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blueeyedguy25
Reviews
Survival of the Dead (2009)
George misses ...again
Once upon a time, I remember back to when I was about 12, when I sat in absolute terror in my own home watching a grainy, poorly -scored,low budget zombie flick. It was easily the most scary movie I had ever seen. It was the now famous Night of the Living Dead. Over the years, as Romero's name has become almost synonymous with the zombie genre, I keep expecting him to rise to the occasion again and deliver a piece of cinema that keeps me awake at night. He has not done so. Sitting through Land of the Dead in great disappointment and almost as much with "Diary", I wanted to give old George another shot with "Survival". What a mistake. Never a real moment of tension or fear. Way too much comedic moments (at least I hope they were INTENDED to be funny) and a lackluster plot out of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. I think he has been churning out these movies with little concern that he can do wrong. I hope he is finished ruining the genre that he started because folks, I am gonna say it: He Doesn't Have IT Anymore. Like an old man that has a family that lets him keep driving and he becomes worse and worse, someone has to step in and say: enough!
District 9 (2009)
It's been a long time for a great Sci-fi movie to come around; this is IT
Just saw D-9. When I arrived at the theatre, each door had a large warning poster in official-sounding language reminding me that this is "A Human-only Theatre. No Non-Humans Allowed!!" with an ominous crustacean-like graphic below. Nice way to set the scene. The movie, set in South Africa, shows us mostly desolate, dry inhospitable locations and has an immediate gritty feel. The last great sci-fi movie I got excited about was James Cameron's "Aliens" which had the advanced weaponry of the US Colonial Marines going up against some very hostile life forms and the very first "Starship Troopers". Weapons fans will be delighted as both human and alien forces are armed with very interesting and exotic firearms. I won't say much to spoil any surprises, but the aliens themselves are very, very well done. There is NO way that this movie could have been made before today's CGI effects because to have so many aliens running around in rubber suits would never sell. Set in the near future, we see the human soldiers still carry with them the attitudes of cruelty and take joy in destruction. They lack any kind of mercy or empathy with the aliens. Peter Jackson has really outdone himself with this movie. Just like "Frodo & Company" had to set out on what seemed like an impossible quest, so does our hero in this movie. His very survival depends upon him completing seemingly Herculean tasks, making for a very interesting set of obstacles. The movie is noisy and explosions and battlefield sounds are frequent. My wife almost couldn't handle the first 30 minutes because of the shaky-camera technique (ala Cloverfield, to name one film) was bothering her head. After the first half-hour or so, the film moves from being a set of choppy flashbacks and documentary-style shots to more of a regular movie with much smoother camera movements. Hang in there because its worth it to see this film to completion. Great effects, great music and so believable. Of course, the film sets itself to be open to a sequel, which I wholeheartedly say YES to, hoping the studio sees it my way too. Fans of Sci Fi rejoice--we finally have one to crow about.
The Happening (2008)
sorry, its a dud
bad acting, hokey premise, bad science, Mark and Zoey--terrible combination. Ridiculous dialog that had audience laughing when it was supposed to be serious. No suspense-nothing really happens. Ending-worthless! save your hard earned dollars, euros and yen.
The Happening is Not Very Happening!
MNS_ go back to the drawing board and try a hell of a lot harder before you unleash more crap on mankind.
Everybody walked out of the theatre mumbling things like "what a ripoff" or "man, wasn't that supposed to be a scary movie"? These are never good signs-also at many good movies the crowd sits thru the credits. At this movie, everybody rushed out just to get away from the boredom!
Diary of the Dead (2007)
George made me proud on this one!
I was really happy to see that Romero made a good zombie flick after what I totally disliked known as Land of the Dead. I was very worried when I heard the stories about "Diary". "Its gonna be shaky like Blair Witch"; "Its got a lot of unknowns because nobody famous wants anything to do with the project", etc Well, I was surprised by the SUSPENSE element. I haven't been held in suspense since the old B&W NOTLD (which scared the crap out of me as a kid). Diary has decent music, really good zombie makeups and enough contemporary end-of-the-world news clips to lend a feeling that this is the end. I could sit and criticize the cast, but why? I enjoyed the movie and even at age 40 felt the overwhelming sense of dread as the cast tries to figure out if the "zombie story" is a hoax or the real thing. Another thing I like is Romero is still using the slow zombie as opposed to the running kind. To me they are scarier because of the dread associated with a monster that may be slow but isn't going to stop coming after you-its single purpose being to destroy you. Another thing I appreciate is that GR has never come out and blatantly said what causes this zombie plague-which leaves it wide open to my imagination. Im tired of the govt being blamed in so many horror movies for a project gone awry. Rent the movie on DVD, turn up the volume and cut the lights-I guarantee you will enjoy being scared.
The DVD has some extras on zombie makeups, zombie kill gags and
AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
unacceptable...totally unacceptable
To start with:terrible acting.BUT.... My biggest complaint is the LOW LIGHTING levels purposely used in the fight scenes. I paid money to see the Alien and the Predator fight, and the movie is shot in way too dark conditions, complete with herky-jerky camera movement and I completely felt the film was a waste of my money. Any competent director would have shot in scenes at least bright enough that the audience can recognize who (or what) is fighting! AvP One didn't have this problem! Maybe the rubber suits looked so God-awful that they had to cut the lighting to hide all their flaws?AAs you might expect, the ending is wide open for another sequel in the genre, so I am already praying that this director gets the Boot and they hire someone competent to make a decent Number 3. If only the money was there for R. Scott or J. Cameron to come in and FINISH off the genre with a great and respectable finale with decent casting and outstanding effects.
The Wonderful World of Disney: Phenomenon II (2003)
my 2 cents (spoilers if you haven't seen Phenomenon 1)
I really liked Phenomenon number one. I thought it was very well done and made good sense. Today (7-23-07), I watched Phenomenon 2. It was on the Lifetime Network and this is probably the one and only show or movie I have ever sat and watched on that network. I liked this movie quite a bit because it followed in the vein of the first movie but carried it further. Chris Shyer does a pretty good job with the George character although he doesn't seem to build the in-depth relationships with his radio buddy and the Doc like Travolta did. There are differences: George's attempt at a relationship with the "new woman in town" falls through and the only person he heals is himself. He does learn Spanish, predict and earthquake and mess with the government's secret codes. This second movie I think was just a pilot for a weekly series spin off that could have been , but wasn't. It focuses way too much on a cat & mouse game between George and his adversary in the govt who is trying to catch him (O'Quinn).If you can catch this movie on cable, take a look at it. Its definitely NOT a sequel as the name would imply, sort of more like a cable TV revisiting. Not bad at all, just a little different take on ole' George O'Malley.
Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005)
save your money, pass this one up
Im a big zombie fan. I liked the Romero films and Brook's "World War Z" book. I don't mind lots of gore. But what I hate are stupid plots, crap acting, terrible effects and such just because some low IQ idiots had a camcorder and some latex and wanted to make a zombie movie. Very high-school and amateurish. Pass on this one. If the title is fooling you into thinking that this movie somehow has any tie-in to the George Romero movie Day of the Dead, think again. Gorehounds can get their fix by watching the first 10 minutes and the last 15 minutes. Almost all the rest of the movie is just lots and lots of talking. One unusual and certainly detracting element in this movie is that some of the recently turned zombies can still talk and laugh, crack bad jokes, etc. This certainly takes away from the fear factor and idea of the zombie being an unstoppable, mindless killing machine that you cannot talk to or reason with. Some of the "actors" (God it pains me to use the word on these miscreants) must have missed zombie training school as some stagger, some run, some walk like they're on the way to quitting this lameass movie, kinda like no one told these guys, "Oh yeah, ah, you're supposed to be dead, so kinda stagger a little".Oh and wait till you see the little flying, glowing dots that are supposed to be spreading this contagion--you almost expect Tinkerbell to appear!
Night of the Dead: Leben Tod (2006)
what I think
pretty bad movie. Don't rent it if you are a big fan of the genre. There seems to be a whole slew of these cheap, poorly made, effect-laden cheapies being stuffed into every shelf of the video store right now. Bad sound, a main character who almost cannot be understood, and nonsensical plot just to have an excuse to employ every special effect the team can create. Here we have the super-strong zombie. All the other movies make it plain that zombies are pretty weak, can barely break glass, cant use machines or equipment, etc but could a female zombie really pull off a man's head just by putting a hand over each ear and lifting up? or break a chain on a door just by swatting it? why can zombie fingers instantly create massive holes in a victim's abdomen? another rule-breaker is a headless zombie who is still functional. Who knows what the rules are in this video. Rent it if you have a whole bunch of girls over and you wanna hear them scream at the gross-outs, but as a zombie fan it didn't and couldn't hold my interest. MY favorite part was the Leben Tod music video on the special features section of the DVD. The rest sucked.
Dellamorte dellamore (1994)
sorry folks, this one is just crap
I have read all the hype on the boards and the comment areas from people who just love wacky Italian cinema and eat-up the surreal, unexplainable and frankly, nonsensical endings they often seem to employ like it was the latest dish.
Sorry to report, as a HUGE fan of the Zombie genre, I would'nt even give this rental the time of day. Unwieldy plot, terrible sound, no captions to hear what the characters are whispering unintelligibly and below-average zombie makeups. The only thing this poor show had going for it was Anna F's great looking chest! If you rent it, get your money out of it here with the pause button on the very naked Anna in the graveyard.
Why do all gunshots in these Italian movies all have that terrible sound effect used over and over and over????????? Save your money. Rent Dawn of the Dead. Or heres a real oldie for you: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep (2006)
P.O.S. (can you figure out what THAT stands for?)
Well, I rented before I read the comments here so I wont add much more that hasn't already been said. A true Piece Of S*it. My DVD box has a different monster on the front not like the one shown here. On mine, he is a COMPLETE rip-off of Dr. Satan from Zombie's movie (he should sue 'em) and that worst part is--no creature even like that appears in the movie! Complete waste of time and money. Burn in Hell Lionsgate! Completely trashes Lovecraft's story. The only thing that made up for this diaper stain of a movie was the nice rack on one of the "mental patients". Check that out. She should have been that star of the movie. Warn all your friends to avoid this trash at all costs!
Le grand bleu (1988)
oh....yawn!
I was intrigued by the cover of this DVD and rented the extra-long "director's cut". Someone on ebay said it had "mesmorizing" scenes under the sea. Well, the few sea scenes there were just weren't that great. I knew this wasn't an action movie and I certainly didn't want or need any sea monsters, sharks or underwater scuba-diver fights ala James Bond. What I thought might be a love story turned out to center around a clueless, self-centered, cold-hearted man of little intellectual depth or emotion, so I really couldn't get into the main character at all. Imagine him choosing to go play with a dolphin rather than maintain and nurture a loving relationship with a human female. (I have to say that the guy who plays Enzo is the real star of the show.) And hours later (as I had to see what ending our "hero" had destined for himself), well, I won't spoil it here but both my wife and I uttered out simultaneously..."Huh??? What a dud this movie was!" It figures this movie would be a big deal in France. This movie was about as exciting as watching a prerecorded conference for Insurance salesmen. Yawn>>>>save your time and money. If you like Luc Besson try The Messenger or La Femme Nikita-both GREAT films.
Land of the Dead (2005)
LOTD: a letdown
May contain spoilers
I rented the LOTD DVD on its release date as I was very excited to see a new installment of the Dead series. I really wanted to see where Romero was going to take it. I hoped to glean some new information about the whole situation that had not already been covered before.
First,the new Dawn of the Dead had the "running" zombies who made ridiculous animal-roars as they chased their victims. That part of it made no sense. I'm still glad to see Romero using the stumbling zombies as a slow but definite menace.
My first disappointment was when Clarke came out of the gas station. He was walking normally! well, maybe a little tired. I thought he must have missed Day 1 of Zombie School Acting. Many others were the same way, like extras that the production team didn't have the money or time to show how to walk like the genre demands. I lost all sense of horror each time Clarke would tilt his head back and roar whenever he was a) frustrated b) saddened c) angry d) all of the above. It was quite comical to me and it completely destroyed the mood. Watch it and count how many times he does this!
I will leave alone all the questions I have about how the city functioned and why money was still valuable at all. Survival never really seemed on-the-brink even in the ghetto/slum scenes. I would think their defenses would be a lot stronger too.Why wouldn't the zombies cross the river a long time ago? Why were soldiers still shooting zombies in the chest when by now every person had to know it was the head shots that matter? The ending was atrocious. The hero just lets the horde of zombies "go back home". Including the "super" smart leader zombie. True survival would never allow that.
Pluses: Makeup effects, sudden scares, Dead Reckoning and the Introduction, John L., Dennis H, the BoatHouse munch-fest
Minuses: Ending, music, rest of cast, unexplained/undeveloped plot lines zombies who walk like regular people.
IMHO: Rent it but don't buy it.
Boogeyman (2005)
Started out good...wound up terrible
Pluses: setting, very creepy Male lead:Good, a little spacey and sometimes agonizingly slow Female lead: Decent Music:adequate
Minuses....... Plot: lacking detail, ending unacceptable, perhaps trying to set up a sequel?
Special effects: the "monster"himself is clouded by way-bad cgi effects Try this-on the DVD, slow down or single-frame some of the very quick scenes of the monster's face and you will see him clearly, also some scenes in the DVD "special features" show the monster BEFORE the cgi "cloud" him all up. He resembles a Salem's-Lot style Nosferatu or, hate to say it, a minstrel in blue-face.
Scares--almost all scares are achieved by loud, startling noises, which is kinda a cheap-out in my book
rent it if you must, junior high kids will probably think this movie is really "SCARY!" adults will do well to watch all but the last 10 minutes and let your mind provide you a suitable ending.