Rammbock: Berlin Undead (2010)

 

I personally see Rammbock: Berlin Undead as a gem in the zombie craze that has since came and went. Michi and his girlfriend Gabi are breaking up and she wants him to move out. When he comes over to talk to her about it he arrives just as a zombie outbreak is occurring. We don't have to wait long before we have the situation defined. Stuck in an apartment in a housing block in Berlin. Michi can see the chaos of the infection spreading in the courtyard below. Bites spreading the disease and converting normal people to infected fast zombies within seconds, like in "28 Days Later". Michi and a young guy are trapped in an apartment and we learn of the citywide spread of the infection via news reports. When the barricaded apartment becomes  unsafe steps must be taken to survive and find a way out of the city.

  I like that early in the film it plays with how people react when a crisis takes place. We have these people in the various apartments who can see each other through the windows facing the interior courtyard. They can communicate so we see how when things go wrong we tend to isolate ourselves. Working together might be more effective but people don't want to take risks and that risk assessment is shown through the inaction of many early in the film.

  Noise is the thing that attracts the infected they seem not quite blind but a bit limited in sight so doing anything where they can get you if you make noise. So as things deteriorate decisions have to be made, chances taken with the hope of survival. 

  Harper's story arc is about his obsession with his missing girlfriend trapped in her apartment without her early on she is foremost in his mind. She was breaking up with him but not because that is what he wanted. The crisis seems at first just a distraction for him as he obsesses about her. Things in the most uncomfortable way get resolved or at least the dynamics change,  when he eventually ends up in the attic of the building and Gabi and her new boyfriend are there. There is a real arc which is paralleled with a storyline of harper also trying to find his girlfriend and get out alive. 

  Michi is sort of a sad sack and the revelations are hard on him. Will there be a way out of this claustrophobic apartment building?  You will see if you watch the film which I recommend.

Alone in the Dark 2 (2008)

 

These sequel to the Uwe Boll disaster of an original this film matches the incoherent plot of the first. Written and Directed by Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer this wildly scattered mess uses appearances by well known genre actors to make up for a purely dumb script. Michael Pare, Lance Henriksen, Bill Moseley, Danny Trejo and P.J.Soles all play their parts but to no avail as the incompressible plot strangles this film.

The film centers around a family who I don't really know fights an evil witch. The witch for her part wants a dagger that I think can do he in. This plot has nothing to do with the original film and that at least tracks because the sequel to the original release of the game doesn't include many of the themes of the original.

Hard to get into the film is so blah.

Alone in the Dark (2005)

 

A film that starts with an Opening scroll, then a scene in the past to reenforce it and then a main character voice over seems to be saying there is way too much information needed to understand what is to follow. Followed by a car chase and fist fight to establish our main character Edward Carnby as a bad-ass. He is a Indiana Jones for the supernatural objects  and there are people who want what be has obtained. There is this plot where an ancient Indian tribe, as read in the scroll, once opened a gate to an evil dimension and then closed it when something got through. Now in modern day there are people hoping to get the object necessary to open that gate again.

  Where the flashback scene was about one kid escaping an institute that was doing experiments on them we can probably guess that 22 years later we can assume all the adults we meet of a certain age might be the children from that scene. When the evil is released, they are all activated, but we don't know for what purpose. The two object found by Carnby and the one Professor Hudgens look like they go together, so pretty much we know what is going on. The continued voice over explaining the film as it progresses is just lazy film making and we are only 15 minutes into the film.

 Tara Reid costars in the film as Aline the assistant to Dr. Hudgens who turns out to be quite the evil fuck, and Reid is also the love interest of the lead. She is not my favorite actress coming across a bit canned in her delivery at times but she is game for the action that spews all through this film. She is stuck in a video game film that has a shitload to explain.

  The other supporting actor is Stephen Dourff who plays the angry controlling leader of the secret government agency 713. He is he actually improves the lines he has at first coming across as just another angry idiot competing with the lead as a tough guy. Later we see though he can use an expression to get a subtilty into the role. 

  There is so much video game violence in this film that the stakes of it are lost. Lots of xenomorph dog like creatures and there screamer like sand worm entities leave a lot to be desired. Relentless they a turn of the century relic of a developing CGI that had not yet hit it's prime. The film made in 2005 for an estimated 20 million dollars only made 12 million worldwide and was seen as a failure. Still it did get a sequel in 2008. This is an objectively confusing and bad film. Directed by Uwe Boll who has a reputation for directing duds the film seems to have a hard time being coherent. I am not even sure with all the voice over and exposition that I know what the plot was. Evil Dr Hudgen's wants to bring evil creatures into the world and is stopped by the kid who got away? Something like that with a downer ending that leaves us setup for the sequel.

Loop Track (2023)

 Loop Track is a surprising film, and what that surprise is can not be stated without ruining it so that will not happen here. It plays as a psychological thriller about Ian a timid man weary of the world and needing to get away from society. He decides to take to the backpacking trails of the New Zealand bush. Ill prepared and inexperienced at backpacking his adventure proves difficult but his design for solitude pushes him forward. He is obviously suffering anxiety and at least while alone he can escape the part of it involving other people. Unfortunately he finds avoiding people on the trail just as hard as in life at home and is forced to take strange maneuvers and paths to avoid interactions with other hikers. Anyone who has spent time in the woods like I have understands how hard this can become. Besides casual interaction when different walking paces initiate introductions and at least pleasant good days. There are people who seem to adopt other hikers because there are only so many shelters on the trails and people often come together at them by the end of the day.

In the early part of the film we see this in an exaggerated way first with Ian avoiding people and when he can no longer do that get glommed onto by a fellow hiker , Nicky who is super unaware of his impact on Ian and can not shut his trap. Two other people Austin and Monica are at the shelter when they arrive and the four people fall into travelling together as that can happen. Ian's anxiety increases during interactions even though relationships form.

The film plays out leaving us to wonder about Ian's state of mind, is he hallucinating shapes in the forest? When the foursome find gear left at there next hut he start's to wonder if something nefarious has taken place, or is he just a bit paranoid. The writing does a nice job at pulling the viewer back and forth in Ian's struggle with his thoughts. While still leaving the idea that something more dangerous could be looming in the story.

When the turn in the story takes place it really is sort of cool, at this point Ian's character is properly setup to not be believed. The trail mates that adopted him start trying to think of strategies to deal with a very scared and paranoid fellow hiker. The movie then becomes something else as everyone learns the truth about what is going on.

I found this film rather enjoyable and think you should give it a chance and of course wait for the turn.