape
mud and excrement from her <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">emaciated naked body</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> is a harrowing vision of survivalist truth. It's
not the apocalypse from a beach front paradise, shopping mall utopia
nor even safe secluded, yet barren and simple, forest shack. She's humanity stripped to the bare bones; the embodiment of sad and desperate, cold and broken. It's
not shall I have the can of beans or soup tonight; it's how many beans should I have to be alive tomorrow.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Here Alone is Ann's personal story. From flashbacks to a time before the world fell to the violent, rabid
zombie viral pandemic, to her own haunting journey of loss, to
stark sober lessons from her husband Jason (Shane West), on survive in the wild, her story of is one of loss, redemption, and ultimately of recovery and
the renewal of hope. But it's a long harrowing journey, and one more of
narration and implication than ever visceral or obvious. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51weHwr0d-o7nrbeWJOsd6Ibhkfw4rsrL7R-owPPbA-ay5X1D2ZtGygY9trE1g-WiQkxEOrnKMI9LdLMJueWyJjGYbLi6DBpfMncoc9rHTDhiBCMSz04VVEBIjAlFw-J5p0G37qzAZpuS/s1600/here_alone_ann_chris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1280" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51weHwr0d-o7nrbeWJOsd6Ibhkfw4rsrL7R-owPPbA-ay5X1D2ZtGygY9trE1g-WiQkxEOrnKMI9LdLMJueWyJjGYbLi6DBpfMncoc9rHTDhiBCMSz04VVEBIjAlFw-J5p0G37qzAZpuS/s200/here_alone_ann_chris.jpg" width="200" /></a>In fact I think
there are only a handful of scenes where the zombies actually make an
appearance, and even fewer where they're actually the focus. Yet, they're
actually as intense a threat, and as utterly terrifying as any zombie out
there. One can point to the modest budget, and short (23 day) shooting
calendar, but Blackhurst's decision to push the zombies to the periphery works
extremely well. Here Alone positions the zombies as the utterly final unknown
assailant, and Ann and her two eventual companions, Chris (Adam David
Thompson), and his teenage stepdaughter, Olivia (Gina Piersanti) as inevitable
victims. Each encounter oozes tension and dread, and each is memorable and
full of impact. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Here Alone won't be for everyone. As said it's not a horror, though there are some tense jumpy moments, and it's neither excessively gruesome nor an action spectacular. It is however a thoughtfully presented and intelligently constructed personal, intelligent and haunting tragedy that's both well acted and satisfyingly both complete and in many ways incomplete, and left open. It's a snapshot of how miserable and truly difficult life could be if the walls did actually come tumbling down, and a reminder to cherish what and who we have. Poignant and brave, </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Blackhurst's take on the apocalypse is bleak but captivating </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">- </span></span><b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">6/10</b><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-61494775020801570492017-09-13T13:26:00.003+01:002017-09-13T14:06:36.381+01:00Resident Evil: The Final Chapter - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg5ktiYMsjfAKzBQMN2ckhAf9olHJIiRk3XQwpy6HeaOIh43xIZZrddgvjDDt37C1_Wl8iMcGbA6aawnT0KeRx7K4kiE4KTqm1Sw__2aWYBlomwa8icI6j4GEVY87I4LWfM6nB0YqJosm/s1600/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1211" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg5ktiYMsjfAKzBQMN2ckhAf9olHJIiRk3XQwpy6HeaOIh43xIZZrddgvjDDt37C1_Wl8iMcGbA6aawnT0KeRx7K4kiE4KTqm1Sw__2aWYBlomwa8icI6j4GEVY87I4LWfM6nB0YqJosm/s200/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_cover.jpg" width="161" /></a><b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">2016 (</b><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>UK / France / Germany / South Africa / Canada / Japan / Australia / USA)</b></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2f3VC4D">2017 Sony Pictures Blu-ray R(Free)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contains mild spoilers.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Well it's been a
long ride for Alice (Milla Jovovich). Resuscitated with memory loss, attacked without mercy by the scourge of the undead and their corporate overlords, then
over the decade hunted and beset by all the increasingly monstrous and depraved super mutants that director Paul W. S. Anderson could conceive. She's been shot,
stabbed, sliced, diced and blown from the sky. She's been cloned, watched good friends die, </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">learnt the</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> dark secrets of her past </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">and witnessed the world she knew torn a sunder. To say she's due a break is
an understatement but with this instalment, it would appear Anderson might just be finally letting us, and her, enjoy some kind of rest to the madness.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNMLeY8CRS8bAt83UG9Y6vjjU46hyg3c7n8j6q8D2EFv_RLBCuOw07GBxNHR72tSVZV-r3TcI33JVljAAJ-XaOxNffJQIddLhdwNe23DL2Xu0cU0rw8iQLfXZ8OP_raztqtC2Yd6B4OXR/s1600/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_kipepeo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1500" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNMLeY8CRS8bAt83UG9Y6vjjU46hyg3c7n8j6q8D2EFv_RLBCuOw07GBxNHR72tSVZV-r3TcI33JVljAAJ-XaOxNffJQIddLhdwNe23DL2Xu0cU0rw8iQLfXZ8OP_raztqtC2Yd6B4OXR/s200/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_kipepeo.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Over the ten years
and six chapters we've slowly but surely witnessed a profound cinematic transition to style over narrative, characters, or any real attempt at <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">substance</span>. It's as if someone gave control of the crazy dial to a young excitable boy and then kept ploughing him with coke long after he'd definitely had enough. From a gritty, claustrophobic
and earnest <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/09/resident-evil-review.html">debut</a>, success turned into cash, then into</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> budget,
and finally unfettered approval to bring </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">life to the most fantastical scenes and
effects, and thus</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> did story, congruence and any concerns for character arcs,
in turn, fall to the way side. <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/11/resident-evil-retribution-review.html">Part five</a> was the epitome of action surplus; a
cacophony of battles and over the top and never-ending lunacy that failed utterly
to actually be engaging or rewarding </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">precisely</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> because of this deficit accrued.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> With The Final Chapter I'd argue that
while the giddy young fella seems relieved from his sugar purgatory, this
is for all intents and purposes the grand finale, and as such, why is there a want to temper things now. Whilst o</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">ne can see a whisper of desire to return with Alice and the entourage to Racoon City, and to the intimacy and cinematic authenticity of where and when it all began, there's too much water under the bridge; too much superficial silliness to
ever really think they could.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXx0Uh3zwDzw_WthZADFXTmodbP_rWYILbvxGwl4ebnQLqPHYgLpg0b5vHRGUdY70B28vgC9B5qXgVkUai-eDd8b6oiw0HJq0K-R1r5cGqN329GOnPoGyLRAcEM9GtIu2g1fIUp4obBCNk/s1600/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_alice_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="620" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXx0Uh3zwDzw_WthZADFXTmodbP_rWYILbvxGwl4ebnQLqPHYgLpg0b5vHRGUdY70B28vgC9B5qXgVkUai-eDd8b6oiw0HJq0K-R1r5cGqN329GOnPoGyLRAcEM9GtIu2g1fIUp4obBCNk/s200/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_alice_2.jpg" width="200" /></a>By now we understand
that it's not the gold star action and cinematic wizardry that will let a Resident
Evil film down but the downtime, the moments of peace between the double back
flip, the Matrix style kung-fu, or the triple barrelled shot gun into
the giant toothy flying mutant of doom (I think a Kipepeo). Yet I've seen The
Final Chapter come in for a lot of criticism about how it's all been cut and
spliced together. Ultimately I think it comes down to personal taste, as I
didn't mind the frantic and chaotic shaky cam approach; in many ways recognising it as a nod to the perils and confusion of war. The fact that so much of it was
shot in near darkness however, I did, especially as Anderson to his credit does manage to return the simple un-mutated zombie back to the forefront for a large
swathe of the film, and it would have been nice if we could have really seen them in all their glory.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEdowopSPdcF6dbwFjRbV6fkZA8DAI1G_9n5lOwWbQ1QeiYHPEQy96oSweUVQjeZd9IeGFL-im1TuIV4ObuaORDQuPdxiWzeNYQJcRs7-d9w0yNYXZGB8O9Gq-VIL5tFWx0XE_PQbotO_/s1600/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1328" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEdowopSPdcF6dbwFjRbV6fkZA8DAI1G_9n5lOwWbQ1QeiYHPEQy96oSweUVQjeZd9IeGFL-im1TuIV4ObuaORDQuPdxiWzeNYQJcRs7-d9w0yNYXZGB8O9Gq-VIL5tFWx0XE_PQbotO_/s200/resident_evil_the_final_chapter_alice.jpg" width="200" /></a>Another recurring
problem I have by now, is Alice's invulnerability. I'm all for the
epic hero, the Thor or Beowulf blessed by the Gods with incredible fortune as well as strength, but as all about her fall and as buildings tumble, one never get the feeling,
not for one second, that's she's actually in any real danger. The problem with winning the no-win scenario, is how do you follow it but with an equally implausible
one. It's the magicians conundrum. Day one it's escaping from a box, Day 100,
it's escaping from a box suspended over the Grand Canyon, on fire with a rat in
your underpants. Watching Alice, yet again dancing with the big Resident Evil
brute +1, or the next CGI enhanced video game inspired super boss, there's nothing really new, never any real tension and no tangible threat. Yet again, dare I say, it's all a tad
stale and insipid, and no, adding another rat or maybe a cat to the pants
won't ever really fix the fundamental problem.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The Final Chapter isn't
as bad Retribution but that would have been a hard thing to have accomplished. At least here there is a semblance of a narrative to <span style="font-size: 11pt;">make
sense of the carnage, even it deviates on what we've been told before, and makes a mockery of all the heroes and villains that have come together to give her a final send-off,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> with what in effect are short meaningless cameos. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Through in truth,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> if anyone is really watching Resident Evil for any semblance of a coherent narrative or intelligent </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">by this point, they're way off the mark. With action this undeniably good I'd be hard pressed to say there isn't something of merit watching Milla's perfect death bringing choreography, or any of the big picture perfect explosions; </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">and I did find some nostalgia in the final scenes despite them ending up an insulting mockery. So as I said, better than the last, but I had very low expectations - </span><b style="font-size: 11pt;">4/10</b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Steven@WTD.</span></div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-73314663009272162282017-09-05T16:52:00.000+01:002017-09-05T16:52:28.526+01:00Train to Busan - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOt6U8J77jnE75yFtkLYWApGya0_VOFaVsaTYeWulvyTqvg-FVEftMhgTOrNQNXxV1lBrd_7jDr-OpBDw6vcKk_XsezaEDv0h7Lfpyvr9_XEonXA6vAufXuCz_aLNvLEyQYo5lgZB3CVU/s1600/train_to_busan_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="476" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOt6U8J77jnE75yFtkLYWApGya0_VOFaVsaTYeWulvyTqvg-FVEftMhgTOrNQNXxV1lBrd_7jDr-OpBDw6vcKk_XsezaEDv0h7Lfpyvr9_XEonXA6vAufXuCz_aLNvLEyQYo5lgZB3CVU/s200/train_to_busan_cover.jpg" width="158" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">2016 (South Korea)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2w1GLu3">2017 Studio Canal Blu-ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contains mild spoilers.</span> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Hype always makes me
nervous. It raises expectations and thus investment; and it raises the bar such
that any wrong step can feel like betrayal. It also makes it harder to be
impartial as the mob has already ruled, and laid a pejorative marker
against any who might disagree. It makes it hard insomuch that one doesn't
just want to be seen going along with the herd, and the herd are very much on the side of <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Director Yeon Sang-ho's Train to
Busan. Edgar Wright of </span><a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/shaun-of-dead-review.html" style="font-size: 11pt;">Shaun of the Dead</a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> called it the "best zombie movie I've seen in forever", and professional accolades and plaudits have been thrown by dozen. Well hands up; sometimes the herd can
be right. I'll say upfront, Train to Busan, is arguably one of, if not the,
best and most complete </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">zombie
film ever made.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpwaG72DA2Sn-jLInXVaJbmjcG97dnrbikR_SrorcE5mTahOuAmUhRTTVd1ZuCCHVetbF-7cUnUWbS64WPqgVCUzhyphenhyphenk79wdMFM3CC8o99OAIHixuXW1KtaKrc7mEHpxf1mpqTHcbHRBS1/s1600/train_to_busan_woo_soon_an.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpwaG72DA2Sn-jLInXVaJbmjcG97dnrbikR_SrorcE5mTahOuAmUhRTTVd1ZuCCHVetbF-7cUnUWbS64WPqgVCUzhyphenhyphenk79wdMFM3CC8o99OAIHixuXW1KtaKrc7mEHpxf1mpqTHcbHRBS1/s200/train_to_busan_woo_soon_an.jpg" width="200" /></a>Twenty or so minutes
in I could feel it. There's a moment near the start of every great disaster
movie, before the horror, action and actual catastrophe, where all the
trepidation, anxiety, fear and excitement you know is soon to come is
tantalisingly tangible. It's like being seated on a roller-coaster, slowly
rising up towards the first hundred-mile-an-hour gut-wrenching plummet that you know is
coming, yet can do nothing to stop. Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) and daughter Soo-An
(Kim Su-an) have boarded the early train for Busan, some 453km away. Fleeting
and fragmented phone calls and news flashes point to some greater and
more expansive violence and confusion in the inner cities. And a lone very
poorly woman stumbles quickly onto the train unbeknown to the guards and crew. It's as near a perfect application of the genre; the passengers embark and settle down for the long haul, and it's impossible not to lean
forward with sweaty palms, heart racing and a grin from ear to ear. It's the
zombie trope, but Sang-ho proves why tropes are tropes; if done properly
they can be beautiful and timeless.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUewgptMFnDmdVcSdp_9cRStoNbOmCH7MNDYWfZXX_mJgyuVMdf2JZs_WKXz4QMKnnpiloV2e6iKEhtxAPrl2QT4LjXb6HhPRGiyHkWSSK62CyF1huel0QH8__tXglD2a3hkw1op3aKrpa/s1600/train_to_busan_station_zombies.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="550" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUewgptMFnDmdVcSdp_9cRStoNbOmCH7MNDYWfZXX_mJgyuVMdf2JZs_WKXz4QMKnnpiloV2e6iKEhtxAPrl2QT4LjXb6HhPRGiyHkWSSK62CyF1huel0QH8__tXglD2a3hkw1op3aKrpa/s200/train_to_busan_station_zombies.png" width="200" /></a>Then it begins. To
say the ride is relentless would be putting it mildly. One becomes
two, then three, four, and before anyone has any clue, the train is a claustrophobic maelstrom of screaming, running and blood. The
following hour and forty is a barrage to the senses; perfectly paced,
unremitting in its savagery and able to totally subsume the viewer so that there's a coming together to share each high and low as one. It's as finely crafted a
zombie experience as I can recall. The train is the perfect vessel to constrain
the tension and the roller-coaster is the perfect analogy. There's no escape,
no getting off; just helpless surrender to the ride ahead.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HC9cNaakT210ZtsIT5_1jGQHuDJuPvEuJ45K2Iag8NaGUdGuZ133t1yVwlFthyphenhyphendRGrXupl4saJ-27trTycLUzOCWHURtSXgp3sW8yy2oZjDJbuZ58HwgyFbOWlMW0d_o2OEpwehmi1R2/s1600/train_to_busan_soo_an_seok_woo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="624" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HC9cNaakT210ZtsIT5_1jGQHuDJuPvEuJ45K2Iag8NaGUdGuZ133t1yVwlFthyphenhyphendRGrXupl4saJ-27trTycLUzOCWHURtSXgp3sW8yy2oZjDJbuZ58HwgyFbOWlMW0d_o2OEpwehmi1R2/s200/train_to_busan_soo_an_seok_woo.jpg" width="200" /></a>The few confused and desperate passengers that survived
the initial onslaught are shaken and desperate, yet as a disaster movie and into the chaos, the experience is <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">ultimately </span>only as good as how they respond. An action horror spectacular it is, but Train to Busan is also an emotional narrative on good vs evil, of self-serving vs self-sacrifice. The zombies are at the end of the day quite neutral; they're
automated killing machines driven entirely by instinct to spread
the infection and never actually conscious and therefore <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">responsible</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> for their actions. To call them evil
would be to call piranhas evil; they're nippy little shits yes, but they're
just doing what they're designed to do. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">It's the passengers and the conscious
decisions they choose to make in reaction that defines, in this instance,
morality. This self-serving; looking after oneself at the expense of all
others, versus, sacrificing oneself, or putting oneself in harm's way is the
recurrent theme throughout the feature. It's deliberate that Seok-woo has a
career that's perceived as selfish and his charge, Soo-An, is a small girl with
a huge heart. It's also no coincidence one of his first decisions is whether to pull
shut a door guaranteeing the safety of his daughter, or risk everything to
let Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok), a working man who ultimately comes to be
Seok-woo's moral gauge, and pregnant wife Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi) through. His becomes a journey of discovery, of </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">redemption, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">and the narrative an overarching exploration contrasting </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">the best and worst of what it is to be human. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oFdM1ltWQgluM8BnsT6yEr45zu4OofCSUhb7GAMjFU6KKpVrqoXF5-htcw6xVAw4l1IYEYc3ewK5NiV__bzgMaBriDMwr8FoOOiz5LoKJPtdiEMiTMHpxwTSv2Z5kSv5g3fJ60vR4Rie/s1600/train_to_busan_zombies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1279" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oFdM1ltWQgluM8BnsT6yEr45zu4OofCSUhb7GAMjFU6KKpVrqoXF5-htcw6xVAw4l1IYEYc3ewK5NiV__bzgMaBriDMwr8FoOOiz5LoKJPtdiEMiTMHpxwTSv2Z5kSv5g3fJ60vR4Rie/s200/train_to_busan_zombies.jpg" width="200" /></a>Impersonation is the
sincerest form of flattery and <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/10/world-war-z-review.html">World War Z </a>should be proud that Train to Busan
has adopted their vision of the zombie and, other than their own origin stories, I
could easily see each sitting comfortably in the others universe. Both
share the upgraded <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/28-days-later-review.html">28 Days Later</a> zombie for velocity and ferocity. Both share
the rather demonic and inhuman veined appearance, and irregular and violently fitful
movement model. And both imply the same viral contagion, where it's all about the
infection wanting to spread with as much virulence as possible and not actually
about anyone eating anyone else. Brad Pitt may have spent a purported $190m, but Sang-ho
with his $10m easily keeps up, and watching each and every new vicious and
rabid frenzy of anger and teeth scream to life, ready to join the hunt, is
always exhilarating, and never gets old.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I don't recall a
movie, never mind a niche zombie one, that so consistently got so much right.
An action spectacular, a tense disaster drama, a human tragedy; it convinces on all fronts. Y</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">et still at heart it's a
fearless zombie film, unashamed to wear the crazy undead gnasher loud and proud, front and central. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">Yeon Sang-ho has given the tiring genre a more than welcome shot in the arm with a v</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">isual and audio feast</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> that, as said, is just about as good as you're going to get. And yet for all these plaudits, it will be the friends you've made, and the friends you've lost, that you'll mostly recall when thinking about it. It is complete and masterful storytelling that excels in all areas and a privilege to watch,</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px;">10/10</b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-46429399113573082782017-09-03T12:14:00.001+01:002017-09-06T07:57:00.390+01:00Fear The Walking Dead Season 2 - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ilOSNyPKCWLljZUFIVfkUAq1RncibVYqQelV_RBd94q7MCZ8Pvk3dlTY-QQTp6nHeppI19OG0lp8cy-vOX0U99BgVk7vu6ygWA6MyuJ7LYbz0MxtkYC1YkemeME8mEnNfJpQcCOSwy2S/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_cover_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1193" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ilOSNyPKCWLljZUFIVfkUAq1RncibVYqQelV_RBd94q7MCZ8Pvk3dlTY-QQTp6nHeppI19OG0lp8cy-vOX0U99BgVk7vu6ygWA6MyuJ7LYbz0MxtkYC1YkemeME8mEnNfJpQcCOSwy2S/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_cover_2.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>2016 (USA)</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2eslm6O">2016 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray R(2/B)</a></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
With Season 2 and the group forced to flee a ruined Los Angeles up in flames, it's back to more familiar <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/09/the-walking-dead-season-5-review.html">The Walking Dead</a> ground. I say ground; as led now in part by Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), a single minded entrepreneur for want of a better word, the group are actually out seeking misadventure and intrigue on the high seas.</div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtJxWI5RXZnd2nM1SrapXkUL-E7l3tiq6Nm7pCjlM7fzWyvmOjgMV0q7Z-zTy9bLP2vzjYRWAvSwnbmEEu-jj6hhtqM4sJ4vJ2eJtVDDAzvPpRJ9gVCs3YMddPifS1onLKe__87s6uzlV/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_survivors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="690" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtJxWI5RXZnd2nM1SrapXkUL-E7l3tiq6Nm7pCjlM7fzWyvmOjgMV0q7Z-zTy9bLP2vzjYRWAvSwnbmEEu-jj6hhtqM4sJ4vJ2eJtVDDAzvPpRJ9gVCs3YMddPifS1onLKe__87s6uzlV/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_survivors.jpg" width="200" /></a>Setting the heroes on a boat and not on land was an inspired writing choice differentiating the series at the earliest opportunity from the mid-country claustrophobia of The Walking Dead. That being said the narrative is the same; with the companions dealing with increasingly maladjusted and dangerous situations, all the while picking up the skills they'll (some of them) no doubt need to survive into seasons 3 and 4. I say some; not everyone is made for the end of the world, but it's not as obvious as before, with all characters more closely vying for ineptitude and naivety.</div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
The first eight episodes very much take over from the first series. Theirs is a discrete road (ok boat) journey of discovery; both literally to Mexico, and metaphorically, as they're actually forced to come to the conclusion that the shit-show is real, and there's not likely to be some magic paradise at the end of it. It's good post-apocalyptic drama, well presented and written, though now, out of the apocalypse into the post-apocalypse the characters aren't quite enough to keep things feeling as original or fresh. The journey being a tad too linear and the trials and douchebags on the way a tad too familiar. Then just as I was starting to worry, bang!</div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcmplBaaQHc3yl08cg8qLiI1qJ4fZZm0_jjZaNhGdPQM3JL0QknWlrLkFP-EHvUYJ5ylxKPQ5wFRlyZLKhLLruyU_tr8WDXGg739ujtg_3t3uvTty3KegCfDZESZm8VZvAGiyXcI4quLG/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_travis_chris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="935" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcmplBaaQHc3yl08cg8qLiI1qJ4fZZm0_jjZaNhGdPQM3JL0QknWlrLkFP-EHvUYJ5ylxKPQ5wFRlyZLKhLLruyU_tr8WDXGg739ujtg_3t3uvTty3KegCfDZESZm8VZvAGiyXcI4quLG/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_travis_chris.jpg" width="200" /></a>Whatever the reasons for what appears to be the huge injection of confidence and cash, the second half of Season 2 literally explodes in scope and ambition. Scattering the characters and their aspirations across a suddenly complete and city full of communities, power-play and danger, Fear The Walking Dead turns the dial up a notch and the results are stunning. The Mexican city of Rosarito and its surrounding area makes a great playground for the characters and also differentiates itself from The Walking Dead, with what appears to be lower population density; and hence fewer zombies, and an entirely different culture and landscape. The Americans too are the outsiders, itself creating a new dynamic in the story.</div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
I've always been surprised how quickly and efficiently zombie survivors adjust to bashing in skulls and sticking sharp things into eyes and ears. One minute it's doing chores or revising for a mock history exam, and the next it's slicing and dicing like a seasoned killer; and to say the group's young'uns Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Christoper Manawa (Lorenzo James Henrie) and aforementioned Nick haven't adjusted to the bloodshed would be an understatement. Then again, stories are told by the victors; those that did survive for them to be told. Just mulling over my own existence and all the coincidences and wins that would have to have occurred to each and every ancestor, however big or seemingly insignificant, is it not plausible that the survivors of zombie dramas such as this, could be as capable, or fortuitous as they are? Take Nick; the guy who stuck poison in his veins in Season 1, and the guy who thought he could walk with the zombies. The odds of him not only surviving all the things thrown his way in both Seasons, let alone come out of it all with a girl on his arm, is astronomical and it could almost be too glaring; too incredible; yet Fear the Walking has the feel of a great epic and it doesn't seem too much at all.</div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJ7uTMWSxN4jcjInGAPPurwJI8E1gbjCiQgjsE2beXHn1GW-_y8liA0aVyAP6LztGOFRVmbNLlk6_77-ej6PJ8wutbaknf1q7iCaZNA0iOkHVUjWvZVyBbawTmsERyVpR_4QcxBnGHBNE/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_zombies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="620" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJ7uTMWSxN4jcjInGAPPurwJI8E1gbjCiQgjsE2beXHn1GW-_y8liA0aVyAP6LztGOFRVmbNLlk6_77-ej6PJ8wutbaknf1q7iCaZNA0iOkHVUjWvZVyBbawTmsERyVpR_4QcxBnGHBNE/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_zombies.jpg" width="200" /></a>Finishing Season 2, I feel here is a show that's finally found its confidence. With a more expansive playground and seemingly larger budget the already well developed characters have found their post-apocalyptic strength, and yet still haven't succumbed to the despair and resignation that seems to be main ongoing trait for Rick and his gang. Also, yes, other humans did once again rise to take centre stage, and that's a small pity in my mind, but it's still top tier zombie story telling with huge promise and mammoth potential - <span style="font-weight: bold;">8/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-64590076582012484502017-09-02T12:26:00.000+01:002017-09-02T15:56:39.053+01:00Fear The Walking Dead Season 1 - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HzAsW27H2vh8ZZcy-Hrdt-zRH2CHzUq4Q8YOn7A0wDLkAoadiAYpmyvrjBn-R1F9M7MyRwuS84sHjvsNJVJZv8CWK0PSVopICCDDvgMmW6qbE0hrKvK8HzhPq3mKZtsQU4b5DczrQH8I/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1193" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HzAsW27H2vh8ZZcy-Hrdt-zRH2CHzUq4Q8YOn7A0wDLkAoadiAYpmyvrjBn-R1F9M7MyRwuS84sHjvsNJVJZv8CWK0PSVopICCDDvgMmW6qbE0hrKvK8HzhPq3mKZtsQU4b5DczrQH8I/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_cover.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>2015 (USA)</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2wsiroy">2015 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray R(Free)</a></span><br />
<br />
<i>Contains mild spoilers.</i><br />
<br />
<div style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
Say what you will, as to whether AMC and Robert Kirkman should have ever gone ahead with yet another unapologetic heavy post-apocalyptic zombie drama at a time the phenomenon was beginning to show signs of consumer fatigue. Then also perhaps overlook the rather trite moniker. The fact that we have got yet another big budget and meticulous zombie spectacular, no less, right back to the beginning, with all the confusion, discovery and false hope this brings, is a joy to behold. Where-as it's big brother is now nearly a constant slog of dark and bleak, but no less agreeable, with other humans the increasing major threat, it's refreshing to have the zombies once again front and centre. Also whereas Rick and the gang are now, with their years of weary survival drudgery, most definitely the definition of the walking dead, here it's still early days and, though yes it's not exactly all the fun of the fair, optimism is still tangible and ok, and the walking dead are still the ones with the gnashing chops and lumbering shuffle.</div>
<div style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8gRX0Js_DwgAV-QiH8d8HiJCiKROBcTPQy2xFQ7muBztTnc-Wp5H9Y4xK1LBguX2BCyHhhpPfwqJ63jA4mRszsPv3kysgWYhyphenhyphenLap3pp4s_WGc9oU4gi6tmxcMnbn5YAq-A8_VeKRcMxc/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_nick_first_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1023" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8gRX0Js_DwgAV-QiH8d8HiJCiKROBcTPQy2xFQ7muBztTnc-Wp5H9Y4xK1LBguX2BCyHhhpPfwqJ63jA4mRszsPv3kysgWYhyphenhyphenLap3pp4s_WGc9oU4gi6tmxcMnbn5YAq-A8_VeKRcMxc/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_nick_first_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>This again is not to argue that it's some watered down teen sideshow; a <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/09/return-of-living-dead-part-ii-review.html">Return of the Living Dead Part II</a>. It's just that this is still a world where it's ok to have inner moral conflict; where maybe people can be given the benefit of the doubt and perhaps strangers should be welcome with open arms rather than be suspected of owning an automated cannibal murder factory. Ok, for Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis) and his extended family, innocence won't last forever and by midpoint second season the same cynicism and, some might say, realistic sobriety has finally made its point and been taken on board. But I get ahead.</div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/the-walking-dead-season-1-review.html">The Walking Dead</a>
didn't go right back to the beginning. It started with the apocalypse in full
swing, and the dead out numbering the living a fuck-tonne to one. Fear doesn't
just fill in the missing weeks, but goes one further, back to the minutes and
hours most people thought things might still actually turn out ok (cue the
laughter).</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
First time it was to
see whether the cable audience would take to prime time zombie horror, and with
its record cable audiences and Golden Globes, we know how they did. This time,
I'd argue the six part teaser / trial was to see, first off, if people were ok
with more of the same, and second if people would take to more disjointed and
delicate, but more realistic and normative characters, and with a tighter, more
insular family driven story.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6nYZ4w4r0hTqwGWKEKN_o7H2xoceyCepUKQzPLFi47F6dcDeFF493Eq7oi9dC_VdVrdRayfs9LOk7hHr3JCwe_3YwHm8Z1_p2IDyFzee34id_6pkJCYTNY8x6Z15EtT9A18hi-xHtUQ_/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_travis_madison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1152" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6nYZ4w4r0hTqwGWKEKN_o7H2xoceyCepUKQzPLFi47F6dcDeFF493Eq7oi9dC_VdVrdRayfs9LOk7hHr3JCwe_3YwHm8Z1_p2IDyFzee34id_6pkJCYTNY8x6Z15EtT9A18hi-xHtUQ_/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_travis_madison.jpg" width="200" /></a>Rick Grimes was, from the start, the gun toting, self-reliant larger than life comic book
character and his companions and nemesis on the journey complemented the
excessive story telling that became such a phenomenon. Without the comics
central to the narrative, writers Kirkman and Dave Erickson present, with Fear,
quite the different, more subtle, to start with anyway, world. If we're honest,
from Rick to Shane to Daryl to Michonne or even The Governor, characters had
identity tied to role and purpose. Yes there's character development, but
true to its roots it's more caricatures with either something to offer or some
deep flaw. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The Manawa / Clark
family immediately offers something different. There's quirky dynamics,
unspoken tension, complicated logistics and everything you'd expect in a modern
mid-American family set-up. Ok, it helps to secure the characters before
everything's extreme and everyone's under pressure, but even looking to The
Walking Dead's flash backs, it's not hard to argue there's far more depth and
ambiguity to the relationships even in these earliest moments. I don't think I
was alone in taking some time to warm to them all; Travis was a bit stiff,
Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) too sullen a matriarch and as for the rest I
struggled to remember names or what they were really for; and it was precisely
because they weren't as discretely defined.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipueZWccZOZIZaTquduexTiPbkDFVq1RLZ_o2FJGmJZ96TrCACUD9ISkst4RrQQ5OzjKzzYNeUDImOo3Te9r21_3yARDoPUD7ZxFEIFtz-3Q9l4QZYiiE_zHT7vuKDfG1625Qi9OtjmqQJ/s1600/fear_the_walking_dead_flames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipueZWccZOZIZaTquduexTiPbkDFVq1RLZ_o2FJGmJZ96TrCACUD9ISkst4RrQQ5OzjKzzYNeUDImOo3Te9r21_3yARDoPUD7ZxFEIFtz-3Q9l4QZYiiE_zHT7vuKDfG1625Qi9OtjmqQJ/s200/fear_the_walking_dead_flames.jpg" width="200" /></a>It was Nick, (Frank
Dillane), the brilliantly cast son of Madison who broke me though. The
difficult junkie drop-out, and first to witness the return of living dead, is
perhaps the gateway drug, easily type-cast, his demonstrable nuance as he deals
what he's seen, and struggles with what he should do, amid his heroin come down
craziness, and the way this permeates through the family brought everything
together. I stopped seeing the characters as isolated identities but as social
and broken beings and it all came to life.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Fear also packs the
zombie punch, delivering all the highly polished horror goodness we'd expect
from the now seasoned production team. The end of the world is brilliantly
crafted and by the end of the series perhaps I grasped the Fear bit of the
name I initially frowned upon. The undead are scary again, even on their own.
They're not yet, anyway, just the obstacle, the problem to solve, but the
unknown and incongruous <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span>. They're
also in this first series a temporary devastation; because of course things
will get better and return to order. The world has yet to fully fall and the
full consequences are yet to be grasped by minds that are clearly not ready to
process such information. And it's engaging, surprising, both heart-warming and
despairing, and utterly enjoyable as one would expect - <span style="font-weight: bold;">8/10</span>. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-88901494222213479002017-08-24T09:41:00.000+01:002017-08-25T09:45:09.990+01:00Ibiza Undead - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fG90hVjNwwpWvulwi-89iPeBKWF2074Bw5XDFnUsiTBN03_RGkiFGSedTJJo7ijELGGUaIUCayJ7xkJfCIm7eaedT5moo_Wgi5ekzIo8-aPNhssNHJc2UvqC85287XGoogmfpMAjYpR4/s1600/ibiza_undead_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="765" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fG90hVjNwwpWvulwi-89iPeBKWF2074Bw5XDFnUsiTBN03_RGkiFGSedTJJo7ijELGGUaIUCayJ7xkJfCIm7eaedT5moo_Wgi5ekzIo8-aPNhssNHJc2UvqC85287XGoogmfpMAjYpR4/s200/ibiza_undead_cover.jpg" width="141" /></a><b>2016 (UK)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2w6bw2B">2017 Soda Pictures DVD R(2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If I was to be
critical of writer / director Andy Edwards' shameless and rather trashy drunken
and debauched Ibiza zombie party, I'd be doing not only him, but you the
reader, a disservice. Ibiza Undead is neither high-brow drama, or a
pseudo-intellectual exploration of life and death; and it's certainly not
high-octane action, or horror, or indulgent romanticism. It's exactly what it
claims to be; a cheap, crass, brazen, coming of age party flick that wears it's
love of boobs and booze loud and proud. It is, of course, fully aware of what
it is and what it's doing. It's as professional as the next, but it's at the
party, as well as hosting, inviting the viewer to jump in and share the good
times while never trying to judge or preach. That's also not to say Ibiza Undead
is perfect either. It has its fair share of issues; but trying an unabashed
uncouth The Inbetweeners zombie film isn't one of them.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiycA2Dz05en4bJo-_kb1Ix4-3pB8ZKSOczAzODzRCrNbpyqVLRGTYmLBstR7K-9I30i6WK8XIv1NLLpaEfuXuDRXrRsaLVOE5SF6y0hijU2eGYrMLG8StC3iSjF2dmxBufhv0pH5DEhYxz/s1600/ibiza_undead_ed_alex_az.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="620" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiycA2Dz05en4bJo-_kb1Ix4-3pB8ZKSOczAzODzRCrNbpyqVLRGTYmLBstR7K-9I30i6WK8XIv1NLLpaEfuXuDRXrRsaLVOE5SF6y0hijU2eGYrMLG8StC3iSjF2dmxBufhv0pH5DEhYxz/s200/ibiza_undead_ed_alex_az.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Setting the film on
the Mediterranean number one party island, and focusing on three horny young
British chavs on a mission for alcohol and 'pussy', one would hope the viewer
would know exactly what they were letting themselves in for. The three are lewd,
expletive spewing, penis driven British lads in the best The Inbetweeners way,
and just like their hapless cinematic cousins, and probably for the best for
all involved, they're just as woefully ill-prepared their pursuit of the
opposite sex, what with the charm, maturity and approach of boorish, obnoxious
teenagers suffering from Tourette's. They're also delightfully likeable. The
instant chemistry the three speak about having off camera, in a short making of
documentary, is clearly evident from the first awkward airport scene. Clearly <span style="font-weight: bold;">not</span> in an airport departure lounge; Big Jim (Ed
Kear) leads Alex and Az (Jordan Coulson and Homer Todiwala) in effortless,
effervescent and incredibly puerile and silly banter, and somehow it doesn't
really matter. Ibiza Undead is all about the characters; and though there's a
lot of them Edwards maintains focus and each has their role as the zombies
arrive and trouble begins.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNUOBapRw-GP5-ci4-BpCHxtAEZ6YmtYOr1DR22C3eVeTseldWkYcarZy37DCdsEJlT1_CqnRw3_zlVLpZcT88vJ00tRyKXKLCVyDv74m6AgSYiIS3h24OxB8Fp38favMU-sKmHd-gTC2/s1600/ibiza_undead_liz_zara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNUOBapRw-GP5-ci4-BpCHxtAEZ6YmtYOr1DR22C3eVeTseldWkYcarZy37DCdsEJlT1_CqnRw3_zlVLpZcT88vJ00tRyKXKLCVyDv74m6AgSYiIS3h24OxB8Fp38favMU-sKmHd-gTC2/s200/ibiza_undead_liz_zara.jpg" width="200" /></a>The zombies of Ibiza
island are slooooow, and disjointed as if their bodies are aren't entirely
connected; and they're being controlled via semaphore, or some distant
puppeteer on dial-up. I actually can't recall a zombie quite this comically
lethargic or unwieldy, and though the <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/night-of-living-dead-review.html">Night of the Living Dead's</a> turn of foot
wasn't exactly blistering there wasn't the same un-gamely limb ballet show
accompanying their gait. Effort has gone in though, and they are well made-up,
uniformly asymmetrical, and compliment the comedy well. In a more serious
zombie feature I'd be quite critical, but in Edwards silly little, yet
entirely coherent, post zombie outbreak world; with the infection contained and
zombies seen more as a myth and not that real or dangerous they work perfectly. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As said, one can't
fault Ibiza Undead for all the things it's probably going to be mostly
criticised for. If anything it should be applauded for sticking to its guns and
keeping up the juvenile humour right to the closing credits. The constant
barrage of sexual objectification pejoratives, does get a tad uncomfortable;
though it's probably quite accurate, and it's not just limited to the boys with
Alex's older sister Liz (Emily Atack), her best friend Zara (Algina Lipskis),
and ex Ellie (Cara Theobold) all happy to throw them about. Saying this though
it never truly offends, as it's the boys themselves that look weak and
silly with each and every barb, with the girls always coming out on top.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituG8vFIVvre-ij4frJ4fe5DQW21Jyi-uXW_iMaf8gG4H8lHcEbEuz4OWSEjmFMNreT5wQ6XASdLN6m1YVgebgtWjW3N8XrdkFUHm9tDArmRTO_ZU76iTAR0H2yi4k6oKr6k8-qYuqbgY9/s1600/ibiza_undead_torval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="550" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituG8vFIVvre-ij4frJ4fe5DQW21Jyi-uXW_iMaf8gG4H8lHcEbEuz4OWSEjmFMNreT5wQ6XASdLN6m1YVgebgtWjW3N8XrdkFUHm9tDArmRTO_ZU76iTAR0H2yi4k6oKr6k8-qYuqbgY9/s200/ibiza_undead_torval.jpg" width="200" /></a>Yes it's a film that
if we're overly critical about could easily open itself up to accusations of
being rather light and lacking in actual substance. It's also definitely a film
which uses the story and narrative to set up all the funny little scenes and
jokes, rather than the small incidentals acting enrich a grander tale. It
also at times utterly fails to hide it's obvious budgetary constraints, with
some lacklustre CG and distracting scenery and asides. Yet; and I may take flack for
this, none of this really matters. It's a character driven buddy comedy that's
authentic to its ideas, well delivered and fashioned with love and care. The making of the film was clearly a party in of itself and this can't help but shine through. <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Crude,
rude and offensive, Ibiza Undead is an antidote to serious and clever, where there's no lesson to be learned or message to be worked out. It's shameless, throwaway fun, and sometimes, that's just what one wants - </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">6/10</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-52988640549577074162017-08-17T09:30:00.001+01:002017-08-20T11:16:38.214+01:00The Rezort - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENiaM9PBMFCIWi_wiTkNv_l_mqN7S51RaOjMNZZdewS2By0-QupnHNesPE0dM8FqUnhoH2DdRf3wH6YC_cgF1nmOtiKWbU0sx5aKDLvnZwkVqt_fMm2rWWQ6r3mDvU1_L7cMnawse2Mjm/s1600/the_rezort_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1189" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENiaM9PBMFCIWi_wiTkNv_l_mqN7S51RaOjMNZZdewS2By0-QupnHNesPE0dM8FqUnhoH2DdRf3wH6YC_cgF1nmOtiKWbU0sx5aKDLvnZwkVqt_fMm2rWWQ6r3mDvU1_L7cMnawse2Mjm/s200/the_rezort_cover.jpg" width="158" /></a><b>2015 (UK / Spain / Belgium)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2fN0WcI">2016 Ascot Elite Blu-ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Veteran (in so much he's done it twice before, with <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/10/outpost-review.html">Outpost</a> and it's <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/07/outpost-ii-black-sun-review.html">sequel</a>) zombie film director Steve Barker's The Rezort is
everything you'd want from a modern, action horror, sublimely crafted walking
dead experience. An original set-up, interesting main characters that shock:horror
actually show some signs of development; well-paced build up, well maintained tension, with the odd scare; and oodles and oodles of zombie mayhem,
carnage and death in both intimate and more grandiose scale. So where's the but
I hear you ask? Well, there was a moment a short way after the set-up and outbreak, suddenly watching a slick, contemporary highly
stylised zombie narrative turn into a rather generic and formulaic run, shoot,
ensign expendable dies, breathe, rinse, repeat trope, that I worried. It was a short
lived concern though, and having got the group from a to b to c the things were soon
back on point, for a second half, that while maybe doesn't quite live up to the
seeds initially sown, nevertheless delivers on its promise, as said, of a
well-crafted modern zombie experience. I've noted it didn't review that well; nor that badly, and this is perhaps it's only crime;
to be in a genre that's starting to stagnate due to excess.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Jessica De Gouw
(Arrow / NBC's Dracula) as shell shocked Melanie Gibbs heads a surprisingly
strong cast, of characters that for one reason or
another have turned to The Rezort for answers, some seven years after the
Chromosyndrome-A pandemic decimated mankind. With two billion dead, loved ones lost and </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">society forever changed, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">some seek revenge, some seek escape and
some like Mel, supported by boyfriend Lewis (Martin McCann) seek closure and
catharsis by coming face to face, or more accurately gun to face, with those </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">responsible</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgck5wZzBfGRboqqejpaEgiw9s87VVSB7zR8YD_SzdjknFg4aTzNZ_t9Ryimf4jRoX5hPM8UZHLcPAYAZMf_El2lt7pYvxnOaPZNhdC-JaWGtrfEanErrT5j9l0-fvQbgC43128oNbYp6bs/s1600/the_rezort_valerie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="600" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgck5wZzBfGRboqqejpaEgiw9s87VVSB7zR8YD_SzdjknFg4aTzNZ_t9Ryimf4jRoX5hPM8UZHLcPAYAZMf_El2lt7pYvxnOaPZNhdC-JaWGtrfEanErrT5j9l0-fvQbgC43128oNbYp6bs/s200/the_rezort_valerie.jpg" width="200" /></a>One thing I do know
though about any and all attempts to control and constrain is best summed up by
Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in that other rather more famous theme-park
death-experiment. "John, the kind of control you're attempting simply is...
it's not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us
it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new
territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even
dangerously…" Okay, zombies aren't alive per se, but the same chaos theory still
prevails. How The Rezort's CEO and caricature evil capitalist big boss <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Valerie Wilton (Claire Goose)</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> thought she could make her fortune </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">exploiting an island of undead gut-munchers (un)fortunate to find themselves the only place they weren't quashed, in</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> spectacle and sport, without thinking at some point something might go awry is baffling. I mean, hasn't she watched Jurassic Park, West World, etc...</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i><b>Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's
running and um, screaming."</b></i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5SJuerzebFzCt7_G_5_SrQ73YeKXYg9QqaTkEw5dCrmcGeb_9HlOUM06fOR8iY1bxfEKUkyYQTZspUObzJtI5fA7az2wGFXPR5cL01F-3AkC_p4ILgN5tyHxnt4GL5eqpXn00VQ0Rcsa/s1600/the_rezort_mel_lewis_archer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5SJuerzebFzCt7_G_5_SrQ73YeKXYg9QqaTkEw5dCrmcGeb_9HlOUM06fOR8iY1bxfEKUkyYQTZspUObzJtI5fA7az2wGFXPR5cL01F-3AkC_p4ILgN5tyHxnt4GL5eqpXn00VQ0Rcsa/s200/the_rezort_mel_lewis_archer.jpg" width="200" /></a>When the proverbial shit does hit the fan
things turn bad with breath-taking speed and ferocity. One second a computer
glitch, the next, the operative has had his lungs ripped out and is making a
rather more sinister move on the second female operative one seat to the left
than usual. It's full on zombie madness, bloody, brutal and a delight to watch.
I'd perhaps, with a health and safety hat on, make the point, that for a
billion dollar enterprise built on a rather dangerous foundation some
additional isolation steps would have been expected, it still sets and steps up
the action for the small group left out in the field. One thing Barker does understand is zombie carnage and as expected in 2017, with an entire industry dedicated to making them look and sound good their look and choreography is faultless.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As stated, it's once out in the field the film openly declares itself a bit of a by the numbers, honest to goodness, zombie action one. Mel and the mixed bag of survivors, now under the assumed leadership of the conveniently placed ex-military sharp-shooter Archer (Dougray Scott), they begin their dash from camp to
fence to lookout post hoping to escape the island before the rest
of the world responds to the alarms and razes it to the ground. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHapdWyQt1I6rDQatbp9OaODKLnb1Ud1VB5kx5NqttN0axqQKPdqG_74KEY5TC1-wEBOrIbBAulHDfH7SnyEjbfrOnsevUzTMI_44BpkTc9ljDWQ0J87k-eoQ9c7nFBKP5UlkLzdoaazJZ/s1600/the_rezort_herd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHapdWyQt1I6rDQatbp9OaODKLnb1Ud1VB5kx5NqttN0axqQKPdqG_74KEY5TC1-wEBOrIbBAulHDfH7SnyEjbfrOnsevUzTMI_44BpkTc9ljDWQ0J87k-eoQ9c7nFBKP5UlkLzdoaazJZ/s200/the_rezort_herd.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">While action and narrative can be accused of being a tad trite and stale, the same can't be said for the overall vision Barker, with writer Paul Gerstenberger has realised. In the midst of refugees and a world desperate for identity and healing, that a five star resort can pop up, primarily for the rich and bored to play God is quite relevant and cuttingly satirical. Employees inwardly sighing at the sight of rich playboys stroking their automatics and egos with all the danger and effort hidden is clever and I'm sure Romero himself would approve. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">A well-crafted, more than competently executed The Walking Dead zombie narrative that delivers exactly what it promises and I'm not sure what there is to complain about; it's one of those films one should know exactly what they're getting themselves into. Cinematically and musically the Ibiza island vibe is delightfully fresh and stylish, the zombie frolics when they get going deliver the tension, head-shots and bites when needed and the pacing is positive and fresh. </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Jessica, Martin and Dougray present strong individuals who interact and evolve naturally to the point I would be invested in the idea of a sequel (with those that might have survived.) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> A brilliant British zombie feature, with
few bells and whistles; but you know what, maybe what with all the zombie comedy satire of
late, a faultlessly fashioned back to basics survival thriller is, for us true zombie fans, bloody marvellous - </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">7/10</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD. </div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-6564310548476088312017-08-15T08:31:00.001+01:002017-08-18T15:41:32.199+01:00Bride of Re-Animator - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiroRdBX39zlgr2MJ47wDNbvYIXj4cgB6PQTXnpUlBr2GKe7Ad3rMv3eGlkmxzxoSicktRHr7p62aqJ3hLw3uKLdcJ0jvvOSDdqhC0GBwKsshzxnoICkxJG2mjUx3USQxoUWRCDetiTWirK/s1600/bride_of_reanimator_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1230" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiroRdBX39zlgr2MJ47wDNbvYIXj4cgB6PQTXnpUlBr2GKe7Ad3rMv3eGlkmxzxoSicktRHr7p62aqJ3hLw3uKLdcJ0jvvOSDdqhC0GBwKsshzxnoICkxJG2mjUx3USQxoUWRCDetiTWirK/s200/bride_of_reanimator_cover.jpg" width="163" /></a><b>1989 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2uVxFhQ">2016 Arrow Video Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD Limited Edition R(Free)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="font-size: 11pt;">Contains spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I've no doubt that
in Herbert West's (Jeffrey Combs) mind, he really isn't such a bad guy and all the slap-dash and irresponsible murder, carnage and surgical mischief is
justifiable when the goal, to unearth the secrets to life and death, is so monumental. Watching the blood flow, the body parts mount up, and new increasingly nightmarish
mutations come to life, one might not fully side with his calamitous unethical scientific methods or agree with his health and
safety record, but one really can't help but love him for all the chaos he brings.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyAqc1sdyyXkS4-9UsS2xE1_zAxB2kHwXihK1OrBRLor-YZasLW25VSsy21ohqxEs2bN0mim6B7HH90wSwd6lkB4GUoYCRGiXox0VapbMLogit2Z9CYY7JHz_ijgKXxHb9ZjwUvsPDiJ2/s1600/bride_of_reanimator_dr_hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="728" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyAqc1sdyyXkS4-9UsS2xE1_zAxB2kHwXihK1OrBRLor-YZasLW25VSsy21ohqxEs2bN0mim6B7HH90wSwd6lkB4GUoYCRGiXox0VapbMLogit2Z9CYY7JHz_ijgKXxHb9ZjwUvsPDiJ2/s200/bride_of_reanimator_dr_hill.jpg" width="200" /></a>Brian Yuzna's Bride
of Re-Animator; the sequel to the glorious dark, bloody and riotously
inappropriate <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/09/re-animator-review.html">Re-Animator</a> couldn't really fail. Ok, that's not strictly true
but, as with <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/07/the-evil-dead.html">Evil Dead</a> and Bruce Campbell, just casting Coombs as the same
irrepressible and eccentric West, and fashioning another slap-stick b-movie
with cohesive yet equally eccentric side characters, vulgar and unnecessary bad taste skits and
a hokey story to surround him, was sure to work. And despite some small missteps;
mainly the result of what Yuzna tells of limited pre-production time, the film is undoubtedly another huge success and a worthy successor.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The film opens with
an explosive flashback then flash forward to events eight months after the
Miskatonic Hospital massacre that ended the last film in a highly memorable magical b-movie maelstrom of death and chaos. West and his
companion cum enabler Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott), the only survivors, are following up their
unethical experiments, now in the safety of the Peruvian jungle with the front
line of civil conflict as cover. There stay is short lived however, but long enough to set the scene and inform us that West has certainly not learnt from his mistakes. Then with another flash and a bang we're all back<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> to Arkham and the place of their earlier misadventures, though by now
the hope is that everyone has forgotten the carnage, and moved on...</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AmxQlXRcJYYoXf7GJ6jhyphenhyphenYJys8lsMfF368H92gD1fjrHy5wiiuDlR0_MBlR7vwGJKZFVA4BnnOlADxGlZwVNaFAuMPAkGqdHUrgjW9exG6WKLdcv9t0YyT8LxsixHRenorvP-siaTZUh/s1600/bride_of_reanimator_west.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AmxQlXRcJYYoXf7GJ6jhyphenhyphenYJys8lsMfF368H92gD1fjrHy5wiiuDlR0_MBlR7vwGJKZFVA4BnnOlADxGlZwVNaFAuMPAkGqdHUrgjW9exG6WKLdcv9t0YyT8LxsixHRenorvP-siaTZUh/s200/bride_of_reanimator_west.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: calibri;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">West carries on his
highly questionable experimentation with Dr. Cain fully on board with the promise he
can somehow bring his late love Meg back. West's nemesis Dr. Carl Hill (David
Gale who begged to be part of this sequel), now a severed head, is reanimated by
a rather too curious pathologist (Mel Stewart as Dr. Graves), and begins his
singular mission to seek revenge. The story ticks all the b-movie boxes; an increasing implausible and insane story, </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">eccentric characters getting more stressed and desperate, and an abundance of</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> excessive and unnecessary blood, guts
and carnage, with Coombs, the </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">meticulous</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> conductor always the centre of the storm. And while one can understand, and
almost forgive much of the collateral damage that results from West's fight
with the established scientific world, forced as he is to work on the fringe where norms just can't apply, it's harder to argue the case for someone who
just wants to tie an arm to a dog or a leg and bring it to life just to see
what happens, whatever the consequence. It's these scenes that solidifies West as the larger than life personality and defines Re-Animator as an exceptionally good bad-movie rather than an average to rotten bad-one.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Yuzna isn't one to
shy away from a bad taste idea, however disturbing, and in Bride of Re-Animator increasingly bizarre surgical experimentation is free to come to the screen however off the wall the idea. From twitching feet, to bat wings sown to a head, to a finger and eye-ball homage to every great disembodied hand since Thing, <span style="font-size: 11pt;">watching for each new increasingly unfettered experimental monstrosity is as much
a part of the experience as the story. Also for the most part they're all perfectly
realised, given the low budget, with enough sinew and blood to cover the cracks; and though not
perfect; it's eighties, it's b-movie and cracks are all part of the charm.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvZ00q1NA3MkDWUlnZFm_Hsx9QU5jrOeLKwDsmKbY_75Qpzyh973M4QNpTvilr2vj1OxkpyifwFhcs6tD9xnb0R4q73hAwb-eW_FPPsg9bMNHHBOaxiRlBKixrHIygM7Jg2Oinl_9dCdH/s1600/bride_of_reanimator_zombie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvZ00q1NA3MkDWUlnZFm_Hsx9QU5jrOeLKwDsmKbY_75Qpzyh973M4QNpTvilr2vj1OxkpyifwFhcs6tD9xnb0R4q73hAwb-eW_FPPsg9bMNHHBOaxiRlBKixrHIygM7Jg2Oinl_9dCdH/s200/bride_of_reanimator_zombie.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I'd be hard pressed
to describe West's creations as zombies in any traditional or even contemporary
sense. If anything these Frankenstein's meat slabs intimate of life returned;
of consciousness, id, ego and will all back alongside breath and a heart-beat. It's b-movie mumbo jumbo of course; of primordial ooze extracted from the amniotic sac of the cuzco iguana and stuff about consciousness not residing in the brain but any of the tissue but the short of it West has found a way of reanimating flesh; the rest doesn't have to make much sense. There is enough
ambiguity, and some of West's lesser </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">successes</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, and remnants from the first
film, certainly appear zombie with decay, mindless behaviour with hints of
hunger and violence, and towards the end of the film appearing to be controlled by the will of another, all in good old pre-Romero Caribbean style. I'd
also be hard pressed to say any of West's returnees are exactly </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">corpus-mentis</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If I was to nit-pick, it could be argued the story is a little disjointed; more a mash-up of
sub-narratives and ideas that happen to overlap rather than a grand singular
story. It's also under critique rather light on substance with many of the more
excessive and memorable scenes rather throwaway and unnecessary from a
narrative point of view; included, the b-movie aficionado would argue for the
shits and giggles, but for the cynic, perhaps to fill and because gore always
sells. Still, they do fit with the insanity and as said they're really just as
integral a part of the whole experience as the increasingly incredulous plot.
Bride is another riotous Re-Animator chapter allowing both Coombs and the
supporting ensemble to shine. With a lively, whimsical sound track and good
pacing, it's perfect goofy, excessive and shocking b-movie entertainment, and
this new Arrow Blu-ray release; packed with every extra you could hope for,
does everything it can to bring it to life - <span style="font-weight: bold;">7/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-4868053372375273722017-03-03T10:17:00.002+00:002017-08-17T10:27:38.476+01:00Legends of Tomorrow S2 Ep4 'Abominations' - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplxBpxSPQJmid3rbm10gHGUiRZk2SKuSahVaSrHgbOGclu-Mdp9k2_M36oYEVl0Pkdh5guWO0layBTw6yT4BCDlz53kqHN0DL5LQR9irdtaymPhKqxNkKdQ55PapQ2wFliM5jOMoI9vW9/s1600/legends_of_tomorrow_abominations_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplxBpxSPQJmid3rbm10gHGUiRZk2SKuSahVaSrHgbOGclu-Mdp9k2_M36oYEVl0Pkdh5guWO0layBTw6yT4BCDlz53kqHN0DL5LQR9irdtaymPhKqxNkKdQ55PapQ2wFliM5jOMoI9vW9/s200/legends_of_tomorrow_abominations_cover.jpg" width="142" /></a><b>2016 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Watched on Cable TV.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'll start by
focusing on the whole show Legends of Tomorrow; the bastard stepson of the DC's
two successful TV series Arrow and The
Flash, and why I'm continually concerned and confused as to why I watch it. Ok,
it's not all bad but Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil
Klemmer's time travelling, fantastical and increasingly preposterous action / adventure / buddy / romance spectacular
misses the mark way too many times to really ever provide a satisfactory
scratch to the in vogue super-hero itch. In many ways doomed to failure, as
laden with all the characters deemed superfluous from the above mentioned
series, and having a core narrative that is laughably incoherent, the series
requires of the viewer a near infinite reserve of perseverance and tolerance for what is in
reality scant reward. The writers have also managed, against all the odds, to cobble together a
narrative that makes both a man hit by speed-force lighting, and the playboy turned invincible archery
bad-ass of Starling City look reasonable and believable concepts with the viewer
expected to suspend disbelief to the point of insanity to get anything from it
at all. As said, if it wasn't that I feel somewhat invested in the universe I
really wouldn't be able to handle the levels of schlock at all.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzs0RRsQ1xi8gw-Jo6xGuwN0u8K4okxgEHuF1vYjPVLKBOmz2FkavOP_yuHUCiVUIeiEJM6dkwDEIzOybDuRUXA6QXKJftFr1WIMde-pElZiy4f3-Ed6UHqe8C0sz09_pEbRkcr_fb1q4/s1600/legends_of_tomorrow_abominations_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzs0RRsQ1xi8gw-Jo6xGuwN0u8K4okxgEHuF1vYjPVLKBOmz2FkavOP_yuHUCiVUIeiEJM6dkwDEIzOybDuRUXA6QXKJftFr1WIMde-pElZiy4f3-Ed6UHqe8C0sz09_pEbRkcr_fb1q4/s200/legends_of_tomorrow_abominations_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>'Abominations'
itself plays out like an average Syfy channel / The Asylum tongue in cheek
zombie direct to tv spectacular. Effects are good, the zombies are coherent to
the established walking dead trope, and the time travelling troupe's meddling
in the civil war undead apocalypse is every bit as self-referential and both
deferential and at times glib as you'd want. The team pick up a time
aberration, head back to save General Ulysses S. Grant, and as usual somehow fudge their
way through to a half-arsed conclusion that saves the day but leaves the larger
war; a struggle with the tired and second-hand Flash and Arrow's Eobard Thawne
and Damien Darhk across time to find the spear of destiny (the one that stabbed
Jesus on the cross); more than hanging. As
a discrete episode while it's probably above par it's still really just more
Legends of Tomorrow filler, all rather formulaic and strained. As a cheap
zombie hour it's not all bad as the undead are presented confidently and the acting is
more than up to the job. I guess it all depends how much you liked <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/09/abraham-lincoln-vs-zombies-review.html">Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies</a> - <span style="font-weight: bold;">4/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-32595122043413121422017-03-02T11:50:00.001+00:002017-03-02T14:37:30.944+00:00The Living Dead Girl (La Morte Vivante) - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrN-llMQPvTOc_lt3K4p0FvgrEX9lbrOFzQ8pmLGs8vbSO5bt479Bal8oc0Dwd6N9zFiKK6U2k-M7MnZ4cqSUhtsLsM_Ss_j55p9m5fblOFU9NikzK4oHlMM7nOu4SZBxgOSvN0p7IFDN/s1600/the_living_dead_girl_cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrN-llMQPvTOc_lt3K4p0FvgrEX9lbrOFzQ8pmLGs8vbSO5bt479Bal8oc0Dwd6N9zFiKK6U2k-M7MnZ4cqSUhtsLsM_Ss_j55p9m5fblOFU9NikzK4oHlMM7nOu4SZBxgOSvN0p7IFDN/s200/the_living_dead_girl_cover.jpeg" width="165" /></a><b>1982 (France)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2mOuzbY">2012 Redemption Blu-ray R(All)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As with most low
budget eighties euro nasties I'm torn. Undoubtedly, from acting to script to
effects it's easy to pull Jean Rollin's effort apart; yet as has happened
before, dare to peer beneath the rather mediocre, sleazy and derivative
surface, and it could be argued there's perhaps quite the deep, brooding and
entirely engaging angst ridden depth to sink ones teeth into. On the surface a
tale of one child hood friend aiding and abetting a seemingly broken and
damaged other with increasing disregard for laws or morality, it would be easy
to dismiss the film as a cheap slasher with enough escalating violence and
nudity to satisfy the braying mob. Yet I think, as is the way with European
horror, to make the most of the film is to not bemoan and critique every minute
detail, but to focus on the allegory and to ponder a deep and brave
philosophical tragedy. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnhm-m3ZhWt2JsnRidFPg2kc55SvoTBea8jkpE82lOAm7zKqKry2_t2RW1YwyKsxlGbcBtWGsLeWYIBROzW_ZD3fQlmi75fGQW5xqyvABdSmIjQK-BXfGz1g41s_wsDws1lgwGG5Tgxw2/s1600/the_living_dead_girl_catherine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnhm-m3ZhWt2JsnRidFPg2kc55SvoTBea8jkpE82lOAm7zKqKry2_t2RW1YwyKsxlGbcBtWGsLeWYIBROzW_ZD3fQlmi75fGQW5xqyvABdSmIjQK-BXfGz1g41s_wsDws1lgwGG5Tgxw2/s200/the_living_dead_girl_catherine.jpg" width="200" /></a>Take for instance
the all rather by the numbers opening sequence; of toxic waste, incompetent
handling and the inexplicable resurrection of star of the show Françoise
Blanchard as Living Dead Girl Catherine Valmont followed by all the gory,
excessive and highly choreographed blood shed you'd expect from a continental eighties
video nasty. It has a certain nostalgic
charm but its amateurish, shoddy and all rather derivative to the point of
being easy to dismiss and deride. But I'm going to come to its defence. If one
posits, as I do, that film is only really about Catherine, her child hood
friend Hélène (Marina Pierro) and their increasingly twisted and morally
transient relationship, it's ok that the background is grey and maybe
deliberately immaterial and poor. Maybe I'm thinking too deeply, and too
forgiving of the rather cheap and throwaway extra characters (especially US
model Carina Barone as Barbara Simon and her lover Mike Marshall as Greg) and
all the awkwardly drawn out superfluous scenes and sequences, but the core
philosophical narrative encourages deeper thought, and it ensures the poignant story isn't lost
in all the blood soaked noise.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8vn9PHSUe5rZnHBB_ujmSiqrNXaJsEavltQuALZKmaIZbyH3ShEhnC3sDVhO-Zgo15XdFX25AaKs7wuMCgzgovmYX-B7ohGOnrUtLzobrMK2aD2Ijp5AeoxvhGBhahTWnUHigkm1EqLL/s1600/the_living_dead_girl_helena_catherine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8vn9PHSUe5rZnHBB_ujmSiqrNXaJsEavltQuALZKmaIZbyH3ShEhnC3sDVhO-Zgo15XdFX25AaKs7wuMCgzgovmYX-B7ohGOnrUtLzobrMK2aD2Ijp5AeoxvhGBhahTWnUHigkm1EqLL/s200/the_living_dead_girl_helena_catherine.jpg" width="200" /></a>Catherine and Hélène
are more than best child hood buddies. With a blood oath theirs is a friendship
that will defy and survive even death. Thus when Catherine reaches out and
Hélène comes running it's only a matter of time until she's happy to be complicit in
all that it takes to satiate the dead girls gruesome demands. For a fan of the genre the
film is a fascinating study in dead<span style="font-style: italic;">ness</span>
in a physical and hunger driven sense and dead<span style="font-style: italic;">ness</span>
in a conscious ethical framework. Catherine comes back from the dead as a blood
hungry zombie without will, conscious checks and balances and I'd argue no
cognitive ability other than when the time is right to recognise her one true
love (though I'd argue she'd have even attacked her the moment she returned.)</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Hélène contrary, is alive, human, and fully reasoning, yet has her own issues, as drawn to Catherine's side
she's immediately forced to make increasingly morally dubious snap decisions, in a surreal
whirlwind of emotion and consequence. Their
relationship, and the philosophical conundrum the film presents, is that with
each brutal death and feeding, Catherine regains some of her will and self. Her
memories, consciousness and conscience begin to return bringing with it an existential crisis and internal moral conflict as she comes to terms with the monster she's become. Counter to this,
Hélène close to having back the friend that was lost; is increasingly desperate and single minded to the extreme in her determination; but she's also
increasingly numb and ambivalent from and to the pain and death she's
responsible for. I'm sure there's a fitting quote from </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Nietzsche I could use here, something about monsters and the abyss; save to say by the end Rollin's exquisite moral tragedy had come together with resonance and ambiguous devastation.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwa64sRSMrQzUVppN4hOH8XtdBIeQzpt9SYteVwGKWlG5i5WbI_HsMOvIx4PYkitBDV331nHfdL1AYniBBhieOWdpI00pBrrYNgdTm9F0RAkNH6CNSJ7E_GJomMqDVC0vJYtzwvRsRd_F/s1600/the_living_dead_girl_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwa64sRSMrQzUVppN4hOH8XtdBIeQzpt9SYteVwGKWlG5i5WbI_HsMOvIx4PYkitBDV331nHfdL1AYniBBhieOWdpI00pBrrYNgdTm9F0RAkNH6CNSJ7E_GJomMqDVC0vJYtzwvRsRd_F/s200/the_living_dead_girl_final.jpg" width="200" /></a>Living Dead Girl
will perhaps be remembered for it's extremely graphic and shocking ending; a
drawn out scene of zombie cannibalism more excessive and sobering, yet emotional and heavy than anything
else I've seen. It will also be remembered for its ample nudity, though I'd
argue it's not only rather more tastefully handled than Rollin's other films, notably
<a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/08/zombie-lake-le-lac-des-morts-vivants.html">Zombie Lake</a>, it's even aesthetically and narratively coherent. For most it will probably be
remembered but ultimately dismissed for all the above plus its amateurish
eighties euro trash credentials; of poor acting, bad effects and awkward
dialogue. However, I'd personally like it to be remembered for the audacity of Rollin to
try and play with humanity, love and death in a deeply nuanced,
respectful, unique and beautiful way - <b>8/10</b>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-75851317912009520802017-02-07T10:25:00.002+00:002017-08-17T10:20:47.034+01:00The Girl with all the Gifts - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQ_36iwhbk-wHpbGQzWv0WyME8eVsTGaXtBt9h3PT0PozXkucyo1lw901ngXLFC0P3Lmemty4vwSb0-nTbnGi349fdrToPb4CI0KpD5uXYONpUVuHMWrgxuH_EAf11gXw01H0nr0fOZZr/s1600/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_cover.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQ_36iwhbk-wHpbGQzWv0WyME8eVsTGaXtBt9h3PT0PozXkucyo1lw901ngXLFC0P3Lmemty4vwSb0-nTbnGi349fdrToPb4CI0KpD5uXYONpUVuHMWrgxuH_EAf11gXw01H0nr0fOZZr/s200/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_cover.png.jpg" width="158" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">2016 (UK / USA)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2jXbNx5">2017 Warner Home Video Blu-ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contains mild spoilers.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Just when I was
starting to think the modern zombie love affair was over, all bar the bell,
along comes a film (and book) that just for a moment reminds me that all might
not be lost. With a clear, brave and original vision, great determination, and
exquisite competence, The Girl with all the Gifts instils hope, and acts as to
remind, if we needed it, that the zombie is a timeless metaphor, reflective and
responsive to the fears of each new generation and both malleable and
submissive to always be open to change. It's that admission that <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/09/the-walking-dead-season-5-review.html">The Walking Dead</a> post-apocalyptic survival slog, and the jaunty, flippant and entirely
throwaway zombie-comedy might not be the only games in town; that rehashing the
same narrative, or telling the same joke with minor cosmetic change might not
be the only way to draw genre fans back time and again. Yes we're reliant yet
again on brave independent film makers with a modest budget but maybe what with
all the critical acclaim there's always the chance some of this fearless and avant-garde spice will rub off on the big boys; and also I for one would be happy for
keen enthusiasts to once again take point even it does mean the number of films
released takes a massive hit.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuzN6tVsInbAV4Z843OM3UETTv0_8x0BUOfNbPzYZtZc9-IVW-1igFz6X1sZCXtNAMETCWNPtEwufWLkYhk62uF40Fhep1rs1s3p5bJy0aesBfd5iqRGIDHNQAhiid7lXFut-LcCWacQ0/s1600/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_melanie.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuzN6tVsInbAV4Z843OM3UETTv0_8x0BUOfNbPzYZtZc9-IVW-1igFz6X1sZCXtNAMETCWNPtEwufWLkYhk62uF40Fhep1rs1s3p5bJy0aesBfd5iqRGIDHNQAhiid7lXFut-LcCWacQ0/s200/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_melanie.png.jpg" width="200" /></a>Okay; perhaps I'm
guilty myself of going overboard whenever the next shiny new zombie story
arrives, as British director Colm McCarthy's zombie's look and feel borrows
heavily from Danny Boyle and the <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/28-days-later-review.html">28 Days Later</a> phenomena. Also the story,
without spoiling too much, of a new hybrid / evolved species potentially
rendering the old extinct and redundant, shares more than few parallels with <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/10/the-last-man-on-earth-review.html">I Am Legend</a>. Yet there's enough ingenuity and nuance in the weave performed by
writer M.R. Carey, and more than enough skill and style in its transition from
words to picture that I'm happy to overlook any complaints of imitation or
derivation. Anyway; aren't there really only seven stories in the world?</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5ueSD_7es_usjTAuFPEUQnnifZ2VyArGzcu43moJ47rnYeqESO4Wwc1SubTRN6iyuWCAKCmrVUJ4mR6-Fnz-WVhuADkjC1-08mDuyrj6LWbgulNqlxAn7iO507KO4FYzDdG_loVMhGON/s1600/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_melanie_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5ueSD_7es_usjTAuFPEUQnnifZ2VyArGzcu43moJ47rnYeqESO4Wwc1SubTRN6iyuWCAKCmrVUJ4mR6-Fnz-WVhuADkjC1-08mDuyrj6LWbgulNqlxAn7iO507KO4FYzDdG_loVMhGON/s200/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_melanie_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>Glen Close may be
the name that grabs the box office headlines but it's 12 year old Sennia Nanua
as Melanie that will certainly garner all the acclaim when the dust has
settled. Her portrayal as the innocent, bright eyed but ultimately cursed
inmate is nuanced and faultless, and contrasts perfectly with the cold, stark
utilitarian lead scientist Dr. Caroline Caldwell played by Close.
Along with sympathetic and intensely conflicted teacher Helen Justineau (Gemma
Arterton) and hard line Sgt. Eddie Parks (Paddy Considine) they perfectly capture the absurd, contradictory and desperate end of the world moral maze the story presents them with. Melanie is a human / zombie aberration torn, not born, into the world from infection in the womb. She shares the same vicious hunger to kill and eat, and yet she's also born with not just cognisant and rational thought, but perhaps, and this is the <span style="font-size: 11pt;">journey for both us, and the characters, the ability to control it.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQwANLlDv3ivWSw7xZX5Rdpg-PhwkAOyYu30vw5jJdPv5He4xVdSWCAQM63wELGKisvrQyFnsOckq-xgwMf_1DMNYDjPQzwS3-qFk7ipb-wy9njuAfCEhA7ZuyC1WHZiAusAOqqibpZSR/s1600/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_melanie_helen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQwANLlDv3ivWSw7xZX5Rdpg-PhwkAOyYu30vw5jJdPv5He4xVdSWCAQM63wELGKisvrQyFnsOckq-xgwMf_1DMNYDjPQzwS3-qFk7ipb-wy9njuAfCEhA7ZuyC1WHZiAusAOqqibpZSR/s200/the_girl_with_all_the_gifts_melanie_helen.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Us zombie fans can
be awfully annoying at times; stubborn and dogmatic that there's one way to do
something; there's one zombie and he's dead, slow and Romero's prodigy. I still
see pointless debate as to whether Boyle's not dead but infected are somehow
not zombie, as if pulse alone dictates dead</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">ness
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">forgetting that zombies were around and breathing well before the undead
movement took them as one of their own and Romero finally applied the final
death-nail. McCarthy's 'hungries' are vicious, flesh eating, fast, extremely
dangerous and alive. They're also, and this is defining trait, utterly devoid
of the humanity and more importantly self-awareness and cognisant empathy that
made them who they were. They're rabid animals; actually worse; they're
destructive entirely reactive automatons driven by insatiable hunger and nothing else. So
they have a pulse? So what. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">McCarthy also isn't afraid to shock and disturb by presenting the zombies with a brutality </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">that reinforces the </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">no-win quandary</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;"> those enforcing the imprisonment and experimentation are actually in. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The Girl with all
the Gifts certainly does better when the story sticks to the confines of the bunker / school, and the
contrasting and clashing moral maelstrom of fear, necessity, desperation
rubbing up against those small slithers of hope born from love and believing in
the human condition. The action once the compound is breached and the group are
forced to set out across the stricken over-run wasteland still shows signs of
flair and originality, never content to becomes another derivative zombie
survival yarn, yet it won't be what the film is remembered for. The Girl with all the Gifts is that
shining ray of light in unending darkness, both as a narrative trope, and also
as innovative and thoughtful movie in a plethora of mediocre. I loved it and perhaps the cinematic
zombie might be quite safe after all - <span style="font-weight: bold;">8/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-73971557742185462222017-01-31T11:17:00.000+00:002017-08-17T10:23:38.039+01:00The Returned - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0jUSsI3jjC2wyjT7EH2hkN1P9DC0shLMjdKoOEpc3LAwXAQMsqiWxxu49PgvGWhjqxX3LDJ2NQckTu0Avk3nueowLacAQMEZK5LiM6_HdaGkLJdx6gWwiwbZZigCV8sZsJUbQFsHhJ75/s1600/the_returned_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0jUSsI3jjC2wyjT7EH2hkN1P9DC0shLMjdKoOEpc3LAwXAQMsqiWxxu49PgvGWhjqxX3LDJ2NQckTu0Avk3nueowLacAQMEZK5LiM6_HdaGkLJdx6gWwiwbZZigCV8sZsJUbQFsHhJ75/s200/the_returned_cover.jpg" width="157" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">2013 (Spain / Canada)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2jQsqLE">2014 Ein Film Blu-ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
It's probably not
coincidence, what with the explosive re-emergence of zombies and the rise of the
right wing political agenda, that two independent teams would come up with a near
identical twist on post-apocalyptic story telling. Okay, BBC's <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/06/in-flesh.html">In the Flesh</a> is working
class Northern Britain, and The Returned is urban middle class America, but the
idea of a recovered and functioning post-zombie world as a backdrop to tell a rather relevant moral
tale of a castigated minority dealing with that seemingly inescapable human and
political condition, of hating and attacking what we fear; is remarkable in its
similarity. Both present a modern bruised but stoical world soldiering on as
normal despite a recent history, that's implied, certainly did play out more
like what we're used to seeing from the genre. Both have as a focus a young and
innocent victim, now survivor, burdened with a manageable but less than ideal
medical treatment plan. And both paint a distinctly
un-rosy picture of how society would likely react when forced to reintegrate
thousands of gut-munchers in waiting back into their everyday lives. Both too,
are poignant, insightful and tragic portrayals of how easily a small but vocal
set of voices can garner power, and most importantly tacit approval, when
fuelled by a narrative that's predominantly all about fear and security.
They're both, it could be argued, liberal agenda, politically correct and unrealistically idealist and romanticised, and both could easily switch out
'zombie' for another conservative threatening medical ailment or idea; but for
both the choice of using the undead in all their bloody rawness works remarkably
well to highlight and contrast the polarised positions as well as providing a
tense, entertaining and quirky movie experience.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxQgfT7xEUKhozbaFVMDYvF7GyFf_f-hc4XvZtqyCdUqpTdw4qBkv-dzIeIpGEb9AWRY6zRiP3_PS8sijNdfs7mJfxYljmEF6hx0sWjRX5VUthZbJLMNKu6NGciXH6-GwRAKJFR0E3jqq/s1600/the_returned_phials.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxQgfT7xEUKhozbaFVMDYvF7GyFf_f-hc4XvZtqyCdUqpTdw4qBkv-dzIeIpGEb9AWRY6zRiP3_PS8sijNdfs7mJfxYljmEF6hx0sWjRX5VUthZbJLMNKu6NGciXH6-GwRAKJFR0E3jqq/s200/the_returned_phials.jpg" width="200" /></a>There are
differences of course. Big ones. In the Flesh is mostly Kieren's story where as
in The Returned, as much as the film is concerned with Alex (Kris Holden-Ried)
and his condition, the film is really about Kate (Emily Hampshire), his partner
and a doctor on the front line, dealing both with the practical recovery of the
'returned', and in securing funding for, and pushing awareness of the treatment plan. 1981 saw the first outbreak and the global zombie pandemic really
did seem to be as nasty, indiscriminate and prolific as one would expect with
one hundred million deaths, a second wave and a full five years needed to contain
it. It's five years since Alex was bitten, contracting the infection and though he's managed to<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> maintain his daily injection and hold down his guitar
tuition position he's pretty much chosen to keep this part of his life hidden even from best friends Jacob (Shawn Doyle)
and Amber (Claudia Bassols). Though p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">eople are aware that the 'returned' are moving
and operating about the city and country, there are constant signs of dissent and though the truce is successful and legally maintained those infected are rightfully wary of publicity. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Kate and Max's story is both a beautiful tale of unconditional love and support, and a harrowing journey of
fear and hatred as public confidence in the program wanes as chatter starts to
surface of issues with the stock of the protein which keeps the dormant zombie at bay; and peaceful protest turns to retribution and violence.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42QWVy9XHB2rpBtsFtTwq1P5ea8VCo0D8-PJ_aMmYOt6Z99UkcfnPRR8pLvQWuXqbt2Ztu2gd_mg4RrzGTo7rkkJdBs_mvcTJAtPRZIqT5MW5a4alzQyisRmTDdpcPZ9k7mZPlPZ6DhmK/s1600/the_returned_kate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42QWVy9XHB2rpBtsFtTwq1P5ea8VCo0D8-PJ_aMmYOt6Z99UkcfnPRR8pLvQWuXqbt2Ztu2gd_mg4RrzGTo7rkkJdBs_mvcTJAtPRZIqT5MW5a4alzQyisRmTDdpcPZ9k7mZPlPZ6DhmK/s200/the_returned_kate.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">As would be
expected, other than a few flashbacks and one particularly gnarly incident at a
gas station the violence and threat comes from the anti-</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">returned</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> humans who seek the eradication of all those infected,
treated or otherwise. And one of the problems is,
as despicable their thinking and behaviour increasingly becomes, the actions of
Alex and Kate as the contrast; isn't if we're honest that virtuous and really not much better. The whole argument of the
anti-returned is how can we trust thousands of time-bombs to religiously adhere
to their daily program without supervision or tracking; when one missed dose
could easily lead to a multiple deaths and another mini-outbreak and the thing they kind of have a point. Yes there's the libertarian view that people shouldn't be monitored and their </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">treatment</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> shouldn't be tracked; yet we're not talking about a condition that if personally mishandled would affect one or two people; we're talking about something that with the slightest mistake could set off a exponential </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">tsunami</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> of death. Add to this</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> Kate abusing her medical position to acquire 'other peoples' medication
and Alex who's happy evading any and all official scrutiny in that it might
threaten his personal liberty and freedom and their moral position starts to unravel.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> There's a lack of subtlety to
proceedings and it's ultimately hard to have as much sympathy for the couple as
I believe was hoped.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2sVc7cuARV7KYoKg88llHh-W4ugl4YB17jOoxqVX5d5bS1f3jQpqmF9pUO4tdSp6KmhqwHVWP2NdIYsnhASdm_SbqgQYjqVL3JqcQxhPpiheREOb_awHQfkByhTy0bD94MD3tjThdb04/s1600/the_returned_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2sVc7cuARV7KYoKg88llHh-W4ugl4YB17jOoxqVX5d5bS1f3jQpqmF9pUO4tdSp6KmhqwHVWP2NdIYsnhASdm_SbqgQYjqVL3JqcQxhPpiheREOb_awHQfkByhTy0bD94MD3tjThdb04/s200/the_returned_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>One thing that is
brilliantly unsubtle though is each cameo arrival of an actual
zombie. Snarling, rabid, 28 Days Later infected though not dead, they're every bit the down right cannibalistic psychopaths the non-returners have argued the state really ought to be worried about. <span style="font-size: 11pt;">There's much left deliberately ambiguous as to the state of the world
outside the city. One hundred million dead is an awful lot and whilst people
are driving about, shopping and working with time on their hands to learn
guitar and protest, I couldn't help but think about the state of
the wider world, not picturing for one moment how more poverty inclined
countries couldn't still be having problems. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">A good idea, great characters </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">brilliantly</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> portrayed, effortless and evocative filming and production, it's a shame that </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">writer Hatem Khraiche and director Manuel Carballo's vision ultimately fails to pull together to either provide a satisfying conclusion to the highly charged personal story, or a fitting end to thea wider political and ethical discourse. At no point do any of the characters feel as powerless or as heroic as they ought with Kate's increasingly unethical and brazen attempt to circumvent the rules for personal gain a constant thorn in the story. To counter this and retain their position as the true baddies of the piece, the anti-returners have to be even more extreme in their actions. Not content with pushing the quite reasonable agenda of basic surveillance and some form of accountability; it's all a bit black and white villainy with </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">guns and killing and </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">spilt blood stained teddy bears on the hospital floor. Still, a nice little film that my nitpicking aside does deliver both on its emotional and poignant promise, and is a tight dramatic experience that should appeal to both zombie fans and those less undead enamoured alike - <b>6/10</b>.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Steven@WTD.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-16615404258538280532017-01-27T11:52:00.000+00:002017-01-27T15:43:09.319+00:00Prison of the Dead - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlq42D_z3430LVYDYEJzWMCwBuraj5faty6YXu45hmjxRCRbIpeDNK_6YyfMPujuxNygDp9LdFsbGuMHjU4v9OlFURDsfP6spXcDvEtpsLO_0OnkyY0nD1zw2NGA_5dLdi4eJJLNn7arKT/s1600/prison_of_the_dead_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlq42D_z3430LVYDYEJzWMCwBuraj5faty6YXu45hmjxRCRbIpeDNK_6YyfMPujuxNygDp9LdFsbGuMHjU4v9OlFURDsfP6spXcDvEtpsLO_0OnkyY0nD1zw2NGA_5dLdi4eJJLNn7arKT/s200/prison_of_the_dead_cover.jpg" width="143" /></a>
<b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">2000 (USA)</b><br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2k8YywZ">2003 Unipix DVD R(2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
There's really not a
lot to say about this appalling turn of the century low budget zombie
snore-fest. Resembling more a tepid amateur high school project that any kind
of sincere or mature production, it's inconsistent plot and drawn out dialogue
heavy narrative, is matched only by its strict intent to demonstrate no originality,
content merely to rehash all and every outdated and hokey horror trope without a care. Quite
what director David DeCoteau (tellingly listed under pseudonym Victoria Sloan) and writer <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Matthew Jason Walsh
were trying to achieve in this hour fifteen car crash I'm not quite sure.
Neither comedy, drama or a horror with any real teeth; Prison of the Dead plays
like it wants to be a cult and edgy young adult, possibly self-deprecating,
<a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/09/the-return-of-living-dead-review.html">Return of the Living Dead</a> wannabe but comes across more as a bland, silly and
rather insulting episode of Goosebumps, save with excessive bad language.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8W3BVGKrI03dd3EpJJAtYjBRYKPkFujhO0lMt7LvoLri7W6jkuk5bgQGORIc9DpSh-hrkuK9TKubZ21YrnCB7ukpnemxxYzJx5IaWS6iRlldN0usMYphXUPNoHb46MXZUx1d0_a0QXG5/s1600/prison_of_the_dead_ouiji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8W3BVGKrI03dd3EpJJAtYjBRYKPkFujhO0lMt7LvoLri7W6jkuk5bgQGORIc9DpSh-hrkuK9TKubZ21YrnCB7ukpnemxxYzJx5IaWS6iRlldN0usMYphXUPNoHb46MXZUx1d0_a0QXG5/s200/prison_of_the_dead_ouiji.jpg" width="200" /></a>If I asked a group
of junior school pupils to describe the setting and atmosphere for a haunted
horror I don't think it'd be far removed from that of Prison of the Dead. A gloomy,
derelict and isolated funeral home built over the long abandoned ruins of a
medieval dungeon that once held witches and warlocks. A bleak and stormy night with
owls hooting, billowing fog and complete with thunder and lightning. Four weary
friends, two girls and two buys, reuniting to pay their respects to an old
friend, and more than happy to send their driver away, and open an old creaking
door to their inevitable doom. Now there can be a time and a place for cheesy
nostalgic homage, and revisiting old myths and stories, but Prison of the
Dead isn't it. The derivative setting isn't tribute or cute; it's lazy and easy;
and the story isn't an inventive twist on the familiar but a wearisome and
altogether incoherent set of musings from a team that clearly didn't care.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYTZrIwbk9xBAkrouSkhQoqTRV-DGl9DNa-dBKbLy-_QSavfbSMkEKdsqiqQR-zxwbG9GxV6haltVucFeTpMMbn_c-R7t9GGAQI7eNqJ-Z777DLdPO4ik4peqzDHoIIttTuJJEUwBMHco_/s1600/prison_of_the_dead_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYTZrIwbk9xBAkrouSkhQoqTRV-DGl9DNa-dBKbLy-_QSavfbSMkEKdsqiqQR-zxwbG9GxV6haltVucFeTpMMbn_c-R7t9GGAQI7eNqJ-Z777DLdPO4ik4peqzDHoIIttTuJJEUwBMHco_/s200/prison_of_the_dead_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>Brought together by
Kristof St. Pierce (Patrick Flood), a spoilt, rich, occult obsessed man-child
and also the recent heir of Hawthorne funeral home, the group soon realise the
late Calvin (Sam Page) isn't actually that dead and their reunion is all actually
part of some ill-conceived plan to bring the old scooby-doo clique back
together to speak to the dead, unearth some mysterious lost key and solve an
ancient mystery. All well and good if they'd just get on with it; yet the vast
majority of the film is the group, plus three additional well-groomed locals seemingly intent to spoil the party for shits and giggles,
happy squabbling and bitching to one another generally over how they don't want
to be there. For a film that spends pretty much all it's time bogged down in
character dynamics you'd have thought too, there would have been some effort to make
the characters more interesting and agreeable. Whether a design decision or
inexperience, Calvin, Kristof, Rory (Michael Guerin), Kat (Alicia Arden) and Michele (Debra Mayer) are played dryer
than the Atacama Desert (I looked it up; this is the driest desert). Even when people do start dropping; or glazing over
and chanting the Latin (I think) beyond the grave mantra the predisposition is
always stoical and the responses nonchalant and mostly self-absorbed. I'm all
for the odd dry and unlikable character but when the lack of interest, care
or any urgency is shared by all it's really hard not to end up sharing in the apathy. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t67hu4h4kgDh6Rw91dfdV00n-vlqrtyNVzI2rspEoL3vMGCnyQiGdgB0CtjGhW1m3xUgyBDbDb2pMhrPhQmyw-qPivEBA77oXk5VL0y9j2z2EvfueoH18Heix4Bu8MdU78DeWEbULkNr/s1600/prison_of_the_dead_kat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t67hu4h4kgDh6Rw91dfdV00n-vlqrtyNVzI2rspEoL3vMGCnyQiGdgB0CtjGhW1m3xUgyBDbDb2pMhrPhQmyw-qPivEBA77oXk5VL0y9j2z2EvfueoH18Heix4Bu8MdU78DeWEbULkNr/s200/prison_of_the_dead_kat.jpg" width="200" /></a>I say, when people
start dropping. Noting the eighteen certificate, the cover and presentation,
and the horror credentials one would assume adult content. Nada. Okay the
zombies initial appearance; skeletal medieval axe, scythe mace wielding long
dead executioners sombrely and menacingly clambering from the soil is
promising, and delightfully old school, reminiscent of all our old continental
favourites, especially the <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/08/tombs-of-blind-dead-review.html">blind dead</a>. Yet, for the number of deaths that are
eventually perpetrated there's a ridiculously low quantity of blood, next to no
gore and no actual on-screen horror to actually speak of. As the film progresses each and every unlucky soul is suddenly, and arbitrarily taken by a spasm of shameful CG, a moment of possession as one of the so called long dead witches takes control before <span style="font-size: 11pt;">one of the zombie executioners pops out from nowhere
ready for the camera to pan away, them to slash, and someone to throw something red and wet over the lens. I'm not advocating that all horror needs to be in your face and wall to wall torture porn, but this is tame for convenience sake and detracts
totally from what I believe was being aimed for. In fact the only
adult content I'd argue would be the copious bad language; even the token
contrived sex scene seemed to mandate modesty, and with the f's and blinds dialled down I'd honestly, save for the fact it's so god damn awful, have no qualms
letting my children watch it.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
With more effort and energy with the action and a good rewrite of the script
focusing on the transitions between the various sequences, and imbuing the characters with some
charm and reason to care at all for them, there's a movie here that could probably match
the reasonably competent directorial and camera work. Though <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">not a lot more </span>if we're all
honest. Sometimes one just needs to call it as it is; that
Prison of the Dead was probably a bad film before the ink was dry, and quite
how someone thought an amateur budget, cast and production was going to imbue
it with the necessary life and savvy to stand out was baffling to say the
least. There's very little to recommend in this seventeen year old miss, and it's
not one you'll be doing yourself a disservice for skipping, even if like me you want to watch them all - <span style="font-weight: bold;">2/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-13844027478796995412016-12-13T16:55:00.003+00:002017-08-17T10:26:47.903+01:00Pandemic - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga34B2CWmIoD5o_41JW9ONGzp-90ODHuVN1JCKNQ1SWJGYL2rmqWjYipl64td_NHFNNyBiFCz1DoO1Rl4mFdOFcw4NhUOjPtVzM-adX4a79XNHHf5Wakt-2aZVHiNClZH7CrtzjuAT8BR-/s1600/pandemic_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga34B2CWmIoD5o_41JW9ONGzp-90ODHuVN1JCKNQ1SWJGYL2rmqWjYipl64td_NHFNNyBiFCz1DoO1Rl4mFdOFcw4NhUOjPtVzM-adX4a79XNHHf5Wakt-2aZVHiNClZH7CrtzjuAT8BR-/s200/pandemic_cover.jpg" width="158" /></a><b>2016 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2gwYjXg">2016 Splendid Film / WVG Blu-ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers. </i></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Pandemic, subtitled
Fear the Dead has a lot going for it. A gritty, broken and desperately cruel
post-apocalyptic world. A complicated and some-what original zombie threat that
at times is nail-bitingly scary. A sturdy performance from a cast full of recognisable
faces. And a beautiful crisp clean transfer and audio track thanks once again
to my European neighbours (though why I'm increasingly reliant on the French,
German and Dutch for a Blu-ray version of a film deemed merely DVD worthy for the UK<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> is frustrating to say the least.) Under the helm of
director, and co-producer John Suits it's a low budget film that holds it
surprisingly together with an energetic first person perspective (POV Point of
View) approach that doesn't unravel, and a fearlessness to go outside, with
wide, expansive shots and play with huge crowds of extras all at
once. It's hard to put a finger on quite why it all doesn't quite work what
with all the fine ingredients, and why the final result is when all is said and
done, a tad tedious and dare I say quite forgettable.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5Lu3-32wFId0s5oAIPbWGZhatBWxjUcRRG8KaBOFBvHjYBcm3z2t8jL55tkHWo_f_sJ4ZsiKzVGgW5arc-HRC0cLVCz7Miw7e8V02cdKeKWxULjTPTa26OVEFasyg0FHCexXlY1Bgan6/s1600/pandemic_gunner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5Lu3-32wFId0s5oAIPbWGZhatBWxjUcRRG8KaBOFBvHjYBcm3z2t8jL55tkHWo_f_sJ4ZsiKzVGgW5arc-HRC0cLVCz7Miw7e8V02cdKeKWxULjTPTa26OVEFasyg0FHCexXlY1Bgan6/s200/pandemic_gunner.jpg" width="200" /></a>Rachel Nichols plays
Lauren Chase a CDC doctor, separated from her husband and daughter but one of
the few who made it into the militarised safe zone. Though more than a little green she's given command of a small team and tasked to <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">head to a school on the far side of Los Angeles to test and hopefully save eighty-nine survivors, and investigate why the crew sent before failed to return. The rest of the crew comprise of</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Gunner (Mekhi Phifer - Andre in Dawn of the Dead), the captain
and muscle, Wheeler (Alfie Allen</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">- Theon
Greyjoy) the driver and Denise (Missi Pyle), the navigator. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
It's all there; h<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">indering their mission are quite the assortment of increasingly desperate and surprisingly well organised survivors, hordes of semi-psychotic crazies, and full blown terrifying zombie-demons you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. E</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">ach
stop on the groups little tour of downtown LA is full of suspense, action and
ultimately maiming and killing, and yet it's also all rather derivative with
much of its punch tamed by an aura of invincibility that seems to follow Dr Chase
and troupe like a contrived guiding hand. Our heroes are crept up
on, grabbed and jumped; and yes I know, small spoiler, they don't all survive,
but watching wave after wave of crazy ultra-violent mad men and women chase,
surround and swarm the group only for them to yet again make it clear by the
skin of their teeth tests credulity and reduces the intensity fat too easily and far too early.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIS1Tj2BA6rBpDpeEtyW2j3q7b7-WGT8D2EEAGCg-u_8ST_fLG2XiWI7sdFRmypbv88b5T3E3X8WbvISYVVh52G2baWMeFbhB1xWEla2zufWmw3FW9pA2QdM_Ytb0qCVq2367iLyOFzGGU/s1600/pandemic_infected.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIS1Tj2BA6rBpDpeEtyW2j3q7b7-WGT8D2EEAGCg-u_8ST_fLG2XiWI7sdFRmypbv88b5T3E3X8WbvISYVVh52G2baWMeFbhB1xWEla2zufWmw3FW9pA2QdM_Ytb0qCVq2367iLyOFzGGU/s200/pandemic_infected.jpg" width="200" /></a>Then there's the
infected. Suits really fleshes out a city in turmoil and the multi-faceted zombie
threat; yet combined with the seemingly predetermined
danger, and their varying contradictions, the many encounters which to begin with are pumped and explosive, soon deteriorate to feel rather forced, and even bewildering. The narrative too
suffers from questionable decision making; none more so than going to all the trouble of presenting a dead city with empty streets
full of carnage, and a desperate last ditch attempt to
find some, any survivors; then suddenly having them drive past swatches of homeless
vagrants; one of whom I swear was drinking coffee, with not a mention that they should perhaps stop and
enquire how they were doing? </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
A lot of thought and
effort has gone into the films zombie infection, fleshing it out with depth and
subtlety. Rather than a generic The Walking Dead binary position Suits has contrived a five phase degenerating condition and made it central
to the narrative. It starts rather safely with Level 1 and flu like
symptoms and Level 2 and haemorrhaging, before level 3 and black necrotic
blood, diminished mental capacity, confusion, and enough extreme aggression to fashion the threat needed for all this to be a thing. But it's
levels 4 and 5 where things get interesting. Just when things looked like they
couldn't get any worse level 3 patients suddenly go into stasis, hibernating
with an extremely low heart rate. Then it's level 5 after some god awful demonic
transmutation and it's <span style="font-style: italic;">bonies</span>
from <a href="http://watchingthedead.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/warm-bodies.html">Warm Bodies</a> or the vamp-zombies from <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2013/08/i-am-legend-review.html">I Am Legend</a>, and utterly inhuman and genuinely terrifying. The bulk of the
action involves the group evading and combating the infected pre this final mutation;
they're varying positioned crazy and confused; some desperate for aid, others increasingly violent and random, with even an odd bit cannibalism I think
shoe-horned in as some clumsy zombie homage. They're all good; well presented and perfectly choreographed but I would have liked to
have seen the level 5's a bit more prominently positioned and introduced a little earlier
as their impact certainly elevates the film and once introduced it's hard to go back.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw7jedUIxnU5VIzy0m-2PV4NCNe5cBswx-GERJpdu6YhMx3MGd7m7xNFCNXf-rNwoPCZz5RWnr-h9gudYNLBwnBWIpIudfe3uZ04vWNh2tTPohPQCyl1ZnuRo-od-FuLL5qIh1R1unbwb/s1600/pandemic_level_5_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw7jedUIxnU5VIzy0m-2PV4NCNe5cBswx-GERJpdu6YhMx3MGd7m7xNFCNXf-rNwoPCZz5RWnr-h9gudYNLBwnBWIpIudfe3uZ04vWNh2tTPohPQCyl1ZnuRo-od-FuLL5qIh1R1unbwb/s200/pandemic_level_5_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>Pandemic has a lot going for it but ultimately struggles because of a few small decisions and characters that offer little to no reason to either empathise with or get behind. Also, John Suits, having managed to do the hard bit and get the first person camera view point to actually work, possibly over eggs it, with scenes that seem overly contrived to take advantage of the success, and as mentioned a zombie threat that gets too close too often only to impossibly be beaten back. An awfully bleak world, an apocalyptic shit-storm; there's certainly a place for films that truly paint the end of the world in a manner where there's no silver lining and it's good to see directors and writers shun the current, and cheap trend to align zombies with lighthearted and flippant. A high-octane zombie horror that's not afraid to bare its teeth, and definitely worth seeking out for a throwaway evening; but also struggles to ultimately hold it together or stand out - <b>6/10</b>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-74132253636539053442016-12-06T11:39:00.003+00:002017-08-17T12:10:53.048+01:00The Sky Has Fallen - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifz6h09RPedse0dsJjiKKK7E-FAelJWGHw0ZrJ723Awb530xQ-ikrkL-s4-NdNbZHD3prrNS17GxamR0YfWoHK7JAJuKCOg-GXqjRzfqUaTjlN3UuqyVXQWyaT11YHFRwxJdDPgCN7fAF0/s1600/the_sky_has_fallen_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifz6h09RPedse0dsJjiKKK7E-FAelJWGHw0ZrJ723Awb530xQ-ikrkL-s4-NdNbZHD3prrNS17GxamR0YfWoHK7JAJuKCOg-GXqjRzfqUaTjlN3UuqyVXQWyaT11YHFRwxJdDPgCN7fAF0/s200/the_sky_has_fallen_cover.jpg" width="142" /></a><b>2009 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.theskyhasfallen.com/">2015 Lost Forever Productions (Ultimate Edition) DVD R(0)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Sure, writer,
director, producer, chief cook and bottle washer Doug Roos's passion project
has its faults; I'd bet my bottom dollar Roos himself could easily provide a
list of all things he'd want to improve or change, and sure there are better
dark and brooding; for a frivolous zom-rom-com this is certainly not, zombie
horrors out there, but I honestly challenge anyone to name me an independent no
budget fully-fledged feature with as much character, attention to detail,
originality and honesty. The Sky Has Fallen is testament that indie passion and
vision, combined with stubbornness, tenacity and energy can produce something
that easily holds itself up to far grander and more entitled efforts. At a
time when the zombie movie scene is awash with cheap and lazy, that honourable
and sincere little gems like this still make it through the quagmire gives
genuine hope.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijCuES1TyTupxZcER00yeWoInD2oSOrYTjF1vCbyMqg9HXTLsPO39Gfo4tVWsTrIZFVdiPxBhxGH0hAfueW1eMO6nhLN7NsO7str2DMyXqwJGJK3duB1Xuyy65aLGjONT_4mqbMarAuwW/s1600/the_sky_has_fallen_rachel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijCuES1TyTupxZcER00yeWoInD2oSOrYTjF1vCbyMqg9HXTLsPO39Gfo4tVWsTrIZFVdiPxBhxGH0hAfueW1eMO6nhLN7NsO7str2DMyXqwJGJK3duB1Xuyy65aLGjONT_4mqbMarAuwW/s200/the_sky_has_fallen_rachel.jpg" width="200" /></a>If you're one that
believes a true post-apocalyptic landscape would be far from an introverted
paradise and self-indulgent playground then The Sky Has Fallen could well be your
wet-dream. Roos paints a world of misery, brutality and insufferable
despondency. I'm a genuinely glass is half full kind of guy but faced with this
alien / zombie nightmare, where the danger isn't just being bitten and going
rogue but possibly facing an eternity of the most depraved Hellraiser torture;
if you're lucky; I really don't think even I'd be able to muster any
positivity or hope. Fortunately it's not down to me though, as Roos has Lance (Carey
MacLaren) and Rachel (Laurel Kemper) two strong and driven characters who do seem up for challenging the status-quo and saving man-kind.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The Sky Has Fallen
is a zombie film quite like no other. If I were to make connections I'd argue
there's a European continental esoteric and ambiguous, yet deeply unsettling
vibe akin to Fulci and his <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/10/the-beyond-seven-doors-of-death-review.html">Gates of Hell trilogy</a>. Then there's Barker's
Hellraiser parallel; of paradigm-disrupting monsters visiting Earth for some
gratuitous and sadistic fun and frolics. Then it's still all zombie and a
western homage to the Japan's <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/02/versus-review.html">Versus</a> with dozens if not hundreds of slow
shuffling and insatiable dead falling to exacting and perfectly choreographed
samurai sword-swinging and gun-toting precision. And if all this isn't enough
it's a powerful character driven melodrama with forceful performances that
resonate and move.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwxDK5hIdj1Akxg77vnibPThmHZz30ze0fwhwM803ArSWpd1kU27e_Qbu7RmSh3NACy1YOHJaP2dYFXrJVYyQ-vGF-li48qiZpy64pD8aVk-vg7lwgRMm1VN_4u7pOTRctF4G9EPP_B9g/s1600/the_sky_has_fallen_zombie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwxDK5hIdj1Akxg77vnibPThmHZz30ze0fwhwM803ArSWpd1kU27e_Qbu7RmSh3NACy1YOHJaP2dYFXrJVYyQ-vGF-li48qiZpy64pD8aVk-vg7lwgRMm1VN_4u7pOTRctF4G9EPP_B9g/s200/the_sky_has_fallen_zombie.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If an airborne
pandemic with 100% effectiveness leading to the total downfall of mankind
wasn't bad enough, it seems it was merely stage one. No sooner have the few
immune survivors started to adjust to a new world alone without the love and
support of friends, family or any form of coherent government or society their
grieving is brought to an abrupt end by the arrival of real perpetrators; black
cloaked, mandible wielding, mind controlling, zombie-fashioning sadistic little
shits that seem to see humanity as nothing other than their next meal. And I
mean to say this in the same way a cat views its dinner; for as much as our
consumption is important, it would also appear sadism is an
integral and important part of the process. Whether they're aliens, demons,
transdimensional parasites, like their sinister, emotionless barbarism, not understanding or controlling the whys and wherefores all aids the brooding, deeply unsettling atmosphere. Again for a film with under such financial pressure, the handling and screen presence of these masters is fabulously
realised, as are the zombies they create and control. And again as we'd </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">expect</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> much of the slicing and dicing is off camera and more intimated
than realised, but Roos hasn't held back with some truly awful and appalling (in a
good way) and highly effective make-up and close-ups that encapsulates his undoubted fetid and utterly
depraved vision of hell on earth.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVL5Uq2ijSYbFyYIGtLaYqYAVvfsnN1tejQwml-gC4U4Y4mpf719ZOWA3-jzMvNq5A4axOiYVBrv8PEfdMACQkU_YDENO3FGOWJFzcs5BTetUQ7ZwwJoSwtd_BFKf8lhXstrZbLUiuFYp/s1600/the_sky_has_fallen_lance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVL5Uq2ijSYbFyYIGtLaYqYAVvfsnN1tejQwml-gC4U4Y4mpf719ZOWA3-jzMvNq5A4axOiYVBrv8PEfdMACQkU_YDENO3FGOWJFzcs5BTetUQ7ZwwJoSwtd_BFKf8lhXstrZbLUiuFYp/s200/the_sky_has_fallen_lance.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Ok, I did feel some
of the moody and indulgent conversation and reflection did repeat itself and
drag proceedings. I also felt whilst brilliantly realised and deliberately
shocking, the film did somewhat lose its aesthetic soul with perhaps one too
many perverse and gratuitous torture / murder scenes. It's ironic that the Ultimate
edition I watched, with eight additional minutes of tinkering over the 2009
release might actually now itself be in need of edit. A fabulous passion project I'd far rather talk about for
all it does right though, rather than its inevitable occasional stumble. The world needs visionaries that break moulds and its genuinely </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">inspiring</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, against the hum drum and mediocre, that films such as The Sky Has Fallen are brought to fruition. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">A powerful and resonating film that captures the honest and </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">meticulous vision of its own inventor and investor it's a film I can truly recommend, and fully deserving of all the indie plaudits it collected - <b>7/10</b>.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-6636631063684586692016-11-22T10:15:00.000+00:002016-11-23T07:47:15.345+00:00The Hanging Woman (The Orgy of the Dead / La Orgía de los Muertos) - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1B8HMHKli9n7qzCfokfRdja9ZuEQi8UCfQKioG5V6FoQV5l5xshvK35ER_IfvKLqm_ZgXI1pvd-Zl0srC7C4icqnT2i28IEqfewlAXcFGy6oNRXUR2xlaL2iyjsrPHPV2I_Pgowwq8LbP/s1600/the_hanging_woman_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1B8HMHKli9n7qzCfokfRdja9ZuEQi8UCfQKioG5V6FoQV5l5xshvK35ER_IfvKLqm_ZgXI1pvd-Zl0srC7C4icqnT2i28IEqfewlAXcFGy6oNRXUR2xlaL2iyjsrPHPV2I_Pgowwq8LbP/s200/the_hanging_woman_cover.jpg" width="133" /></a><b>1973 (Spain / Italy)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2f1G4NP">2009 Troma Entertainiment DVD R(All)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'd be lying if I
said this quintessentially low budget European horror was good. I'd be equally
disingenuous if I was to be overly harsh. Director José Luis Merino's La Orgía
de los Muertos (translated as The Orgy of the Dead), otherwise known as Beyond
the Living Dead (US), Zombies - Terror
of the Living Dead (UK), and finally and most popularly in the US, The Hanging
Woman, in truth, is a distinctly mediocre gothic mad-scientist whodunnit dotted with enough distinctly brilliant and memorable moments that it almost
fools you into thinking it's better than it is. The story, characters and acting is
as equally laboured as It is convoluted and discordant, and despite Paul Naschy
being Paul Nashy in his prime, he can't, this time, save the film entirely on
his own mainly because his involvement was actually quite limited, due to parallel film commitment.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit4m3RBY-cGNC-UMp-OETwPl6AR-aIn63rhU1O7w_bZ5LG7ZzJ42e9-5kAVZN4HvFSpmqagW_d7Pt7I4xZC4V4n0nMfGaFiZ2zUcbZJNbMSw8i31hyZyw9SA207Xo1P2jpUWyt22WPfKvR/s1600/the_hanging_woman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit4m3RBY-cGNC-UMp-OETwPl6AR-aIn63rhU1O7w_bZ5LG7ZzJ42e9-5kAVZN4HvFSpmqagW_d7Pt7I4xZC4V4n0nMfGaFiZ2zUcbZJNbMSw8i31hyZyw9SA207Xo1P2jpUWyt22WPfKvR/s200/the_hanging_woman.png" width="200" /></a>Serge Chekov
(Stelvio Rosi as Stan Cooper) returning to his late uncle's estate for the
reading of the will stumbles upon the grizzly scene of, whom he soon discovers
to be, his niece's fresh corpse hanging from a tree. Then finding himself the, for all intents and purposes, sole benefactor he's quickly embroiled in a web of scheming and
distrust, <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">black magic and murder,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> in a claustrophobic and isolated backwater mansion with a cast of disparate and quite disturbed figures.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
There's Igor (Paul Naschy), the
crazy-eyed, dishevelled cemetery caretaker who we learn is also quite the
necrophiliac and all round pervert; there's the newly widowed Countess Nadia
Mihaly (Maria Pia Conte) who wants Serge to sell and is happy to persuade with
sex, satanic ritual and voodoo; there's Professor Leon Driola (Gérard Tichy),
the permanent guest of the late Count who specialist research is electricity
and the nebulous curtain of death, and there's his daughter, the Countesses
maid Doris Droila (Dyanik Zurakowska) who wants Serge to actually keep the estate
for her father's sake.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6fY-JHfNqzTfUtxbQuqxdVf8wYud59nIt0p_0at5rNRc6Tk0bz5JOtTMyXDX_L_Mb4WeQlCM62oqEP0bNhU49ew6YhOUNVT1ATg-KIBd4d-Ubl7hZ9hwsxdVGEoV20cmWRdKVq_aqgG6/s1600/the_hanging_woman_serge_doris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6fY-JHfNqzTfUtxbQuqxdVf8wYud59nIt0p_0at5rNRc6Tk0bz5JOtTMyXDX_L_Mb4WeQlCM62oqEP0bNhU49ew6YhOUNVT1ATg-KIBd4d-Ubl7hZ9hwsxdVGEoV20cmWRdKVq_aqgG6/s200/the_hanging_woman_serge_doris.jpg" width="200" /></a>At some point each
and every one supplies motive and means to explain the, for at least an hour,
rather sketchy, zombie murder mystery, and each and every one provides a
discordant sub-narrative with Serge at the centre. And Serge loves it. Making
the lead character and hero such an entitled obnoxious cad is either brave film
making or suicide, as whether he's taking advantage of young vulnerable
daughters or engaged in yet another innocuously provoked fist fight he's
incredibly difficult to either empathise with or rally behind. Even as the
credits rolled and he'd solved the case, and rescued and won the girl I
couldn't help hope there would be some late twist and he'd still get the zombie
maul he undisputedly deserved.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The zombies are one
of the true highlights of the film and it was a pity it took such a long time
to get to see them in all their splendour. Fetid, crusty and decaying, they're
the epitome of the seventies walking dead infamously popularised by Fulci later
in the decade. Unlike the esoteric mystical nature of Fulci's creation though,
these guys have a mad Victor Frankenstein scientist and rational excuse for
their reanimation. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">Spoiler…</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> it was
Professor Leon you see, and not any of the black magic or voodoo thrown in to put us of course. As well as learning the
secrets of electrical resurrection he's also a whizz with micro-technology, designing and manufacturing a 'capsule' that slots in the corpses brain to both control its actions as well as pick up his thoughts. They're mindless drones
incapable of independent thought driven solely to obey their master and the
murders were all perpetrated at the behest of the prof who first wanted to kill
his partner the count, to stop him using the discovery to amass 'an army of the
dead'. The rest of the victims, beginning with the hanging woman, were unlucky </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">dominoes</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> that fell as the ever desperate Leon tried to cover his tracks.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> An interesting zombie twist to
note at the end of the film and starting with the now resurrected Naschy, of a disobedience and demonstration of
independent murderess intent, with the professor no
longer able to exert control. It lead to a lively and satisfying
climax, but as stated all came rather too late.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYmwDDqAdCYUKOzzWnAXbP1Hl4yacu2rlp0ihHFRQGxxxFym_l5dL6udMMAU35_g16bQ565oc7rgt2IQ4UmJ9G661pABGydKI3kv9cti5Gzxcufvc_Ah0YOwyUg1jXwQlrmJR6EOCOlWg/s1600/the_hanging_woman_igor_naschy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYmwDDqAdCYUKOzzWnAXbP1Hl4yacu2rlp0ihHFRQGxxxFym_l5dL6udMMAU35_g16bQ565oc7rgt2IQ4UmJ9G661pABGydKI3kv9cti5Gzxcufvc_Ah0YOwyUg1jXwQlrmJR6EOCOlWg/s200/the_hanging_woman_igor_naschy.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Naschy, the zombies,
the sombre gothic atmosphere brilliantly captured, and the brooding organ
music; there are many reasons to get excited over this early seventies
continental horror. Indeed, as much as the story was long winded, trite,
and discordant, and the characters generally unbearable and difficult to
share any sympathy with, the constantly interspersed distractions were enjoyable despite themselves and perhaps for all the wrong reasons. Also one can't help but be
charmed with echoes of a more innocent, or </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">naive</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> time when woman always fainted at bad
news, it was ok to beat and shoot at the feet of disagreeable servants, and it was right and proper to
invade and search a man's property because 'he's a strange sort and could be
dangerous'. As charmed as I was though, and as much as I did enjoy the final
fifteen or so minutes of zombie mayhem, I have to argue there are much better
gothic horrors from this era, and this is far from Naschy's best effort. Yet,</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> it does have a certain something that could warrant a viewing on a stormy night with curtains drawn, lights down low, and goblet of port in hand </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">- </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">5/10</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br />
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-63013185413712596542016-11-17T14:55:00.000+00:002017-08-17T12:08:56.276+01:00Zombie Killers Elephant's Graveyard - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsrT4TTjstK8Jshsup_uLUyY9Bpbxwg8pJ8URWtcUI847PesRv18WRekSEbsmyDuNKAY1USfUeU95uE7_y-cllK2aTC6BDfo6KkpaCBLIWfIfJbe4sHLy9Ust9b9PJQJzpku2gL7jnDFA/s1600/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsrT4TTjstK8Jshsup_uLUyY9Bpbxwg8pJ8URWtcUI847PesRv18WRekSEbsmyDuNKAY1USfUeU95uE7_y-cllK2aTC6BDfo6KkpaCBLIWfIfJbe4sHLy9Ust9b9PJQJzpku2gL7jnDFA/s200/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_cover.jpg" width="130" /></a><b>2015 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2g1Qo5K">2015 <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Platform Entertainment DVD R(2)</span></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Let's talk
apostrophes. We all get it wrong from time to time, especially when writing,
and thought and creativity is more engaged, than say, any desire to satisfy the
minutia. It's not Elephant's Graveyard; it's the <span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">whole</span></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> romanticised idea that <b>elephants </b>would collectively travel to some mythical single location to gasp their final breath; </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">there's more than one. It's a
small thing I know, but this small lack of attention is quite indicative of
director and co-writer Harrison Smith's low budget zombie effort. For as taken
as I was with the refreshingly modern and airy look and feel, and enamoured
with the highly emotive characters and their story, I couldn't quite shake off
all the small niggles and warts that combined to spoil the party. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMmTY1clOWmiFx09mC3_Lp_Azlq2OtrQpfTqQQWmna_O1DT-vef5-RMNimEPnIQwMSTNjrGvKtia705xzB_nwZq_e7ddGDK3Xtjn7N0yG6WxNwytkAmBlZv-jkmTolTk2xDsHROzk724i/s1600/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_zombie_killers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMmTY1clOWmiFx09mC3_Lp_Azlq2OtrQpfTqQQWmna_O1DT-vef5-RMNimEPnIQwMSTNjrGvKtia705xzB_nwZq_e7ddGDK3Xtjn7N0yG6WxNwytkAmBlZv-jkmTolTk2xDsHROzk724i/s200/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_zombie_killers.jpg" width="200" /></a>So who are the zombie killers? Well, they refer to the rag tag assortment of young waifs and strays tasked with
protecting the isolated and fenced town of Elwood. Led with ruthless utilitarian zeal, Elwood under the
leadership of Doc (Brian Anthony Wilson), an ex-military medic, has survived
the fervent zombie contamination that has taken hold of the planet. For six years,
under the sub-command of Seiler (Billy Zane) these young adults have foraged,
hunted and risked life and limb outside the safety of the compound to provide
for the rather religious and insular group of lowlifes, who as we will discover,
would be only too happy to thank them with a bullet to the back of the head
should situation or occasion, like not keeping ones space tidy, demand.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
For a world ravaged
by a multi-species zombie contamination, where society has collapsed, resources
are scant and general subsistence has regressed to something akin to the
stone-age you'd think people would have better things to do than paint ball or
spread malicious rumour because it goes against rather wonky religious
ideals. Yet that's
what Zombie Killers Elephant's Graveyard is primarily about. It's not a tense or shocking survival thriller but a
highly emotive character driven soap-opera where the very real zombie threat
plays second fiddle to odd politicking and strange, almost sociopathic
adherence to a disjointed dictatorial ideology; and though, as I've stated, it was
genuinely refreshing to engage with something with a different take on
post-apocalyptic living, it just didn't come together.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDF9g5Y1zwNk_V7BH8WFPuASTwTmE8apWf7gXOQU-00E0618taU-7IoSrD9TbhsSCtnhkyyK8ktGYFVbHVzQ3vIGl6T9mbdMgnpiD1nD0xo5m0GC7cft-pXLHJCP_PhsiNLqZYoFk2Dxu/s1600/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_doc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDF9g5Y1zwNk_V7BH8WFPuASTwTmE8apWf7gXOQU-00E0618taU-7IoSrD9TbhsSCtnhkyyK8ktGYFVbHVzQ3vIGl6T9mbdMgnpiD1nD0xo5m0GC7cft-pXLHJCP_PhsiNLqZYoFk2Dxu/s200/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_doc.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I won't spoil the
Elephants' Graveyard bit save to say for an ingenious twist on a well-known myth</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">it wasn't the worst idea I've seen, and
certainly garnered some much needed zombie attention just when it needed it. It's a symbolically extreme and audacious idea and that's ok. Unfortunately it also marks the point the film starts to fall apart as if there's a sudden shift in narrative to one where anything goes, and coherence no longer matters. Rather</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> than using it as a tool to pull the surrounding narrative together, this </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">tsunami</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> of madness acts as a catalyst for characters to acts out and the story to </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">descend</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> in to farce which was all a pity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It's a</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> parasitic, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">toxoplasmosis</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">pandemic that's intimated to be of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Proterozoic origin and has been thrown through time with fracking. I</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">n a
candid and refreshingly glib post-zombie contemporary monologue which opens
proceedings, we learn despite the best will of the uniting world, its swept mankind aside without mercy and this small band may well be all that's left. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The some slow / some fast zombies are reasonably made up and realised, as would be expected in 2015 and though there's been an attempt to </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">imbue</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> them with fear, it all rather fails due to their rather comic spasmodic gait. As is now staple, it's the </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">derivative</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> bullet to the brain to stop them though as said, with their seemingly unlimited ammo and firepower it's not them one really needs to worry about. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcWF_eGDc_7eqObx80m0GxzzRaikorOTa0uDXiaLySrfKUgsM3yD5A-dvbpXGNXa9tX_84xi6SvaoK8_NJUhrqs6wJ9zy9GNoCvjgxzxENAXsU1lPAwOQfqpW5T_hM4Qh9-ghZKbLSwIx/s1600/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_zombies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcWF_eGDc_7eqObx80m0GxzzRaikorOTa0uDXiaLySrfKUgsM3yD5A-dvbpXGNXa9tX_84xi6SvaoK8_NJUhrqs6wJ9zy9GNoCvjgxzxENAXsU1lPAwOQfqpW5T_hM4Qh9-ghZKbLSwIx/s200/zombie_killers_elephants_graveyard_zombies.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I can see what Smith
was trying to do, and though the contemporary drama wasn't without charm the
post-apocalyptic dystopia has fashioned characters that perhaps are just that
too emotionally naïve and hyper-realised to feel plausible or congruous. There's
an over simplification; a soap-opera immaturity and though Zane leads a cast
who do adequately with what they have, all too often their characters behaviour comes across too
extreme; either passive or otherwise, to believably carry the story they're central too. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">Sure I can understand someone contracting the virus, which Doc confirms with a blood sample, being evicted, and sure I can believe some bastardised reasoning, broken norms and twisted values and even </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">eviction for seemingly minor indiscretions, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">but </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">ruthless lieutenants more than happy to equate said eviction with totally detached murder is all a bit much. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It's also all rather hampered by a convoluted
soap-story which staggers in a rather </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">derivative</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> manner for an hour, only to
spiral rather absurdly, in a way I'd more associate with The Asylum, to an
unexpected, hectic and chin scratching finale, that again, doesn't do anyone any
justice. So, certainly interesting, entertaining and reasonably well shot, this low budget
zombie TV look and feel melodrama isn't nearly as bad as reviews would lead you
to believe, but also doesn't particular deliver the cohesive, authentic
post-apocalyptic character driven experience early signs hint of - </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">5/10</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-53044483594723238242016-11-11T16:41:00.000+00:002016-11-11T19:40:29.144+00:00Bowery at Midnight - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF45u_W0QphgHqeCgiLR2Qzi3kBQtG2p6_572L_VLd8xT9ojVsc5ZdZ06WvX_puJSm3qgEM5K-P6MRp7MZw5jopQtEqct86uRWlC8e2HPY-qkFO3e2CvCT9BvUoVybhVeeBG9voz7SLwVo/s1600/bowery_at_midnight_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF45u_W0QphgHqeCgiLR2Qzi3kBQtG2p6_572L_VLd8xT9ojVsc5ZdZ06WvX_puJSm3qgEM5K-P6MRp7MZw5jopQtEqct86uRWlC8e2HPY-qkFO3e2CvCT9BvUoVybhVeeBG9voz7SLwVo/s200/bowery_at_midnight_cover.jpg" width="140" /></a><b>1942 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2eZN49B">2015 The Film Detective DVD R(0)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Bowery at Midnight
is a dark film and I'm not just referring to the multitude of night-time
outdoor, and basement scenes that combined with the grainy monochrome print
make it hard to discern exactly what's going on. Bowery at Midnight is a <span style="font-weight: bold;">dark</span> film with psychopaths, double lives,
indiscriminate murder, and we've not even got on to the resurrection of the
dead. It's also not often I make the case that I'm not entirely sure what the
zombies bring to the film other than a mechanism to turn the rather bleak
ending into something altogether more cheer-some for those leaving the theatre.
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NGjLEva6lQUhYKbS6jt3Ei3jt7L6NEcRKGVy543vybq9OKYTfPyT8tZCvkTd4cL3ec9wMivvzs6yJr_73Byh8eVQ84N2QDRSomlcPB_nYrKYAGMaSxjAAc9A4YGJ3WVLssU1ZJsa5O-P/s1600/bowery_at_midnight_soup_kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NGjLEva6lQUhYKbS6jt3Ei3jt7L6NEcRKGVy543vybq9OKYTfPyT8tZCvkTd4cL3ec9wMivvzs6yJr_73Byh8eVQ84N2QDRSomlcPB_nYrKYAGMaSxjAAc9A4YGJ3WVLssU1ZJsa5O-P/s200/bowery_at_midnight_soup_kitchen.jpg" width="200" /></a>Bela Lugosi may have
received the bulk of his fame / infamy from his portrayal of Count Dracula both
on stage in the late 20's and then in its big screen namesake in 1931, and then
later when Ed Wood rather infamously pulled him from his drug induced oblivion
in the late 50's. During the 30s and 40s when avoiding being typecast he
starred in many unique films demonstrating both his unrecognised versatility
and without question his star talent. In Bowery at Midnight Lugosi plays
Professor Brenner by day; an erudite confident psychology professor with doting
wife and nice house. By night he assumes the role of Karl Wagner, a
philanthropic soup kitchen owner, known for his unconditional kindness and
no-questions policy. What his wife, students and those unfortunates he helps
aren't aware of, is he's also a double crossing, jewellery robbing, sociopath
who takes a huge perverse pleasure in destroying people's lives; and Lugosi is
terrifyingly convincing.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Writer Gerald
Schnitzer and director Wallace Fox have fashioned quite the intriguing,
intelligent, coherent and yet deeply disturbing story of deception, murder and
mayhem. Lugosi as Wagner uses the soup kitchen to spot vulnerable young men who
might be open to highly illegal but immensely profitable night time
skulduggery. Then once the deed is done, with their skills no longer required
he, or his right hand man, then kill the fellow leaving him at the scene; not
just as one would think, as a way of decreasing the split, but as is revealed
subtly over the movie, because he enjoys it too. As he tires, or begins to
distrust his lieutenant, they too are replaced and then with the blood still
warm he heads home, as Brenner, to his wife (Anna Hope) with gifts and
apologies for being up all night researching his next book.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzavltgglaA6XMsDd-pYJWbeQs8SbTBoL_BUpQ6Q-trzFCi3o0I7wKs1S36QgM6p4pqDkQCLL4uPDAwlYlVL8gYGW2HCoPCS5Kb5rEsrkUMZVCe8heMsQQLc1NFIpUQd1FXHVOhk8EPWEK/s1600/bowery_at_midnight_graveyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzavltgglaA6XMsDd-pYJWbeQs8SbTBoL_BUpQ6Q-trzFCi3o0I7wKs1S36QgM6p4pqDkQCLL4uPDAwlYlVL8gYGW2HCoPCS5Kb5rEsrkUMZVCe8heMsQQLc1NFIpUQd1FXHVOhk8EPWEK/s200/bowery_at_midnight_graveyard.jpg" width="200" /></a>While I've been
rather disparaging of the zombie element of the film, taken in isolation I'm
rather taken with how Fox has presented them. Dr Brooks (Lew Kelly), a
written-off old quack as well as caretaker of both sides of the soup kitchen
has seemingly dedicated his spare time to bringing the dead back to life. It's
medicine and science and there's no voodoo or magic which is something in
itself given the year it was penned. They're also a hard one to define as
they're never the focus appearing only as background to the basement action
scenes. They're back from the dead, so alive and not undead, but up until the
final scene, which I'll come to, they do appear docile and compliant, and not
exactly cognisant or the way they were before. Then there's the way Brooks
keeps them locked in a room below the basement, refers to them as his pets, and
when they're called upon they're unreservedly violent, tearing, metaphorically,
into Wagner as the net closes in on his crime spree. The final scene I mentioned?
Well to take the edge off a story where the perpetrator does finally get his
just deserves, but on reflection has ruined a lot of people's lives by killing
an awful lot of loved ones, Fox ends with the resurrected back as their old selves, as if nothing's happened. It's a contradictory couple of minutes I didn't much
care for; totally out of place coming as it does, straight after the savage
zombie beat down that really should have ended proceedings. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBs3r3qD8ZUP37ZI5nE-CwF_PmRZSshxXkMRfdFfqFahMttFIW9D-_-qtZ4q6_C4mKQONIynf6s_kIgh4XPFJZ6qAnc5zMfubjTLrlc_1u5E2FRW63ZRp0pTAtH-3vh-i73UiPV0qvGoQ/s1600/bowery_at_midnight_zombies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBs3r3qD8ZUP37ZI5nE-CwF_PmRZSshxXkMRfdFfqFahMttFIW9D-_-qtZ4q6_C4mKQONIynf6s_kIgh4XPFJZ6qAnc5zMfubjTLrlc_1u5E2FRW63ZRp0pTAtH-3vh-i73UiPV0qvGoQ/s200/bowery_at_midnight_zombies.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Bowery at Midnight
is first and foremost a crime-drama, a suspense driven thriller; and a rather
successful one. What it isn't is a horror, supernatural or otherwise, and it's
certainly not a zombie film. If anything the resurrected victims of Brook's nefarious schemes are the one element that threatens to break the coherence, in danger of turning a truly dark, subtle, intelligent, and utterly engaging exploration of one man's detached morality, into a bit of farce. Not only is the throwaway idea of an old doctor on his own discovering a way to resurrect the dead incredulous, but more importantly, it tries to remove </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">consequence and impact from </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">the death and destruction graphically witnessed. Bowery at Midnight has moments that are truly evil and raw, Lugosi's performance as an over confident and out of control serial killer is remarkable, </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">and I really don't want to see its resonance minimised for the sake of some silly resurrections and a happy ending. This all being said, and maybe because I'm conditioned to see corpses </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">walking about</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">, I was able to distance myself from the distractions and marvel at what the film does do right, which is an awful lot. A remarkable piece of war time cinema I'll certainly be returning to - <b>7</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px;">/10</b><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-14214283034872918842016-11-09T09:22:00.002+00:002017-08-17T10:29:41.567+01:00Last of the Living - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYEBnkEr6YtpKLvLODf1lfcGWw4_m9DBUAEq3jNIUh1Wajn2pci7ggccEpCoEg3lQYzfQnIcYzAj-SN07p-cTR-v563Hal1vbULgDXS86R6GQSoyM1kbtUNAI3W9C9jN1gVifI_wBkjRV/s1600/last_of_the_living_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYEBnkEr6YtpKLvLODf1lfcGWw4_m9DBUAEq3jNIUh1Wajn2pci7ggccEpCoEg3lQYzfQnIcYzAj-SN07p-cTR-v563Hal1vbULgDXS86R6GQSoyM1kbtUNAI3W9C9jN1gVifI_wBkjRV/s200/last_of_the_living_cover.jpg" width="141" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">2009 (New Zealand)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2fBZNB4">2009 High Fliers DVD R(2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contains mild spoilers.</span> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I've always found it
rather ironic that the zombie film medium itself is so keen to follow the herd
with derivative narratives, repetitious cinematography and a hardcore audience always the first up in arms at the first sign of deviation. And I was all ready to chastise
Logan McMillan's low budget zombie buddy movie, with its constant
inconsistencies, rather impoverished zombie action and general amateur look and
feel to the proverbial zombie mass grave. Three rather juvenile, irreverent and
one-dimensional characters, an apocalyptic <i>nightmare </i>of working electricity,
stocked super-markets and rather sad looking undead all too eager to be
dispatched in highly contrived ways, and a story that seemed to be more about the <i>bants </i>than any substance; I really thought we were in for yet another
well-intentioned but faltering effort. I should have had faith though, as with a little patience to get through the rather forgettable first fifteen or so minutes, and then forgive it
the occasional continuity or coherent dalliance and there's both a quite a tight,
complete and entertaining zombie story and a sincere and endearing tale of
friendship to be had.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DP8fdF2hIBWCqek65amF_RpUTLtqsq6Uimf-F3teb2ddSVTCUmeMZOUE62X3m8FNOEvjTkiiuYWZOcF3uqgImJDdTkx6vpnUom8ZZxiaKArYh9R3vsVU3yhdj7z2atMuico76jsGh4Nc/s1600/last_of_the_living_morgan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DP8fdF2hIBWCqek65amF_RpUTLtqsq6Uimf-F3teb2ddSVTCUmeMZOUE62X3m8FNOEvjTkiiuYWZOcF3uqgImJDdTkx6vpnUom8ZZxiaKArYh9R3vsVU3yhdj7z2atMuico76jsGh4Nc/s200/last_of_the_living_morgan.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's six months
since the apocalypse took the lives of what looks like all but the scant few, and five
since lifelong friends Morgan (Morgan Williams) and Ash (Ashleigh Southam)
stumbled across rock wannabe Johnny (Robert Faith) and let him join their
frat-boy way of living. They may be all alone, and they may all be desperate
for female company, but the total and entire destruction of humanity has
generally been a good thing though, allowing time off from accountancy and work, to drink
beer, eat chips and play video games without redress. Six months in too and it seems the zombie
threat is now pretty trivial with the undead more a ponderous nuisance that an
actual danger; and it would have to take something considerable to shake the
boys from their inertia</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3hX2yE7SJmkBTXQCnOlFH4GkdVsgROm9IqWskM7UZgu72pBjV_VA-_ts0eK0bOub0Ns0sSTYq2alaLwtt-hjHtNBvN0hOdl80kzbTgN2e9wO5ntzO_ZgtoUQUVIOcrRelzMNULti-Mpb/s1600/last_of_the_living_ash_morgan_johnnt_steff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3hX2yE7SJmkBTXQCnOlFH4GkdVsgROm9IqWskM7UZgu72pBjV_VA-_ts0eK0bOub0Ns0sSTYq2alaLwtt-hjHtNBvN0hOdl80kzbTgN2e9wO5ntzO_ZgtoUQUVIOcrRelzMNULti-Mpb/s200/last_of_the_living_ash_morgan_johnnt_steff.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steff's (Emily
Paddon-Brown) violent introduction is the moment Last of the Living springs to
life. The lads characters and their relationships are believable and considered
but they're shallow and they wear real quick. It's the introduction of a young,
feisty, intelligent and good looking girl with a call to arms to save the world
not only gives the boys, the viewer, and if the rest of the film is indicative,
all involved in the films production, the kick and focus they need. The
laboured, lethargic action, is soon replaced with up tempo, and more
importantly meaningful zombie woop-assing; the banter with the dynamic
drastically ripped apart has deeper resonance, and even the humour seems less
forced. The result is a highly polished zombie movie with an assuredness and
though the story; really just <b>a</b> to <b>b</b> to <b>c</b> might sound light on paper, less can be more, and here it's more than
enough to satisfy, and its also pitched perfect to let the characters and
their friendships develop.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY5lxamvDgClq7ZOUTx9vY5HXUw8dRrkwtrvuPIePvzVnxtqLilOzgcSRzkaZqxa1-RlN5Lo6Y-OYf4lv5f5Rkrq0-6kLHJO44Lx55NV2b-CyyCwRCIZxgb9RSvjrLuMcl8_c9k44FGnT/s1600/last_of_the_living_steff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY5lxamvDgClq7ZOUTx9vY5HXUw8dRrkwtrvuPIePvzVnxtqLilOzgcSRzkaZqxa1-RlN5Lo6Y-OYf4lv5f5Rkrq0-6kLHJO44Lx55NV2b-CyyCwRCIZxgb9RSvjrLuMcl8_c9k44FGnT/s200/last_of_the_living_steff.jpg" width="200" /></a>If we remind
ourselves that it's pre <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/09/the-walking-dead-season-5-review.html">The Walking Dead</a> and a time amazing amateur zombie
make-up designers weren't ten a penny, and
we remind ourselves the production crew are a small group of friends and the zombies
are more than likely local passers-by, then we might just about excuse an
aspect of the movie that's far from perfect. Never convincing in looks or
behaviour, the undead of Last of the Living almost provide an amateur goofiness undermining without trying, and though I think McMillan ultimately realised with more emphasis on the zombies as a <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">presence in the background to drive the characters rather than the focus of jokes they were never fully convincing.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> As for the dead themselves? They're
quite the generic Romero zombie; dead and on the surface so laboriously slow
that I couldn't work out for the life of me how they'd pulled off such a
categorical genocide. Towards the end though we see that they're only slow
because they're six months dead, and fresh and hungry they're more <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/28-days-later-review.html">28 Days Later</a> and it all made sense.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Far more ambitious
and successful than its budget should have allowed, Last of the Living once
going, provides a tight, fun and authentic character driven viewing delight.
Whilst the action often suffers with less than ideal looking and choreographed
zombies and the ambitious outdoor cinematography often felt unnaturally sparse, McMillan ultimately works to the film and budget's strengths; friendship and
ennui in post-apocalyptic New Zealand, with resounding success. A feature that
feels more than the sum of its parts, no less due in part to utterly engaging
musical sound track that echoes the story brilliantly, Last of the Living is
testament to amateur film making. Sure it's a slow burn and saddled with an
inevitable budgetary hangover, but ultimately I'll recall it favourably for its
ambition and courage to be different - <span style="font-weight: bold;">7/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-13090269605661279862016-11-07T08:51:00.004+00:002016-12-06T15:48:37.604+00:00The ABCs of Death - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAZF2rWaBSPvSSLqrO3JWtmPNQkZWVugjLMfc4jRrr0nbBZabINIcmLhRiuX5EFm-Ahcs2sAjKTAIsB_-GxN8OOHKzhyphenhyphenzyhKuLP0HIyyBbqVCLZkWuXSGEQtPB1VsToht-gM7DRZorp9d/s1600/abcs_of_death_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAZF2rWaBSPvSSLqrO3JWtmPNQkZWVugjLMfc4jRrr0nbBZabINIcmLhRiuX5EFm-Ahcs2sAjKTAIsB_-GxN8OOHKzhyphenhyphenzyhKuLP0HIyyBbqVCLZkWuXSGEQtPB1VsToht-gM7DRZorp9d/s200/abcs_of_death_cover.jpg" width="154" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">2012 (USA)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2eeyoas">Left Films 2013 Blu-ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contains spoilers.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm quite late to
what seems to have become quite the annual celebration of macabre, grizzly
and gruesome nasty experimental film making. The premise was simple. Various
acclaimed film makers would be given a letter and told to throw a three / four
minutes of video nastiness together; the only limit on their imagination, that there
had to be at least one death. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
This result is if
I'm honest quite the mixed bag. Some are truly fantastic like Marcel Sarmiento's highly
polished, highly stylised and original D is for Dogfight and H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion a hilarious stop-gap animation; but v<span style="font-size: 11pt;">ery few seem to possess the confidence to go for a complete</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> old school horror tale; all too quickly and cheaply running to shock, vulgar gore-porn, nudity or even surrealist-humour as a get out.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Still it's easy to wait a few minutes for the next, there's definite wheat in the chaff and there were only a couple I really took so little an interest in, that I didn't get something from seeing them through. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'll give special
mention to our old friend Noboru Iguchi (<a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2014/05/zombie-ass-toilet-of-dead-review.html">Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead</a>) who
with F is for Fart seems to be continuing his bottom obsession with a quite bizarre and crude existential short that I feel I only appreciated because I'm now somewhat conditioned. There's also U is for
Unearthed, a short but generally throwaway pov vampire skit and one of only two that turn to the undead for inspiration.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">W is for WTF! (4 mins)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In truth while I'm
all for a bit of surrealist humour I really do take a dim view when anarchistic
and edgy seems to be nothing more than a seemingly random stream of unconnected
ideas thrown together and presented with extreme pretension; that not laughing, or getting it, somehow shows ignorance and lack of enlightenment. I'm not saying
playing with the absurd, with juxtapositions and illogical non-sequiturs can't
be fun; it's just as with all artistic styles open to abuse and mediocrity; though it's just probably easier to hide. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLu04TAv5NV8aI50ZHtIe9rwFry5saRfOJTEQxx826Ta10hftQl0_8J4L4HVw0Hmwm5fTokRK9vBykaLhJoTJ5J_oxowSgo_t1h9fZSRrUlVykJo56fdPJV1BbS6BftejsOUkuLp1fnsUo/s1600/abcs_of_death_wtf_zombie_clowns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLu04TAv5NV8aI50ZHtIe9rwFry5saRfOJTEQxx826Ta10hftQl0_8J4L4HVw0Hmwm5fTokRK9vBykaLhJoTJ5J_oxowSgo_t1h9fZSRrUlVykJo56fdPJV1BbS6BftejsOUkuLp1fnsUo/s200/abcs_of_death_wtf_zombie_clowns.jpg" width="200" /></a>Directed and written
by Jon Schnepp, W is for WTF! unfortunately I feel, falls into the latter camp
with an anything goes style designed to disgust and disturb and a series of
vulgar and obnoxious ideas that never really comes together. I'm not going to say
it never raises a smile or doesn't ever entertain, and it certainly wears its
letter loud and proud but as a complete short it feels rather rushed and lazy.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm mentioning it
solely because one of the so called edgy ideas was zombie clowns; why? For the
same reason a flying eye-teeth monster, animated witches and medieval
knights, Godzilla Walrus and the cookie monster. Ok, I know I'm
being slightly disingenuous and there's some over-arching nonsense about ideas
coming to life and a new world reality, but this itself, I suspect, is nothing more than another random
story-board throwaway added because why not - <span style="font-weight: bold;">3/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So zombies aside, as a modern horror compilation, I'd certainly recommend, though probably as a rental - <b>6/10</b>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-61947478411198066182016-11-04T12:19:00.001+00:002016-11-04T12:40:36.064+00:00Shatter Dead - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rF6jQ9aQN_O8C4khn9VgQMEKXCC1G1Jn6CksIeNKm5O4T5KZ7ADtcYm9aRY2u8htfZduJjJSWvo8loNQN97gUv6dcj5mTZl7liTc1gxlNgqui_S9VbfwEh_hEdThbh5clAaClr9W3uQJ/s1600/shatter_dead_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rF6jQ9aQN_O8C4khn9VgQMEKXCC1G1Jn6CksIeNKm5O4T5KZ7ADtcYm9aRY2u8htfZduJjJSWvo8loNQN97gUv6dcj5mTZl7liTc1gxlNgqui_S9VbfwEh_hEdThbh5clAaClr9W3uQJ/s200/shatter_dead_cover.jpg" width="141" /></a><b>1994 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2e87NvN">2005 Odeon DVD R(2) </a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If you can get past
the grainy visuals, the deliberate slow pacing, the stilted, and I'm being polite, acting, grandiose pretension
and all that comes from a budget I can't imagine was more than the cost of a cup of coffee, then there's something to be said for director
/ writer / producer Scooter McCrae's high concept zombies with a twist debut movie.
It's a big <b>if</b> though. Winner of best independent film at the 1995 Fantafestival,
Shatter Dead is not a family and friends, beer and nachos zombie film, nor is
it a hide by the sofa gripping teddy or anything close; it's a film to grow a goatee, eat cheese
and drink expensive wine too, all the while nodding along though you're really only vaguely following. There's no doubting, in my mind, there's some quite
clever and thought provoking stuff going on with post-life immortality,
existential nihilism, modernistic ennui all stirred up with Christianity and
God's final judgement, but I also have a feeling all I'm really going to recall a
year or so from now is that leading actress Susan (Stark Raven) was naked a lot.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswXucb5tsgtZNI9anwvjYVOE8RBlJwI68rvdregESerCeuZpxiJm6VSRq2dOPC_eoLu-Z0tzs07Gfj2MTMOL2WjWQEpCAQmdsIle4hCJ_0LQV7kPQnfb8MttkcSMNDpFuug3C729yrOUz/s1600/shatter_dead_angel_of_death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswXucb5tsgtZNI9anwvjYVOE8RBlJwI68rvdregESerCeuZpxiJm6VSRq2dOPC_eoLu-Z0tzs07Gfj2MTMOL2WjWQEpCAQmdsIle4hCJ_0LQV7kPQnfb8MttkcSMNDpFuug3C729yrOUz/s200/shatter_dead_angel_of_death.jpg" width="200" /></a>Susan is trying to
get home. That much I did work out. Her problems however, seem to stem not just from the
fact that the dead are no longer staying dead, but that they seem to be really into
car-jacking. So with her car and shopping taken, she does what all young women
do when offered assistance by a passing stranger, she checks whether he's
breathing with a small mirror and after confirming he's not, beats him into submission and steals his
vehicle in return. The world McCrae has fashioned is quite the dark and odd one. It's 17
months since 'The Angel of Death', at least that's what she's called on the
back cover, came down, had sex with a woman (yes both women, though the Angel
was definitely the dom) and ushered in a new age where the dead just don't die.
Other than that, they're still people; cognisant, able to talk, drive, work, but
also seemingly downtrodden and destitute very much like an untouchable caste
with little to no rights. Before Susan stumbles her way back home to boyfriend
Dan (Daniel Johnson) her journey takes her to a doss house where she meets
undead Mary, naked in the shower no less, into the path of a gang of new order
gun freaks who commit quite the bloody massacre, and also inwards, as she's forced to confront her own prejudice and ideals.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidaw2_8RtDx2ISjGJicI1IS6mycxh2mDSeb12tYngF9clLVJucyDJbO0krRhOKnqg72TeXnuSSWRqwxkMOHsmJxsVosvFL83nc3vMmJaVX2-u3HsLzdYne7_h3XKAqDJ6NqK_wsp6A0Ovm/s1600/shatter_dead_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidaw2_8RtDx2ISjGJicI1IS6mycxh2mDSeb12tYngF9clLVJucyDJbO0krRhOKnqg72TeXnuSSWRqwxkMOHsmJxsVosvFL83nc3vMmJaVX2-u3HsLzdYne7_h3XKAqDJ6NqK_wsp6A0Ovm/s200/shatter_dead_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I'm not really sure
what all of it means, though after watching a short making of documentary on
the DVD I'm convinced that while a lot of the ambiguity was by design, there was an
equal, if not larger quantity that came from production not matching
story-board so I probably didn't stand a chance. The world is broken and with death no longer an objective position people, both sides of fence, are confused and are all looking for answers as to what to do. That's the question </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">McCrae</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> is fundamentally exploring and though the film stumbles incoherently with a narrative that leaves a lot to be desired he does manage to transfer some of the characters existential turmoil to the viewer, and also thoughtfully touch on many of the ramifications that would no doubt ensue. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Whilst definitely
dead I'm not sure I'd call them zombies. I'm inverted to the position I often
find myself where I'm arguing the case that just because a particularly rabid /
uncontrolled / mindless zombie-esque human (ala <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/28-days-later-review.html">28 Days Later</a>) still has a pulse
it doesn't mean they're not eligible to be called one. Here they're just as
human as before, albeit without as said, respiratory, cardiovascular or
digestive systems. They don't bite, don't desire human flesh and ok, they're at
times rather macabre and foul looking, cursed for eternity with their scars
from life and how they died, but they seem just as interested in answers to why
this all happened as the living. If anything it's the living, especially Susan
that seems the aggressor, more than happy to fire a bullet or bludgeon a pretty
young face at the slightest provocation. Again though, I think that's the point. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTopheKMtpZpZoBwRgDRyMS6DEjkTAf0mImVggg46ffj4rgsGxR0rgZg3qAuDrP7Mz25MjgqEEJVf8ZTE70ZsUT4JZs1TtAnuZ1bcRY7vn6u7G2LyR0NxYvFCzRfu4MuFzEm4T3vxntqL9/s1600/shatter_dead_susan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTopheKMtpZpZoBwRgDRyMS6DEjkTAf0mImVggg46ffj4rgsGxR0rgZg3qAuDrP7Mz25MjgqEEJVf8ZTE70ZsUT4JZs1TtAnuZ1bcRY7vn6u7G2LyR0NxYvFCzRfu4MuFzEm4T3vxntqL9/s200/shatter_dead_susan.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It's hard to be
honest, to see past the obvious problem zero budget and ten days shooting
obviously caused. The story too is presented in an artsy, laboured and
minimalist way that's deliberately obtuse and difficult to follow. I'll hold my
hands up too; I wasn't on board to begin, struggling with the amateurish
production and the strained, incoherent narrative. Then as the story, and
Susan's relationships became more abstract, hazy and uncomfortable I replaced
thoughts about the obvious failings with wider more expansive and questioning
ones, as one should when confronted with any existential cinematic art. Considered as art too benefits </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">McCrae when it comes to the copious and full frontal nudity and even the blurred pistol penetration which was cut from my UK release copy (it's 20 or so seconds that doesn't effect the film and can easily be found on-line), which I'd consider all a tad excessive and extraneous otherwise. Ultimately though this is a film that will divide and certainly won't be even palatable by most, though especially by anyone wanting any kind of </span><i style="font-size: 14.6667px;">entertaining </i><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">experience; which sure as eggs is eggs this isn't. Taken as moustache twizzling edgy mixed bag of existential angst though; and taken as a home movie / art project without any and all frills and refinement,</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;"> it's worth seventy minutes of your time, but don't say you've not been warned - </span><b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px;">5/10</b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-30345853443824322192016-11-02T09:35:00.003+00:002016-11-02T09:44:53.331+00:00The Dead Hate the Living! - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlY_pZsDK9L_FV9C7DJU1KyhQ_PECmM9FsswQNG77dYgzLi-_muYBbFrzCAvncUGyCbc2fWsb21MMJbsXBkXpYdmXenc9vWpaB4GOwcV1NzWgqDDGthiLMdoto_leGBCwlhOC9qA2gwwBf/s1600/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlY_pZsDK9L_FV9C7DJU1KyhQ_PECmM9FsswQNG77dYgzLi-_muYBbFrzCAvncUGyCbc2fWsb21MMJbsXBkXpYdmXenc9vWpaB4GOwcV1NzWgqDDGthiLMdoto_leGBCwlhOC9qA2gwwBf/s200/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_cover.jpg" width="135" /></a><b>2000 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Hate-Living-DVD/dp/B000059YUD">2002 Digital Entertainment DVD R(2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Director and writer
Dave Parker's low budget, tongue-in-cheek noughties zombie nonsense screams
enthusiasm, spirit and passion, and clearly a lot of time and energy has been
invested into capturing early eighties Italian esoteric absurdity and mashing
it with the high energy pop-influenced horror comedy that proceeded the decades after.
And in many ways it works; one moment dark, strange and uncomfortable, only to
seconds later shake off all pretence, and entertain with a more literal, whimsical and
contemporary look and feel. It's a unique experience, exclaims Tom Savini on the
cover, and I can't argue. The thing is, and looking at it as a complete work,
this schizophrenic approach has also led to a film that’s undeniably a bit
rubbish. Putting aside the poor pacing; a slow start is a given flaw in
amateur horror, and the forgettable and generally uninteresting characters, the
biggest problem with The Dead Hate the Living! is the disjointed and utterly
unconvincing story. At no point does it ever appear Parker knew where he was going with a tale that seems to be built on random and confounding directorial
and narrative decisions. Though maybe that's the point and the continental <span style="font-style: italic;">je ne sais quoi</span> I was alluding too; and
there's no doubting the feature is quite the experience…</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_i3sol0D7gtKmAa76HwjWq0rtO4eXPoiSywaL9BcxO3XoA8AhM3BfZ2eU1ZILAYISqKQ9kTCbCAWopE8SXqJIYTkTE4r1NbzfDzgsHel-KqSOjXqiCBEZIsDveudBDuDDJ9XIe1JaxfN/s1600/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_david_poe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_i3sol0D7gtKmAa76HwjWq0rtO4eXPoiSywaL9BcxO3XoA8AhM3BfZ2eU1ZILAYISqKQ9kTCbCAWopE8SXqJIYTkTE4r1NbzfDzgsHel-KqSOjXqiCBEZIsDveudBDuDDJ9XIe1JaxfN/s200/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_david_poe.jpg" width="200" /></a>No doubt Parker
thought turning the tables on young and naive teens playing at making their own
zombie opus such that they themselves become the stars of the show was clever
and original. And it is, with the springing of the joke as dramatic, bloody and
entertaining as one could hope. It's the bits leading up and the bits after
that’s the problem with Parker seemingly struggling to really know what to do
other than play it cliché, corny and hope the narrative itself would telegram
the next obvious steps. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The first mistake
first time b-movie film maker David Poe (Eric Clawson) makes after discovering
the hidden, dark and nefarious lab complete with intimidating coffin was to
persuade the rest of the vulnerable and remarkably gullible crew to see it as a
good thing to incorporate the corpse of Dr Eibon (Matt Stephens)
in their feature, arguing who wouldn't want to watch a <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/night-of-living-dead-review.html">Night of the Living Dead</a>
film with real dead in. The second, was put his body back into the strangely
inscribed sarcophagus. The third, and definitely the one with most post-regret
resonance would be plugging it back in and getting your leading man to place the nearby medallion back into its central socket all the while
shouting about opening the gates of hell. I'm always torn when narrative is so
staged, as to whether I feel it's all brilliantly cheesy, or dreadfully insulting; and the
truth is probably both. I know a laughable unforced mistake is at the heart
of the zombie trope, but this is perhaps going too far, as at no point watching was I ever thinking, heck screaming, anything other than what the f are you doing?</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJfqZpTzIYaqRJQlpg0FA0698vdDUwfQUW1yrEVM9Ewv1qu-xCol8okjgd8G2ap_npgfb7W3Y7S2ppbKsZbMGOUlAIgIm-86wBbyk-ug4stXl_kXRmgq7MLbXHBR5o_Ftrvzvf-jlvoSg/s1600/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_eibon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJfqZpTzIYaqRJQlpg0FA0698vdDUwfQUW1yrEVM9Ewv1qu-xCol8okjgd8G2ap_npgfb7W3Y7S2ppbKsZbMGOUlAIgIm-86wBbyk-ug4stXl_kXRmgq7MLbXHBR5o_Ftrvzvf-jlvoSg/s200/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_eibon.jpg" width="200" /></a>With the zombies out
the chamber, so to speak, it's part slasher, part cat and mouse, part traditional low budget zombie, but plenty of the
same baffling survival tactics from the survivors, and nonsensical world
domination from the now fully locked and loaded zombie master. So there's
some back story explaining <span style="font-size: 11pt;">his wanton desire to see all the living dead because his wife
died of cancer and his desperate search to find an answer so he could break
the veil. What doesn't quite complete the narrative though is why he'd shove her
now successfully animated zombie shell on a slab in the morgue with all the
other stiffs to be killed so easily by the now desperate rag tag survivors. Again, I
don't think overthinking it would be good for me. What we need to know is he's
an undead lord, turning the key didn't just resurrect his beardy arse but
threw the whole hospital in to some space time limbo, and a pivot between the
real world, and the world of the dead (think The Beyond and Army
of Darkness), and he has quite the motley assortment of mutant zombies ready to
help him with his scheme. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuzxg63nEriEHswV7nlupnW8PRswJiN6l6m8Hy5bfimQf5jU4Z6usHF2MKbKjILajmy5HWSGCw3qIW3FkUWU1NqttHmx6uHrm-XLpORb7DLPWp2JuLtN0-TR4cj9-4okVDB363ULMW1W8/s1600/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_david_eric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuzxg63nEriEHswV7nlupnW8PRswJiN6l6m8Hy5bfimQf5jU4Z6usHF2MKbKjILajmy5HWSGCw3qIW3FkUWU1NqttHmx6uHrm-XLpORb7DLPWp2JuLtN0-TR4cj9-4okVDB363ULMW1W8/s200/the_dead_hate_the_living%2521_david_eric.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">Later, with Parker seemingly running out of ideas these towering, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">monstrosities </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Barker </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Hell-raiser</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> inspired zombie-demons are joined </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">from nowhere by a plethora of Romero clones who act and behave according to all accepted traditional tropes, except they're easily fooled by men with the right bit of make-up; which is handy as that's all David and make-up artist Paul (Brett Beardslee) have at their disposal. Refreshingly they both look and act the part, and I can have no quibbles for what was obviously a small budget. Gore and effects are always in your face too, but though it has its moments, it could never be a film that could be considered dark; the light and trite dialogue make sure of that.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What we have again
is a baffling little zombie movie that somehow kind of works because one is
able to transcend critical analysis to actually find enjoyment in, and despite,
obvious mediocrity. The plot, a baffling, incongruous mess </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">is more than often entertaining,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> the characters, bar Paul and perhaps Topaz (Jamie Donahue) are dry and hard to get behind; yet as vehicles to react to the zombie threat there's merit to their laboured and uninspired presentation. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Matt Stephens is undoubtedly the star of the show and his camp and excessive b-movie performance warrants acclaim despite appearing somewhat ham-strung again with writing and directorial decisions that don't seem to want to ever push him beyond what you'd expect. So, an odd zombie film that demonstrates an awful lot of potential yet seems </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">happy to squander much of it by being a little too scared to really stick to the dark recesses itself suggests; instead becoming a half-way safer and more whimsical house, that satisfies neither position. Still, there is fun to be had with some genuinely nice touches, and as Savani said, it's certainly unique - <b>4/10</b>.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Steven@WTD.</span></span></div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-5471154582199058982016-10-31T14:43:00.001+00:002017-09-02T12:28:57.646+01:00Z Nation - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdWMDLmKxf29NmNvluL_lStAUCkloHbVStbH-o55wmkweM_UzpducvNNdnJjKqkdO9WOqwxoSlZXaE-NJ9G3la84BcNP5umtsMDIWXQwKF6fbPQq-8mfjgi65JxhNZ_ptK9TQ3OpYsYOP/s1600/z-nation_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdWMDLmKxf29NmNvluL_lStAUCkloHbVStbH-o55wmkweM_UzpducvNNdnJjKqkdO9WOqwxoSlZXaE-NJ9G3la84BcNP5umtsMDIWXQwKF6fbPQq-8mfjgi65JxhNZ_ptK9TQ3OpYsYOP/s200/z-nation_cover.jpg" width="154" /></a><b>2014 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2eMbXZd"><br /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2eMbXZd">2015 Spirit Entertainment Limited Blu-Ray R(B/2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Season 1 </b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"><b><a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/10/z-nation-review.html#2">Season 2</a></b></span>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">It was a comment on
reddit I think, that had me return to a Syfy original zombie series I'd already
written off as tedious, derivative and totally unnecessary. 'The best series
you're not watching' it read and then went into detail why. A cursory glance at
social media and reviews seemed to back this up so maybe I had been all too
quick to pass judgement? Well, I will maintain it really
does struggle to get going; episode one especially has more to criticise than to praise, but as episode six came to its dramatic conclusion I realised not only was I
seriously emotionally affected with what I'd watched, but I was genuinely
invested in the characters, world and the story Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler
had fashioned.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoI8JqT82z-jTuvvD4vGmj4CcpnyXkvRT83skw3PdXWMZ5-giBTCWKeL3K-hOYF3LQ4FLUkOD2EMGzatB7H1WjVuRMBh4QwiqXDZP_dl6V9MmgcmQ24s7d5pgHDPYb7dE18boXvATmup5/s1600/z-nation_citizen_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoI8JqT82z-jTuvvD4vGmj4CcpnyXkvRT83skw3PdXWMZ5-giBTCWKeL3K-hOYF3LQ4FLUkOD2EMGzatB7H1WjVuRMBh4QwiqXDZP_dl6V9MmgcmQ24s7d5pgHDPYb7dE18boXvATmup5/s200/z-nation_citizen_z.jpg" width="200" /></a>If you'd dismissed Z
Nation as a poor man's <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2016/09/the-walking-dead-season-5-review.html">The Walking Dead</a>, as I had, then you couldn't be more
wrong. Z Nation is very much its own thing; more self-aware, more frivolous and
hyper-realised, and if we're honest all the more imaginative for it, invited to
play with larger than life ideas and have more fun with the
post-apocalyptic premise. Zombie Tornado? Why not. Zunami (Zombie Tsunami aka
large TWD super-herd)? Let's not only dedicate a whole episode but have the
idea an intrinsic and coherent part of the world. By not taking itself quite so
seriously ideas that would not have made the more sombre and serious zombie cut
are not only allowed to be played with but are allowed to integrate without ever feeling forced. It's <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">the z-nation apocalypse and absurdity is very much a part.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Don't mistake this for a light flippant comedy though. Z Nation can still be dark and the post-apocalyptic world presented, is real and well-formed, and really not a nice place to be. Cannibals, mutated and nuclear zombie hybrids, zombie-bears,
crazed resurrection cults and the aforementioned Zom-nado. Death is still the only
true and singular fate all the survivors can expect and Schaefer and Engler aren't
afraid to both wield the axe but to have the characters emotionally resonate to the carnage and misery. They're also happy to </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">throw good bit of blood and gore
into the mix, with some truly top-tier cringe inducing moments of excess. The zombies themselves are also excellently presented, as they probably should be by now, I mean it's an industry in itself, and it's refreshing, when compared to TWD as it heads
into Season 7, to have the main guys and gals back as </span><b style="font-size: 11pt;">the </b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">primary post-apocalyptic
danger.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifihBGxUhlIxQjsfqvpJpEWLxkt7UaTRk9uGEybS6P8p8AgXmSG2FDh6C29w6Lqmb3dyNyyUVCoGxZPu_x4X5b8MCpI7TnM_0LCAxA9qmJeSFc7EgtGdvNP2Pd_V7_7bvXRVlfR5q_jOVm/s1600/z-nation_zombie_tsunami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifihBGxUhlIxQjsfqvpJpEWLxkt7UaTRk9uGEybS6P8p8AgXmSG2FDh6C29w6Lqmb3dyNyyUVCoGxZPu_x4X5b8MCpI7TnM_0LCAxA9qmJeSFc7EgtGdvNP2Pd_V7_7bvXRVlfR5q_jOVm/s200/z-nation_zombie_tsunami.jpg" width="200" /></a>As with the story
The Asylum haven't been afraid to have some fun with our undead chums. Note, we're
not talking full scale zom-com farce but increased license to bend the
pre-existing post-Romero / TWD template. They're slow, dead and rotten
gut-munchers, yet they're also fast when young and fresh, and there's even some behavioural play with narcotics. Then there's Murphy. Murphy is the
corner-stone that keeps Z Nation moving and ensures it doesn't become the usual
The Asylum derivative, confused and meandering zombie mess. Episode one sees this complicated anti-hero injected, against his will it should be added, with a highly
experimental zombie vaccine moments before he's attacked and bitten. He
survives, though in some zombie human hybrid condition that's not been kind to
his looks, but has granted him immunity from attack and as the series
progresses some kind of power to influence those who he himself infects either
via blood or saliva.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXA48ytQpwc3iJMxOdeYnc65YBdZzARik_1WMSHVcjF2SI9TZvOBr5IqCNYK8JO4nSNxVpRF7phPsB13hzfdYPxRHfbjNoGSkOfHThQmOZnu0_LaAPt0tufrcAd4Nx4-EuA_iOYz_0aij8/s1600/z-nation_gang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXA48ytQpwc3iJMxOdeYnc65YBdZzARik_1WMSHVcjF2SI9TZvOBr5IqCNYK8JO4nSNxVpRF7phPsB13hzfdYPxRHfbjNoGSkOfHThQmOZnu0_LaAPt0tufrcAd4Nx4-EuA_iOYz_0aij8/s200/z-nation_gang.jpg" width="200" /></a>In the
final episode we learn the rather convoluted origin story with nefarious
scientists and a viral cocktail including the flesh eating narcotic Krokodil, a
pinch of Ebola, some bio-weapon tech from Kazakstan, and even a sample from
some poor Haitian voodoo sufferer; and while the tick-list of all things
particularly nasty makes little sense, it made for great television. It was
also refreshing to hear the actual term 'zombie' in what I refer to as post-zombie
storytelling; rather than presenting a world where the term and concept had
never been conceived. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As episode thirteen
concluded and the season wrapped I realised not only was I extremely excited to
get to see Season 2 and the outcome of the rather large and painful cliff-hanger, but I
wanted to continue my journey with this odd rag-tag motley crew. You'd have
been hard pressed, an episode or two in, to make the case that any of Murphy (Keith
Allan), Roberta Warren (Kellita Smith), 10K (Nat Zang), Doc (Russell
Hodgkinson), Citizen Z (DJ Qualls), Addy (Anastasia Baranova) or Mack (Michael
Welch) particularly stood out as anything other than second tier actors
struggling with a second tier-script. Yet by the end, each and every one stood
tall, emboldened and clearly at ease with their roles; the actors clearly growing alongside their characters. Z Nation surpassed my expectations and I truly feel I need to apologise not just for passing
judgement so quickly, biased by past The Asylum / Syfy, zombie, if we're honest,
dross, but by my less than favourable throwaway remarks ever since. Z Nation isn't dross; isn't second rate or unnecessary. It's fun, engaging, lively and brilliantly written and
constructed post-apocalyptic storytelling, and I'll honestly reiterate, it could well be the best horror TV you're not watching - <b>7</b><span style="font-weight: bold;">/10</span>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">Steven@WTD.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpFfRgAaHbZ8Jn9ejFcJVqA8rzwSzbLrjtVCPHnId95TjayHAiANUmtvGgnNV57uafCQrvwJnHJfgC_rObIYcPEfgP26eHHWfmPlIIEnl3TZRUuzKg9M7jkgA2KDNGDnDiOHB-M0w2CZC/s1600/z-nation_season_2_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="195" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpFfRgAaHbZ8Jn9ejFcJVqA8rzwSzbLrjtVCPHnId95TjayHAiANUmtvGgnNV57uafCQrvwJnHJfgC_rObIYcPEfgP26eHHWfmPlIIEnl3TZRUuzKg9M7jkgA2KDNGDnDiOHB-M0w2CZC/s200/z-nation_season_2_cover.jpg" width="153" /></a><b style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 14.6667px;">2015 (USA)</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://amzn.to/2lHf9pv" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 14.6667px;">2016 Spirit Entertainment Limited Blu-Ray R(B/2)</a><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 14.6667px;">Season 2</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The first thing that strikes an episode or two into season 2 is that here is a team who truly know they're on to a winning thing. Gone are any doubts or hesitation; in is unbridled passion and enough reckless abandon to really push their zombie comedy / horror / action formula to an all-time high. At a time the genre, and especially The Walking Dead, could perhaps be accused of becoming a tad stale, it's refreshing that there's a zombie program that has but one goal, to entertain, and is happy to throw out all the stops to make this a reality. Perhaps Z Nation works precisely because it timed it's two finger salute to all that was dark, serious and emotionally draining at the right time, but whatever the reason, it feeds the frivolous and openly silly approach to the apocalypse hunger perfectly, and with season 2 happily turning the dial up to 11 I couldn't be more happy.</span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM-4a2pZuRvM-FUKkfYBQoWtK_m69iRA7heO6ye1zp-ydh0JDGljhhPa64WV-n7rVgqHFn4olLMUsRda1Stc_jq8PF2cesLclleahgH-svTszfxCJ6Ro8S2t9esBeYLLhZWIG5LJSGpGT/s1600/z-nation_season_2_murphy_plant_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM-4a2pZuRvM-FUKkfYBQoWtK_m69iRA7heO6ye1zp-ydh0JDGljhhPa64WV-n7rVgqHFn4olLMUsRda1Stc_jq8PF2cesLclleahgH-svTszfxCJ6Ro8S2t9esBeYLLhZWIG5LJSGpGT/s200/z-nation_season_2_murphy_plant_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Zombie aliens, a hilarious nativity spoof, zombie-plant hybrids, radioactive zombies, anthrax-zombies and even an undead cameo from George R. R. Martin; Z Nation has never been scared to play with the let's say more out-there and generally goofy ideas other zombie shows wouldn't dare touch. With Season 1 setting its foundation, Season 2 is off the hook to genuinely do what-ever-the-hell it likes and totally get away with it too. With the again, now secure cast, totally in control of their now seasoned and serious apocalyptic bad-ass characters unfazed by anything new thrown at them, the juxtaposition of their prosaic, stoical reaction to the off the scale stupidity introduced by the writers is perfectly framed. Even when pushed to the absolute limits, as UFOs melt cows, aliens attack, wise zombie men appear complete with zombie camels, and astral bodies float around the room, it's hard not to side with the characters, sigh of course, and just go along with it; though with a huge grin.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmFuOG6OT_iTwGs79GVRT2d8CTTKuj-zboxT-lMW6M2A8ga0IrFmSLtdnu5l-d74BXd7rxDZDuh55fxUQw19NPV4n9MOjbgqAb7Oxwj07qJODAlwmT005TjSNXuZwO786D_yAMyg6Fv2x/s1600/z-nation_season_2_george_r_r_martin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmFuOG6OT_iTwGs79GVRT2d8CTTKuj-zboxT-lMW6M2A8ga0IrFmSLtdnu5l-d74BXd7rxDZDuh55fxUQw19NPV4n9MOjbgqAb7Oxwj07qJODAlwmT005TjSNXuZwO786D_yAMyg6Fv2x/s200/z-nation_season_2_george_r_r_martin.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">It's not without its moments of sadness and poignancy however scattered; it is the apocalyptic wasteland after all. And though characters leave us; Cassandra (Pisay Pao), which I personally felt became an inevitability with what happened at the end of Season 1, and Mack Thompson (Michael Welch), which though sad opens Addy up for better development; new and recurring characters more than make up the slack. With the group and their dynamic established it's good to see there's no let up to their character development, with even the</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> confidence to add some backstory though </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">satisfying</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px;">flash-backs. A series like this lives and dies with the detailing of its characters and their relationships and Z nation series 2 carries no dead weight. It also lives and dies with its action, gore and witty stories, and here again it never disappoints.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Bigger, louder, brasher, Z Nation Season 2 is triumphant beer induced slap in the face fun and a much needed post-apocalyptic no holds party. Zombie gun-toting silliness with a swagger it's easily worth - <b>8/10</b>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Steven@WTD.</span></span></div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-32313833656114983172016-10-17T18:15:00.000+01:002017-08-17T10:30:00.052+01:00Cowboy Zombies (Walking Dead in the West) - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGyTOxWar2dPQXf2xqpi12cmGVm-dgfQxLEcf7OzXFmkapDcjf21sciwH6MXwFkrXm7Lqnz3xXiR98JQwsj0x-Ghm87AFAHQiqfHmm6em6WplPwhXGHST018JFJbGUouP-qmC5HoNwJaZ/s1600/cowboy_zombies_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGyTOxWar2dPQXf2xqpi12cmGVm-dgfQxLEcf7OzXFmkapDcjf21sciwH6MXwFkrXm7Lqnz3xXiR98JQwsj0x-Ghm87AFAHQiqfHmm6em6WplPwhXGHST018JFJbGUouP-qmC5HoNwJaZ/s200/cowboy_zombies_cover.jpg" width="141" /></a><b>2016 (USA)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2eeVqu2">2016 Left Films DVD R(2)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains mild
spoilers.</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Now, the term
'cowboy' in the UK is more colloquially used as an adjective to mean reckless,
wild or unreliable; usually for <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">something that's been shoddily undertaken by someone not fit for the purpose.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> It's a funny
term, that seems to be attributed to John Cleese and Faulty Towers in 1972 when
it was first recorded, and here is generally a prefix to </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">builder, or workman</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. So in many ways renaming director Paul
Winters' 'Walking Dead in the West' to 'Cowboy Zombies' for the UK couldn't have been more fitting or honest.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8x-RFEfnKz0BmqYEP7IKPfpJGo0R5_6qFgoyd2WldP3lo3HP2GHDmNT1rvzN3NrBt7bPTQZybjRnJib6VGP4OdjSRPM60MOtA9rrrzYsg5-5q09Q_NczUPtplTkrpbFUxSFAb7OqtiWm/s1600/cowboy_zombies_hanging_outlaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8x-RFEfnKz0BmqYEP7IKPfpJGo0R5_6qFgoyd2WldP3lo3HP2GHDmNT1rvzN3NrBt7bPTQZybjRnJib6VGP4OdjSRPM60MOtA9rrrzYsg5-5q09Q_NczUPtplTkrpbFUxSFAb7OqtiWm/s200/cowboy_zombies_hanging_outlaw.jpg" width="200" /></a>One always starts to
worry when the best quote they could get to emblaze the back and really sell the film is
'Zombie Fans Will Enjoy This' as if admitting if you're not, then you really won't, and if you are, we'll attempt some lame headology to convince
you in advance that you will. It's safe to say it didn't work; and I'll actually go one
further, positing you'd actually have to be pretty desperate and a bit mentally unhinged in your undead love affair to actually get the enjoyment promised, from what is easily the most
tedious zombie film I've reviewed. Yes, the daft little wild-west
zombie story is kind of ok, the cause of the outbreak laughably bad and confusing, but once it gets going does obey all the rules; it's just that the film is entirely
derivative, has absolutely nothing memorable of merit and is so exceeedingly tiresome I'd genuinely consider it the next time I'm struck with insomnia.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVx9Xc0927q_81AbUr3NetHHmzUFEvmyNPgV-fqxfme7q1CUrH3qiNShvkLHBV3qlgnZGVcHOKC4pqWaggVpBU9yAAuM3n9Fk83am859r2_cLJHcjmN9dXOP3OE91YY5nzUEiN2Vl00WGL/s1600/cowboy_zombies_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVx9Xc0927q_81AbUr3NetHHmzUFEvmyNPgV-fqxfme7q1CUrH3qiNShvkLHBV3qlgnZGVcHOKC4pqWaggVpBU9yAAuM3n9Fk83am859r2_cLJHcjmN9dXOP3OE91YY5nzUEiN2Vl00WGL/s200/cowboy_zombies_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's Arizona 1876
and Marshal Frank Wilcox (played by none other than Paul Winters) has rounded
up some dirty outlaws. In the nearby town of Crumpet (I kid you not) Sheriff
White (Jean Paul Turgeon) and Preacher Black (Greg Bronson) are hanging two
other no-good hoodlums when one throws his lot in to God for a sign of mercy,
but instead of salvation gets a cheap sfx clap of lightning and his final judgement for his efforts. That's kind of it; the dead come back, the headshot trope is done to
death, Marshall and Sheriff eventually get together with a bunch of
uninteresting survivors who tick all the wild-west ethnic, gender and moral
stereotypes and <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/08/night-of-living-dead-review.html">The Night of the Living Dead</a> template is abused till it all
comes, thankfully, to an early and abrupt end. It's Armageddon, day one, ground
zero, the wild frontier where civilisation is tested every day, and
everyone is armed, drunk or both. It should be explosions, death and carnage and humanity holding on by the merest thread; not this unapologetically tame,
and ponderous, second rate snooze-fest.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYCqmxmo42LcnP1VnIDHpo0cs6nzpEkt_cl0RQ4PezEGlQVjLVnB_TwfcN6oDJ7TQHFCZiCnd_ndKBU8her8xIxXnP_7j7Q_Rd52V94HnkW8SbE8G6LYbjKudkJlnBi5X5-cwln1zZCzx/s1600/cowboy_zombies_possie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYCqmxmo42LcnP1VnIDHpo0cs6nzpEkt_cl0RQ4PezEGlQVjLVnB_TwfcN6oDJ7TQHFCZiCnd_ndKBU8her8xIxXnP_7j7Q_Rd52V94HnkW8SbE8G6LYbjKudkJlnBi5X5-cwln1zZCzx/s200/cowboy_zombies_possie.png" width="200" /></a>For all that it's
God's holy wrath; there's lightening after all, it's also an
infection. So we have all the dead, even those buried well before all
the trouble started, back up staggering about, and we also have bites, dark ugly wounds and sudden extreme personality shifts. It's The Walking Dead regurgitated in the West, and the infection stuff confusion one feels was added just to drive a few painfully forced emotional scenes,
where the group are forced to deal with little girls and deputies who are about
to turn. The zombies themselves are unfathomably slow and shambolic. As they
lurch and spasm about gargling, spluttering and yelping all the time being
picked easily off by elderly Sioux or incompetent teens pretending to be able
to use utterly fake six shooters, one can't help question how they could they
possibly win. There isn't ever a point you feel they pose any tangible threat,
and that each tame and generally off-screen kill is the result of baffling
incompetence and hesitation.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
'Cowboy' Zombies is
not a good film. Second tier actors working with a mediocre script
that's devoid of all spark; it's a film that drags itself and the viewer
along for seventy pitiful and dreary minutes before putting us all out of its
misery. I wasn't expecting much but I do normally get something for my trouble;
here though, nothing. I've also read murmurings it was also to act as a
possible pilot for yet another TV series, and yes Undeadwood with Ian McShane
in full-swing, shooting down zombies with explosive expletives would be glorious, but more of this miserable uninspired
schlock? No thanks - <span style="font-weight: bold;">2/10</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271278421420745996.post-72800817458739595872016-10-14T09:43:00.003+01:002017-08-17T10:31:18.433+01:00Lust of the Dead 2 - review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvF5EtZ69POvVJ3YGWGXOUW4itBI1gmgAorTq3OkdpwaZb4OROic-ol2zT6SkXiXvRlLLdH6BiE6X0ttlTUsTmoNNoU-mI3ry3lZ8P0eVJaTw-xha0tzQp7-JnqmbUcr0V97XPDZHEAM0/s1600/lust_of_the_dead_2_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvF5EtZ69POvVJ3YGWGXOUW4itBI1gmgAorTq3OkdpwaZb4OROic-ol2zT6SkXiXvRlLLdH6BiE6X0ttlTUsTmoNNoU-mI3ry3lZ8P0eVJaTw-xha0tzQp7-JnqmbUcr0V97XPDZHEAM0/s200/lust_of_the_dead_2_cover.jpg" width="140" /></a><b>2013 (Japan)</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://amzn.to/2dbhQ2F">2014 Tokyo Shock DVD R(1)</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i>Contains spoilers.</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If I wasn't already
on a list, after importing and watching part 2 of director and co-writer
Naoyuki Tomomatsu's sleazy and
horrendously b-movie soft-porn zombie nonsense I almost certainly am now.
Excessive, misogynist and exploitative Lust of the Dead 2, or Rape Zombie: Lust
of the Dead 2 is everything that's wrong and shady with this odd little
particular porn niche. It's a cheap one trick pony relying on the fun and games
of horny rather than hungry and the willingness of actresses to show some flesh
whatever the reason; and yet for such nonsensical zombie bunkum, it has to be
said, the original origin narrative is surprisingly fleshed out and almost
coherent, there is a semi-legit story being told and some of the audacious and
stupidly bad set pieces and gore is surprisingly entertaining.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJ4x-PEZseBAeVdpodYZ7HyJzlgkMmrpFkltAbfFZAxfiR3BsPUHhpeCJRUzcf4Pb3VvInQi2Z8nhx_g3HZ-lMzyQuvjhDTCmkxux9CHKzsxvPMLAIKb8E7Y4jTF099MoYKOwGcbiJvcn/s1600/lust_of_the_dead_2_zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJ4x-PEZseBAeVdpodYZ7HyJzlgkMmrpFkltAbfFZAxfiR3BsPUHhpeCJRUzcf4Pb3VvInQi2Z8nhx_g3HZ-lMzyQuvjhDTCmkxux9CHKzsxvPMLAIKb8E7Y4jTF099MoYKOwGcbiJvcn/s200/lust_of_the_dead_2_zombie.jpg" width="200" /></a>Following the events
of <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2015/10/lust-of-dead-review.html">Lust of the Dead</a>, Tokyo really is now the post-apocalyptic wet-dream; a
smouldering ruined city-scape with desperate isolated survivors hiding from the
now grotesque, charred and mutated men that survived the nuclear blast. Two
such figures are Shinji and Maki who hungry and scared are at least safe in
their apartment and able to celebrate their anniversary, with love, candles and
wine. That is, of course, until zombie-penis-boy bursts in, rips off her top
and panties, fondles her breasts then gets himself ready for a good ol' rape.
Any hope this wouldn't just be succeeding the first in premise and setting
alone is immediately quashed. Tomomatsu's Lust of the Dead 2 is the story of
desperate women rallying together, of scientists scrambling to find answers, of
a world torn asunder, but it's still a silly little one with otaku virgins
forming a cult to take revenge on all the women who humiliated them, daft
American robots with laser eyes, flamethrower mouths and perfect breasts, and
an opportunity to screen a lot of half naked women and indulge an obvious public groping
fetish.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If you don't
remember, I'll refresh. For some reason; a meteor, the ozone hole, or even some
evolutionary Gaia reason all men have become infected with a bacteria that
removes any and all imperative other than to have sex with any and all women. I
say all men; it's really only dokyun aka successful, sporty, normal that turn,
with otaku aka manga, idol, anime, loners and virgins that while infected can
somehow keep their urges dormant. Lust of the Dead 2 elaborates, explaining
otaku are safe because in many ways they're the modern samurai; their years of
abstinence and screen watching, actually a zen like philosophical conditioning
akin to Bodhidharma's nine years of wall gazing. They're actually the
enlightened ones. They're also quite a terrifying nonsensical bunch of losers
and though I believe their ignorance, justified violence and deplorable
objectification of 3D women (as in not on screen, ala real) is by design and a
deliberate parody, like the first, there's always a line of dialogue or a particular sequence that makes you think you really ought to stop laughing along. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-JXQVjMRlp6YH10ifqqWJDQjRHAUmY_qAjVL5tigv_v3EhV73hYQEgE4MCOYWMgy2eVKBOkJDbsu61eFEhmOuMpk-Lw1lOM5EjyUcYLrJRR8G0sqBaiAeOkRz765-MMrVo02PpTU15Lg/s1600/lust_of_the_dead_2_zombie_rape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-JXQVjMRlp6YH10ifqqWJDQjRHAUmY_qAjVL5tigv_v3EhV73hYQEgE4MCOYWMgy2eVKBOkJDbsu61eFEhmOuMpk-Lw1lOM5EjyUcYLrJRR8G0sqBaiAeOkRz765-MMrVo02PpTU15Lg/s200/lust_of_the_dead_2_zombie_rape.jpg" width="200" /></a>Gone are the randy
little Japanese business men, instead in the aftermath of the blast, they're
replaced with giant penis wielding monstrosities that appear more comical than
frightening. Though it's never been a film anyone involved ever intended to be considered
horror, for a film about rape and death it's incredibly light and frivolous.
With the otaku now the main threat there is less rape; but what there is
perhaps more graphic, though maybe my memories of the first have been
deliberately purged (or repressed). The soft-porn has definitely upped a notch
and titillation has now upped a base and it's no longer just jiggly boobs, but
hands in pants, touching and obvious stimulation. I should also mention the
obligatory and utterly incongruous lesbian and masturbation scenes, which as
obviously uncomfortable and strained the actresses look, are equally <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">awkward </span>to watch.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Both men and women do a good
job with what's obviously a mediocre b-movie script that's entirely driven by
the porn scenes, and even the painfully drawn and staged backdrop they're
forced to work with for all outdoor shots. In fact the two long sequences where
there actually isn't any 'action' are painfully paced and entirely tedious.
Half way through, there's an attempted philosophical diatribe, with added <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">aesthetic twinkle,</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">that
tries to explain all the otaku bull, but more criminal is a brilliantly staged
conversation, ala <a href="http://www.watchingthedead.co.uk/2012/09/the-return-of-living-dead-review.html">The Return of the Living Dead</a>, with a genuinely good and graphic
prosthetic zombie carcass with semi-detached head, but impressive erection, and a primal insight into the caveman brain, yet ends with appalling
cognisant justification with nonsense about gender ratios and the relatively
recent judicial outlawing of mans natural right to take any woman he wants, whenever he wants.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSjBBPH0Nga4a7WqVd_aigWZMB5wGcHzgu7AX-PPJNYrz5MJOyV5_4GQUk8KaXE0r08_36MeTZR2XQvgmbPcpNtsKoGPByT9RdhaVvjmCVCVOo7H8X_nz83SVNzeH49gLK5TujCCcM0Xv/s1600/lust_of_the_dead_2_lesbian.jpg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSjBBPH0Nga4a7WqVd_aigWZMB5wGcHzgu7AX-PPJNYrz5MJOyV5_4GQUk8KaXE0r08_36MeTZR2XQvgmbPcpNtsKoGPByT9RdhaVvjmCVCVOo7H8X_nz83SVNzeH49gLK5TujCCcM0Xv/s200/lust_of_the_dead_2_lesbian.jpg.png" width="200" /></a>And then it was all
over. You see Lust of the Dead 2 was shot with Lust of the Dead 3. I say shot
with; I think the actual phrasing would be Lust of the Dead 2 was filmed then
cut in half with some bright spark thinking two sixty odd minute films with nothing
cut would be better, financially, than a single well edited entry, thus
explaining the poor pacing and the overly drawn out exposition we're subjected
to throughout. A soft-porn monster movie no one thought we'd ever want or
need, Lust of the Dead 2 is brazen with its desires and painfully honest with
its execution. Now with parts 4 and 5 finished it's obviously a niche somebody
wants to see and though I did have moments of fun I do rather find the whole
rape fetish, as trivially, and justifiably played with as it is, uncomfortable
and unsettling. Still, it's not a film I can honestly say is possible to take
too seriously and I'm not going to end the review with a moral lecture. It is
what it is and I do actually now want to see how the story ends, so it must
have done something right - <span style="font-weight: bold;">4/10</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Steven@WTD.</div>
</div>
WatchingTheDeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000707223409933962noreply@blogger.com0