QUARANTINE: Movie Review

Quarantine has taken a lot of crap, being slammed as an unnecessary remake of the Spanish film [REC], but I think such statements are short-sighted. I would love to have seen [REC] on the big screen, but a subtitled film's chance of getting a wide theatrical release in the States are about as good as a guy in a red shirt making it back to the Enterprise in one piece. No, this doesn't say much for the attention span of the American film-going audience, but [REC] had no chance of getting big theatrical play here. Let's move past it, people.

So that leaves us with Quarantine, a film which does pretty damn well on its own. Jennifer Carpenter of the way cool Showtime series Dexter plays Angela Vidal, a TV news reporter shadowing a group of Los Angeles firefighters on the overnight shift. The entire film is seen through the eye of her camera operated by Scott Percival (Steve Harris). The evening gets off to a slow start so we see Angela sliding down the fire pole, flirting with a firefighter named Jake (Hostel's Jay Hernandez) and lamenting that the whole night might be a washout. Finally a call comes in and the paramedics are called to an apartment building to aid an elderly woman who is infected with something that is contagious via contact with bodily fluids. To borrow a phrase from Shaun of the Dead, the old girl is a bit bitey and her violent and murderous nature quickly spreads among the tenants. Before Angela and the others can flee the building has been surrounded by operatives of the Center for Disease Control, and the space suits they're wearing and their readiness to shoot anyone that tries to leave doesn't bode well for our heroes.

Like 28 Days Later this is a zombie film without zombies. No one is coming back from the dead, but victims of this infection quickly degenerate into slobbering lunatics, not unlike what you see in Walmart on the day after Thanksgiving. After a beginning that is intentionally slow to build suspense, things ramp up with the film balancing action and exposition nicely. As with any of these pseudo documentary films like The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield the question of why are these people still filming while they're running for their lives is a valid one. Director John Erick Dowdle (who also helmed The Poughkeepsie Tapes) does a respectable job of keeping the gimmick believable. Occasional bits are inserted to provide a reason for the fact that Scott is still shooting, but it isn't overdone as it was in Diary of the Dead, in which George Romero's frequent references to the fact were just distracting. Dowdle might have further aided the illusion by casting unknowns, but recognizable faces are presumably a necessity in getting financing, even if we're not talking about huge stars.

The Spanish version will likely hit DVD around the same time or shortly after Quarantine does, and the publicity surrounding the remake will have a trickle down effect, bringing far more attention to the U.S. DVD release of [REC] than it would have gotten on its own.

BLOGS THAT ROCK - Monster Crazy

Pierre Fournier, the blogger behind Frankensteinia: The Frankenstein Blog which I discussed here is also the guy behind Monster Crazy, a blog that knows when to keep its mouth shut. Text is kept to a minimum, with all manner of classic horror imagery being the focus. Movie posters, stills, old horror mag interiors and covers, and random works of monstrous art. This is one cool ass blog.

Miko Macabre's Cryptique

Introducing Miko Macabre. I stumbled across Miko's show Cryptique while searching for horror reviews on Youtube and frankly I'm surprised these videos have so few hits. Cryptique presents the capsule versions of trashy horror flicks with Miko adding her two cents throughout. There are two episodes currently posted covering Night of the Demons and Burial Ground: Nights of Terror, with each installment broken into three parts. As Miko points out in her first episode, the use of these copyrighted films really pushes the limits of "fair use" but the Cryptique versions of these flicks are a lot more entertaining than the originals ever were.

The resemblance to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is obvious, with the combination of innuendo, cleavage and cornball humor, but Miko has the distinct advantage of actually being funny. Elvira had camp appeal, but she never actually made me laugh. Cryptique has recently launched a new site, though there's nothing there yet. There is a pretty cool Youtube video promoting the upcoming season, but for a real taste of what the show has to offer, check out the three installments of Episode 2 embedded below. I think this project has a lot of potential and I'm anxious to see where it goes.


Cryptique Episode 2, Part 1



Cryptique Episode 2, Part 2



Cryptique Episode 2, Part 3

DEATH NOTE - DVD REVIEW

I'm a bit of a latecomer to the whole Death Note phenomenon, but in the last few weeks I've read several volumes of the manga, caught a few episodes of the anime TV series and now, for the purposes of this review, I've had a chance to screen the 2006 live action film.

Melding the elements of both horror and detective stories, Death Note is the tale of Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara) a brilliant law student who has grown disillusioned with the legal system because of a widespread conspiracy concealing just how many criminals are going free. Light finds a notebook that says whoever's name is written in the book will die. On a lark, he jots down the name of a murderer who has escaped justice, and Light watches as the killer dies in exactly the way he described in the notebook. Light is soon visited by Ryuk, a shinigami or death god, a CGI construct that looks like a shaggy goth circus clown. Ryuk explains the notebook was originally his, but is now Light's to do with as he pleases. Whoever possesses the notebook can kill anyone by writing his or her name while picturing his or her face. If no cause of death is written the victim will die of a heart attack.

A human who uses the death note can enter neither heaven nor hell upon his death, but Light looks past that little glitch, planning to use the book to make the world a better place by eliminating violent criminals. As murderers, rapists and snotty convenience store clerks around the world start dropping dead in droves, people start to take notice. The media gives the name "Kira" to whoever is striking down these criminals and Light becomes a hero to many. To the National Police Association, however, Kira is the greatest serial killer of all time and a task force is formed to capture him under the direction the mysterious L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama). At first L only communicates with the task force via digitally scrambled audio, but he is finally revealed to be a young androgynous sugar junkie with a genius level talent for deduction. Light and L are cut from the same cloth, it seems, making for an interesting cat and mouse game.

In a bent sort of way the premise reminds me of Harry Potter. Both stories spring from an adolescent form of wish fulfillment. Harry is a put upon orphan who learns he is in fact something special — not just a wizard, but one of the greatest wizards of all time. Death Note rings of a darker adolescent desire in which the victimized youth starts keeping a list of peers who have done him wrong and deserve to die, representing the seamier fantasies of the post-Columbine generation.

Light is more humanized here, at least at the beginning of the film, which makes it difficult to account for some of his actions. In the comic Light starts out as a remorseless sociopath, so when he ends up using the Death Note to kill innocent people to prevent his own arrest it's not that big a stretch. In this version, the decision to murder innocents seems jarring, making me wonder if posession of the Death Note is supposed to have some side effect on human personalities.

With a few exceptions, the film is quite faithful to the manga. Director Shusuke Kaneko (the man behind the marvelously titled Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack) does a decent job of packing a lot of the comic's elements into just over two hours. The comics are quite detailed, giving every nuance of Light's reasoning and L's deduction process, so streamlining the story for film was a necessity. Unfortunately, just as we're getting into the thick of the L/Light sparring match, the movie comes to a somewhat abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. The sequel Death Note: The Last Name was released in Japan in 2006 and was presumably shot back to back with the first film, so I imagine that one picks up where this one leaves off. Still, Death Note has an intriguing premise and some interesting characters. Definitely worth a look.

THE STRANGERS - Review

I'm imagining some ill-informed pseudo-intellectual heading on down to the multiplex thinking he's about to see an adaptation of Albert Camus' The Stranger. I'm imagining sitting behind this person and shrieking "I've got your existentialism right here!" right before one character gets his face shotgunned into a substance resembling a hearty chili con carné. Yes, I need to get out more.

No, think Wes Craven rather than Camus. Specifically, The Strangers reminded me of Last House on the Left, with it's brutal victimization of two people, and its pervasive sense of dread and nihilism. The movie definitely earns its R-rating, but this isn't from the gore for gore's sake school of movie making. There are several examples of the classic Hitchcock definition of suspense in which the audience is shown the danger but the characters are not, and despite a few missteps The Strangers proves to be a white knuckle ride worthy of the best that Six Flags has to offer.

James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) and Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) arrive at James's family's secluded vacation home in the wee hours of the morning following a friend's wedding reception. The evening has not gone well. James's proposal to Kristen having been met with rejection, we watch the two struggle through an awkward civility, and we get the distinct impression that this is a deal-breaker for the relationship. A knock comes on the door during what may well prove to be a round of break up sex. Concealed in the shadows, a young woman asks the couple if Tamara is home.

James and Kristen tell the girl she has the wrong house and send her on her way. She doesn't go far, though, and she's not alone. The girl and her two companions, a man and another woman, mount an increasingly tense series of assaults upon the couple. The assailants faces are covered by eerily simplistic yet horrifying masks and they want only to do very bad things.

Sometimes horror works best when it functions as a nightmare. No reason is given for the terror, it just is. I had been wondering if The Strangers could sustain those scares from the trailer that I'm not ashamed to classify as the "oh God I just peed a little" kind. I applaud writer/director Bryan Bertino's decision to leave certain things unexplained and to give the the film a less than upbeat ending. The Strangers is pretty dark, so dark that when you leave the theater you'll want to go home, find someone you love and hug them. Just make sure they're not carrying a big freakin' knife.

As for the "inspired by true events" claim, I call shenanigans on whoever decided to make that claim. I suspect it may be another intentional homage to 70s horror, and that this film's relationship to true events is about as accurate as that of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is to say "not very."

New Cinematic Titanic Trailer Hits

The second release from Cinematic Titanic is due in mid-June and you can check out the trailer below. This project features former cast and writers from the late great Mystery Science Theater 3000, including series creator Joel Hodgson. Cinematic Titanic's first release was The Oozing Skull (which I reviewed for Cinematical) and this new episode has them making sport of The Doomsday Machine, a movie so awful it'll make you want to slap your mama. As with the previous installment, the new episode will be available on DVD or as a digital download from EZ Takes.



Technorati Tags: Cinematic Titanic, Joel Hodgson, MST3K, Mystery Science Theater 3000

Not One But TWO new Ed Wood Films

Tim Lucas of Video Watchblog recently posted links to these rough trailers for Andre Perkowski's two Ed Wood collaborations. Granted, these movies were made two decades after Edward D. Wood Jr.'s death, so I guess homage is a better term, but they are based on his writing. These things are pretty whacked, but unlike Wood's own films they come by their whackness (yes, I'm making up words) by design rather than accident. I'm dying to see the full versions of these and Lucas promises to let his readership know if and when further news should surface about these films obtaining any kind of release.

The retro juvenile delinquent flick Devil Girls was shot in 1999 on 8mm and 16mm film (yes, FILM, people) with the footage laying undeveloped for years. Devil Girls is culled from one of the trashy novels Wood wrote to support himself later in life.


Vampire's Tomb is from an unfilmed script that was to have starred Bela Lugosi and I think it's my favorite of the two. I just love that bit with the giant spider and what the hell is going on with that floating trombone? Also shot on 8mm and 16mm, the grainy black and white really works in the film's favor, and it's downright Wood-ian.


Technorati Tags: Ed Wood, Edward D. Wood, Tim Lucas, Andre Perkowski,

Is Watchmen's Comedian Being Played By Commander USA?

This image from the upcoming Watchmen movie surfaced the other day on Ain't It Cool News (thanks to Topless Robot for pointing it out), and yes it's got me all tingly in my nether regions. This is a very faithful reproduction of an image that features prominently in the graphic novel depicting The Minutemen, the World War II era super heroes of the Watchmen universe. Click on the image for a closer look. Left to right we have The Silhouette, Moth Man, Dollar Bill, the original Nite-Owl, Captain Metropolis, the original Silk Spectre, Hooded Justice, and kneeling in front we have Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian... or do we?

IMDB states that Morgan will be playing The Comedian, but a quick comparison of the two images below proves otherwise. The domino mask, the cigar, the graying temples...
The Comedian is obviously being played by former USA Network horror movie host Commander USA who emceed Commander USA's Groovie Movies from 1985-1989. Need more convincing? How about this:
Pretty f**king devastating, huh? No doubt director Zack Snyder is waiting until we're closer to the March 6, 2009 release date to officially acknowledge this, but remember you heard it here first.

Technorati Tags: Watchmen, Commander USA, Zack Snyder, The Comedian

The Andromeda Strain - Review

The first episode of The Andromeda Strain, which aired last night on A&E has shown this new version to be a skillful modernization of Michael Crichton's story which was previously adapted as a feature film in 1971.

As in the original, the small secluded town of Piedmont, Utah is wiped out almost instantly by a disease spread by a downed satellite. The only survivors are an old man and an infant. The infection, dubbed Andromeda, causes either immediate death or extreme suicidal (one victim decapitates himself with a chainsaw) or homicidal tendencies. A team of medical experts led by Dr. Jeremy Stone (Benjamin Bratt) is assembled at a state of the art government facility called Wildfire, a multi-level subterranean installation design for the study of infectious diseases. Risk of infection leaking into the outside world is not an option, and the entire base is sitting on top of a nuclear device that will be detonated if containment is breached. Further, the decision whether or not to drop a nuclear device on the infected town.

The original film saw our scientist heroes dealing with government bureaucracy, but this remake adds more modern concerns to the mix. Dr. Tsui Chou (Daniel Dae Kim) is part of the Wildfire team, but he previously worked for the Chinese government developing bio-weapons. Certain factions of the government and military have their own agendas, not all of which are in the public's best interest. The satellite is part of a mysterious Project Scoop, whose true purpose is kept from the investigating team until episode's end. A North Korean satellite was nearby when the Scoop satellite fell out of orbit, raising the possibility that Andromeda may be part of an elaborate biological attack. Meanwhile, reporter Jack Nash (Eric McCormack) is following a lead on the Piedmont incident, a lead that has already gotten his source killed.

This first episode has left me itching for part 2, even though having seen the original film I have a pretty good idea where the story is going. Modern effects technology is put to good use, letting us see things that couldn't be effectively shown the first time around, like Andromeda's attack on a fighter jet, and the devastation of Piedmont. The cast is strong, and the addition of the Nash character allows the story to go places it couldn't before. The DVD is already available for pre-order, so if you miss the broadcast you still have a chance to catch this one.

Technorati Tags: Andromeda Strain, review

BLOGS THAT ROCKOmni-Monster

To the list of words I never new existed I can now add "neo-kaiju" which I assume refers to more recent giant Japanese monsters, although I'm not sure exactly white time frame this covers. I found the word over at the Omni-Monster blog which blogger Geozilla describes as "A place to share pictures and information about Japanese vinyl kaiju toys, figures, and collectibles, whether vintage kaiju or neo-kaiju." This stuff is just awesome, and I'm assuming these toys and figures are primarily available in Japan and hard to come by here in the States. I recognize some of the Godzilla and Ultraman characters, but most of these are new to me. Text is in both English and Japanese.