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Movies
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Written by Sameerah
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Monday, 17 November 2008 |
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Ahhh Mother Russia. Home of vodka, borscht and deranged killers living beneath the city streets. Tonight I have the Russian slasher Trackman up on the chopping block. And while you don't necessarily need vodka to get into the film it certainly doesn't hurt. After their plot to rob a Moscow bank turns deadly, our band of villains make their way into Moscow's underground tunnel system to make their escape. With hostages in tow, the group tell begin to talk about urban legends of a mad man living beneath the city. A mutant refugee from the Chernobyl Disaster that lives underground to have his revenge on all who are foolish enough to come underground.Badies laugh with twisted delight as they scare their hostages with tales of death below the city. But as they go deeper and deeper into the tunnels they are picked off one by one by the mad man they mocked. Guess he's real after all? The story of Trackman is pretty typical, almost boarding on cliche. Its the story of bad people doing bad things and getting fucked up by something worse than them. Its a story that we've all heard before but one that doesn't get old if its done right. The good thing aboutTrackman is that the folks behind it know they aren't making ground breaking cinema and make no attempts to make the film more than what it is. They rely more on the camera to build the suspense of the story than the actors. There are some killer shots in the tunnels where the cameras angle and constant moving make it feel as if your the one being chased by a creepy dude in a gas mask. The shots of the eye removals are shot from the victims perspective and that gives the whole thing a deliciously disturbing element. As it goes from bumping twisting agony to ultimate darkness. The only downer aboutTrackman , is that it constantly punks out in places where it should peak. You have a guy laying there ready to be ripped to bits screaming in agony, and just when it gets good they cut the scene! leaving you sitting there going what the fuck, where is my murder?! When they cut back you have a fabulously eyeless victim but that doesn't make up for seeing the whole thing. One the one hand I can see where they want to put the emphasis on the suspense of the thing. And there is probably a bit of censorship stigma in Russian cinema despite the recent changes in the country. But lets be real people its horror and part of the fun is murder. If you're a hardcore gore hound leaveTrackman alone cause its just going to piss you off. But if you can handle a decent plot with nice camera work this could be right up your street.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 17 November 2008 )
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No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker |
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Written by Sameerah
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Tuesday, 04 November 2008 |
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Its been a long time since we've had a really good horror franchise. You know something epic in the realm of Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm St. Something with wicked story lines and excellent characters that drag you into them with that brilliantly sinister combination of twisted wit and gory goodness. Now some would like to sight the Saw series as the next great franchise. But Saw is decent at best and that's my being kind after sitting through the entire series. Despite some really cleaver killing devices and nice effects, it lacks the solid character development needed to make a truly epic mythology. So it is with high hopes that I pop in No Man's Land: The Rise ofReeker. Reading the synopsis it sounds promising, or will this be just another colossal let down? The film starts off great with the introduction of the Death Valley Drifter. A non assuming man, who sports the look of a mild mannered salesman as he stalks the desert for victims. Not even five minutes into the film we see the drifter crushing the chest of a hitchhiker with his car and cutting out his tongue. The Drifters reign of terror ends when a lowly deputy accidentally runs into his lair while he sets about his grisly work. But like all good baddies The Drifter promises that his work isn't done. He's taking orders from beyond to kill, and he will be back. Flash forward to the present day and a crappy little desert rest stop. Its the local Sheriff's last day on the job and he is getting ready to pass the torch to his highly strung big city son at the local diner. Along with the peace keepers we have the usual cast of characters. The surly owner, cute waitress with attitude and the local doctor round out the the towns residents passing the time at the diner. Its just another boring ass day in small town hell, until a pair of robbers drift into town looking for another get away ride. In their fury to escape the law, the desperado's and their pursuers realize that they cant escape the rest stop. One by one they are stalked by The Death Valley Drifter. In order to survive they need to sort out the Drifters secrets before he kills them all. The whole concept of The Death Valley Drifter is fun. This very normal and otherwise very mild mannered guy driven to kill by other worldly voices. They fall a little short with the character when they don't really give you info on his back story. it would have been cool to see how, when and where this dorky little dude started hearing deadly voices. Doing that would also have served them well as the film progresses into all of the other characters the story. They hint to the fact that they are all there because some of them are souls who are supposed to die but aren't for some reason. And that's whats bringing the Drifter back, to take the souls who are unwilling to die. But they don't give you any other info. All you know is that most of the people are running from something and perhaps that's the reason all of these people are here. Not knowing anything else about the rest of the people kills any kind of empathy you may have had for them and makes the ultimate demise a bit less fun. Its a horror film and yeah most everyone is going to die, but the deaths are a bit more fun when you're rooting for someone to get the axe or to get away from the baddie. Still it isn't a bad film. The effects used on the Drifter to give him this other worldly mirage like glow is pretty kick ass and there are some interesting murders, although it may be a bit light on the gore for some. They leave you with the impression that there will be a second installment, and while this one fell a bit short, I hope there is. They have a lot of good elements there and it would be interesting to see the mythology of the Death Valley Drifter evolve.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 November 2008 )
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Written by Sameerah
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Tuesday, 04 November 2008 |
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In the eyes of many Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of the greatest books ever written. While I may disagree about it being the best thing ever written, I cant deny something that has shaped so much of modern mythology for so long. For a lot of people, myself included, the thing that has always made Dracula an interesting read is its blend of history, folklore and fiction that were the inspiration for the book. When we think historical Dracula the mind jumps to scoundrels like Vlad the Impaler or his cousin ElizabethBathroy. But there is another woman who may have served a part of Stoker's inspiration, a German princess named Eleonore Von Schwarzenberg. The documentary Vampire Princess explores the evidence that points to Eleonore as another inspiration for Dracula. Things begin as they so often do, with a team of scientists excavating graves from the 17th century. During the excavation they find some of the bodies have been buried in accordance to ancient Vampire ritual. The skulls placed between the persons legs with a stone placed in its mouth and their limbs weighted down. This discovery leads the researchers to the castle of Eleonore VonSchwarzenberg . The stories of Eleonore's odd behavior and obsession with the occult caused her to fall out of favor with the aristocracy. Not to mention raise the ire of suspicious locals. Her death of a long lingering and undiagnosed illness only helped to solidify the suspicions about her. Can modern science link Eleonore to Bram Stoker and Dracula? If your a fan of Vampire lore, you should have a good time with the Vampire Princess. The film shares some interesting details of the day in the life of a German princess and suspected Vampire during the Vampire hysteria of the 1700's. Having yet another possible source of inspiration for Dracula is interesting as well as the new bits of Vampire ritual that existed then. For some this may not be earth shattering information, but its still an interesting look back in time.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 November 2008 )
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Written by Sameerah
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Tuesday, 28 October 2008 |
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It seems like it took forever for the final installment of Dario Argento's Three Mothers series, Mother of Tears, to get to me. I emailed, cried, called and begged for what seemed like an eternity for the screening copy from the production company. A long last all of my pleading paid off and I was granted a press copy of Mother of Tears. I was so excited when I heard the film was on its way, I added a shite load of Dario's greatest films to my Netflix que so I could revel in the gory splendor that is Dario Argento. By the time Mother of Tears had arrived I had gone through Jennifer, Phenomenon and a few others so I'm totally amp'd for this one. I tore through the wrapper and shoved the disc into the DVD player trembling all over with excitement. Oh if only I had known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have wasted my time with such ceremony for this film. The film opens with a priest excavating an old cemetery near a church. While going through the remains they find an urn with all sorts of strange markings buried with one of the bodies. The urn is sent to a museum in Rome where art restorer named Sarah prepares to translate the markings with a colleague. No sooner the urn is opened a trio of deadly creatures descend upon the room and rip Sarah's colleague to shreds, disemboweling her on top of the table and stealing the urn. Sarah barely makes it out of the museum alive with the help of a mysterious voice. When she reports the circumstances of the grisly murder to the police they think shes nuts and make her the prime suspect in the crime. While shes skeptical at first Sarah has no choice to face the fact that the urn is responsible for the strange deaths and violence suddenly plaguing Rome. Her search for answer leads her to face the truth about her past and the death of her mother. Will Sarah be able to discover the true depth of her powers in time to destroy the Mother of Tears? The only thing that lives up to the expectations of a Dario Argento film, are some of the murder scenes. Complete with a disemboweling, people being set a blaze and special knives designed specifically to gouge out eyes. All the sort of creepy creativity you expect from a director of Argento's caliber. The rest of the film, is some place in between lack luster and total shite. Through the whole of the film he Argento hints at Sarah being a part of some great white witch heritage and having all sorts of wicked powers bestowed upon her. But that's all he does is hint. There are only two points in the film where you actually see that she has any sort of powers at all. And even then its only when she communicates with the spirit of her mother. You find yourself hoping that maybe at the end he will pull it out and there will be some sort of horrific witch battle, but what you get is Sarah disrobing the the Mother of Tears to destroy her powers. A total cop out for and ending made even worse by the lame fits of hysterical laughter that follow Sarah's great escape. There are characters that come out of nowhere that are more than just mere henchmen that are never explained. Half ass attempts at dragging souls to hell and a weird ass monkey that really serves no purpose but to be an ugly guard for the baddies as they go about trying to bring the second fall of Rome. I think this film is what happens when people either sell out or just get too old to play the game. From the looks of things this may be one of the biggest budgets Argento has ever been able to work with. And his lack of direction and follow through with the script smacks of his bowing the the corporate masters that wrote the check. Relying on the weight of the Argento name to ensure the film does well instead of taking the time to build the sort of film that his fans expect. Its truly a disappointing effort from a man considered by many to be one of the great masters of horror.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 November -1 )
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Written by Sameerah
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Tuesday, 28 October 2008 |
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If bands like KISS, GWAR and Exalted Piledriver are the godfathers of monster rock, then Lordi is their demonic bastard love child. Inheriting a mean sense of marketing along with the sick ass monster costumes of their forefathers. After opening a Lordi themed restaurant in there native Finland the band is now branching out into the realm of film. Dark Floors is the first feature film from Lordi. You see the band in all of their monster glory as they take turn torturing lost souls along side an interesting array of beasties. When his autistic daughter Sarah is almost injured in the hospital while undergoing tests, all Ben wants to do is get her out of there. While taking the elevator down to the exit, Ben and Sarah get stuck between floors. Panic quickly sets in as Ben and the others try to figure out how to get the elevator moving again. They breathe a sigh of relief when things begin to move again, but the terror returns as the elevator doors open and the once bustling hospital is completely deserted. While there are no sign of human life, the group finds out fast they aren't alone. As they are pursued by screaming banshees, zombies and of course Lordi. As they scramble to find a way out of their deadly situation, one thing is clear Sarah is the key to finding a way out of the horror that has descended upon them. But is the child their savior or is she the harbinger of the doom that chases them down the darkened hallways? For their first crack at feature film, Lordi does a decent job with Dark Floors. Suspense is the name of the game in this film and it his the ground running. Pulling you into the mystery very early in the film. Not wasting a lot of time with sub plots that never go anywhere or don't do anything to enhance the story. Allowing the tension to build until the very end. There are some pretty nice special effects. Most notably the scene where the bodies in the morgue begin to awake and begin to swarm out heroes. They make no secret that Dark Floors is a Lordi project. Each band member is given more that ample face time as the principle baddies. But the band doesn't hog the screen, so their appearances are more like fun little extras not the focus of the plot. There are a few places where the plot swings a little wide and your wondering what the fuck just happened, but it quickly pulls itself back on track. Its not the best film ever made, but Dark Floors is a cool film by a cool band and worth the time to watch. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 October 2008 )
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